We went to pretty much every sight in Paris; the Eiffel Tour, Notre Dame, and the Arch of Triumph. They were all really amazing, and lived up to my grand expectations to the absolute and beyond...
Eiffel Tower:
The Eiffel Tower was originally built by Mr. Eiffel, as an art exhibition to compete for the world's tallest building - I guess it was, but the silly competition is for some reason quite important to some powerful people in the world. I mean, really, there are more important things than winning (such as the pollution caused by all that construction and related topics). Anyways, the original plan was to . . .
Eiffel Tower:
The Eiffel Tower was originally built by Mr. Eiffel, as an art exhibition to compete for the world's tallest building - I guess it was, but the silly competition is for some reason quite important to some powerful people in the world. I mean, really, there are more important things than winning (such as the pollution caused by all that construction and related topics). Anyways, the original plan was to . . .
dis-mantel it after a certain amount of time, because the prediction was that nobody would like it. That's on thing I'm really not clear on; did everybody like it, everyone hate it, or both? What I came out with was that the egineers loved it, because it represented what building and engineering was. But the other townspeople hated it, because it was so ugly and big. I guess it was because the engineers liked it that it stayed up. Or, maybe my whole interpritation of the history is all wrong. Sometimes I loose my concentration when somebody else reads aloud something dull (a.k.a. facts - even though it's educational does not mean it's interesting. Any kid my age can relate.).
Well, I don't want to bore you, do I? Now I'll move onto my experience, not the one of Mr. Eiffel. (Wouldn't it be awesome to have that name? It makes me think of a cartoon character!) We got up and left around seven o'clock, the tour opening at seven thirty. We were actually the first in line, and super excited. Seven twenty came, then seven thirty, then seven forty and seven fifty and still they hadn't opened the tour to people who wanted to walk up! The lift people were going up, but where were we supposed to go? Birch was getting really angry because he wanted to be the first one up, not those other silly tourists who don't deserve the best picture because they take the lift and not the stairs... And it was infurriating to him and frustrating to the rest of us that someone came and tapped the person at the very back of the line, telling them to move to somewhere else... Silly. Anyways, we noticed that a mob of people were rushing towards a different ticket booth and Birch burst in anger, pushing past people in the line. We stayed where we were, and it wasn't too bad, since the line was moving quickly.
Moving on, let's skip to the top, after all those stairs... The view was magnificent!
Well, I don't want to bore you, do I? Now I'll move onto my experience, not the one of Mr. Eiffel. (Wouldn't it be awesome to have that name? It makes me think of a cartoon character!) We got up and left around seven o'clock, the tour opening at seven thirty. We were actually the first in line, and super excited. Seven twenty came, then seven thirty, then seven forty and seven fifty and still they hadn't opened the tour to people who wanted to walk up! The lift people were going up, but where were we supposed to go? Birch was getting really angry because he wanted to be the first one up, not those other silly tourists who don't deserve the best picture because they take the lift and not the stairs... And it was infurriating to him and frustrating to the rest of us that someone came and tapped the person at the very back of the line, telling them to move to somewhere else... Silly. Anyways, we noticed that a mob of people were rushing towards a different ticket booth and Birch burst in anger, pushing past people in the line. We stayed where we were, and it wasn't too bad, since the line was moving quickly.
Moving on, let's skip to the top, after all those stairs... The view was magnificent!
(Don't worry, it was raining, that's mist. Not smog.)
Amazing, glorious, super, splendid, exciting, dazzling, eye-goggling, horrifyingly high... What else describs it? I've exaggerated on other places, but I'm definetly not on this. I met up with Birch after a while, having split from Mom and Dad a while ago, at the bottom of the stairs, to speed up them as fast as I could. Did I mention it was raining? The ground was incredibly slippery and I was numb from the cold... I'd expected sun, so I'd worn a tank-top! I didn't mind at all, I was too happy... Before the deck got too crowded, Birch and I found a game to play, where I grab onto his sweater and he pulls me sliding all around the deck (it didn't work vise-versa -- he just pulled me backwards!). We did this a while, but then we started getting 'looks' and the deck started to get a little too crowded. So we went off to hunt for Mom and Dad, and after circling and circling the deck, Birch finally gave in to my suggestions and we went inside. Of course, they were in the information section, and caught us before we could turn away and run. We got our filling of facts, and then they came up with us, and we pointed out places we'd been; Notre Dame, Sacre Couer, Napoleon's Tomb (we'd only walked by it), the Louvre, Tuilleries, the Arch de Triumphe, and we even tried to find the road to our little apartment on the fifth floor - no luck with that, of course. After a little bit we went down to a caffetirea and had our packed lunch, as well as some hot chocolate, and then went down again, just as the sun was peaking out of the clouds, to have a glorious day again.
Amazing, glorious, super, splendid, exciting, dazzling, eye-goggling, horrifyingly high... What else describs it? I've exaggerated on other places, but I'm definetly not on this. I met up with Birch after a while, having split from Mom and Dad a while ago, at the bottom of the stairs, to speed up them as fast as I could. Did I mention it was raining? The ground was incredibly slippery and I was numb from the cold... I'd expected sun, so I'd worn a tank-top! I didn't mind at all, I was too happy... Before the deck got too crowded, Birch and I found a game to play, where I grab onto his sweater and he pulls me sliding all around the deck (it didn't work vise-versa -- he just pulled me backwards!). We did this a while, but then we started getting 'looks' and the deck started to get a little too crowded. So we went off to hunt for Mom and Dad, and after circling and circling the deck, Birch finally gave in to my suggestions and we went inside. Of course, they were in the information section, and caught us before we could turn away and run. We got our filling of facts, and then they came up with us, and we pointed out places we'd been; Notre Dame, Sacre Couer, Napoleon's Tomb (we'd only walked by it), the Louvre, Tuilleries, the Arch de Triumphe, and we even tried to find the road to our little apartment on the fifth floor - no luck with that, of course. After a little bit we went down to a caffetirea and had our packed lunch, as well as some hot chocolate, and then went down again, just as the sun was peaking out of the clouds, to have a glorious day again.
Notre Dame:
To me, Notre Dame wasn't exactly the best church I've ever seen. Notre Dame de Starsbourg was, in my opinion, better and grander, but what am I to be the judge? You must visit Paris and really see for yourself. Anyways, we waited in line for a short time, and then went around, lighting a candle. Then we split, and I wandered around fro about half an hour until I was ready to go, and then I spent another half hour looking for everyone... The choir and sermon started, and I began to wonder if they were outside. Sure enough, Birch came in and rushed me out. Why? What had brought it to their minds that I'd be OUTSIDE? Meh, I don't know... Notre Dame is absolutely beautiful, but better described in pictures, because of my poor memory... And, sadly and not, I've seen so many amazingly splendid churchs that Notre Dame was 'just another cathedral'. Is that good or bad? Both?
To me, Notre Dame wasn't exactly the best church I've ever seen. Notre Dame de Starsbourg was, in my opinion, better and grander, but what am I to be the judge? You must visit Paris and really see for yourself. Anyways, we waited in line for a short time, and then went around, lighting a candle. Then we split, and I wandered around fro about half an hour until I was ready to go, and then I spent another half hour looking for everyone... The choir and sermon started, and I began to wonder if they were outside. Sure enough, Birch came in and rushed me out. Why? What had brought it to their minds that I'd be OUTSIDE? Meh, I don't know... Notre Dame is absolutely beautiful, but better described in pictures, because of my poor memory... And, sadly and not, I've seen so many amazingly splendid churchs that Notre Dame was 'just another cathedral'. Is that good or bad? Both?
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The Arch de Triumphe:
We went first down the Champs Elysees after visiting the Louvre and Tuilleries (which were beautiful), and they had a parade going through the Arch, with trumpters and drummers and a few accordians, and there was a pile of flowers and a huge flag of France under the actual arch.
The time when we actually went up was one of our last nights in Paris, with Auntie Jen, Uncle Bill and Zak. It was at nigth and we climbed the many, many stairs up to the top, where the view was fabulous, and the city was beautiful at night... Lights popping up everywhere, the Eiffel Tower glimmering with flood lights. It was magical, but also cold and windy... After many circles going around and around the Arch, we headed back down.
-Allie
We went first down the Champs Elysees after visiting the Louvre and Tuilleries (which were beautiful), and they had a parade going through the Arch, with trumpters and drummers and a few accordians, and there was a pile of flowers and a huge flag of France under the actual arch.
The time when we actually went up was one of our last nights in Paris, with Auntie Jen, Uncle Bill and Zak. It was at nigth and we climbed the many, many stairs up to the top, where the view was fabulous, and the city was beautiful at night... Lights popping up everywhere, the Eiffel Tower glimmering with flood lights. It was magical, but also cold and windy... After many circles going around and around the Arch, we headed back down.
-Allie
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