Paris- Day 1

Paris!

Bethany seeing if Isaiah would ride well in his carrier.

French country side- every town we passed had a steepled church.

Angie Beauvais- took this picture for you!!

It’s been a busy 2 months since I’ve returned from the US! Bethany and Kacey came to visit us in mid- March and we were able to head to Paris for a couple of days with them. We really packed in the Parisian sights, sounds, and activities, so I’m going to have to break it down and do a blog for each day. There were just too many great pictures! I (I think I speak for everyone else as well) LOVED Paris! It was probably my favorite place that we have visited in Europe so far. We’ve heard that Parisians can be very cold and rude, but honestly, everyone we ran into was very nice! One man even stopped and asked us if we were lost and needed help (which we did).

The original plan was to ride and bus or the train to Paris, but I was able to find a cheap parking garage on the outskirts of the city. So, we ended up driving, which took about 3 hours, parked and then rode the metro 30 minutes to our hotel. Our two star hotel was nothing special, but it was clean and in an excellent location. We settled in and then walked along the Siene River (passing many of Paris’ famous bridges) to the Orsay museum. It was a bit chilly, but not raining and the sun was shining at a great angle that caught the gold accents on the buildings and bridges and made them truly shine. Walking along the river and taking in Paris was probably my favorite part of our weekend. It was neat because in most cities there is a historical downtown area with nice, old buildings (like the Grand Place in Brussels). But in Paris, the ENTIRE city was full of old, really ornate buildings- it was beautiful! We arrived at the Orsay museum 2 hours before it was supposed to close thinking we wouldn’t have to wait in line, but the line was HUGE! We almost left when a guard came up to use and motioned us to a much smaller line because we had a stroller- nice job Isaiah! The Orsay museum picks up where the Lourve museum leaves off (about the Impressionist era). There were many beautiful paintings and sculptures. Finally, we rounded out our evening with dinner at a great little Italian place with free water (yea!) and walked to the Eiffle Tour. We planned to climb it, but there was a 2 hour line, so we decided to skip it. Seeing the Eiffle Tour at night was beautiful! During the first 10 minutes of every hour there is a spectacular light show. So fun!

Ben & Kacey descending the millions of stairs to the metro...happened a lot...

Hmm...How are we going to fit the stroller through the ticket taker to get to the metro?? Each time was different, and each time we had to come up with a new solution...usually this meant lifting the stroller & Isaiah over the gate...security cameras always caught us, but we never got stopped!

Don't know if you can see it in the picture, but the sign says "McCoy Cafe Open." Go McCoy's!

Ben & Kacey outside the hotel.

Our very small hotel rooms.

Our first view of the Eiffle Tower...we were walking and one of us turned around and shouted, "Whoah! There it is!"

One of Paris' many bridges.

My favorite bridge- The sun was shining perfectly on the golden statues- awesome!

A governmental building.

Lamp posts on my favorite bridge.

Locks of love on one of the bridges.

A view of Paris.

A view of Paris.

Dinner

Our Italian restaurant with free water!

The light show on the Eiffel tour.

The Eiffle tour at night. WOW