paris, day 1

we have officially begun our travelling across europe. up until now, we have had a home base (jena) and that was so nice because we weren’t hauling all our stuff everywhere. that was a nice luxury. now, we’re vagabonds, going from place to place, wherever the wind takes us. well, wherever the trains that we reserve take us.
first stop: paris.
the nice thing is that i probably won’t have to use a lot of words because all the stuff we’re seeing is super touristy. so that will be nice. just get ready for lots of pictures.
paris was an awesome city. it was so cool to actually go to all the places you’ve only ever seen in movies and pictures. we were there for 4 days, so we had  p l e n t y  of time to see everything we could ever want to see. ok. honest moment: it was so cool to see all the stuff we did. buuuuut we do think paris is a bit overrated. (don’t hate us.) that’s all i’ll say about that.
our very very first night in paris, we got in around 8, so we went to our airbnb where we were staying (we didn’t want to walk around with all our stuff on our backs). good news about our place: it had 3 floors. bad news: each floor was no more than 40 ft². oh how i wish i were kidding. here’s the proof:


kitchen/family room area.

tayte is standing in the corner, right in front of the stairs you’ll see next. he could have reached out and touched me.



this is the first floor.




stairs leading up to the next floor.



the nice thing is that they’re left/right foot specific.

the bad thing is that they’re left/right foot specific.

















second floor, aka the bedroom.
the bed mattress on the floor took up most of the room. also this room was no more than 4 feet tall, so neither of us could stand up straight in here.
tayte was up against the wall to take this (bending over, of course).


tayte probably then turned and sat on the bed to get this shot, the ladder leading up to the third floor.

the nice thing is that ladders aren’t the worst things in the world.

the bad thing is that it’s a ladder and shouldn’t be climbed if at all groggy. so if nature calls in the middle of the night/early in the morning, you best pay attention.

























this is the bathroom, yes on the third floor. there is the ladder you just saw, leading up to this lovely floor. that little red platform? yeah you don’t stand on that. it would probably break.
one thing you can’t see is the ridiculously tall ceilings. we’re talking vaulted ceilings here.
also the light didn’t work up here, so once the sun went down, all business had to be conducted in the dark.

because of the nature of, well, getting from the ladder to the tile floor, it’s dangerous to get on that ladder (whether going up or down) when sleepy/groggy, if wet, while awake, while wearing socks, at night, when in a rush, during the day, while holding anything, or while talking to anyone or anything.















you know how when you have little kids, and they wait until it is an absolute dire emergency before telling you they have to use the bathroom and then it’s a mad rush against time and nature to make it to the toilet in time?

just be grateful you don’t live here.























all that being said, it really wasn’t too shabby of a deal. it was a cheap place and it was a place to stay, so we can’t really complain.

anyway.
after dropping off all our stuff and taking a quick {somewhat dangerous} tour of the apartment, we decided to take a walk. and that is exactly what we did. we walked. we didn’t even take any pictures. we just walked around. it was nice to walk around after being stuck on a train all day.

7/27

our first whole day in paris. we started by going to the pantheon so we could get our museum passes. the pantheon is a museum, but it’s not the most amazing thing in the world. it’s pretty much where you go to get your museum pass because there is never a line there. but we figured it couldn’t hurt to look around a bit since we were there anyway.


good ol’ victor hugo. rest in peace, my friend.

















then we made our way to notre dame. let me tell you something about this thing: I. LOVE. IT. seriously. i think this was the thing i was most excited about seeing, at least in paris. man. it was breathtaking. yeah it was weird to stand in a line to go into a church and yeah it wasn’t as tall as you think, and yeah there’s no quasimodo or esmerelda or phoebus, but i didn’t care. we stood in that line, went inside, and loved it.


next up was the louvre. now here’s the thing. the line to get in here was absolutely ridiculous. but since we had museum passes, we literally walked right in. so if you’re thinking about going to paris and you’re considering getting a museum pass, DO IT. it will be worth it, i promise.




the crowd to see one of the most famous ladies ever.

we were in this mess for way too long.

again, i really wish my father-in-law had been here…







there she be.



















through the years, there has been a lot of speculation as to why she’s smiling.
i now know why.
she’s laughing at all the tourists that crowd around her little face, taking picture after picture after picture every time they move forward a foot.




but still…
#totallyworthit






















venus di milo




































after the louvre, we went up to sacre coeur. it was a pretty neat church. there were people everywhere, but it is paris, so whatever. we went up in the dome of the church, which gave us some sweet views.


this city be crazy. every time we had a view of it, i got a headache.















then it was eiffel tower time. and ok. this was cool. especially the part where we went up to the second floor and could see forever. the stairs on the way down weren’t quite so cool, but we enjoyed them anyway.



don’t worry.
we did.






















you wouldn’t believe how nerve-wracking this was.

1 day down, 3 to go!