Bonjour, Paris!

I don't know that I thought I would ever be able to say that I went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but I did last night. I have been in Paris since Thursday and it seems completely surreal. When we first arrived on Thursday, I was a bit disappointed because it looks nothing like what I expected. When you see pictures of Paris, you see lots of glamour and cafes and everything, but that is not what I saw when I got off the Metro. I did have a clear view of the Eiffel tower, which was exciting, but everything else was just kind of... dirty. I went up to my hotel room and realized that I can see the Tower while laying in bed (which has been really great when I go to bed at night) and got pretty excited.

The first day that we were here, we went to the Eiffel tower and then to the Arc du Triomphe. It was really great being able to see those places and just being here. Thursday started off rough. Sara and I woke up a little late and it just seemed like nothing was going right-- and we were both cranky because we thought that we didn't like Paris. The day ended up turning for the better. The group went to Versailles, which was a little different than it normally is because they had these random and retarded pieces of "art" in a lot of the major rooms. It was really unfortunate that they were there because not only were they tacky, but they distracted from the actual palace. I don't remember most of the things that I saw, or what each room was. After Versailles, a group of about 8 of us went to the catacombs which were really cool. It was a little creepy down there because thousands of bones are throughout the whole thing and random security guards would pop up to tell us that we weren't supposed to use camera flashes. After the catacombs, the four of us girls who went to the catacombs broke off from the group and went shopping :) It was great! We spent several hours shopping and then came back to the hotel, dropped our stuff off and went to watch the Eiffel Tower light up. We sat on the wall of the Trecadora (sp??) and watch the tower become blue as the sun set and then begin to sparkle at exactly 9:00. As I sat there it all just felt completely surreal. I could not believe that I was actually sitting there looking at the Eiffel Tower.... even though I was looking at it. It was just completely insane to me. The next day a couple of girls wanted us to show them where to shop, so we did that and had another girls' day :) We went to the little shops with all the good deals and then went to the Pantheon and to the Museum of Natural History. I was pretty proud of all of us for managing our way through Paris on the Metro system with no problems! On Sunday (yesterday) we got up and went to the Musee D'Orsay which is an art museum and then we went to the Louvre. It was really neat being at the Louvre, but I did not want to stay for long because it was RIDICULOUSLY crowded. I could not walk anywhere without almost running into someone. After staying in the Louvre for a little bit, Cory and Ian and I went to look at some original street art and we all bought a few pieces. They had some really great stuff for really great prices. Then we went to look at a few souvenir shops for them because they hadn't gotten any gifts for family and everything yet and then we went to the Luxembourg gardens! They were so beautiful! It was the absolute perfect day to be there. It was a little bit chilly in the shade, but the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. At 5 we went to an English service at the local church and it was wonderful. It is so nice to have services in English sometimes, especially after struggling so much with the language barrier when trying to do everything else around town. My favorite part of yesterday, however, was the Eiffel Tower! I went with Andrea, Cory, Rebecca, Clay, Jack and Sara up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and it was so so so so amazing! The city of Paris is incredibly beautiful at night and it was so great to be able to ride up to the top with great friends :)

Today was a very long day. We left the hotel at 6:20 to catch a train to Normandy. We spent the entire day visiting the places where the D-Day invasion occurred and it was just absolutely incredible being there. I can not begin to explain how surreal it was because the beaches are so beautiful, it's hard to imagine that thousands of people gave their lives on those beaches. The American MIlitary Cemetery on Omaha Beach was beautiful. I was not fully able to appreciate today though because I was sick. There has been some kind of stomach bug going around and I felt completely miserable for nearly the whole day. The good news is that I was taken care of by someone and it was really nice. It is no fun being away from your Mommy when you don't feel well, but it helps when you have someone to take care of you :)

I hate that these blogs have to be devoid of lots of details and that they are so spread out, but it is very hard to keep up with everything when I am going from sun up to well beyond sun set and get very little time to relax. This weekend we get our first free travel time and if all works out, I think that a group of us will be going to Amsterdam :) I need to go, it's time for me to do room check. I hope that everyone is doing wonderfully and that you all know that I love and miss you very much!