Paris: Part Deux

In the morning, we took showers and planned out our day. As a couchsurfer, you're not allowed to be in your host's apartment when they are not there. Sandrine gave us three times to meet her: either at 7 pm at her place, 11 pm at a bar where she would be, or between midnight and 1 am at her place. We had until five to decide and then we would have to let her know what our plans were.
We bought tickets for the metro, which ended up being a major lifesaver because it took us everywhere so quickly. Everything in Paris is quite spread out.
We started out by heading to the Grand Opera, a huge structure with beautiful sculptures decorating it. The Grand Satircase inside is the site of one of my favorite Dsiney scenes from the movie Anastasia.
We then visited Notre Dame. It's actually on an island in the middle of the Seine. It was beautiful. Ever since I read The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo, I've wanted to see this cathedral.
We then visited La Place de Bastille, where the famous prison used to stand. Not until I got there did I know that it was torn down. But there is a monument where it used to be. I kept remembering the story of Les Miserables and The Scarlet Pimpernel, and everything I had learned about the French Revolution.
Next was the Champs Elysee and the Arc de Triomphe, which is huge. Here we saw the gaint Cartier store and went into Louis Vuitton. Wow!
At this point, we called Sandrine and told her we would meet her at the restaurant around 11 because we were planning to see the Louvre at night.
But before that museum, we headed to the Eiffel Tower. It was between 5 and 6 when we rode the elevator to the top. It is high up! But it was definitely worth the trip. The views, as you can imagine, are specacular, especially since we went right at sunset. On the way up to the very top, two ladies from Boston attached themselves to Mary Beth and I because they were scared to death. It was funny.
Although we were pretty tired, we took the metro to the Louvre. Unfortunately, it closed right before we got there. But we learned that the next night was free admission for all those under 26.
So we went to the Musee D'Orsay instead, right across the river. This museum houses many impressionist works by Monet, Manet, Degas and Van Gogh, to name a few. I really enjoyed this because impressionism is my favorite style of painting. I can't say enough about how wonderful this museum was.
We finished around nine and headed towards the restaurant where we were supposed to meet Sandrine. We ate some yummy Japanese food and then met up with her at about quarter after 11. We stayed at the restaurant and then Sandrine's friend took us home.
It was such a full day and I was completely exhausted. I sacked out on the couch and slept like a log.