When I tell people that we did this, they respond with WOW! What a great idea! How did you hear about it??? I'm so quick to tell them it was my wonderful sister that had the idea and made all of the arrangements.
The company is Localers. It is basically a photography tour of Paris. Our guide, Bruno, spoke English of course, and he took us on a 3 hour tour of the Paris sights that he must love. He told us that he is an architectural photographer, so I could see that he had an appreciation for space and buildings.
We took a lot of pictures by couple, and a few pictures all together. I'm only posting the pictures of Jim and myself, but for my favorite group picture with Ana and Rich too.
It was a little awkward (for me) to know that Bruno was constantly following us with a camera. He would take random shots, like a paparazzi! It was SO VERY HOT and I couldn't decide if I should look at the camera, take off my sunglasses or leave them on, smile or just act natural. I am NOT a good subject, as I found out when we looked through the 500+ photos. I do not have a good smile in most of the pictures. I'm sorry to my travel partners in crime for ruining any shots!
I did find 30+ pictures that I really liked.
We strolled through the Palais Royal gardens, hand in hand.
The palace was beautiful.
We moved on to the Louvre and its pyramid. Jim did the classic "I'm touching the pyramid" pose.
My favorite group shot. Too bad we couldn't ask all the people to get out of the way! Ha!
Ignore my dusty shoes. I wish I had noticed that from the walk through the gardens..
This is from my own camera. There's Bruno on the bottom left. And a lovely palace in the background.
I'm so glad Bruno took us to the Pont des Arts. Both couples came prepared with padlocks. Yay!
You can see that both sides of the bridge are lined with padlocks. Couples come and declare their commitment to love, and then throw the keys to their padlocks into the Seine. So the commitment is supposed to be forever.. but Bruno answered our question honestly about the padlocks. We could see that the bridge was darn near full. He said that when a section becomes too heavy and full, the city comes and snips away that part of the chain fence. No one knows what is done with the locks. Well, the keys are still in the Seine. That part is forever, no?
Here's our lock. I couldn't find a plain old padlock. Maybe this can be an Ace ad in the future?
Throwing the key into the river.
The Notre Dame in the background.
We sat by the river briefly for pictures.
I love the buildings in the background.
This mural near the Pomidou Centre was interesting. I couldn't stop laughing.
and my last favorite is this fountain. I didn't know this fountain at all until I just looked it up. It is the Fontaine des Innocents. Who knew it was from the 1500's?! If Bruno mentioned that, I didn't hear it.
I don't have any photographic proof of the rest of our night, so I don't remember what we did for dinner or for the rest of the day. BUT I do know that we were exhausted and HOT after the three hours of pictures and walking. It was very worth it when looking at the pictures. We look happy (and not sweaty, thankfully!) and beautiful. I am so grateful for these pictures and memories!
Thank you, Ana for the arrangements and just the general "you know your stuff"!
PLEASE do not copy or use these images. These are our special memories. If you really, really want a print of a photo, please let me know.
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