View from fourviere hill overlooking Lyon, and of course the rain is approaching
(also a fail but no documentation for it)
France, our last stop on our journey. First on the agenda is Lyon, a town known for their silk and it's cathedral. I have come to the conclusion however that I may have jinxed the weather gods, by saying a little rain doesn't hurt earlier in our trip because we have yet to escape from the rain. We seem to be traveling along with it, since we will hop on a train to get away but only hours after arriving at our next destination the rain crashes the party. So here we are in Lyon and who shows up but a down pour, soaking us through to the bone, which is quite upsetting because Lyon is beautiful and we would have enjoyed exploring a little more but the rain was just too impossible for us to do that. We had to duck for cover and run into the closest restaurant where we had dinner and quietly waited for the rain to stop. It was late when the rain ceased so we raced back to our hotel to dry off, warm up, and cozy in bed. Today (day eleven) takes us to our final city within our last destination, Paris. We took a fast train into Paris from Lyon and arrived just after one o'clock. We weaved our way through the metro to our hotel which is very close to the Eiffel Tower (two blocks, but we cannot see it from the hotel). After disposing of our bags we became scavengers of the Eiffel Tower and since we were so close it didn't take long before finding our treasure. Even though I have seen it before (Christmas with my sister) I continue to be amazed by its brilliance, the Eiffel Tower is so magical and inspiring it makes me think that anything is possible. My parents were immediately in awe of it as well, I wish I had counted how many times my dad had said unbelievable. We took our time around it taking photos but the sky started to get dark with...you guessed it, rain clouds, and we had plenty more to see so we made our way over to the Champs Elysees. We had to pick up the pace in order to get to the Sacre Coeur before it rained and even then we didn't make it and got caught in yet another down pour. We took refuge inside the Sacre Coeur for a little while but then braved the rain to get back to the metro so that we could continue on our way. On our race to the metro I tried diving under a crowd of people with umbrellas, so as not to get an umbrella in the face, but as I ducked someone was putting their umbrella away and I somehow got trapped in the umbrella like a butterfly in a net, not my best moment. When exiting the metro next at the Notre Dame it was sunny again so after spending some time there we decided to walk to the Louvre to enjoy whatever was left of the nice weather (and to try and dry off from before). During our walk a friendly pigeon got up clase and personal with mom but she didn't reciprocate that friendship and instead did a tribal dance screaming that its wing touched her. We had conquered Paris in one day and we were exhausted, so from the Louvre we started to make our way back in the direction of the hotel and to stop for dinner. At our tram stop dad and I got off but somehow mom got caught and before we could get her out the tram took off with her still on it. With no knowledge of where or how to get her back, we had to go off in search of her, hoping she had gotten off at the next stop. Luckily she was patiently awaiting us at the next stop, so we had a giggle and then circled round back to go eat. We found a quaint little restaurant on the corner of a street near our hotel to dine in as well as taste the famous desserts of Paris! Moms dessert came with a bottle of rum and all, French speciatlty! Even though it was slightly raining again, when we finished our supper we took the scenic route home, aka past the Eiffel Tower. As we were walking the sky opened up all it's fury on us and we got drenched but refused to leave until mom and dad saw the Eiffel Tower in all it's glory . . . sparkling (my favorite). Day twelve, our last day before making the journey back to England. We woke up extra early to line up at the Eiffel Tower and although we may have gotten frost bite waiting in line there was no way our moods could be dampened. Like three little children we waited impatiently to get inside, and once we were finally allowed in it, there was a flutter of camera flashes and picture taking. That experience is something one will never forget, I was very proud to be sharing it with my parents. The day was far from being over so we headed south west to the Chateau de Versailles. Holy molly would I ever like to live there!! The palace was huge and while we only had time to explore the main building (not all the other added bonuses to its history like the gardens and Marie Antoinette's room) it was spectacular! Upon our exit of the palace Dad encountered his first opportunity to barter and got himself his prized possession, a two foot replica of the Eiffel Tower. That's right folks, our own mini Eiffel to marvel at. And because you can't go to Paris and not shop we had to make one last stop at les Galleries Lafayette, the department store Capital of fashion (as described on the back of my map which is also my source of discovery). We made a mad dash through a third of the store (you probably would need a whole day or two to see the whole thing) in order to make it to our train in time, but even in our scurried rush I managed to make a valid purchase. Our journey home (although we were all sad to say goodbye) was something to be excited about since we were traveling in style on the underwater bullet train. We couldn't have been more tired from the weeks escapades but the minute we got near that train my dad was more alert then I'd seen him since before his hair turned silver. The whole time we were under water he counted the minutes, it makes me proud to know that I was there during these landmarks in their lives, and that they have been here for mine.
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