Paris

I did not know what to expect in Paris other than the Eiffel tower being pretty amazing. It did not disappoint. It is a site to see. The only downside is the wait time to go up in it. That and the 300 guys selling miniature Eiffel Towers saying "one euro, one euro" for two hours while you wait in line. There are also a lot of "gypsies" that ask you if you speak English and hand you a card asking for money. It really is heart breaking, there was so much begging across the city. By the end of the stay, you end up saying no before they even ask. That was the toughest part of being in Paris. But the city itself was magnificent. We took a river cruise after we went to the Eiffel Tower and that is where we really started to see the city. After the cruise we went to the Arc De Triumph. The Arc was impressive and HUGE inside. The first night Jeff and I went to the top right as it was getting dark to see the cityscape and the Eiffel Tower lit up. It was a great night, beautiful!

The following day we took a tour on a "hop on, hop off" bus. My favorite site on the tour was the Notre Dame Cathedral. Unlike other cathedrals I have visited, Notre Dame is not ornate with gold and bright colors. It is majestic with its stone work and pure mass. It is unbelievable, the interior and exterior. And unlike St. Paul's, you can take pictures. The Louve was also cool to see but we only were able to enter the lobby and not the galleries b/c they closed at 5:30 and we got there at 5:45. The gift shop was cool though! And the Louve has a shopping mall in it too, who knew? After the Louve, we saw more of the Champ Del Elysees near the Arc. I also saw the Moulin Rouge where the Cancan was invented and "women of less virtue" go to work, so said our guide. We walked up to the "Basilica" where monks used to live in the 1600s. All in all superb! The plan was to go back to the hotel for awhile and then have dinner at Hard Rock. We opted to skip dinner on account of being worn out. We almost ordered a pizza, but that too took too much effort. We did eat 1 french meal while we were there. I thought it was good but Jeff disagreed and so McDs became helped us out a few times. We left for London early the next morning. So long Paris!