On top of the Arc.
We could see everywhere. The Grand Arch, the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Couer, the Champs-Elysses, and the Louvre! We came down and wandered down the Champs-Elysses looking in all the windows and actually going in to some stores.
Nour and I stopped at a Swatch store where she bought a watch and Leigh and Libby went on to do their own thing for the afternoon. Nour and I were so happy that the weather had cleared so we took the Metro and headed up to MontMarte to see Moulin Rouge. Neat building, but definitely not much to see. We bought the obligatory postcard at the gift shop and then got nutella crepes and headed up to the top of the hill.
Once at the top, we could finally see Sacre Coer! It really is such a beautiful church. Nour pointed out that it almost has a 'mosque' style to it. It's white and has 5 or 6 domes with a lot of detail. We took the funicular up to the top, walked up some stairs and there we were standing at the entrance...completely amazed by the grandeur.
We turned around and once again we had a great view of the city. Finding the highest point in the cities we visit has become one of our most favorite things. You can see how the city is laid out, where the landmarks are, and get an overall feel for the architecture and the colors. We turned back towards the church and entered...for free! This church is kept as a place of 'perpetual prayer' and they don't charge you to get in. It was really one of the most beautiful places I have ever been into. There was just the right amount of stained glass! The color was amazing. Nour and I walked all the way around the aisles of the church on both sides and finally ended up seated in the pews. We couldn't help but just stare at the apse of the church and the mosaic that was done inside of it. It was so detailed and so perfect --- covered in gold and lapis l'azzura. Of course, you can't take photos in there – so, if you want to see it, you'll have to google it. But, we sat there for a good 10 or 15 minutes with our mouths hanging open.
The church.
We walked back down the hill, caught the metro and went back to the hotel to get Nour's stuff together so she could head back to Amsterdam. She left and I laid down to take a nap and not too long after L & L came in. We got out and went to Hard Rock of Paris. And, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had a fantastic waiter (who was fascinated by my being from Tennessee – he said he loved Jack Daniels...no lie!) and listened to good music and got American food.
As we were heading back to the hotel, L & L wanted to tell me what we were going to do the next day and they were so excited about telling me! (Sidenote: We were only going to stay in Paris 2 days, 2 nights...but we loved it so we decided to stay Wednesday night as well!)
They had been very intent on finding the Palais Garnier...which is one of the main opera houses in Paris. It is also the opera house that the book Phantom of the Opera was based on. There are stairs that look like the masquerade stairs...a chandelier that supposedly fell and killed someone and even water channels underneath the building!! They found the house and were told it was 4.50 to tour and see the inside of the auditorium but that they'd have to come back another day because there was a rehearsal in progress.
They deliberated for a few moments and the man at the ticket booth told them it would be only 7 euros a piece to buy opera tickets. So....they did! And surprised me.
Of course, for 7 euros, what can you expect?! Our tickets said “sans visibilite” on them – which they most definitely were...if you were sitting. We stood for the hour that we stayed :]
But, it was so worth it. We got to see the building and wander around inside before the show started...we got to see the inside of the auditorium...we got to see the chandelier and the Charles Shagall painting on the ceiling (which was Gorgeous). After about an hour or so we decided to leave. The opera (The Rake's Progress) was in English but it was just getting more ridiculous every minute...so we left when they brought out a man in a wolf head, a life sized plastic horse and a midget in a silver-sequined suit.
The chandelier.
I think we went and got cappucinoes and hot chocolate after that – but, I honestly can't really remember. We got our stuff packed and we were ready to get up at 6 to get to the train station by 7 the next morning so that we could go to Zurich and meet Tyler Jones, one of our fellow HUFers.
Oh, I forgot - we went to Versailles on Wednesday morning! It was SO cold outside in the garden. But, we're glad that we went. The grand apartments...the hall of mirrors...there was a huge collection of silver there as well!!
The gate into Versailles.
The Hall of Mirrors.
All's well. We make it to the station a little after seven...and we're in the line....the international ticket line...when, lo and behold we get up to the counter and we are informed that the 8:24 train to Zurich is full. And, that every subsequent train to Zurich for the DAY is full.
So, where on this Eurail map could we go? -Libby.
There were tons of people behind us in line, so we said – okay, we can handle this. Let's get breakfast, take out the time table and the map and figure out just where we can go. So, that we did. We sat at the cafe in the train station and kept pitching out ideas. “Heidelberg?” “London?” “Reims?” “Frankfurt?” “Bern?” “Innsbruck?” etc. Then, Leigh comes up with this crazy idea and says, “What if we get to Berlin and we see the wall and head back home on a night train...?!” Of course Libby and I were willing to go along with it – especially since we didn't have any real plans.
Leigh worked her magic, opened up the Thomas Cook Book and found a whole slew of trains that would take us to Berlin by ten. We'd have to wait for the 6 am train the next morning to get to Munich, but we knew we could occupy ourselves for six hours.
WRITE THESE TRAIN TIMES AND NUMBERS DOWN!!! -Leigh
We get to the ticket counter and the guy acts like the first train (to Frankfurt) was full and so Leigh looked at him and simply said, “Just give us a train ticket...a ticket to SOMEWHERE.” It was then that he looked back at his screen and realized that we could ride that train.
When we got to Frankfurt we were supposed to take a connected train (we arrived at 3:56) at 5:13 to get to Berlin. Nevertheless, we wanted to make sure that everything was perfect. So, once again we rushed to the ticket counter. And, by this time it's about 4 – the man at the counter said, “Oh, you can take the next train to Berlin – it leaves at 4:13.” We looked at eachother and had huge grins on our faces – so much for food, that could wait – we were going to be on a train that would arrive a lot earlier to Berlin...a train that would arrive at 8:20. That meant...
We could get a cab to drive around the city for 30 or 45 minutes – we could come back, grab a bite to eat and be on an OVERNIGHT TRAIN to Munich at 10:14 pm. Which would put us home in Florence at 5:30...instead of 11:45.
HALLELUJAH! This was working out perfectly. Getting to Berlin was a breeze – well, somewhat. Their seat reservation system was a little complicated, but once we figured it out we had it down. The German trains are so nice a spacious! We arrived in Berlin, rushed to the ticket counter (you see the recurring theme here I hope) and, once again – we were so blessed! There were 3 couchettes on the train to Munich for 2 hours later. Sigh. We were doing well.
We ran downstairs and tried to catch a cab. The first guy rolled down his window and Leigh said “Hello, we'd like ---” and he waved his hand at her and drove away. He did NOT like the English.
So, the next driver pulled up, got out took our bags and put them in the back and then asked us where we wanted to go.
We told him that we primarily just wanted to drive around this side of town and that we wanted to see the Berlin wall. He said, “I've got the perfect place to take you.” He took us to a huge section of the wall and proceeded to tell us about what life was like when he was young and living here before the wall fell. And he told us about the changes that occurred when it was brought down. How the East felt towards the West and vice versa. It was a short experience, but a moving one and a memorable one.
Needless to say, we made it back to Florence...walked quickly in hopes that bus 16 would be at the stop...and there it was...with 6 girls from our group there. It was a great reunion – they were happy to see us and we them.
We were sad about having to walk up the hill with our packs. But, Sandro (he is the villa do-everything-man) was driving by – saw the 9 of us and stopped and pointed to our bags and had us take them off to put in his car. He doesn't speak much English, but I think he understood how grateful we were the way we hugged him and kept saying, “Grazie mille!” in the most southern way.
And, thus ended my first real European adventure.
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