Becky, Shandra, and I arrived in Paris by train early the afternoon of the 19th, and took a quick nap while we waited for the rest of our small group (Shane, Josh, and Nick M.) to arrive by a later train. When they got in, we all went by Metro to visit the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tour. The Arc is very impressive - with grand militant carvings on nearly every surface. By the time the sun went down, we were at the Eiffel to see it with the lights on. As the Rugby World Cup is being held in Paris, the tower is lit up for the occasion, normal yellow light on top, green on bottom, and a large inflatable rugby ball hangs from the center of the lower decks. Hungry, we went to eat at a small restaurant near the tower, just in time to see the sparkle lights make their hourly appearance, before we ate.

The next day, the group went to see the Pompidou Center, by architects Piano and Rogers. The service pipes and ducts are all exposed on the exterior, and color coded, at the back, with the main circulation zigzagging up the front.

We then wandered over to the Notre Dame cathedral, the group splitting ways. We three girls wandered the interior, taking pictures and listening to the choral chants from the service going on at the time. We took off to see the Louvre's exterior and ate lunch at a small sandwich shop across the street.

Becky, Shandra, and I then took the Metro to see the Grand Arche, the modern, skyscraper, counterpart to the Arc de Triomphe. The Grand Arche is immense, and easily large enough to fit the Arc within its open center. We then went back to see said Arc de Triomphe a second time, since it was dusk the night before, and we wanted to see it in better lighting.

And, working the timing out well, we headed over to see the Eiffel Tour during the day. We decided to take the ride up to the top, and managed to make the journey at a rather magical hour - dusk, sunset, and darkness over Paris. We also saw what may have been the highest altitude bagpiping in the world - some Irish rugby fans had brought their bagpipes up the tower and played a jig while two girls danced.

On our way back to the hotel, we went by the Louvre again, to photograph the exterior by night, as IM Pei's pyramid lights up the building rather spectacularly.