Le Grande Tour De L'Europe: Paris, Jour Trois

After taking the "Chunnel" under the English Channel, we arrived in Paris. We began by surveying the Place de la Concorde. The Place de la Concorde was the known as the Placde de la Guillotine during the French Revolution. It was the place where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed. Legend states that there were so many executions in the Place de la Concorde during the Reign of Terror (the height of the French Revolution) that there was blood running through the streets; and the smell of blood was so strong, cattle would not even come within a mile of the square. Today the Place de la Concorde is breathtaking. It features fountains and the Egyptian Obelisk given to Napoleon by the Egyptians. The square is surronded by historic buildings including the Assemble National (French Parliament building), the American Embassy, the Hotel de Crillon (Famous 5 star hotel where Marie Antoinette took music lessons), and the Marine National (French Navy Headquarters). We then headed down the most famous avenue in the world, The Champs Elysees. We stopped at several eateries including McDonalds and a crepe stand. We saw several designer shoppes such as Louis Vuitton. At the end of the Champs Elysees we reached L'Arc de Triomphe, which was a war memorial built by Napoleon. After shooing away some gypsies and taking many photos, we headed toward the River Saine for our night cruise of the city. The night tour was a great overview and sighting seeing tour opportunity. We saw the Notre Dame at sunset, the Musee de Louvre, the Academie National de Francaise, the tunnel where HRH Diana, Princess of Wales died, the place where Marie Antoinette died, and le Tour de Eiffel. Right before the cruise was over, the Eiffel Tower lights came on and starting blinking; it was a stunning light show. After our ship docked, we headed to the second floor of le Tour de Eiffel. The view was STUNNING. It was like nothing I had ever seen. I knew at that instant why they called Paris, the city of lights. The lights in the houses and buildings went on for miles and miles; it was breathtaking. As we were waiting underneath the Eiffel tower for the rest of our group to assemble, I had fun shooing off all of these Africans who kept soliciting their cheap Eiffel towers. Janet, Claudia, Sarah, and I ran across the street to get a crepe before we boarded our coach for the night tour; we made it back just in the nick of time! On our night coach tour we saw many of the same sights we had seen that day including the Place de la Concorde, The Ritz Carlton where HRH Princess Diana stayed before she died and may other sights. We we arrived back to our apartment/hotel, sleep greeted us with open arms

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