So Long Eiffel Tower and Hello Swiss Chocolate! :)

-Rachel-

Hello all. At the moment Zach and I are on a train headed towards Zurich, Switzerland...we hope anyways. We didn’t actually see a sign that said Zurich so who knows where we'll end up ;). We've got our travel backpacks all loaded up, some mystery cheese from the lovely market in Versailles, and a fresh baguette from a little French bakery. We're ready to rock and roll! It's gonna be a great train ride. But I'm going to back up a bit though because yesterday was another great day in Paris. Did I mention that I LOVE Paris? Such a charming place.

So, yesterday we headed out from Yoann's at about 9:00 am to the famous Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) Basilica. It's a beautiful white structure at a high point overlooking the entire city. Truly an amazing view. We strolled through the Christmas market that surrounded the basilica, literally I think there is one in every part of the city, I bought a cute hat, and then we went to sit on the steps and eat our supermarket sammies. We just so happened to choose the best possible time and place to eat our lunch because we got to see probably one of the best street performers that exists! But really. I'm not sure how to even explain how cool it was, but basically it was this guy, with an 8 pack, who started off by standing next to a light post juggling a soccer ball, doing all sorts of balancing tricks, then proceeding to climb this light post, still balancing the ball, he gets to the top and holds himself up with two hands while juggling the soccer ball at the top of the post... It was jaw dropping. Zach and I couldn't believe it! Here's a picture with him! Crazy.

We then headed to Notre Dame, which was awesome as well. Zach and I decided that it's kind of a creepy and at the same time  a really mysterious looking place, with the black stain-glass windows, dark towers, and gargoyles. even more so being that it was right next to the river.. Which leads us to the lover's lock bridge! Yes, we carved our names on a red lock and locked up our love right there on the bridge :) haha. There are literally thousands of locks on that bridge. Such a special thing to see all of the love that has made its way to Paris.

Our final stop for the night was climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower! Being the cheap college students that we are we decided to pay 3.50 euro to walk up the 695 steps instead of the 13 euro charge to take the lift up. Were our butts hurting by the time we made it up? Yup. Was it worth it? Totally. Overlooking the whole city of Paris with all the lights was stunning and romantic. Still can't stop saying to Zach that "I can't believe we're actually doing this." But here we are doing it and what an amazing journey it's already been and we've only just begun. Oh, and after we had dinner which was made up of wine, beer and CHEESE! hahah I'm getting Zach hooked and I absolutely love it.

So this morning was our last half day in Paris and we took a train to the city of Versailles to visit the royal palace where King Luis XIV lived there in 1682. We got to see the hall of mirrors, Marie Antoinette’s room, the King's room, royal dining room and a lot more. Everything was so extravagant! I really would love to go back in time and see what life in the palace would be like. Seems like a completely different world. Besides the palace are the Palace Gardens which are ENORMOUS! We would have spent all day there if we didn’t have to catch a train.  There were so many beautiful trees, statues, fountains, paths, ponds, benches, and people running and taking advantage of the beautiful outdoors. It’s just more the reason to plan another Europe trip :) You can never see it all. We finished by going to the market and buying that cheese and bread I mentioned! So addicting!

Bye Yoann! Thanks for having us!

So that was Paris! Now Zach and I are going to play some golf (card game) to try and make this 4 hour train ride go quick! But hey, the sun is setting as we depart Paris and it's not a bad view :) In Zurich we will be staying with a young guy named Philipp! This couch surfing gig really is a genius idea. 

Hasta mañana! (miss you Spain)

Rachel :)