Paris: La ville de l'amour et pas de files d'attente

This past weekend, Francisco, Ronan and I went to Paris. We used Airbnb and rented a lovely flat in the 7th district.

We only had 48 hours in Paris, so upon our arrival, we dropped off our suitcases and started walking the city-- well, as soon as Francisco finished being contemplative at the window, of course. Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower and while here, we were very impressed by the level to which people took "Park Lounging." It seemed as though no one but us had any concept of time or another place to go. As an example, check out the couple in the bottom right corner of this GIF (You may need to click on it):

Aren't GIFs the best?

We really tried to get into this mind frame, but we just had to much to do and see (That, and the fact that my very fair skin can only handle 15 minutes max in direct sunlight).

Time to get out of the sun, girl! 

From here, we continued our walk and moved on to see the Dome des Invalids, the Arc de Triomphe, The Grand Palace, The Petit Palace and walked the Champs-Elysees and over the Pont Alexandre III (The beautiful bridge that Carmella from The Soprano's has an epiphany on...and I'm sure it's also very important for many other historical reasons).

Dome des Invalids

Arc de Triomphe

The next day, we stopped for a cappuccino and croissant and were entertained by a partially costumed mime who scared young children and tourists alike. After this short break, we knew we needed to get moving. During our travels, we found the key to touring this city quickly: You need a baby. On 4 separate occasions, we were literally pulled out of lineups and told to cut straight to the front of the line. For some reason, the French don't seem to think babies should wait in line for anything. The time we were happiest about this perk was while waiting in line for The Louvre:

We were not only yanked out of line, we were basically given our own private security guard who showed us around and let us use secret elevators with him. Our only regret is that we weren't there on official business. Having our own security detail, we really wanted our own important investigation to work on. We decided to make our own mission: We would get a picture, front and center, of Mona Lisa.

Mission Distraction: Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss

Mission Distraction: The Venus de Milo

The Obstacles

Mission Accomplished

The next place we were given permission to "line hop" was at Notre Dame. We were directed to enter straight through the exit. 

"Common in; ain't nobody here but 1000 other people."

850 years old!

From here, we made our way to the Latin Quarter, went shopping, had a Parisian dinner on a terrace, and went to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Although we accomplished a lot, 48 hours just wasn't enough in this amazing city. My lasting impressions: I was inspired by the city's sites and architecture; I found it weird not having to bike dodge for 2 days; and, I thoroughly enjoy seeing people walk the streets carrying only a baguette in their hands. 

A bientot, Paris!