Enchanté!

Click here if you’ve missed parts une and deux of this epic adventure or the big news!

Let’s pick up at the start of our amazing trip to Pareeeh! Shall we?

As I mentioned before, our hotel was located in the Marais district of Paris. The Marais district is pretty awesome, boasting tons of great restaurants, art galleries and most importantly – shopping! Since I had done a little shopping in Barcelona, I was already on damage control in Paris. Luckily the prices were so astronomical everywhere we went, I wasn’t too tempted to whip out the euros.

On our first day, we set out in search of Notre Dame which wasn’t too hard since it was just blocks from our hotel!

For those of  you who have been to Paris, you’ve obviously been to Notre Dame so you get it. Totally gorg. Most of the time we were in Paris the weather was drizzly so we had to wear coats 😦 and it totes wrecked Meg and I’s outfit forecasting. We had been saving all the “really good outfits” for Paris but I was too happy just to be there to really mind.

While walking around Notre Dame, I obviously decided it would be a great idea to act like the hunchback. Camera flashes weren’t allowed and Megan was only able to manage one measly, blurry picture before my Dad said someone was going to arrest me. See the slideshow below for the pic.

Next we visited another gorgeous cathedral and the name is escaping me right now. Breathtaking as well. I bought a ceramic unicorn for 7 euro because I got caught up in the moment.

Next up The Louvre! I had just finished the DaVinci Code and was all about the Mona Lisa. I totally wanted to lay on the floor and act like the museum curator from the beginning of the book but I resisted temptation. As many of you know, the Mona Lisa is way smaller than you expect and you can’t really get very close to it. I still enjoyed seeing her as well as many of the other paintings in that wing.

We also saw the Venus De Milo and The Winged Victory of Samothrace.

Then I had a panic attack in The Louvre. I was hot, claustrophobic, there were a million people and I had cotton-mouth. Plus, there’s really no easy way outta that place. At the same time, my Mom had a similar reaction and we both bolted out of there like Brittney from K-Fed. After we had some really expensive coffee and danish from the cafe inside, we were much better.

We left the Louvre and walked along the streets of Paris. We walked over the Love Bridge and it made me really miss Bryan. I wanted to have a lock engraved with our names, fasten it to the bridge, lock it up and throw the key in the Seine. Sooo romantic!

After that we walked along the Champs de Elysee and oogled at the great window displays and high-end shops. We eventually passed a beautiful, huge gold gate with a large line outside. We ventured toward it, thinking it was the entrance to some mansion, museum or gallery. But we were wrong.

It was the entrance to Abercrombie and Fitch.

Apparently A&F is a hot commodity in Paris. We saw women and men sporting the moose everywhere! Men with those horrid tee shirts that have idiotic sayings on them, “Jacuzzi Lifeguard”, “Abercrombie Drinkers Invitational”. Women with the microscopic hoodies and graphic tees that probably set them back $150. I feel like the United States is SO over Abercrombie, but overseas they love the crap out of it.

We reached the end of the Champs de Elysee to see the iconic Arc de Triomphe. We didn’t go inside but opted to snap some pictures in the middle of traffic. Smart.

As we walked back to our hotel, Megan kept seeing these adorable green shopping bags that people were carrying. We notice these kinds of things, us Danielsons. We discovered that they belonged to Ladurée , a gourmet macaroon and bake shop. We passed the shop and I thought I was going to pass out, it was SO adorable. I felt like I was a princess living inside a jewelry box as soon as we stepped inside. We waited in line for a good 20 minutes before purchasing a box of 6 different kinds of macaroons, which was close to $20 US. Expensive little buggers!

We went home that night happy and sugared up.

The next morning I awoke happier than a sprinkle in a cupcake factory. We were going to Versailles! I’ve always been a little crazy for Marie Antionette. I mean, hello the woman had excellent taste, owned a cute little dog and said, “let them eat cake!”. I also loved the movie with Kirsten Dunst. In fact, I think I pretend that movie is my life if it were mixed with the cast of Legally Blonde the Musical.

After a quick brekkie (it was complimentary with our hotel) downstairs we were ready to go!

We took a train to Versailles which is (according Mr.Steves) the way to go. The train ride was short and sweet and before we knew it, we were striding along the long cobble stone road to the castle. The palace is immense, almost sickeningly huge. To think that the royals actually lived here while the citizens of Paris were poor and starving is beyond me. We had studied the stories of all the Louis’, namely the XIII through XVI and felt adequately versed with the vast history of Versailles.

We began with the tour of the palace, using our trusty all-museum tickets. The tour was too amazing for words. I. Was. Floored.

After the house tour, we quickly realized that our passes didn’t apply to the gardens on this particular day. I later found out that  the “Water Spectacular Show”, was going on that day which means that the fountains are turned on. Since tickets were an additional 20 euro to get in, I decided to ask if there was another way into the gardens.  After one lady turned me away, assuring me I had to pay to enter through the main gate, another woman said there was indeed another way.

She gave us directions to exit the palace, walk 15 minutes down the street and enter through the “queens gate”. I was gaining momentum, all the blood was rushing to my head and I was ready to sprint through the queens gate like a lion on attack! Unfortunately my Mom and Megan were hot, tired and allergies were catching up to us all. Despite my constant nose tickle and watery eyes I wasn’t ready to give up.

You see, what  I was most excited about was not the actual palace but all the smaller buildings that Marie Antionette ordered built in the late 1700’s. In order to escape palace life, she ordered a number of estates and structures built so she could live out “the simple life”. The Queen’s Hamlet as it’s known, was what I was most excited about seeing.

I happily set out to see this part of Versailles alone. I ran through the meadows and snapped picture after picture, not wanting to miss a thing.

It was the most magical experience ever. In fact, probably one of the best experiences I’ve have ever had.

The rest of our trip to Paris was so amazing. We saw everything such as theEiffel Tower, Rue Cler, L’Orangie Museum, D’Orsay Museum and did alot of shopping too! Here is a slideshow of some of our picture. I did have them all nicely laid out in the post and then WordPress booted me out and I lost all my progress.

So here are the pics!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.