Good Girls go to Heaven, Bad Girls go to Paris.

So says a fabulous wine glass that my Aunt Sharon gave me for my birthday last year (thanks!). This weekend was incredible, and beyond anything that I had ever imagined. Breanne and I did a ton, had a blast, and did several things that we shouldn't have. All these things came together to make one whirlwind weekend that I'll never forget. This is another long post, so grab a snack and a comfy blankie, maybe a glass of wine, and let me share my Paris weekend with you.

Just to let you know: I gave up on trying to compress my photos. It's too much work, and I'm taking photos way faster than I can shrink them. I'm taking the lazy man's way out, and I bought extra storage. So all the photos from here on in (as well as the Loire Valley photos) are in their original format, and you can click all of them to see bigger versions. Enjoy!

First and foremost, I missed my train. The bus schedule here is in the middle of changing, and I thought I had solidly 45 minutes to catch the train. So I moseyed on down to my bus stop, and saw that the next one wasn't coming for 19 minutes. I panicked and hauled arse to the train station on foot, only to miss the train by 4 minutes. Not a great way to start off, but I caught the next one and still got there.

Breanne was waiting for me at the train station in Paris with an excellent hug and metro tickets. We hopped on the underground, and resurfaced a few stops later for my first look at the City of Lights.

This was one of the first things I saw when I got out of the Metro station: the Eiffel Tower. It was so pretty I started crying uncontrollably. This has been a dream for me for quite some time. I'm such a suck.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any more awesome, it started sparkling. And I cried harder. What an incredible first view of the city. 

Canada Place! Some friendly Parisians took this picture for us. Actually, she was from Montreal and he was from Mali, but they were living in Paris. The first thing they asked us was if we were Canadian. Haha. Somehow I doubt that Americans would be freaking out like this about Canada Place.

This is one of my favourite photos. 200 years ago there was a guillotine here, and many people lost their lives. Now this Obelisk is all that remains. But the real reason I took this photo is a song by Hawksley Workman, called Fatty Wants to Dance. Check it out if you don't know it. It has the following lyrics:

I want to shake it

In exotic places

I want private jets landing at Charles de Gaulle

And limos to the Champs Élysées. 

I know this isn't the Champs Élysées (we saw that too), but for me, this photo is that song. And it makes me happy.

Drinking a tiny bottle of wine on the metro. Yeah, I'm that classy. 

Graffiti on the metro. Not too shabby. There was also a Barack Obama stencilled onto one of the walls. 

Maybe the cutest hostel ever. It was fabulous, even if the room was itty bitty. 

Our metro stop. Some of them are large and noticeable like this one (in Montmartre), and others are just a large hole in the ground with some cement around it. I liked this one a lot. 

Take that, enormous statue! Behind me is the Louvre, and the Arc du Carrousel. 

The Arc du Carrousel. Similar to the Arc de Triomphe, but smaller and with a statue on top. You can see the pyramid of the Louvre under the arch. This is one of my favourite pictures from this weekend.

Well hi there! I'm just chilling in my beret. What's that? the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Carrousel are behind me? I'm so fabulous, I didn't even notice! 

Nothing here is the way I thought it would be. Everything is way bigger and more impressive than I had ever imagined it could be. 

Notre Dame. Wow. Apparently it was cleaned in the last decade or so. 

A classic example of gothic architecture. 

The front doors, ornate and incredibly detailed.

Saint Jeanne d'Arc. 

Just to give you an idea of the incredible size of this cathedral, these are just some of the pillars and ceiling. The place is enormous. 

Le coeur de Paris, or the Heart of Paris. This is the exact centre of the city. 

These guys freaked me out a bit. I saw them in the airport when I first arrived. I'm not sure what they do, other than terrify the hell out of tourists. Camouflage and machine guns in the middle of the city? Not doing a great job at blending in. Just saying.

The keyhole to the doors at Notre Dame. Simple. 

The cathedral is a lot bigger than you'd think from just looking at the outside of it. The only word that does this place justice is "vast". 

They may have cleaned the outside of the church, but these pillars have seen centuries of pollution and tourists. Incredible. 

One of the three famous "Rose Windows". The stained glass in this cathedral is some of the best-known in the world. Click to get a better view. 

We took a stroll through the treasury. There are crowns, rings, and artifacts of immense value in this church. 

Ooh, shiny. I can't imagine what the church possesses that isn't on display. 

Pondering the mysteries of life in a place I probably shouldn't have been. 

Excellent door lock. 

This chandelier had been taken down for cleaning. I love that there are real candles in it. A lot of churches here use electrical lights in their chandeliers. 

The altar way at the back of the church. I'm not sure what the box at the right is, but it may be a second altar. It's very modern-looking. 

One of the doors to the church. The guy holding his own head is Saint John the Baptist, and is creepy.

The step on the left has seen almost no wear, while the one on the right has been through centuries of tourism. See how worn-down it is?

Some of the gargoyles of Notre Dame. There are hundreds. They were created as decorative downspouts, and got the name "gargoyle" from the sound that water would make as it flows through the mouth. It sounds like gargling. They are shaped like scary demons to scare away malevolent spirits. 

There were wonderful (and not-so wonderful) buskers everywhere. These guys were singing "Stand by Me". When I got off the metro for the first time there was a guy in the station playing "My Way" by Frank Sinatra on an ancient saxophone, and there were many performers playing on the trains themselves. 

Wonderful ice cream. On the left is raspberry-rose petal, and on the right is blood orange. Yum!

Possibly the best crepe I've had yet. Salad, tomatoes, mushrooms, egg, ham, and cheese. 

One of the "bouquinistes" that line the river Seine. Here you can find anything from ancient porn to comic books to dirty postcards to paintings and souvenirs. 

The Arc de Triomphe. Naopleon had this built in 1805 to commemorate his victory at Austerlitz, but it wasn't finished until over 30 years later. It stands 50 meters tall at the head of the Champs Élysées, and is stunningly gorgeous.

Victory (and me) rallying the French soldiers. The Musée des beaux-arts in Dijon has an earlier, smaller version of this on display. 

The tomb of the unknown soldier. He represents all the French that died in the "Great Slaughter" that was the first World War. 

This one takes some explaining. There's a huge carving of Napoleon being crowned Emperor on one of the sides of the arch. He's wearing a dress. I'm looking up that dress. 

One of the many incredible stores on the Champs Élysées. Thanks to this dealership, I wandered around singing Janis Joplin all day. 

Louis Vuitton. Drool.

Woo! On one of the largest shopping streets in the world. 

The day was 25 degrees and sunny. This park was perfect. We took off our shoes and socks, and chilled in the grass for a bit. 

Breanne, looking lovely as always.

Me taking a "bain du soleil" (sun bath). What a fabulous day.

The trees here are wonderful, and smell fantastic. 

This made me laugh. The American Dream restaurant. Notice the Blues Brothers on the top right-hand corner, and Elvis on the left. 

Galerie Lafayette. This is where the idea of a shopping mall got started. Before this place, to enter a store was to be obligated to buy something. Not only could you shop and not buy here, but a lot of merchants got together in one area and you could see what the other guys were charging. What a concept. This place is 4 stories tall, and takes up 2 buildings. Each little outcropping is a different store. 

The view from one of the higher floors. Chanel, Guylian, Dior, Burberry... the selection is astounding. Mom would explode here. 

Hehe. "Pâques" means Easter. And it's Pac-Man, in chocolate. Delicious and cute.

This is the Place Vendôme. It's had a rough past. The first statue to grace the square, one of Louis XIV, was torn down by mobs during the Revolution. Napoleon had a column made of cannons captured from Austerlitz, but that was soon destroyed too. 

This is what's here now. It's a statue of Napoleon that was constructed in 1871. The square now houses some of the most amazing jewellers in the world, as well as the first ever Ritz hotel. 

The Justice Ministry. This is where the metre was created. To the left of the door is the first example of how big a metre is. At first, people had no idea what a metre looked like, so the government had to give them an example.

How long is a metre, Breanne? 

Delicious macaroons, to be used later in my epic Eiffel Tower picture. More on that later. 

Dinner Saturday night. This burger cost 20€, but was worth every centime. It was incredibly pink (read raw) in the middle, but I'm coming to realize that it's normal here. It tasted fantastic. 

Breanne incredibly excited about her meal. Mmm, beef. 

The burger was nearly the size of my head. 

I can't tell you how many pictures of the Eiffel Tower I took, but I love every one of them. It was particularly striking at night. 

Epic Paris picture! Note the  Eiffel Tower, beret, coffee, art, moustache, and macaroon. 

One of my more favourite Eiffel Tower pictures. I'm not sure what happened with the flash to make this happen, but I love it. 

Saturday night Breanne and I took a boat tour on the Seine. It was chilly, but lovely. 

Notre Dame looking like something out of a horror movie. This must be how Victor Hugo saw it to be inspired to write the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Another one of my favourite pictures.

Sunday morning was drizzly, but warm. We went to visit Père Lachaise cemetery for a little early-morning tomb crawl. 

This blows my mind. I'm not sure why the dead aren't buried below ground (rocks, soil quality, etc), but this place left a huge impression on me. 

It was a perfect morning to visit a cemetery. 

First stop: Jim Morrison. This tree has been heavily grafitti'd by fans over the years. They got so bad that they started defacing other tombs with arrows pointing the way to this grave. I couldn't find any, but we did find Jim. 

I had seen pictures of the grave, so I kind of knew what we were looking for, but Breanne was expecting something much bigger. I really like that the grave is small and simple. 

I had to hop a fence to get this picture, but it was so worth it. Cheers, Jim. 

The morning was sombre and cloudy, and there were crows everywhere to set the mood. This one was particularly vocal. 

Next stop: Oscar Wilde. It's a tradition for fans and devotees to kiss the tomb (if you couldn't tell) to show love for an artist who saw so little in his lifetime. He was officially tried for being homosexual, and was never fully accepted by his peers.

Applying the reddest lipstick that I could find. Note what my mom lovingly calls the "french flip"in my hair. It got worse as the day progressed. 

Pucker up! Oscar had a bit of a foot fetish. He would kiss his lovers' feet. It makes me sad that he's getting a lot more love in death than he did when he was alive. He was years ahead of himself.

Left my mark. If I didn't love this lipstick so darned much, I would have coloured in my mark. But I really like this lipstick. 

Heavily marked. Apparently they clean the tomb every 10 years or so. 

After the cemetery, we headed to the Eiffel Tower again. Fortunately, the weather was crummy enough to keep the hordes of people away, but it wasn't bad enough to keep us down. 

Constructed in under 2 years for the 1889 World Exhibition, this tower is made of 10 000 tonnes of iron and 2.5 million rivets. At 320 m tall, it was the tallest building in the world until the Empire State Building was built 40 years later. Originally it was built to be disassembled in under 20 years, but it was saved in WWI when it served as a communications antenna.

Gustave Eiffel. He also designed the market that I love so much in Dijon.

Looking at the top from the second floor. What an incredible monument. 

A "love lock". Apparently these are quite common, but this is the first one I saw. I guess the couple writes on a padlock and attaches it to something as a lasting testament to their love. Until someone cuts it off. Marta and Dani, I hope that your love lasts even after someone comes by here with bolt cutters. 

This plaque talks about Eiffel and the visit he had with Edison in his office on top of the tower. Edison is on the left in this engraving, but I like the fact that you can see our reflections really well in the bronze. 

Looking fabulous in our berets. 

The Arc de Triomphe. Even from the top of the tower, it looks enormous compared to the buildings around it. 

Ok, so the baguette in her pocket is mine, but the 2 crepes are all hers. 

Some artists in Montmartre. Originally this was an artist's quarter, full of aspiring (and broke) writers, painters, and sculptors. It was a bohemian paradise.

Heck yeah, I do. 

The famous Moulin Rouge. It was a lot seedier than I had imagined it would be. Apparently this is a really sketchy part of the city, and it's full of adult toy and video stores. 

Looks like that baguette just told a pretty excellent joke, Breanne. We had many moments like this over the weekend, and it makes me sad to think that I won't see you till we're back in Canada. Thanks for the awesome weekend! 

After Breanne went home (later Sunday night), I crashed at the hostel. Monday morning I was up and rocking early, because I wanted to get to the Louvre before the crowds. This is believed to be Victory. Even though she's headless and without arms, and the right wing is a plaster remake of the original, she's stunning. I can imagine her at the head of a cliff, waves crashing over her. It looks like she's weathering some incredible storm.

Woo! I can't believe I actually saw her with my own eyes. 

There she is. Steeped in mystery and rumour, the Mona Lisa has been revered and pondered for centuries. It's a shame that there was glass in front of her, but I'm thrilled that I got as close as I did. 

Cupid and Psyche. The legend goes that Cupid's kiss brought Psyche back from the dead. I love the way this statue seems to flow. 

The Venus de Milo. I stood there for close to 10 minutes staring at her. There's something incredible about the contrast in the severity of her face and the beauty of her body that haunts me. 

To escape the crowds (somewhat), I wandered for a long time through the Egyptian exhibit. This game makes me think of some ancient precursor to Cribbage (which I still don't understand). 

Bunny! I had no idea that rabbits could be hieroglyphics, but there you go.

This guy was incredible. He's a perfectly preserved mummy with all his organs still intact (in the jars below him). Even his clothes are amazingly well-preserved.

His burial mask and crown. You can see his fingers individually wrapped and clenched into fists. 

A sphinx. 

More bunnies! I'm not sure what these guys were for, but they're adorable. 

Underneath the museum. Walking around looking at art for hours, it's easy to forget that the Louvre was once a stronghold that defended the city, and then it was a royal palace! These fortifications were discovered in the 1800s. 

The pyramid. After I was done wandering the Louvre I went to the Latin Quarter for lunch and more tourism.

Tourism is hungry work. This was maybe the best lunch I've had since I've been here. This is a rice and crab salad, which was followed by penne with a chicken thigh and wonderful sauce. I sipped café au lait as I contemplated my next stop.

The Pantheon. The Latin Quarter is home to the academics of the city. The University is just around the corner. I wanted to go inside to see the tombs of Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and Emile Zola, but it was closed to prepare for what looked like one heck of a party. Drat.

In stark contrast with the huge, blocky buildings in the quarter, I stumbled on some incredibly beautiful courtyards. Like this one. 

As I wandered around, I saw these two in the middle of a gorgeous photo shoot. I wish them every happiness. 

I adore this monument. Have I mentioned that?

After a chaotic day, it was really nice to spend some quiet time surrounded by calmly moving fishes. 

Baby shark! I could see him moving around in his little pouch. So cool!

Yes, you read that right. Petting pool. Full of fish. 

Some of the biggest koi I've ever seen. The keeper gave me some pellets, and I held them on top of the water. The fish came right up and nibbled on my fingers! It was neat, and kind of icky.

A charming apartment-slash-underpass to get into the Place des Vosges. I had some time to kill, so I decided to try to find Victor Hugo's house. 

French people enjoying a beautiful day in one of the rare parks in the city. I love the way that people live in France. If it's sunny, find a spot of grass and chill. No hurry. 

Victor Hugo's house in the Place des Vosges. I had to look for a bit to find it, as it's not enormous. It's part of a huge building that surrounds the park in the picture above. 

The knocker on Hugo's door. 

The house itself is way back in the corner. The door is under the window that has all the red and white in it. Not so easy to find. It was closed when I got there, so I couldn't explore inside.

The floor plan for the Bastille. It was built to be a prison and taken by revolutionaries in 1789. There were only seven prisoners at the time, but that didn't matter. The Bastille was seen as a symbol of the corruption of the state. Nothing is left of it. 

This is what stands in its place. To the left of the tower is the Bastille Opera. 

A really neat building near the Place de la Bastille. 

The train station. 

A tiny patch of green. So rare in this city!

There were so many different metro stops! If nobody has published a book on the Paris metro, it's only a matter of time. The stops are all so different! Some are beautiful, others are sketchy as hell, and the rest are everywhere in between. 

A cab driver playing guitar while he waits for his next fare. 

Amazing sandwich! Camembert and apple. I must remember this. 

My mom gave me this little gecko for Christmas. He came with a tag that talked all about travels and voyages and things. He's been on my backpack since I left Lethbridge. He makes me happy. 

Well, that about does it. I got home late Monday night, exhausted, elated, and broke. My bag was stuffed with treasures and souvenirs, and my head was stuffed with memories that I'm still trying to sift through. All in all, I'd call that a successful weekend. I'd love to go back to see Versailles, the Pantheon, and the catacombs (they were closed Monday when I tried to go). Hopefully I'll have another weekend free before I go back home. As it stands right now, I'm tuckered right out. It's late, and I need to get to bed. Thanks for following my little adventures!

À bientôt!