Paris

David put together a little video of our Paris photos and clips. I think he did a wonderful job- he literally can do anything.

Most of the below photos are in the video, but since they go so quickly I decided to post them separate along with brief descriptions. Paris was definitely our favorite part of Europe in terms of history and sights. There is so much to do and see.

Day 1: Flight landed around 8:00 AM. Took a train and then a metro to our hotel which was located in the Latin Quarter. We were very happy with our choice in hotel. Everything was perfect about it: fit in our budget, perfect location, and it was so charming! We had a corner room, so we left the windows open the entire time we were there (kind of had to... no AC!)and listened to the Parisian streets.

Croissants and juice breakfast while sitting in the Luxembourg Garden, Notre Dame, St. Chapel, Prison Museum where Mary Antoinette's cell was located, nap (woke up from our nap to the sound of silverware hitting against plates at the cafe underneath our window. This was one of my favorite moments from the entire trip. Also, David made me laugh so hard when we woke up from our nap. I asked him if he wanted to get something to eat because I knew it was dinner time. He thought that it was morning and said, "Ya, let's go get breakfast and then go to the louvre." It was sooooooo funny), and dinner at a cafe near our hotel were all things we did this day.

{Notre Dame}

Famous Gothic cathedral. Started building in 1163 and took over 200 years to complete.

{St. Chapel}

Built in 1248 to house the supposed Crown of Thorns. To keep the focus of the crown, there is no high profile picture of Christ. The stained glass in this cathedral was unbelievable. The photos do not show the true beauty of this place. The stained glass portrays different biblical stories in picture.

Day 2: The Louvre, Champs Elysees (famous street of shopping. Louis Vuitton headquarters here and tons of other expensive stores), Laduree Bakery, Arc de Triomphe, nap, Eiffel Tower in the rain while drinking hot chocolate.

{The Louvre}

We all know this famous museum to house the Mona Lisa, but the building alone was more beautiful than we ever could have imagined. This place was gigantic. It used to be someone's home, which is hard to believe. A guide stated that if you took a minute to look at every piece of art, it would take over 4 months to get through the museum.

{Arc de Triomphe}

This was my favorite structure, aside from the Eiffel Tower. Napoleon had it built in 1809 to honor his soldiers. He told them that they would come home to "arches of victory." It is gorgeous. We were able to walk up the stairs to the top (300 ft high) to see a beautiful view of the city.

{Laduree}

This was by far the cutest bakery. They are famous for their different pastries, but mostly their assortment of macaroons (not the coconut kind that I originally thought they would be, but colorful little cookies that are all over the bakeries in Paris).

{Eiffel Tower}

Constructed in 1889 for the world's fair. Remained the tallest tower until 1930. More than 200,000,000 people have visited it since it was built making it the most visited paid monument in the world.

Of course I loved the Eiffel Tower. It is just as beautiful as I imagined. It was raining that night, so David took some great photos. If you can't tell, the above photo is the tower reflected in a puddle on the street. The rain actually made the evening even more wonderful. We also had hot chocolate, which I absolutely love.

Day 3: Orsay Museum, army museum where Napoleon's tomb lays (this museum was actually very interesting. It was so sad to see little knight armor in child sizes- probably small enough to fit a four or five year old! Also, Napoleon's tomb is located on a lower level, so when you walk into the building you look over a rail down into the next level. David read that Napoleon requested to have his tomb built this way so that people would continue to bow down to him even after he was dead. How arrogant!), fancy dinner at La Petit Troquet, and early night for us- watched Bourne Identity and loved that it took place in Paris.

{Orsay Museum}

This museum was not in a beautiful building, but the art was gorgeous and I would probably say we enjoyed the art here more than the Louvre. It's the impressionist museum, so the art there is from famous artists such as Van Gogh and Monet.

Day 4: Chateau de Versailles, Cluny Museum (boring!), Museum of Modern Art (Didn't like this place, too many inappropriate pieces), dinner at cafe and watched the people on the streets, crepes.

{Chateau de Versailles}

Center of political power in 1682 until the Royal Family was forced out. It is a beautiful palace, but the gardens were the best part. We enjoyed taking photos, eating paninis and ice cream, and taking a nap in the grass. I loved seeing Mary Antoinette's little cottage (not very little, but compared to the huge palace it was near it was). It was interesting to see where she lived as royalty when just earlier in the week we saw her jail cell.

Day 5: Our museum pass was for four days, so the last couple of days in Paris we were able to relax a bit more. This day we walked around the market, went to the Eiffel Tower during the day, took a nap in the grass below, and went to The Moulin Rouge at night.

{Moulin Rouge}

One of my favorite movies, definitely not my favorite place to visit in Paris! It was located in a weird part of the city and was a lot smaller than one would think. At least I got a photo in front of it.

Day 6: Went to church. They do not have an actual church building in Paris, but they hold church in a beautiful older building on the first floor (every single building in Paris is beautiful- they all have the most gorgeous detail). It was nice to be there, even though we didn't understand the French! David made a good point that going to church in different countries is a taste of the culture in itself. I agree. This day we also saw the Tour De France end. We were so close to the bike riders and we saw Lance up close and personal. It was really cool.

Day 7: Last day in Paris. We took a train from Paris to Florence which was an adventure. I'll tell you more about it when I make the Florence post.

Favorites about Paris: Cafes along every street corner, Gorgeous buildings, Very romantic, Little French men selling single roses as we were eating at the cafes, accordion players on the subway, gorgeous French people walking the streets, Great night life- people were out until the early hours of the morning. My favorite little market where I would buy fruit and water bottles would stay open until midnight, but wouldn't open up until 10:00 because he liked to "sleep in." Who needs fruit at midnight, but doesn't need it in the morning? We basically loved everything about Paris except the smokers and graffiti. I would love to go back to France to tour the rest of the country. Oh and contrary to what some people think, the French people are VERY nice!