Eiffel Tower at Night

After we had a really relaxing Sunday, we thought we would end the night with a journey to the Eiffel Tower. We decided to do the whole package and go all the way to the top. I was kind of sad because I heard you could go ice skating on the Eiffel Tower, so I was stoked to get my skate on. Unfortunately, this special circumstance only occurs during the colder months in Paris. It makes sense, I know, but my excitement got the best of me. They also have a restaurant and a million gift shops on the tower as well.



This is Whitney and I on the very top level of the Eiffel Tower. It was really windy, as you can see, but it was so neat to see the whole city of Paris.



This is a picture of the Eiffel Tower with the lights flashing. Every hour on the hour starting at 10 the Eiffel Tower sparkles with thousands of little lights. The show goes on for about 10 or 15 minutes, and we were on the tower when it was going off so we got some sweet pictures.



This is looking north from the top of the tower. You can't see it well, but the yellow blog in the center is Notre Dame.



This is another picture from the top level looking east. You can even see some tour boats on the river. There are a lot of amazing Bridges in Paris, as you can see.

Paris Via Boat!

Since we are only in Paris for 8 days, we got today off to do whatever we want. Whitney and I decided to go on a boat tour of Paris. It was a really nice contrast considering we've been walking a lot lately.



This is a picture of the famous Notre Dame cathedral. If you look towards the center of the building you will notice a big round window, which is called a Rose Window. It is even more beautiful from the inside and the stained glass it awesome!



This is the Louvre Museum, home of the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. It is huge! This is only a very small part of it. In fact, the tour guide told us that if you spent one minute in front of each piece of art in the Louvre you would be inside the museum for 4 straight months! Crazy huh?



This is a picture of some residences on the island on the river. This is the first place in Paris that was inhabited hundreds of years ago. The tour guide told us this is the most expensive place to live in all of Paris. I thought the buildings were awesome and the roof top gardens were gorgeous!

Overall, our boat tour was really nice and relaxing. We got to see the major sites of Paris and chill on the boat!

Versailles

Today we went to Versailles, which is actually located in the town of Versailles. It was about a half hour train ride to the city, on a double decker train. It was pretty cool.



Here is a picture of me and Kaylee in front of the palace. Unfortunately the entrance was under construction, but it was still breathtaking.



We immediately went to the gardens in the back of the palace. There were so many people, being it was a Saturday, so everything was really busy. The gardens were massive. Much larger than the gardens at Vaux. This is a fountain in the center of the gardens. Saturday is the day they turn on the fountains at Versailles, so we were very lucky to be there today.



Here is another fountain farther back into the gardens. The way it was designed is awesome, it has the sea king and his horses arising out of the water. Pretty tight...



This is a picture, which I was not supposed to take, inside of the royal theatre inside Versailles Palace. It is gorgeous, one of the most elaborate theatres I have ever seen, but it was inside a palace!

Vaux le Vicomte

After we had spent the earlier part of the day at Fontainebleau we took the bus to Vaux le Vicomte. The story behind this place is really interesting. The owner, Nicholas Foquet, built this beautiful chateau and being that fun person he was, decided to hold a party there after it was completed. Naturally, he decided to invite the King. The King arrived at Vaux and was so jealous of the beauty of the structure and the gardens that he had Nicholas thrown in jail the morning after the party. Foquet lived in prison until the day that he died, all because of the King's greed. Pretty crazy huh? So here are some pictures of the most beautiful chateaus in the world...



Isn't it amazing? Now you can see for yourself why the King was so jealous.
The house itself is gorgeous, but the gardens are what were really awesome...



This is a view of the south side of the gardens of the chateau.



This is Whit, Me, and Megan in the gardens at Vaux. This is just a small glimpse of how massive the gardens were.



The best part of the whole night was that we got to see Vaux at night with a candle lit tour. It was gorgeous. The whole inside of the structure was lit with candles, along with the gardens. It was so awesome. They had the fountains going and music playing. It was the best experience as a whole we have had so far.