Paris, Day 3

I'm a breakfast person. I knew that I would need a good breakfast each morning (with some kind of protein) to make it through our fun-filled days. Jim found a little bakery, or pâtisserie, and they had these lovely quiches and pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants)! Thank you, Jimmy! He is always taking care of me :)

Paris Le Marais was near our hotel area. It is well known art gallery and GLBT community. I loved seeing all of the rainbow decals in store/restaurant windows showing they are supportive.

After my hearty and delicious breakfast we were ready to meet Ana and Rich for the day's festivities. We traveled by Metro to the Montmarte district in the 18th arrondissement. The main attraction, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, sits on top of a giant hill. We were lucky to have Ana, who knew that our metro passes would also work for the trolley car taking you up the stairs. Those stairs looked very steep and intimidating! (They're not all pictured below.)

The Basilica was beautiful to see but because it sits at the highest point of the city, it was also beautiful to look down for the view. The Eiffel Tower was too far away and too far to the side to point out, but the rest of the city seemed to be spread before us.

Pictures weren't allowed in the basilica, but I did take a few without realizing that at first, and then I took two secret ones. Shhh! I didn't use flash (which is the standard no-no, so I didn't see the harm)...

This is a little side chapel.

Golden Jesus.

I love gargoyles!

The day was incredibly hot. Sticky, sweaty uncomfortable hot. I say that without complaining, even now. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything!

So because we hadn't had any coffee yet (the pâtisserie didn't offer any) we chose to have a cáfe glacé, a sweet frothy iced coffee, instead of the usual beer or glass of rosé to cool off. It was such a treat to sit and enjoy this area before we explored some more.

We walked a little ways before we saw this cute little train that offered tours of the Montmartre area. We hopped on board and enjoyed the breeze when we could catch it and enjoyed the sights.

We passed the Red Light district of sex shops. Oooh la la.

And we saw the Moulin Rouge! I'm sure they offer can-can shows but we didn't even think of stopping. I think it would be interesting to read up on that period of time!

Another selfie. I'm glad I don't look as hot and sweaty as I surely was...

After the train tour we did explore the top of the hill, and its artist community.

The area is well known for its portrait artists and painters.

We did walk away with one art purchase, an ink drawing of the Eiffel Tower of course (:
We walked down the stairs to leave the area and I found these graffiti works of art to be interesting.
Gnome bomb!

Yoda and his bride.

Spider-Man!

Back on the Metro.

I'm pretty sure we headed back to our hotel to wash up and rest for the rest of the day/night. I think Jim and I were feeling brave and decided to head out on our own for dinner, with a nighttime river cruise lined up for later with Ana and Rich. The metro wasn't hard to navigate and so we made our way to the general direction of the cruise company and found some grub.

Jim became very intrigued with a local drink. We kept seeing these red colored beverages at several other places, so he tried to figure out what it was that others were ordering. He didn't get it right here but he does love his Campari!

We stumbled across this Flame of Liberty, which has become a sort of memorial for Princess Diana.

We stopped to pose with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

The river cruise was with a boat company called Bateaux Mouche. This metallic dinosaur skeleton was near the boat company and I thought it was an interesting shot.

The river boat easily seats several hundred people.  We chose to sit on the outside top of the boat.

So many spectacular bridges!

It was quite common to see many people sitting by the river and enjoying a picnic, or bottles of wine!

The Notre Dame from the River.

A little further away and with the sunset behind...  So lovely!

This is the outside of the Musee D'Orsay, my most favorite museum.  It used to be a rail station.

You just don't get tired of this view.

 After the river cruise we all parted ways.  Ana and Rich needed to eat, and Jim and I decided to walk towards the Eiffel Tower for a nighttime view.  We were walking when suddenly it lit up!

 It twinkles like this for five minutes on the hour, starting at 10pm.  We only caught it once.

After the twinkling it glows prettily.

And then turned into a beautiful rainbow!

Jim and I walked around a bit but were curious to explore the area surrounding the ET.  There were vendors and tents along the street and river.  We found a champagne tent and sat by the river/bridge to enjoy the Eiffel Tower with champagne in hand.  

Thank you Jimmy for making this night special :)

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WJDN?

Admiring himself on TV! Meteorologist Patrick Hammer was at New Horizon yesterday, teaching the kids about weather. Mr. Hammer showed a group photo on today's morning news! James is a celebrity! :)

 

 

 

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Paris, Day 2

Bright and early we headed out to our first destination, La Défense, the business district of Paris. It was a little ways out of the city, not quite in the suburbs but a good distance away to not distract from the Eiffel Tower's magnificence. The glass and steel buildings were beautiful in their own way though.

 

The Notre Dame cathedral would fit inside this "cube" building! It is HUGE.

 

We hopped back on to the Metro system and found our way to the Arc de Triomphe. I remember standing under the monument many years ago but I don't think I took the time to really look and learn what the sculptures and reliefs meant. It was also a much different experience this time around, with my family, and having a bit more time to just observe and absorb it all.

 

 

 

This was an accidental picture that I found on my photostream later. It does make me remember all of the uneven, OLD cobblestone roads and sidewalks. You really had to pay attention to where you were walking!

 

 

 

This is looking out to the roundabout street (it connects twelve different avenues of traffic!) It was crazy busy. I saw a few pedestrians attempt to cross the street around there... fools. There is an underground tunnel that takes you to the center island.

 

 

 

Pretty impressive.

 

 

I don't remember if we took the Metro from the Arc de Triomphe to our next destination, but it was the Avenue des Champs Élyssées. The grandest shopping area that I've seen! There were tons of American labels that I recognized, but it was obviously a very high end, luxurious area to shop. I only bought some French soap :)

 

 

 

We ran across this very famous macaron shop, Ladurée, but did not buy anything :( It was fun to look!

 

All of my pictures are in the order that I took them from this day, so I know that we were in the Metro next. I took this picture exclaiming over the many steps. THIS is why we had so much trouble with our luggage on the first day. We SHOULD have had some macarons, I'm sure we could have burned off many calories with all of the walking and stair climbing!

 

We found this little area in the 14th arrondissement. I thought it was so charming. The street was lined with the kind of cafés you would expect in Paris, and many tiny little shops, pâtisseries and boulangeries.

 

As we sat in the streetside café we could look up and see the apartments lining the street. I imagine that many of the residents eat often at these cafés. Wouldn't that be wonderful to have this kind of food available to you?

This is the meat, cheese, and pâté plate that Jim and I shared. I think it was one of the best meals I had in Paris. These foods on fresh baguette pieces? OMG.

 

I took this picture in a pâtisserie, meaning to show James later. I thought he'd enjoy knowing these little characters are actually sweets (candies? pastries?) He didn't really show any interest. Silly kid.

 

We walked a lot on this day. I remember getting off the metro system, going towards the Eiffel Tower. You walked a long ways before it was right there in front of you! And you encounter many, many vendors selling miniature towers and souvenirs. I'm actually very surprised we didn't buy one!

This is one of my first good views of the Eiffel.

 

And then closer I remembered the many stairs going up to the mid section of the ET. I didn't get to climb the ET at my last visit, and I didn't think we'd "get to" climb this time around either. Jim had already secured our official tour (including a trip to the summit) for later in the vacation. The tour included the elevator ride. Good thing! 704 stairs did NOT sound like fun in the incredibly hot weather!

 

There was much construction at the middle base. They are reconstructing one of the floors of the ET, adding a restaurant I believe. There was a lot of scaffolding and hard-hat areas. It really messed with my overall picture. I did take this picture and I enjoy it because of the man who is very animated and talking on the phone. Good action shot!

 

We walked to the Champ de Mars, the grassy area of garden behind the ET to relax and take in the view. My BIL extraordinaire walked to a nearby wine shop and returned with a bottle of rosé. We sat on the grass, as the Parisians do, and just people watched and enjoyed the fact that we're in Paris, baby!

I took this "selfie" with the Eiffel Tower above me.

 

I didn't have to force Jim to take this selfie, but I did appreciate his willingness to make me happy. It has become one of my favorite pictures from our trip!

 

After a very full morning and afternoon we hopped back on to the Metro and returned to our neighborhood. We each picked out a treat from a nearby pâtisserie. I chose this AWESOME chocolate éclair! Jim's (not pictured) was some other sort of pastry- a monster chocolate filled double decker pastry.

 

Still walking around the neighborhood, we saw this graffiti art! Wow! Mario! I did get a reaction from James when I showed him this picture. Now my thoughts are how I can create this 8-bit using Legos... Hmm....

 

More lovely apartment windows.

 

After resting a bit, we went to dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant. Jim and I shared this goat cheese and bacon pizza. YUM. I LOVE goat cheese so much now!

 

And Jim found a new favorite wine- it is a grapefruit, or pomplemousse rosé.

 

Jim bought me a rose from a vendor, who was walking around and trying to tempt the tourists in love. Yay! It worked on my Jimmy.

Ahhh a Rose in Paris. Busy traffic scene, complete with cigarette butts. But I liked this picture :)

 

The rose makes an appearance at our next stop- another streetside café for drinks. (Is it a café, a brasserie, or a bistro?) Oh, and the local enforcers are seen. It is not unusual to see these armed dudes everywhere, keeping us all safe.

 

I like this picture best. My handsome Jimmy plus my beautiful wine and rose!

 

Ana and Rich had the best idea for a vase. One of their empty wine bottles! This rose stayed beautiful for the entire week!

 

And that ends our fun-filled awesome second day in Paris!

A big thank you again to our master navigators and trip planners Ana and Rich! Ana was the person who lovingly planned out a day by day itinerary of suggestions. We pretty much stuck to the itinerary every day. It was so wise! She navigated around the museum closings, the busiest known days at attractions, and then the Tour de France! So awesome! Thank you, Ana! :)

 

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