Day 8 - Paris, France

 After getting not nearly enough sleep at Mr. Bed City (our hotel) we set out for another full day of site-seeing in the city.  The five of us from the day before decided to stick together since there were a few things we didn't get to.  We headed directly back to the Eiffel Tower.  Although it was my 4th trip there in 24 hours, I am still completely in awe of the structure.  It is much larger than I had ever expected and both beautiful and structural at the same time.  there is an incredibly amount of detail in the iron work all over.  We waited in line for a few minutes and then got in huge elevators to head to the top.  On the second tier, you switch to smaller elevators that take you all the way to the 'summit'.  It was a beautiful day and there was a clear view of the city in every direction, I've never seen anything like it.

After the Eiffel Tower, we headed back to the Catacombs.  We got in line and were told it woud be almost a two hour wait.  We decided to go in shifts to grab something to eat so we could picnic in line while we waited.  Alesia and I stumbled across an awesome street market where I bought baguettes, cheese, and chocolate cake for us all to share.  I even ordered everything in French - I was very excited!

The catacombs were interesting but I wouldn't put it in the top of my list of things to recommend.  It was a unique attraction, but looking at bones for an hour is kind of unsettling.  We met a really nice guy from Penn State while we waited in line who went through the tour with us.  He was traveling on his own and decided to tag along with us.  We all decided to go to Pere Lachaise, the oldest and largest cemetery in the city on our way back.  I guess this was our creepy day in Paris.

After (another) long walk up hill, we found the cemetery and headed directly for Jim Morrison's grave.  This is the most popular area in the cemetery and we wanted to be able to say we saw it.  The entire area was fenced off but visitors had tossed in flowers, notes, CDs, and even a bra.  It was bizarre to see but also very cool to visit someone so influential and timeless.  We got back to the hotel just in time, hopped on the bus, and started our 6 hour trek back into the Netherlands.  Au Revoir Paris!