Paris was amazing. The grandness of the architecture, the delicious food, the air of snootiness. :-)
Our first day we tackled the Louvre (I had a minor meltdown while somewhere in the middle of the museum...trying to find a stinking sortie (exit) ).....it was worth it to see the biggies - the Mona Lisa, Venus DeMilo....etc. Other than that.....there were too many people. I'm glad I went, but won't be back anytime soon. We also saw Notre Dame (breathtaking), I lit a candle and said a prayer (my mom would be so proud), Saint Chapelle - the most amazing use of stained glass I've ever seen. The first floor is amazing and then you go upstairs and your mouth hits the floor. We rode on a Bateaux Mouche on the Seine.....saw all of the sights...including where Princess Di met her death. We also went to the archaeological crypt, the deportation memorial, point zero in front of Notre Dame, and most importantly.....had a CREPE!
The next day we meandered toward the Eiffel Tower, stopped at the Hotel des Invalides to pay our respects to Napoleon. The small man has quite the big memorial. Lots of ornateness (is that a word?) Once we arrived at the Tour, we waited over 2 hours in line.....but it was well worth the wait for the views. It was so windy and cold up at the top, we only stayed for about a half hour, but got some more amazing photos.
Our last day was spent walking the Champs Elysees - the gardens were pretty, the Arc de Triomphe fantastic....the shopping.....highly overrated. (also really, really expensive - and WAY too many people)
The b&b we stayed in was very lovely - the husband and wife, Rene and Claudine were so nice. They made us the most amazing breakfast each morning - croissants, baguettes with jam, freshly squeezed mandarin orange juice and strong coffee. Yum! Last year, Rene hiked the Pyrenees Mountain range, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean in 41 days - then wrote a little book about it. Amazing - that's going on the "list". I wonder if I could take 41 days off work.....hmmmmm.
We only encountered one nasty frenchman - our waiter at a cafe - he was the stereotypical rude frenchman who looked down his nose at us. Other than that, everyone was so nice and patient while I stumbled my way through french conversation. I managed to successfully translate all of our menus that didn't come with english subtitles - so we didn't eat any mystery meals while in Paris. Just lots of great food - lamb, veal, mussels, duck....and of course.... CHEESE! We had the best cheeses every night for dessert.
Our first day we tackled the Louvre (I had a minor meltdown while somewhere in the middle of the museum...trying to find a stinking sortie (exit) ).....it was worth it to see the biggies - the Mona Lisa, Venus DeMilo....etc. Other than that.....there were too many people. I'm glad I went, but won't be back anytime soon. We also saw Notre Dame (breathtaking), I lit a candle and said a prayer (my mom would be so proud), Saint Chapelle - the most amazing use of stained glass I've ever seen. The first floor is amazing and then you go upstairs and your mouth hits the floor. We rode on a Bateaux Mouche on the Seine.....saw all of the sights...including where Princess Di met her death. We also went to the archaeological crypt, the deportation memorial, point zero in front of Notre Dame, and most importantly.....had a CREPE!
The next day we meandered toward the Eiffel Tower, stopped at the Hotel des Invalides to pay our respects to Napoleon. The small man has quite the big memorial. Lots of ornateness (is that a word?) Once we arrived at the Tour, we waited over 2 hours in line.....but it was well worth the wait for the views. It was so windy and cold up at the top, we only stayed for about a half hour, but got some more amazing photos.
Our last day was spent walking the Champs Elysees - the gardens were pretty, the Arc de Triomphe fantastic....the shopping.....highly overrated. (also really, really expensive - and WAY too many people)
The b&b we stayed in was very lovely - the husband and wife, Rene and Claudine were so nice. They made us the most amazing breakfast each morning - croissants, baguettes with jam, freshly squeezed mandarin orange juice and strong coffee. Yum! Last year, Rene hiked the Pyrenees Mountain range, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean in 41 days - then wrote a little book about it. Amazing - that's going on the "list". I wonder if I could take 41 days off work.....hmmmmm.
We only encountered one nasty frenchman - our waiter at a cafe - he was the stereotypical rude frenchman who looked down his nose at us. Other than that, everyone was so nice and patient while I stumbled my way through french conversation. I managed to successfully translate all of our menus that didn't come with english subtitles - so we didn't eat any mystery meals while in Paris. Just lots of great food - lamb, veal, mussels, duck....and of course.... CHEESE! We had the best cheeses every night for dessert.
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