Day 1 & 2: Traveling
We left LAX, had a 2 hour layover turn into a 6 hour layover in Chicago, but we've made it to Paris!
We got there mid day and Andrea was waiting for us at the Hotel. We dropped our things off, and half listened as she rattled off her agenda for us. We then walked to the metro station, bought our 3 day tickets and went on our merry way to the Notre Dame Cathedral.
We waited in a very long line that moved very quickly...so quickly that we’d made it to the front 3 time before Andrea finally made it back with our water bottles from Safeway. (Come on, it was across the street and took her like 25 minutes, of course after making it to the front of the line twice I panicked and just as all the scenes from Taken crossed through my mind, she came casually strolling up, lovely). So the inside was beautiful, the stained glass windows were sincerely breathtaking, I just love old churches and there was something about the gargoyles on the roof that just topped it all of perfectly (literally).
Then we hopped back on the metro to go to Montmartre, a hill in the North of Paris. After grabbing a quick sandwich we began our climb of A LOT of stairs that finally took us to the top of this lovely little town. The residence of this town are made up of all sorts of artists - writers, painters, musicians, ect...it has become a little hub for creativity, Van Gogh and his brother lived there for awhile. There is another beautiful church on top of the mountain. Standing on the steps out in front was a great view of Paris. We then had a run in with a man stuck in a wall, (read his story: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/04/my-encounter-with-qthe-man-who-could-walk-through-wallsq). We then grabbed ice cream and made our way back to the hotel for a bit. 
Our night ended with a sleepy boat ride around Paris to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up. DEFINITELY worth the sleep deprivation (remember this all happened the second we landed in Paris, no post traveling nap for me yet). We got back to our beds about 12:30am and needless to say I passed out....never to be heard from again.
Day 3
I was just kidding about that never to be heard from again. Blackout curtains are both an amazing creation and my worst enemy. I slept in until 10am, which is horrifyingly unheard of for me but then we were off (slowly) to start day 2. Today we were off to Disneyland. Although in my mind I’m thinking, been there done that, but this is Andrea’s trip and she was adamant that we go. It was a fun day, a lot was the same but there was definitely a lot that was different. Their Space Mountain, sooo much better, but our Haunted House and Indiana Jones for sure takes the cake. I left earlier than the rest of them because I was in desperate need of a good run and wanted to see the Eiffel Tower up close and personal. So they stayed for the firework water show (which was apparently out of this world amazing) and I headed back to the hotel to change.
I jumped onto the metro and made my way through the crowds of awful tourists (of course I’m excluding myself from this generalization) and found a big park at the base of the Eiffel Tower. I’m not sure which one of my friends told me it wasn't as big as they thought it would be, you’re dumb, it was HUGE. I then started on my run around the park with the goal of “running until it got dark” - mind you it was already like 8:30pm well..... 6 miles later I decided that “getting dark” was a good enough time to stop because it apparently doesn't get dark until forever here! I stopped a couple time to gawk at the sunset and become one of those awful tourists by taking my phone out every other mile or so to get another picture.
Day 4
Our last day in Paris we attempted to go to the Catacombs but the line was catastrophic so we made our merry way towards the Arc de Triomphe. From the top the view was breathtaking. By far THE BEST view of the city. We made friends with a boy wearing a BYU shirt and his dad because I obviously have to make conversations with everyone possible. His parents had flown to pick him up from his mission in South Africa and they were taking the long way home stopping in Paris and then New York on their way home to Utah. Anyways, it was a fun little run in. After this we grabbed lunch, packed up and we were off to Amsterdam by train!
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