Paris! May 8

I left at 5 am and drove to the international train station in downtown London.  I got there early, and it just so happened to be across the street from Kings Cross train station.  So I hopped over there real quick to get a photo of Platform 9 and 3/4 ( Harry Potter fans will get that.  And I am a fan.)

I took the Eurostar from London to Paris. It's a 2 hr train ride and travels in a tunnel under the English Channel.  Upon arrival, I took a taxi to Notre Dame.  I believe it is the largest religious church/cathedral in the world.  It was spectacular.

Then I took a Hop on Hop off Big Bus tour.  It was a 2 hr ride around the city with commentary about different landmarks and such.  Fun!

The Champs Élysées.

The Opera House was cool.  This is the Opera House that is central to Phantom of the Opera.

See all the gold on the fencing?  Those are all locks where lovers put their padlocks and throw the key into the River Seine.

I bought a lock, and put mine and Steve's name on the back with the date.  It came with three keys.  I threw one in the river, kept one, and gave the third to Steve.  Here's our lock.

Our bus drove/squeezed through this tunnel.

The Louvre.

It was ENORMOUS!!!  I believe I walked a few miles inside of here and barely scratched the surface of seeing it all in the hour and a half I spent there.

Me and Mona.

After the Louvre, I spent a couple of hours walking all over the place.

This torch is a replica I guess of the one on the Statue of Liberty.  And the tunnel under it is where Princess Diana was killed in that horrible car crash in 1997.

The Arc De Triumphe was spectacular!  

Me on top of the Arc.  I typically offer to take people's photos and they offer back.  I have met a lot of nice people this way.

The stairwell down the Arc.

The Eiffel Tower was much more than I imagined.  Huge.

Photos from on top.  Well not the top top.  I only went halfway up to save money and the wait was too long to go up all the way anyhow.

I then took a cab back to the train station & road the train back to London.  Then I drove from London to Egham, getting home at nearly midnight.  It was my longest day yet.  Below is the train station in Paris.  All my photos didn't do justice to all these amazing places!