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Friday, June 12, 2009

Oui, Oui, Paris-We met our museum quota and ate enough crepes for a small army.


We were worn travelers but excited to be in Paris.  We found our awesome hotel near Luxembourg Gardens.  We dropped our bags, returned our car and took the subway to do a walking tour of Paris...

First, Notre Dame, then on to the Jewish Memorial, Latin Quarter (with a view of the first sewage system-a dip in the middle of the alley), St. Michael's Place, and Ponte Neuf.


The next day we started at the d'Orsay Museum, then the Rodin, Army Museum/Napoleon's Tomb, Arc d'Triumph, and Champs l'Essey; eating crepes at every turn.  It felt so cool to see such iconic sights and amazing art.  






Continuing our tour of Paris, the following day we went to the Eiffel Tower and took lots of pictures.  Also, at the park below the Eiffel Tower we witnessed the "ring scam".  There were teams of people trying to sell a fake ring to anyone they could.  It was amazing to watch and we soon picked up on what made a successful scam artist.


Then we went to Monte Marte, the famous artist area with an amazing cathedral and views of the city.  We bought some art, ate yet another crepe and found the Moulin Rouge in honor of my sister Andrea and our love of the movie.


Next, to the Pantheon with a really cool pendulum and tombs of famous French people.


We went to meet my friend from New York, Melissa who was in town visiting her sister Andrea (yup, our sisters have the same name).  We had a nice time chatting with a familiar face and they recommended an awesome steak place that we loved.  They served they're steak with this mustard-tasting, green-colored sauce and delicious fries.  We were stuffed yet again, wondering how long it would take our waist-line to recover from Europe.

We had purchased a museum pass and Patrick was determined to get our money's worth out of them.  So our 4th day in Paris was spent eating crepes (big surprise), going to the Concierge (Marie Antoinette's jail), St. Chapelle, The Louvre, and finally a boat ride down the Siene River.  St. Chapelle had the most brilliant stain glass we've ever seen.  And we got to pass by one of the original metro stops.  I love the design of the sign.

The Louvre was huge and overwhelming but we made it through and liked it.


Patrick tricked me.  I walked around the corner and asked very interestedly, "What are you looking at?"  A blank wall.  Isn't the use of color amazing here.

More crepes and the beautiful night-time boat ride down the Siene.

Still not done...on our 5th day, we went to Versaille and saw the opulence that baffled us at every castle we visited.  I am a bit fascinated with Marie Antoinette so that was cool.


We still hadn't met our museum quota so we explored the sewer museum (actually really cool)...

and the Tuileries Gardens and the l'Orangerie Museum.  We loved the large Monet Water Lilly and I loved the impressionist art downstairs. 

Finally, with our tired, museumed-out feet, we journeyed down Rue Rivoli to the Bastille Tower.

Then back to the hotel to pack and reflect on 4 months well spent with one more stop left.

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