The second day in Europe was spent doing something both very familiar and very new - Disneyland Paris! So much of it felt just like Disneyland, but everything was also different. The Indiana Jones ride is an actual rollercoaster and the Haunted Mansion isn't nearly as scary when you don't understand what everyone is saying. But the highlight of the day was discovering that there was a Mr. Mime nearby (a pokemon - for those who have no idea what I'm talking about - one which can only be found in Europe). So, of course, my cell service was turned on and I caught Mr. Mime.
After exhausting ourselves at Disneyland, and playing a lot of Pokemon Go, we returned to Paris and checked into the Loft which had been rented for the Tour portion of the trip. We are staying in the most adorable little loft with beautiful wooden floors, which are super old and creaky, and the most random arrangement of bedrooms, but I love it.
Oh - and Miracle #34 happened today. It rained most of the time we were at Disneyland, but my feet stayed dry all day!
Day 3 was the day that the rest of the tour group arrived. We spent the majority of the day at the loft greeting people as they showed up in ones and twos. We briefly explored the area around the loft to locate a pastry shop and find something to eat, then again to take pictures and just keep ourselves busy.
Once everyone arrived, McKenzie and Casey, who are leading the Collective, gave their welcoming message and explained the plan for the week ahead of us. After this, we needed to keep the new-comers awake until it was late enough to reasonably go to bed, so we went out to see the Eiffel Tower again. We also bought amazing crepes from this little corner store next to the tower.
Day 4 has by far been the busiest day. We started off with a bus tour to see the city, then transferred to a river tour to see the city from a different angle. The river tour was actually really cool, and the bus tour wasn't half bad, though several individuals in the tour group fell asleep in the semi-comfortable seats.
We returned to the Eiffel Tower again, but this time to go inside. We had reservations to eat lunch up on the first floor. Absolutely incredible view and equally incredible food. After lunch, there was just enough time to go up to the second floor and take a look around (unfortunately, there was not quite enough time to go all the way to the top - I'll have to go back later this week to do so).
The afternoon was spent doing a photoshoot with one of our models, followed by the Louvre. I got my 30-seconds with Mona Lisa, saw thousands of incredible paintings and sculptures, and wished briefly that I could just move to Paris and spend the next several months visiting every day. Of course, I'm not an artist and probably would get little out of the experience other than enjoying several months of interesting artwork.
As the evening approached, we broke into groups to explore different parts of the city. I headed off with two other girls in the group to visit Angelina's, which had been recommended to another girl as a great place for hot chocolate. That recommendation was a severe understatement. I have never had hot chocolate which was so good and anticipate never finding some as good again. I think they just took a chocolate bar and melted it. We each received a little teacup and saucer and the hot chocolate was delivered in cute little pitchers which we poured ourselves. And the taste - incredible!
We wrapped up our evening by visiting the Arc de Triomphe - the giant arch at the end of Champs Elysee. I took a dozen or so pictures, at this point, on my phone because my camera battery had died. My favorite is included here. I found myself an awesome angle of the arch and the busy street...from right in the middle of it. Don't worry, I was being safe, I was standing in the median and I got there using the cross walk. I'm sure I just looked like a crazy tourist as I intentionally stayed in the median to take pictures instead of continuing to the other side of the street.
I am, in a word, jaloux.
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