When I came to Paris two years ago, all I could think of was how much my sister would love this city. I have dreamed of coming back with her and seeing her in what I assumed would be here element- her city. Paris is just so elegant, classy, refined and high class with its tree lined streets, white marble buildings with blue grey roofs and rod iron balconies. I just knew Alli would love it. And I was right. She said, "this city was made for me!" I believe it.
Alli has been nannying and the family she nannies for sent her and their 10 year old daughter to a French immersion school in the countryside for a week. Since they flew in and out of Paris, they spent 2 nights in the city and I was able to meet them here since my program just ended. They were even nice enough to allow me to stay with Alli and Megan in their hotel and it was much nicer than what I am used to since hostels are my usual resting choice because they are cheap.
The hotel was beautiful- located right off of Champ de Lesaisses and by the arc de triump. I arrived about forty-five minutes before Alli and Megan and seeing them walk through the doors to the hotel was like a dream that I never thought would occur, at least not until Alli and I were older.
The first day we somehow managed to squeeze a lot in. We grabbed lunch, bought Megan a sweater because it's in the low 60's here (in late June!!) and then headed out to explore. Since the Arc was literally a two minute walk from the hotel, we decided to go there first. We didn't know you could access the arc via a tunnel under the street so we followed some people across the largest round a bout in the world. I would say there's probably 8 lanes of traffic but there's no way of telling; cars just sort of drive where ever they want. We waited in a pretty short line and then climbed to the top. It was neat to be able to see the perfect circle the Arc sits in and the rest of Paris spread out below. It was nice too because you could still see the Eiffel Tower, unlike when you climb that and you can't see it, obviously. 
After the Arc, I convinced Megan she would be fine to brave the Metro so down we went. I downloaded an app that was very very useful and helped us immensely when we navigated the system. We took the metro to Notre Dame. It was a beautiful church. From the outside, I was almost a little disappointed because living in Italy, I am surrounded by and have seen so many huge, ornately marble decorated churches. But this one was pretty in its own way. To me, it became more impressive the longer I looked at it. There are so many statues covering it and we were able to hear the bells ring which was beautiful. We waited in about a 10 minute line again to go inside. It is beautiful inside. There is a plethora of stained glass and mass was going on so we were able to see and hear the chanting and singing. That was neatl but also a little odd because there were tourists just walking around which church happening. 
Next up, we went to find the Love Bridge that my friend Jenna told me about. This bridge is covered in locks and you write on the lock (either your name or you and your significant others name, but in this case, we did sisters) and then lock it to the bridge and throw the key into the river- thus locking your hearts to the city. On the way, we passes some crepe stands so of course we had to indulge in one! I had lemon and sugar, Alli had toffee and caramel, and Megan had banana and Nutella. They were all delicious. 
Then we found the love bridge, found a lock, and locked our sisterly love to Paris. 
It was getting close to dinner time so we decided to head towards the Eiffel because we wanted to see it all lit up at night. We found a restaurant and ate. When we finished, it was almost 9:30 and the sun was still up and shining! It was crazy. Since we had a 10 year old with us, we had to go back to the hotel because it was past her bed time. I was still glad we were able to see the Eiffel that day though even if we didn't see it sparkling at night. We had such a wonderful, busy day.
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