Paris!

I am finally getting around to showing off my Paris photos!
It was so surreal being there, for months before, I would look at postcards or browse through flickr and look at photos of Paris and wonder if it was really as wonderful as it seemed and looked. I even had dreams about being in Paris...for a while I thought I wasn't going to go...nearly didn't get my schengan visa in time...but I made it!
I went with two of my best friends-we took a few trains at 5 in the morning to get to London St.Pancras station to be there by the time our Eurostar left, which was at 8:30 I think. We almost didn't make it in time!!! I have never run to hard or fast in my life from one train to another!!
Talk about Panic!! I was with the friend I was staying with and the friend I stayed with the first week I got there, was meeting us there, so she had gone through to board already and was panicking because we hadn't arrived and was sending us frantic text messages to "run dammit, run!!! beg them to let you on!!! " ha ha. it was so funny.

We made it and sat down in a jumbled heap of nerves!! We had some guy sitting opposite us that fell asleep and proceeded to droll the whole way there and snore....lovely!

Anyway my day in Paris was wonderful..too short but fantastic. It IS like the photos, it is like everyone says it is!! It is romantic and charming and full of a special kind of feeling which I still can't put my figure on. The Parisians definitely have a different way of life than for instance we do here in SA. The traffic seems insane...I even saw a women driving with her top of her car down and she was DRIVING and READING a magazine at the same time!! no lies!! I have a photo to prove it!!

The french men (generalization here!) were very friendly and we got many whistles and smiles whilst we sat in the top part of the bus looking down on the city! ha ha. Stopping at traffic lights were more opportunities and this one was funny....this guy was waving frantically at us and blowing kisses so i got out my camera and made a gesture (since I cannot speak French) as in "do you mind" and he smiled and shrugged and posed for this photo!! haha. he looks like that guy from "French kiss"!! *not my cup of tea by the way* (and I am happily married-ha ha!!)
The food there is really good, we had some puddings and bagels, crepes, etc....expensive but tasty. I just love the way they give so much attention to detail with their cake and tart decoration.What I love about Paris is the architecture and attention to detail -even the scrolls and iron balustrades...so much detail and pretty handiwork. I love the flower boxes-a splash of color here and there.



The Arc de Trioumph is amazing too. The detail and intricate designs awed me! I stood for ages underneath gazing up!!

The Eiffel tower is amazing. I couldn't believe the size when I was standing right under it. The color also amazed me, as in photos it looks like a silver color, but up close it is like a brown/bronze color. Very pretty. I took so many photos, just can't show them all!



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This one is one of my favorites, I took it through the water fountation, in black and white-otherwise no touching up afterwards, and it came out looking like an old postcard!!


This guy came up to me and said "Sawbona, bafana bafana" ha ha!! "Sawbona" is zulu for "hello" and he mentioned a soccer team here-bafana bafana, do I look south africa or something? ha ha.
Anyway typically, he tried to con me by saying I could get 3 eiffel tower key rings for 1 euro and then proceeded to give me 6 key rings and ask for 2 euro! so I said "no, I only wanted the 3 for 1 euro dude" and he was not impressed...ha ha...my friend took this one of me "haggling" ha ha.
And of course we took up a walk up the montmarte steps (what a killer!!) and walked around a bit up top, I bought a beautiful painting! I just love these photos I took there, definately needed more time!!



Fantastic and unforgettable experience!!