I think I'm in love

with French tennis players. They wouldn't leave the court until everyone who wanted an autograph got one. I am so glad I love Paris and French people now so that I can root for the French players. I used to think the French were all snooty and rude, but my vacation proved me wrong.

The landmarks in Paris were elaborately beautiful, Versailles was impressively huge, and there was a bit of serendipity throughout the two days I was in Paris. It was already 11:30 by the time we finished dinner one night (after a whole day jam-packed with walking around the city and trying to cram a week's worth of tourist attractions into one day) and almost decided against going to the Eiffel Tower, but we didn't travel all the way to France to not see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. By the time we got to the base of the Tower, it was nearly midnight and all of a sudden its lights started flashing, which we didn't expect to happen so late into the night, and an audible gasp came from the crowd around us.

The next day, we wanted to go to Place de la Concorde, where the Jardin des Tuileries, Champs-Elysees, and the Arc de Triomphe are, but when we got out of the metro station, it was all blocked off because the Tour de France was going through the same area right then. Which was really disappointing but gave us a chance to see the Sacre-Coeur Basilica where there was an amazing view of the city. When we finally when back down to the Arc de Triomphe area, the bikers and crowds left, but the Champs-Elysees was still blocked off to traffic, but not pedestrians, so that the cleaning crews could do their job. And how often can you say you walked down the middle of the Champs-Elysees, all the while taking the perfect picture of the Arc de Triomphe?

Also, my dad bought a bottle of absinthe, which was previously banned in many countries and was thought to cause hallucinations (and also rumored to be the reason Van Gogh cut off his ear), in Paris. He had no idea about its properties, except that it's 50 proof and that he thought the way absinthe should be served (with a sugar cube and water dripped over into a bit of absinthe) was cool. My sister and I warned him not to drink too much...and he said, "Why? It's only 50% alcohol." And we said, "No...50 proof doesn't work like that..."