A week of pure joy

View looking down from the third level.

Stephanie, Zach, and myself on the third level  of the tower.

I don't think I've ever had as much fun in Paris as I did this past week. We had guests staying over from Monday to Friday - the Beck family, minus Alexander, sadly :'( We had a lot of catching up to do with Steph, though! Crazy times, man. First day, we did mounds of touring! So freaking awesome, but it was super tiring, too. I don't think that I've ever done that many sets of stairs in one day in my entire life. We took the metro to the Arc-de-Triomphe, took a couple pictures, then got back on the metro and went to the Eiffel Tower, where we climbed over 600 stairs to get to the second level. Then we lined up for the elevator for level three, took it up, and saw that fantastic view.
We descended the tower, and when I got to the bottom, my legs were actually shaking from all the stairs...fun times. Then we went, got back on the metro, and went to Notre Dame Cathedral, took a walk through that, and then on to Sacre-Coeur, where we took a couple pictures of a crazy-talented guy with a soccer ball (shown below). He was awesome! Maybe a little egotistic when he took off his shirt, but his soccer-juggling skills were a-ma-zing!!!!!
After Sacre-Coeur we went to a cafe, had a little refresher, and headed back home for the day. That was the most tourist-filled day I have ever experienced, and IT-WAS-AWESOME.

Day after that, Tuesday, we went out with plans to go to see the Catacombs later on in the day, but we never ended up getting around to it because we got there too late and it was closing...a little disappointing, but the day was still fun! It's the people that make the experience what it is!
Thursday was the next big day! Versailles! The monstrous collection of gardens outside that terribly flashy château. A little too glittery for my tastes, but still pretty darn cool. We didn't go inside, because the line-up wound around for the longest time and we knew that it would be ages before we got in, and everyone said that they were satisfied with just seeing the gardens, so...it was great! Besides the scantily clad statues, it was quite gorgeous out there! I can't imagine how much time it would take for them to take care of those gardens, to manicure every bush, hedge, and shrub, to water and care for every patch of flowers, to mow the lawns and keep maintenance of the fountains! I cannot imagine the

 work they would have to go through! It's fabulous, the things people will do for tourists...
But I appreciate the work to the fullest! I thank you fabulous workers for the effort you put in to this beautiful tourist-hotspot! Thank you! Merci beaucoup! Danke-schön! Arigato-Gozaimasu! Gracias! Grazié! Shokran! Abrigado! The languages in which I could express my thanks, to my knowledge, are limited to there, but if I knew any others, I would surely say them!

Anyways, Friday was the mark of a new day. Our guests departed (I miss you already! :( Come back soon!), and Dieppe, Normandy was set as our destination of the day! Packing, travel, a walk on the beach and through part of the town, and then a little tea at the cafe with an ocean-front view made for a fabulous afternoon, and then on to a wonderful dinner with some friends.
Here in Dieppe, they're getting ready to celebrate the 70th anniversary of when the Canadian commando unit was sent to storm the beaches here, but were unfortunately slaughtered. Us Canadians, we're quite appreciated in this area, and we really enjoyed seeing Canadian flags all over the place, even flowers were planted in the pattern of our wonderful red and white maple leaf flag! Beautiful! I was definitely filled with a sense of pride and joy for my homeland. True appreciation, right there, my friends.
I speak the truth: it has been a very good day.

Happy travels!