Just NB

Before I arrived in Paris, I bought all of us these passes for an Open Tour bus. It's basically a tourist bus that runs every hour with awesome routes and you can hop on and off as you please. It's a lot easier than trying to find your way around with the buses and trains. The one con? Well...if it's raining (or freezing) it's not exactly fun. But if it's warm enough, it's pretty awesome because you just sit back, relax, and enjoy the sights and sounds of the city. One of our stops was Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. The basilica is at the summit of Monmatre, the highest point in the city. The basillica is built of a stone quarried in only in France. This stone constantly exudes calcite, which ensures that the basilica remains white even with weathering and pollution. There won't be many pictures of it....since no photography is allowed. It is a spectacular sight though. Even if we were freaking soaking wet!!! But here I am outside, standing in the rain!...

Of course no visit to Paris would be complete without seeing the Eiffel Tower!! I had seen it a couple of times during some layovers in Paris, but never really up close. My first impression....I thought it would be bigger? It is pretty cool, but I just thought it would be like mega huge. A few fun facts about the Eiffel Tower.... Erection of the Eiffel Tower took 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days from start to finish. Construction begain on January 26, 1887 and was completed on March 31, 1889. Approximately 60 tons of paint is required to paint the Eiffel Tower and it is painted every 7 years in 3 different shades of brown. During gusty winds, the Eiffel Tower sways upto 15 cms at its summit. Solar heating can causes the Eiffel Tower to expand up to 3.25 inches. The Eiffel Tower shrinks 6 inches in winter (Just a quick note...I detested the elevator ride up to the second deck. I did not feel safe AT ALL!!!) The Eiffel Tower stands 324 meters tall and is made up of 9441 ton...

Well, I figure it's about time I get some posts with some pictures and stuff about my trip. I haven't totally decided how I'm going to do my vacation posts....they won't be day-by-day...because really....it's not all that interesting... But here's my first real day in Paris. At least, I think it's my first day....I can't even really remember anymore! The day started out with the train. Or the RER. Or whatever the hell it's called. I couldn't help but take a picture of these three sexy guys with their sexy matching hats. After a couple of stops, we were at Versailles. The Château de Versailles is one of the most beautiful achievements of 18th-century French art. The site began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government of France to Versailles in 1682. Each of the three French kings who lived there until the French Revolution added improvements to make it more beautiful....