Our first full day in Paris was jam packed! We had reservations to get into the Louvre at 11:30 and we had photo shoot scheduled around the Eiffel tower at 3:30. Of course it was also New Years Eve and we had plans to be down in Paris for celebration and fireworks.

We got up and got ready. We took the metro towards the Louvre. The metro in Paris was easy to get around but it also seemed like the dirtiest and the most packed. It was not my favorite.

When we got to the Louvre I was so glad we had already reserved our tickets. There was a massive long line for people that did not.

The Church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois is a Roman Catholic church right by the Louvre.

We made it!

You go in at the triangle and go in and then down

We all wanted to see the Mona Lisa. Ryan got a map and found where it was. We made our way towards it.

Just like in the Vatican there was art, statues, beauty and opulence all around.

And there it was! I gotta say it was very underwhelming. They shuffle you into a room that just has the Mona Lisa. It is HOT we were all sweating and if you really want to get close you have to stand in this long snaking line. We just did a walk by and tried to snap some photos. It was too hot and long to stand in that line to get a close up and frontal shot.

After seeing the Mona Lisa we walked around a bit more and then decided we wanted to go to the wing with the Egyptian art. At this point our photographer text me and asked if we could meet up an hour earlier. I asked the group and we all agreed we could. In hindsight I wish we wouldn’t have, it felt rushed at the Louvre at the end and we had to grab some food and eat really quick.

This painting was huge. You can see the people for scale by it.

There were areas of the Louvre that were just packed, it made it hard to get around and then there were areas that weren’t so bad. This area for some reason was one that was jammed full.

Venus de Milo, another piece I was excited to see.

Tiny hand on this back was LOL

This sculpture had a healthy butt!

I mean look at that…

An area Greg and Jayse were interested in.

We had a heck of a time finding our way here but so glad we did. It was pretty awesome and much less people here.

It was so hot in here and we’d been walking so much we needed to keep taking a seat where we could.

We found a spot where cooler air was coming out. Jayse and Jayden using it to cool down.

Before heading out we stopped at one of their little cafes and got a few sandwiches to eat. We did stop at the gift shop and get a few things before we left there as well.

We took the metro over to the near the Eifel tower to meet our photographer. I’m going to share those photos and experience on another post. This one would be way too long.

This guy was dancing/miming. The metro was pretty busy so we had to wait for a few trains to have enough room for us all to get on there so he entertained us for bit.

While we were taking pictures Jaelee was using my camera to get pictures, these are some of her pics.

Much prettier during the night, just sayin.

First time actual seeing a traffic conductor (not sure what they are called) with a whistle directing traffic.

After our pictures near the Eiffel tower we took the metro to the Arch.

Jayden wanted to go to a soccer store. I was wiped out. It had been a long few days of walking so near the store we went into a pub while Brandi, Ryan & Jayden went to the store. Bummer though when they got there it had a huge line just to get in the store. We ended up getting food and drinks at the pub and hung out there for a bit.

While we were walking around by the pub and from in the pub we saw a lot of police! They were starting to close down streets. The police here are intimidating when they walk around with these big ole guns on them. We were starting to feel uneasy about staying down here for New Years Eve. After talking about it we thought we’d play it safe and just go back to our hotel to ring in the New Year. They had a nice little bar with a fun seating area. We stopped by a little market and got some drinks and few treats.

Getting back down into the metro and getting on a metro was a whole adventure! It was packed I mean packed like sardines. We had to wait for 3 trains before we finally decided to shove our way on. We all lined up 2 by 2 at a door and each shoved our way in. Greg and I were with each other. Jaelee was with Brandi and the boys were with Ryan and Hunter. We all managed to barely squeeze on. Greg and I were lucky that we were squished with a very nice French man that spoke English. He told us that all those police we saw were in fact closing down the streets and the only way to get into that area of Paris was the metro, that’s why it was so busy. We were so glad we left when we did. If it was that busy then we could only imagine how busy it would of been after the fireworks!

This was on the metro once we were further away, it wasn’t as bad.

This is the lounge area by our hotels bar. It was a nice casual place to hang out.

They had hard cider!

At one point we got hungry, the only place we could get food was a block away. Greg and Ryan went and got us some pizzas.

Getting ready for the midnight toast!

Happy New Year! Part of me is still bummed that we could of been there in person but I know it would of just been crazy.

The woman on the left is from Brazil and she was traveling with a group that had gone to bed – so she hung out with us.

Jaelee had been up in the room sleeping. We got her up to celebrate she was till pretty sleep and mad at Jayse for screaming at her to get up.

The boys sharing their non alcoholic champs.

Our hotel had a DJ and some lights in a room. We went in for some dancing. I have video of the dancing I put in a montage I’ll share. Even Greg was getting down. I think Jaelee is still not sure what to think about that. It was a pretty great way to bring in the New Year.