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!