Paris
I loved Paris. This may seem obvious enough, but I had no expectations to like it. I even suggested we skip it altogether. But I got there and the weather was perfect. There were creperies on every other street corner. The streets were narrow and cobble-stoned. There were about a million scooters and little motorcycles, or tiny cars. Once you park there I don't know how you would get your car out. I think most people use public transit anyway.
So we flew to Paris, over the English channel. We took the train and subway to our hotel: no expensive taxis. Our hotel was in a cute neighborhood with little shops and cafes. The cafes were generally busy except in the evening when they were packed, at least until we went into our hotel at 11. We went to the Louvre and waited in line to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. We ate some delightful crepes and an amazing raspberry pastry that had about fifteen layers. We went to the Eiffel Tower and walked up about 700 steps to the second tier. We wandered the streets and shopped and I loved every minute of it. Lots of people had their dogs, and took them shopping with them. Some of them weren't on leashes, they just followed their person. None of them jumped on people or barked. It was quite charming. We found this to be true throughout Europe. It was one whirlwind day in Paris, but it was wonderful. Oh, and I've used larger showers in third world countries than the one in our hotel in Paris.
Flying over the English channel
The Metro Station near our hotel, cute, no? It was about 6 flights of stairs under the ground to get to the train.
Us at the Louvre
The crowd to see the Mona Lisa
My first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower
On the first tier
On the second tier
The Paris skyline from the Eiffel Tower
He's making that crepe for me. =)
A little fruit stand
A Paris street
A cute little store near our hotel
4 comments:
Oh, i LOVED Paris! I was there in late October ('00) and it was gorgeous crisp fall weather with just enough warmth in the sunshine to bring everyone out into the parks to sit and soak it in.
Did you not find the Mona Lisa to be rather anticlimactic? So small! And such thick bullet proof glass!
Michael and I are almost convinced that we should go live in Paris for a year. That's how much we loved it. Just what to do to make money while we're there. Sell purses on the sidewalk, I suppose.
Actually, I'd heard so much about how small the Mona Lisa was that I thought it was going to be like an 8 1/2 by 11. So I was surprised by how big it was. I suppose I was more impressed by the crowd than by the painting itself.
I suppose this is redundant, but: I adored every moment of Paris. Okay, I can think of one mildly eye-opening one. When we arrived (I went my junior year in high school on BMA's fateful last Europe tour), we drove by bus through the trashier part of town (red light district perhaps?) and I vividly remember a very small and very large dog copulating on the sidewalk next to a homeless man. Weird. I was shocked; I was naive, what can I say? Other than that, Paris was a dream come true. :)
Okay... i find it a little weird that there is a wire fence on the first tier but not on the second tier... is the second tier not higher off the ground? ha ha. :)
where next??? i'm enjoying this trip.
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