My weekend in Paris

Thursday: Bus was supposed to leave at 7, really left around 7:25 ish. Then we hit traffic so we got in late, around midnight at least. So, we're at the end of 3 and had to get to the end of the 12. We change tracks at Saint-Lazare, figuring a short walk or just stairs but no, it's a very long walk and the last train is at 12:45 and it's about 12:35 right now. So other people start to run, so we do too. It's a long rain with all our junk and several sets of stairs. We made it to a train on the 12 in the right direction and got everyone on thanks to Mamie wedging the door open for Tamara. We get to the right stop, tired and thirsty and then proceed to trek the five or so blocks to the hostel. But we get there and get some sleep.
Friday: Long day, but very productive and successful. Eiffel Tower in the morning, Musee de Orsay, Notre Dame, Arc d'Triumphe by taking a picture in the middle of the Champs de Elysees, the Louvre. We had limited visibility from the tower due to the cloud cover and light rain. From there we took a boat down to the Orsay (and continued to use it to get to the next few stops). The Orsay was cool (didn't have much time at any of these places but we hit the highlights) we saw the impressionists, Monet and the like. Back on the boat to Notre Dame, went around the church and visited a small wine festival. Back on the boat to the Champs de Elysees stop to walk up to take a picture of the Arc and did so by standing in the middle of traffic. Red and green man became our constant companions (red man-don't walk-was very stern most of the time). Then we walked down to the Louvre (a long walk) but got in for free due to it being after 6 and the fact that we were students. Again, saw the highlights, Mona, Venus, Winged Victory, Coronation of Napoleon, the big stuff.
Saturday: Woke early to get to Versailles to avoid a lot of the crowds (sorta succeeded). It was very pretty, we just did the Grand Apartments tour. So, the big stuff again. It was nice, ornate, over the top but we got an audio guide with the ticket, so it had plenty of good information. Then on to Montmartre. I took a tram up to the Sacre Coeur because I know my own limits. It was worth the metro ticket. It was a very nice church and I wandered a bit before leaving and managing to meet up with Sean, Sarah, and Mamie to wander around the art shops. Then we decided to kill time before meeting up with everyone else by sitting on the steps of the church. Happened to sit near a guitar player, and we happened to stick around and he happened to be joined by about 6 other guitar guys. It turned into a big jam session and we stuck around for about three hours or so. It was a ton of fun and we got to see the sunset, which was really pretty over the city. We got a late dinner (three courses, fixed menu at 10 euro) then split up, some to go listen to the guys again who were now near Notre Dame and three of us (me included) to get some sleep.
Sunday: Allie came with me to church at Notre Dame, we decided on the Gregorian Mass at 10 so we got to hear then chant style and Latin, so I really didn't understand anything but whatever. It was gorgeous and I went to Mass at Notre Dame, so there. We then got brunch and went to a Starbucks for Allie then went to get our stuff from the hostel and off to the bus station. Bus ride was long than it was supposed to be again because another bus in the same company broke down and a 20 minute stop turned into about an hour with more people getting on and shrinking our space so none of us really got any sleep.
All in all:
The Metro's stupid, but well lit and nice trains. Small tickets that you have to get and buying more than one doesn't mean one ticket works more than once, no you end up with several small tickets equal to how many you bought. And transferring between lines means walking through an underground maze to the other line, not going up or down or something that we're used to.
Paris: very pretty, good architecture and landmarks. A bit pricy though and too many smokers-bad for the allergies.

So...a good time was had by all and I had a lot of fun!