I’m alive. I’m back. I’m Safe. That’s all that matters right now. I’m a little shaken up from today’s experience. I’m going to call it a night, blog a little, have some food, and relax. I will sleep and build up more energy for the morning. You can read about the day’s chaos here.
I made it to Strasbourg. Since I have some time before bed, I am going to post a little part to of my day in Paris.
I crossed over the river to visit Notre Dame. Paris has bridges all down the river. I think I went back and fourth over and over again. I couldn’t get enough of the water.
Notre Dame was awesome. This is so embarrassing to admit, but I said a prayer for Notre Dame (football) while being there. They are my second favorite team. Iowa is first, of course. The architecture in France is so breathtaking and almost unbelievable. I wish we put that much effort into our buildings nowadays. But then again, I wouldn’t want to wait nineteen years for something to be built.
The Lock Bridge, A Love That Won’t Ever Die.
I didn’t even mean to run into the lock bridge and when I found it, I was in complete awe. I had seen this all over while searching for things to do in France. It was kind of surreal.
The love lock bridge has locks on both sides. There are locks on locks on locks. A couple will write their names on a lock, lock it to the bridge, and then throw the key in the Seine River. It symbolizes their undying love. There are actually two lock bridges: Pont des Arts and Pont de l’Archevêché.
Pont des Arts is the bridge that represents your undying love and Pont de l’Archevêché is for your « lover. » And apparently the only way to unlock your love is to go to the bottom of the river, find the key, and unlock it. So you might want to pay close attention to which bridge you’re locking your love at.
You can tell them apart by the amount of locks. I guess more people want their love to last forever. Is there any proof of the undying love? I’ll have to further my research and let you know.
I know this may seem kind of morbid, but I wonder how many dead people have their locks on here. I get that their love won’t die, but it doesn’t mean they won’t. I don’t know why I wonder the things that I do, but that’s just my brain. If you believe in earthbound spirits, I bet there are some hanging around this bridge for sure 😉
Now, I have to tell you something very embarrassing. It will hilarious to all of you, but painful for me. I’m a tourist. I do touristy things. I was walking down this street and not paying attention to anything in front of me as I was gazing into the store windows. POW! WHAM! SMACK! OUTCH! I walked directly into one of those poles. The pole was fine, but now I have a huge bruise right on my crotch. I was walking with a limp for a couple of blocks, but the pain eventually went away. I’m so happy no one saw it. I would have been mortified and it would have ended up on MTV’S « Ridiculousness. » So lesson learned: Always look in front of you.
After walking more streets, I ended up back at the river. There was a couple taking wedding photos and she looked absolutely gorgeous with Notre Dame behind her.
Notre Dame is one of my favorite buildings. It was constructed in 1163 and opened in 1345. That amazes me.
One of the worst things about traveling alone is taking photos of yourself by the buildings. I heard not to let anyone take your photo because they may run off with your camera and at this point, I believe it. I saw a younger couple with some kind of selfie tripod. It held onto their cellphones and they held up the pole to take it. Very interesting.
Not only is Paris known for well dressed people, it’s the city of love. There are couples everywhere expressing their love for one another. Holding hands, kissing, touching, and just enjoying each others company. You don’t see that much in the States.
These apartments/homes over look the river. Imagine living like that? I could totally wake up every morning with the sound of street performers, and the smell of fresh baked croissants. The river has restaurant boats, too!
I hear that Paris is gorgeous all year round and I believe it. I was lucky to come in the fall. I was also blessed with beautiful weather. It’s been in the 60’s and will be all week.
Unfortunately, again, it’s time to call it quits on A day in Paris: Part Two!
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