Europe Day THREE

Today we woke up and went to the Louvre.  We got there and saw all these guys were selling souvenirs.  But you have to barter with them because they give you a ridiculous price.  We didn’t buy anything though.  At the Louvre we walked around the front outside for awhile before we went inside.  We looked at the huge glass pyramid and took many pictures.  Demetrious told us it was time to go inside the museum.  We stood in line for security. Yes, there is security at the Louvre. We also saw the inverted glass pyramid right below the glass pyramid outside the Louvre.  We put our bags through an extremely extensive (; security system. NOT. Lamest one ever.  We got inside, went to the information desk and got a map.  This place is massive. There is no way we could have found our way around without one.  We picked the art pieces we wanted to see most, because we only had two hours and it is said that it would take months to go through and see the whole thing.  We decided top priority was the Mona Lisa.  So we looked at the map, planned our route, and headed off.  On the way we saw many of the pieces though.  The first one we saw was the Winged Victory.  We stopped to take a picture. And….well…just our luck…Ash got pick pocketed.  Yup. So here is the story.  Ash was standing in front of it and I had her camera and said, “Are you ready?” She said, “yeah.” But right when I went to take the picture she turned her head, and I was like, “Ash, what the heck.” She said, “Someone tugged on my purse.” So she was looking in her purse to see if anything was stolen.  She noticed her camera case was stolen but nothing else and I had her camera so it wasn’t even a big deal.  We were looking at the picture and BAM. There he is.  They guy that stole her camera case was caught in the act on picture.  HA! He failed, cause not only did he get only a camera case, but he was caught, and we got a picture with him.  Idiot.  Once we got over that incident and how funny it was we continued our tour through the Louvre.  After searching and searching we found the Mona Lisa.  It is on a GIGANTIC wall with absolutely nothing else. And it is tiny. We pushed and shoved to get to the front, like a concert almost. We finally get to the front where we can take a perfect picture and they made all the people leave so others could get to the front.  We were not happy! But oh well, cause we saw it and we got a few pictures.  We went to see psyche and cupid, Aphrodite, and Michael Angelo.  It is such a cool museum and I understand how it could take a long time to get through.  We learned that if you walk the Louvre from one end to the other it is a mile long.  Talk about a huge building.  We then went outside to see the gardens.  We decided we might as well get the experience and barter with one of the guys.  But we got really nervous so we didn’t do as well as we had hoped.  We still got 5 Eiffel Tower key chains for one Euro.  We took a few more pictures outside the beautiful Louvre and by the Arch there.  We finished looking and we still had to eat lunch before we met up with our group.  We were on our own and didn’t really know French all that well, so we went to McDonalds.  Well we thought we were being all smart cause Mcdonalds has to be the same right?  Not even.  McDonalds in America is so different, like not even the same menu or anything.  We wait in line and have a hard time ordering.  Plus we don’t even know what we really ordered.  We see Melanie and she says, “oh this is the line you can order in English in.”  We struggled through but we ordered in French.  We didn’t even need to easy English line.  Its all about experience right? I ended up with a chicken sandwich and fries.  I also ordered a Fanta.  Their soda is a lot different.  My Fanta was like orange juice with sprite.  Still good but definitely not the same.  It was also warm with no ice.  That’s how they roll in Europe.  After lunch we all met up and went on a guided bus tour.  The lady was a weird one.  We just saw different sights in Paris.  We went to the city building, the gold roofed palace. And we went to the round about under the Arc de Triomphe.  Lets just say that I was pretty sketched out to be in that roundabout in a huge tour bus.  There is 14 entrances to this roundabout, no lanes, and it is a no fault roundabout.  People go in and out how and when they want.  We stopped at a viewing point for the Eiffel Tower. It’s fine, but me and my best friend Ashlie Albrecht took the worlds cutest known pictures in existence.  We couldn’t believe we were really right in front of the Eiffel Tower.  I had to take deep breaths as it was taking my breath away.  Holy Heck. I saw the Eiffel Tower. After we took it all in we went back to the bus and went to the opera house.  It is a huge building, but we didn’t get to go inside.  We also drove through the Fashion District.  It is super cool, I wish I could afford something there.  Even though I definitely didn’t even feel rich enough to be there.  We also drove down the Champs Elysees and it was Beautiful.  We decided we would have to come back on our free time.  We finished our bus tour and got dropped off back at the Opera House.  We then went to a perfume museum and learned about how they make perfume. When we first walked in they put a sticker with an F on your shirt.  Ours was square and purple.  The other EF group was orange and round.  This random kid said, “Only the cool kids get orange and round. Oops sorry.” And Ash said, “Only the sexy kids get square and purple.” It was Hilarious. If you want to become a perfumist there is only 2 available schools in the world. Both in France, and it is extremely competitive and expensive.  You have to be able to recognize 150 different scents and the combinations.  We took a test with 8 and got a 100.  I am practically a professional (; We also learned that it takes 3 tons of flowers or plants to make 1 liter of perfume.  After we learned about it and saw the museum we went and sampled some of the perfumes.  Mine and Ashy’s favorite was called Etoile, which means star.  We loved it so much we pretty much bathed in it.  After we left we had free time.  We decided to go to the Galleries Lafayette.  Best Mall Ever.  It was absolutely crazy in there.  We walked in and looked around for awhile.  We walked past the macaroon place and the dude seductively reeled us in to the samples.  Well it worked for him, cause I bought a banana one.  I wasn’t really crazy about it. We left and then went to dinner.  We had pork, potatoes, and a chocolate mousse.  After that we went on a night time boat cruise.  It takes you down the river Seine.  Boys were waving and then chased after the boat.  It was almost a perfect romance story.  We saw tons of lovers by the river and it made a lot of us girls extremely jealous.  We all want a Paris Love, but who doesn’t.  Then we got off the cruise and went to the Eiffel Tower at night.  I have been waiting for this moment for almost my whole life.  I was born to be here.  We get there, stand in line for a bit and then find out, it was to late to go. EFF.  For real, like this would be my luck.  So instead we just had some free time.  We went to a shop across the street and waited for it to twinkle.  We watched in and it was gorgeous.  I just don’t understand how some medal and some lights could be my absolute favorite thing and biggest dream. But it is and it absolutely was perfect.  After we watched that for awhile we went back to the hotel and went to bed.