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The One where I get to see the Eiffel Tower….

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I don’t usually have many photos of myself on this blog, mostly because I’m not really photogenic… When someone wants to take my picture I just kinda stare at the camera with a “what am I supposed to do now look…”  But for this trip I’ll share a few photos of myself… just know it’s a stretch for me..

After a pleasant but long plane ride we got to Paris at 8:30 AM, Paris time… We got right to our hotel and dropped off our luggage. Since the room wasn’t ready yet, I didn’t get a chance to freshen up (I DID brush my teeth!)… But by the end of the day I had on very little makeup & was feeling a bit gross…

With only 3 days in Paris, we knew we had no time to spare!  Wanting to get a feel of the layout of the city we decided to do the “hop on hop off” bus tour…. Yes, I know it’s touristy and cheesy, but I don’t like riding the subway all the time because you don’t get to SEE where you are going!  We had decided on the first day to see many of the sites, then hit the museums the next couple of days.

I would TOTALLY recommend the bus tour for anyone! It also included a boat ride but it was FREEZING cold and the thought of getting on a boat was too chilly! There were 4 tour bus routes and we only got to complete 1 because of time.  In one day, because of the bus, we were able to see Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, Eiffel Tower, Trocadero, Champs Elysees, Ponte Neuf and many of other sites.  We were able to get off the bus and explore a bit, then walk and catch the bus at the next stop. I wish we would have done this in Rome 2 years ago.

Our first stop was Notre Dame. We got out and after being asked about a million times if we spoke English (by people looking to take advantage of tourists) we went inside.  They were getting ready to have Mass so we were not able to get very close to the Michelangeo altar piece, but were able to explore the interior.


After Notre Dame we realized we were both very cold and very hungry. We spotted a cafe across the river and walked over. We had a great little lunch at Cafe Panis. (not my photos, found on flickr)… We got Croque Monsieur & a Croque Madame.  My favorite part was the Hot Chocolate. They serve the chocolate and the milk separately with a side of sugar. You pour the milk in and mix it to your liking… It was DELICIOUS!  We definitely do not appreciate Hot Chocolate like we should here in the states…

Warmer and with fully bellies we walked back across the river and found Sainte Chapelle. We had to hunt a bit it was kinda hard to find.  (the entrance is in an odd spot).  We had bought Museum Passes ahead of time, so we were able to skip the line and go right in.

I think this was one of the highlights of the trip for me. It was spectacular!! We were so lucky to go there on a sunny day because the stained glass windows were just sparkling.  We had the Rick Steves audio guides on our iPhones (another thing I HIGHLY recommend) and were able to listen to some commentary and history about the church.

I want a ceiling like this in my house!!!
This is where I get torn about WHEN we went to Paris.  It was COLD!! Luckily it did not rain one drop on us, but the wind was bone chilling.  It did hamper a bit of what we did there. Instead of casually strolling through the city we hustled to the next stop in order to warm up. We also had to give up on riding on the top of the bus. It just got tooo cold. The FLIP side though is, I felt like we were the only tourists in the city. Virtually NO lines for anything and we were one of only a dozen people in Sainte Chapelle that day… If I went again, I don’t know when I would go… maybe the Fall?
Back on the tour bus at Pont Neuf we headed towards the Champs Elysees.  It’s pretty much a shoppers paradise, although I confess I did not buy too much there.
Jeff teased me for walking into Sephora, but let me tell you this was not like ANY other Sephora, it was huge and full of every type of perfume you could want.  The Louis Vuitton store was more like a Museum than a store, gorgeous ceilings, crystal sculptures, and full of antique trunks. I will never own an antique LV trunk,  but that is pretty much my “dream” home decor item. (they are museum quality pieces)…   They had a stack of 12 RED ones by the door… beautiful craftsmanship…
Time for more food and a bathroom break, don’t tease me but we went to McDonalds… I KNOW I KNOW… but we wanted a soda and a clean bathroom and McD’s offered both. I was  a bit surprised though, at the McD’s there you can get Chocolate Croissants & Macaroons & delicious pastries!! (not fair!, hint hint McD’s!!)
Back on the bus, then we hit the Eiffel Tower. Snapped some photos & hit the gift shop but it was too cold to go up in the tower, next time…
When we asked Andrew (our son) what he wanted in Paris, he said “a goofy picture with Daddy pushing the Eiffel tower”… So here’s Andrew’s request… pretty easy to please that kid!
Back on the bus and to the hotel, we had a quiet dinner at a Brasserie close to our Hotel, then hit the sack, we were exhausted!!

up tomorrow:… “The anti pickpockets at Versailles”

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