Paris, France

2/15/08
We arrived in Paris last night to find our hotel only a few blocks from the metropolitain station. It’s a fine little hotel with all the basics. The room is larger than the one we stayed at in London and we have our own Bathroom! Last night we wandered around a little and saw our neighborhood. We had some dinner at a local restaurant. We both had chicken and some kind of cooked cabbage. Definitely not what we expected. We woke this morning and had some great croissant eu chocolat. We walked to the Jardin de Luxumborg and had our breakfast and Oranges Pressees (OJ). It was very, very cold. Maybe 30 – 40 degrees and windy. Today we walked and walked. More than 23,000 steps. We left the park and headed on the metro to Notre Dame. We got a little lost but eventually found it. What a huge place… and incredibly beautiful. Then onto Musse de Louvre. The courtyard was amazing… just like I hoped it would be. It was larger than I remember seeing in the movie. We left there and walked down the mall. Ave des champs-elysees is a multiple mile stretch of artwork and parks between the Lourve and Arc de Triomphe. Tons of fountains, beautiful trees and statues. It seems as if everywhere you look there are more and more buildings that would be the most outrageous and elaborate building in the united states and there are tons of them here. They just seem to be more elaborate around every corner. So many of them we don’t even have time to even walk past them.
After leaving Ave de Champs-Elysees, we took the metro back to our hotel for a little nap and resting time. We woke to it being dark and headed toward Basilique du Sacre-Coeur on the Montmartre. This basilica on the top of Paris’s largest mountain has an incredibly beautiful church. Not as elaborate as Notre Dame, but just as beautiful. It was great to see the gigantic jesus on the ceiling in mosaics. Though we weren't allowed to take photos, Pam and I managed a few. We wandered the little streets and saw great little ivy covered houses and the last remaining vineyard in Paris. This area was called Bateau-Lavoir and was once home to the famous painter Picasso. We headed back down the hill and took the subway south east to an area called Place d’Italie for dinner. Everything seemed quite expensive so we ended up having dinner and drinks at a pub with some of the locals.