Paris, France

The second leg of our journey was in Paris! We rented a flat near the city center. The metro system took us a little bit to figure out but with the help of our AirBnb host we were able to get it down! When we arrived we started out going to the Catacombs. We waited for 2 hours in line in the rain to see them but boy was it worth it!

The Catacombs are an underground burial site for over 6 million people. The Catacombs were created when the cemeteries in Paris began to overflow and when there was a series of cave-ins in 1774. The bones were then transferred to the underground tunnels between 1786-1788.

Our snack while we waited in the rain for 2 hours to get in

Half way there!

We then went to Notre Dame Cathedral. The outside of the church was spectacular and it only got better once we walked inside! The church was completed in 1345 and was nearly destroyed during the French Revolution. In 1831, a young writer, Victor Hugo, wrote a novel that sparked the interest to save and restore the church. The novel was The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Tourist began to flood the city to see the church for themselves after a petition circulated the restoration began and was completed 25 years later.

Jake and all his friends

The next day we went to the Eiffel Tower. It was a bit foggy in the morning which made for an interesting view. We decided to come back to the tower at night so that we could see it al lit up! The Eiffel Tower was constructed in 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair. It is the most visited paid monument in the world with nearly 6.91 million ascended in 2015. The Eiffel Tower help the title of tallest building in the world for nearly 41 years until the Chrysler Building was finished in 1930.

When we arrive in the evening we were faced with the difficult decision of walking up 700+ stairs to get to second platform and from there we would take an elevator to the very top or we could take an elevator directly to the top. The line for the elevator was extremely long and we were running out of time so we decided to walk. We may have been tired at the end but we did it and it was worth it!!

Our sad attempt at trying to take an artsy pic

View from the second platform

Had to take a little break half way up!

Up at the top...as you can see it was foggy

and cold....

Death by stairs

After the Eiffel Tower we went to the Arc De Triomphe, which houses the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWI and is a tribute to those who fought in the Napoleonic Wars.

We also stumbled upon the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed. They have a small memorial above the tunnel for her. We also stopped at the famous bakery Laduree!

We also stopped at Sacre-Coeur for a gorgeous view and walked through Montmartre. The Basilica is located on top of a hill with a wonderful view of the city.