June 30, 2012
I am back in Paris after 7 years. Rach and I were both pretty excited. We went with Airbnb for Paris instead of a hostel, which is basically a guy with a flat with some extra room and he's willingly to rent it out to cheap travellers. This guy's place is a little far, but o well what can you do with a budget?
After settling down we head to the Louvre. This is about 1:30pm. By buying the museum pass we were able to bypass the lineup... but there was no lineup anyway. We see the highlights of the Louvre like the Mona Lisa (which btw Rach didn't know was here), Venus di Milo, Victory of Samothrace, and a  version of the Sphinx. This took us 2 hours and we needed a break. So guess where we go eat? The McDonalds inside the Louvre! You know, if I were gonna eat McDonalds anywhere it has to be here. An hr later we try to cover more exhibits, but the Louvre closes at 6 so we didn't get to see much more.

I remember the view atop the Arc du Triomphe was amazing from the last time I was here, so we walked down Champ de Eylsees towards the arch. On the way there there was crazy Citroen showroom with all their concept cars. this place was awesome! Better than the Ferrari Museum and it was free in Paris. We get a little hungry and look for a place to eat but everything, EVERYTHING, was so expensive! We sat down at a pizza place hoping to share a pizza, but they ran out of pizzas and we had to order one dish each. Well, f me the cheapest appetizer was 12 euros, so we got up and left. A lot further away we found a fast food type place with pasta. I got a spaghetti and a drink for 9.90 euros. This is as good as it's gonna get I guess.

When we finished, we were completely lost. We walked towards the biggest street nearby and it turns out we ended up really close to the Eiffel Tower. Well this isn't where we wanna be. We foud a map and walked back towards the arch.
We were pretty tired by this time. We've been walking around since 1:30 and it was about 8pm now. On top of this, we had to climb up what looked like 15 stories of steps to the top of the arch. But we made it up there in one piece and take a crap load of pictures while we wait for it to get dark and get a good night view of Paris.
After about half an hr we leave for the Eiffel tower to see the light show. I've waited 7 years, since I saw it from a distance the first time I was in Paris, to see this light show. AND WE ALMOST MISS IT. Good thing I decided to run a lil. When the Eiffel tower appeared from behind the tall trees it began to sparkle. I got lotsa pics and even a couple videos. I was very very happy to say the least. I just stared up at it for the 5 minute duration, not caring about a thing in the world. I was lost within the sparkling lights. That is one of few moments I will treasure for the rest of my life.

It's funny how something like sparkling lights can be so hypnotic. There are a few events in my life where I have a feeling of self actualization. It's usually a moment of great fear mixed with excitement or being somewhere magnificent. People experience love in very different ways, and at this moment I feel it. I'm in love with the moment where I wouldn't rather be anywhere else in the world. At that instance, it's only me and where I'm standing. I guess it's pretty cliche to feel this at the Eiffel Tower, but that's why it's a world famous monument right? I'm so lucky to be me.

Rach and I (ya even though I may have ignored her for the moment she's still there)take a bunch of ridiculous pictures and help others take funny pics. We climbed it, wore it like a hat, and even tried eating it.