July 25, 2009

Wow, what a day. Getting up at six, after 5 hours of sleep was rough. But a bunch of us trudged over and got great views of the city around 9 am. I am glad we went when we did since on our way down the place was becoming packed - mainly because the Tour de France ends here tomorrow. We climbed up to the second floor, which was 43 flights up! Quite the hike - but it was worth it. 

After the Eiffel Tower, our group split up again and Amy, Emma and I headed over to the north side of the river - we wanted to go to La Defense. We stopped on the way at a place to take a picture of us resting on the Eiffel Tower - it didn't work too well... Anyways, we took the metro out to La Defense to see the new Arch. The Arch de Triumph can fit inside this arch - it is basically a big square with the middle cut out. It was an awesome sight to see. Plus, La Defense is full of neat office buildings. The modern architecture is so cool to look at compared to the basic square buildings of the US. By then it was around 11 and we were exhausted. We ate a quick lunch then headed back to the hotel for a nap. I woke up and grabbed some dinner then went downtown on my own to see Notre Dame. Unfortunately it wasn't open, but I got some nice pictures outside of it. I then headed back and packed, as tomorrow we take the Eurostar into London. I can't believe that I will be home in 5 days!