Paris day 3

So my last day in Paris, I woke up

pretty late due to my roommates in my hostel being really loud and the crazy time jump (Europe does the whole hour time difference thing, 3 weeks late). I still stayed for the hostel breakfast and then went to Notre Dame Cathedrale. I got there at like 11:20, then I realized there was a line to get in, so I finally got into the Church at 11:28 and once in there I realized mass started at 11:30 and if you said you were going to mass you could skip the line. I was just excited that I could get to celebrate mass here so I tried to get into the mass area and at first the security said no, but when I told them I was going to pray they let me in. It was a mass that went a little late but it was pretty cool anyway:

The view of the cathedral inside the mass area:

The chapels on the side:

The beautiful rose window:

More chapels:

Cardinal's tomb:

Another chapel:

The gothic vaulted arches that are so famous about this church:

The rose window from the outside as well as the flying buttresses on the outside:

The square behind the cathedral:

The back of the cathedral held up by the flying buttresses:

Another love lock bridge. All of those are locks:

SO MANY LOCKS:

The view of the church from the side:

Some sea food on display outside of a restaurant in the Latin Quarter:

The Latin Quarter:

A Shakespeare book shop in Paris? That's crazy because I could've sworn the French hated the English and all the traditional English stuff:

A beautiful garden on the South left bank:

Of course I go to Subway in every country I go to and France is no different. I got chicken tikka and this is the only place outside of London where I've had a chicken tikka sub. It was so good! :

The river is so beautiful:

One of the many huge train stations in Paris:

After sight-seeing quite a bit, I was forced to head out to the airport where I got a little lost but managed to find my way. It was definitely a very fun trip but I should've made it longer and I really can't wait to go back. I'm so happy I made friends at the hostel that I could hang out with and I can't wait to go back. I'm actually very impressed with myself for being on my own in a country where I know maybe 20 words of the language and no grammar yet I was still able to survive. Not just survive but thrive. I managed to have an amazing time and develop a love for the city while staying on a budget.  I now have much more confidence in myself and my traveling abilities. 

Paris day 2

I met a few people at breakfast and they were all going on the free tour of the city, which I had already been planning on doing so it was nice and I got to become solid acquintances with all of them. Our Lithuanian tour girl brought us to the meeting point which was Saint Micheal's square. It was very pretty:

From there our tour guide warned us against pick pockets and the tactics they use and then we were off. The first stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral:

It's located on an island in the middle of the city so we had to cross the river to get to it:

It is truly stunning to see in person. It is so large and heavy that the foundations can barely support it today:

The building in the very back is an old palace that eventually became an infamous prison that held prisoners to be tortured and held Marie Antoinette before her execution:

This is the oldest bridge in Paris and oddly enough it's called the New Bridhe. It was built by King Henry IV of France:

This is the statue of King Henry IV. He was called the most beloved King of all time in French History although there were 26 failed attempts to assassinate him and one successful: 

The river cuts Paris essentially in half and is truly beautiful:

This bridge is one of nine bridges in Paris that is covered in Love Locks. People write their names on the lock, lock it on the bridge, kiss three times, hug and throw the key into the bottom of the river. Their love is supposed to last as long as the lock:

The locks are everywhere on the bridge:

The island in the middle of the river in the middle of the river:

This fair beauty is part of the Louvre. It's a truly wonderful building:

This pyramid marks the entrance to the Louvre:

The arch of Triumph, I learned later that this was a fake, a minerature if the real one:

Another French Palace. In France, if you don't know a building it's pretty safe to assume it's a museum, if it's not a museum, it's probably a palace and if it's neither, then that's really unlucky:

We stopped for a break and I got a croissant that is ranked as the best croissant in Paris:

Joan of Ark, there are not many statues of women in France so if you see one, it's probably Joan of Ark:

This was a very beautiful park that runs next to the Louvre and next to the river. The gardens there were stunning. I was defintely a big fan:

At the end if this road is a column that is dedicated to a Napoleon victory over the Austrians. He used all of their ammunition to build it (they were melted down first):

The square where most of the public killings took place during the French Revolution. When Napoleon took over he got rid if the guillotine, put in a statue to represent each region of France and then the giant Egyptian stone tower thing was placed in the middle of the square. This was actually stolen by Napoleon and placed in the Square:  

The arch of triumph (minerature):

Arch again. Somebody tried to pick pocket me by pretending I had dropped a ring and then trying to give it to me. I caught on and was not very nice to the person. I then saw her try the same trick on two other people, it didn't work:

To enter the Louvre you must actually go underground and this pyramid is inverted so it can only be seen whole one is underground:

As soon as I got in the Louvre I got lost. The whole reason for me being there was to seen the Mona Lisa and that's the only thing I was trying to do. However, I came upon some cool statues:

I thought the Louvre itself was amazing even without the artwork:

This might look familiar. It's actually the very famous Venus:

The ceilings in the Louvre were amazing:

So amazing:

A painting of David with the head of Goliath:

This was a really cool painting where one side showed the front and the other side showed the back. I desperately enjoyed it:

This painting was huge and is known as the Wedding of Cana. It was so beautiful and I could not imagine all the time it took to create:

Then opposite the giant Wedding of Cana picture is the Mona Lisa:

Selfie with Mona:

The most beautiful thing about the Louvre museum is not the artwork. It is the Louvre itself. The architecture and the sculpting on the outside is breathtaking. The ceiling are all beautifully painted, the marble floors look great and it is really just an amazing building:

I saw this painting and I was like that looks familiar. I feel like I've seen that place before. It looks like the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. I looked at the label and it was. Very awesome:

The crowning of Naploeon as emperor:

Leonidas at the battle of Thermopalyae. The movie 300 is loosely based off this:

The three brothers painting. Morgan mentioned this in her French Rev presentation and I recognized it. It's also famous so that helped:

Another famous painting depicting the death of I believe the death of Brutus' son. It's a little blurry cause i move much too fast:

The Rape of the Sabines: 

The last three paintings were all relatively pretty well known and they all depict scenes from the History if Rome which I believe was written by Livy. Below are the four seasons shown by human faces:

After the Louve I headed back and got dinner and beer at the hostel. Then some if the friends I made on the tour and that live in the hostel had some Corinas with me:

It was a really good day and at this point in trying to plan when u can come back!