Paris Take 2

Day 7 of our Euro Road Trip: Paris
The drive through the French countryside was once again beautiful.  The beauty was a bit more difficult to see though, because there was lots of rain.  Needless to say, this made our first day in Paris a bit more gloomy than we would have wished.  That didn't stop us.  Checking into our hotel, finding a parking spot near our hotel, and making sure we were given a room that wasn't already occupied by a creepy French man that invited me in, did however, try to stop us, but even with those obstacles we made it to our first stop.

Arc de Triomphe

Tomb of the unknown soldier under the arc with fresh flowers

The rain was so intense that the escalators to the metro were starting to flood.  Combine that with getting into Paris late and our hotel/parking adventures, it was time for some food.  We ate just down the street from the arch and mostly enjoyed being out of the rain for a bit.  The French wine was delicious.  After dinner we headed back to our hotel so we could have an early start the next day. 

Day 8: Paris
Guess what our first stop of the day was?

Did you guess the Eiffel Tower?
It was a bit cloudy, but you can still see it back there!

We walked a bit closer, and along the way Greg found a friend.

Greg's long lost buffalo capturing buddy

I love this picture

We missed Paris

After starting the day off right, we decided it was best to walk to all the main attractions Paris has to offer.  Spoiler alert: by the end of the day all of our legs were extremely sore from all the walking.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely!

Along our walk we came across some buildings and places that were new for Justin and me too, so it was a fun little adventure!

Palais de la Decouverte

Pont Alexandre III

Musee de L'armee

Concorde Square
(Arc de Triomphe in the background)

Jardin des Tuileries

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

Greg and Nicole photo bombing Justin and the Louvre

Lock Bridge
People in love put locks on here with their names
on the lock so their love will last forever

Notre Dame Cathedral
It is the 850 year anniversary of the cathedral being built

Walking from the Eiffel Tower to the Notre Dame caused us all to work up an appetite, so we decided to look for some traditional French cuisine.  We found a cute little restaurant with lots of yummy French dishes.  The front of the restaurant attracted lots of passers to take a picture of its lovely meat display. 

I had the duck, and it was delicious

We decided to keep going down our walking trail.  Our afternoon adventures led us to more new places.

Pantheon with Justin's eyes closed

Palais du Luxembourg

Jardin du Luxembourg

We decided to rest our feet, so we bought some French
wine and beer and enjoyed the view of the Jardin

After our rest break at the garden it was off for more adventures.  This time we took the metro across town (you're welcome legs), but we didn't make it to our final destination before walking up a significant number of steps (sorry legs).  The end view was once again worth the work (and sweat).

Sacre Coeur

View of Paris from the top of the many steps we climbed to the Sacre Coeur

After the walk down the steps it was time for another rest break.

More French wine and an entertaining time watching the trash man
block traffic (honking and hazard lights once again). 
Added bonus: he emptied the trash in a blazer.

The it was a short walk to our next stop.

Moulin Rouge

We were trying to wait for dark so we could end where we started and watch the magic of the Eiffel Tower sparkle.  In order to make it in time we needed a metro (you're welcome hurting feet and legs).

I loved the fancy colors and of course the sparkling
that happened right at 10:00 p.m.

But I love this guy even more!

Nicole and I wanted to walk closer to the Eiffel Tower, and we got a crazy idea.

Carousel ride?
Yes, please!

Can you see us waving and the Eiffel Tower in the background?

It was actually one of the most fun carousel rides I've ever been on.  I think the view had something to do with it.  The boys were too cool to ride with us, but we had a great time!  

We had one last stop to walk to before we said au revoir to Paris.

Baby Statue of Liberty

"Au revoir, Paris!"  Take 2 of you was oh so grand!

The Pretty Sea City of Marseille

Day 5 Continues in Marseille
Driving to Marseille was beautiful!  We saw several small and old cities, and dare I say, castles.  It was a trip in and of itself.

Once we reached Marseille we all initially had a bad feeling (this would later subside).  First, our silly GPS led Justin into a bus lane when we exited off the interstate.  This is where we encountered our first, not even close to last, honk during our time in Marseille.  Though Euro road trips are fun, driving in huge cities are not so fun.  God bless Justin for taking on the challenge.  

We eventually made our way to our hotel, right near the train station, where we found a lovely bunch of homeless people to welcome us to their city.  Once we found our hotel, Justin needed to try and find parking.  Another side note about Euro road trips: hotels DO NOT have parking lots or parking garages in big cities.  Find a hotel with parking nearby, or reap the consequences.

Since our hotel was by the train station there was parking nearby.  So Greg, Nicole, and I unloaded our bags and went into the hotel while Justin tried to park.  However, Justin could not manage to find a parking space by himself.  So, as the saying goes, "When in France..." (or something like that), Justin put on his hazard lights, parked in a non-parking-spot, found me waiting inside the hotel, and together we went in search of parking.  We eventually found a spot in the train station once we learned how to operate the parking ticket machine, too bad we don't really know French all too well.  We should have had Gregvior (aka Greg) with us, because he seems to think he knows how to speak French, since he took 3 years of it in high school and all (if you get a chance, ask him how to say the basic word "water" and see what happens).

Thus, begins our Marseille adventures.

After we found parking, we found Greg and Nicole already drinking off the craziness at the hotel bar.  I don't blame them though, because there was a serious downpour going on, so it was best to stay inside anyways.  Justin and I joined them for a drink, and we made good use of our time by planning out our night outing.  Once the rain subsided we headed to the downtown area.  We walked around the streets near the port and waited patiently for the restaurants to open for dinner, as we were all excited to try some French seafood.

Our first stop was the opera house

Our dinner turned out to be quite delicious.  We had appetizers of mussels and oysters, followed by some sea bass cooked in rock salt.  Then, as if we weren't already full, we order bouillabaisse, which is a traditional French soup that originated in Marseille.  We felt a little "tricked" at this restaurant because we thought we were ordering 1 bouillabaisse for 4 people, but apparently that isn't allowed or something, because we ended up getting charged for 4, and these weren't a small fee.  Live and learn.

Day 6: Marseille
The next day we started out early, and headed for the Porte d'Aix, which is the arch in Marseille.

My arch pose

Next, we found La Vieille Charite, which was once an almshouse but is now a museum.

After that we found the Marseille Cathedral and walked along the Mediterranean Sea.  Along our walk we saw Fort Saint-Jean and the Abbey of Saint Victor.

Marseille Cathedral

Fort Saint-Jean in the background

Walking along the fort

Abbey of Saint Victor

We started early enough that after seeing this much of Marseille it was time for breakfast.  We had crepes, of course!

We could see Town Hall from our breakfast table

Did I mention breakfast was on the port with this beautiful view?

Once we were full of energy, we decided to be a bit crazy and take a touristy train ride around the city, which would eventually end at the top of Marseille.  We saw many beautiful things along the way.

Chateau d'If
We were planning on taking a boat trip to this chateau, but the waves were too high.
This is where "The Count of Monte Cristo" takes place.

Poilus d'Orient
A monument dedicated to those who lost their lives in World War I

Once we made it to the top of the city we saw the Notre-Dame de la Garde.  Plus, amazing views of Marseille and the Mediterranean.

Notre-Dame de la Garde

My handsome hubby and the Sea

It was windy at the top

Shhh! Before entering the basillica

Inside the Notre-Dame de la Garde
You know you're in a port town when...there is a ship right above Mary's head.

It was beautiful at the top of Marseille

We had fun on our train ride back down to the port

We saw an old tank on the ride down

After our train ride we had an amazing lunch at a mussel restaurant, also on the port.  We thoroughly enjoyed our food and our view!  Justin and I decided to take a little nap before dinner, so we walked up La Canebiere, a popular shopping street in Marseille, on our way back to our hotel.

La Canebiere

We found a war monument by our hotel on the way back

We also found this beautiful cathedral

After our nap, we met up with Greg and Nicole (who had done a lot of walking) under the Vieux Port Pavillion and took some pictures. 

There we are on the right
This was a fun mirror type object.  Many people took silly pictures like this.

Then, we enjoyed happy hour at a pub on the port, and we played a fun European drinking game,courtesy of Greg and Nicole (the basic rule is drink whenever you hear a honk, which is quite frequently).  We had some gelato and doner kababs to end the night.  Overall, Marseille was a pretty little city by the sea!