Mazzy's Amazing Adventure: I made it.

Paris, Paris, Paris... what can I say. I had so many hopes and expectations. Romance, wine, flowers, bicycles, stripes and berets. Needless to say, the expectations were set too high so there was no option but to be slightly disappointed. I maybe saw one person wearing stripes. I didn't see a single beret. There were some flowers but mostly just grass and gravel and the only romantic thing I saw were the love locks on the bridge near the Louvre. At least wine is in abundance no matter where you go in France.

However, despite feeling slightly let down there was one thing that made up for all of that and fully exceeded my hopes. The Eiffel Tower. My goodness, it is SO much bigger then I had ever imagined. I was absolutely in awe. It is such an icon and there I was standing before it. It was such a wonderful moment for me. I had this overwhelming sense of all the things I have accomplished in the last two years. Of all the work I put in to get here and the emotional hurdles that I endured. All of the 9am- 12am days with little to no sleep weren't in vain. I was in PARIS and I was standing in front of one of the most well known buildings in the world. It was incredible.

The Louvre court yard.

The Eiffel Tower looks so small in this photo compared to what its like in real life!

A rarely seen view of the tower.

I really wanted to go but the lowest price ticket was 100 euro... not exactly within my budget!

The love locks on the bridge.

I also made it to Versailles while I was in Paris. I highly suggest devoting at least 10 hours (if not two full days) to Versailles if you ever go. I spent about 4 or 5 hours in just the fountain gardens. There is also the palace, the other gardens, the lake and Marie Antoinette's dwellings to visit that could easily take twice as long. Unfortunately, it was my last full day so I wasn't able to make it back.