For our last day, we decided to head in a different direction when we left the hotel. We had seen The Pantheon the night before but we still wanted to tour the inside. As we walked we stopped for croissants, our morning ritual. Once again, we used our nifty little museum passes and waltzed right in. It was freezing! Like walking into an unfinished basement. The carvings and statues were beautiful. All the warmth came from the paintings. Circling the inside walls were gorgeous portraits. One series being on Joan of Arc.

Girl Power!

Next up was Luxembourg Gardens. We had planned on seeing it the evening before but they were closed. It really was very picturesque. I would love to see all the gardens when the trees are full. There were lawn chairs around the pond, in front of the palace. We sat there for a little while watching the children playing with their remote controlled boats on the pond. After checking our trusty map, we found which direction would take us to the Rodin Museum.

Chill'n in Luxembourg

One of the best things to do in Paris is to just walk around. As my friend Catie, a parisian at heart, said, “You can just feel the history in the air”. And she couldn’t have been more right. Not just the architecture but the layout of the city is really spectacular.

The Rodin Museum was very impressive. It’s amazing the amount of work that man never finished. There was an entire section in the garden that housed his unfinished work. It’s hard to comprehend how much more incredible the pieces would have been if he had finished them. I did get a little chuckle though thinking that if every unfinished “project” or thought of mine was placed in a room, it would be overwhelming. His house, and the garden surrounding it, are really charming. Once again, I would love to go back to see it when the trees are in bloom. However, I suppose that at this time year, the sculptures in the garden are really the main focus. Ok, so I know that MOST sculptures are made to withstand touching and people leaning or sitting on them but these are not most sculptures. They are not the center of a large fountain or in a popular square. These are in a museum for a reason. Every time I saw someone grab a hand or lean against one, I wanted to scream. Maybe it’s because I grew up hearing, “Pretty to look at, not to touch”. I still hear something similar from Aaron frequently but it’s more like, “Shit Meghan! Watch your purse! Can you please step away? You’re making me nervous”. One of the funniest things though: There was a German (we think) family ahead of us was snapping lots of pictures. They stopped to pose with one of the sculptures and the dad told the boy (maybe 5 yrs old) to gently touch it for the picture. With a delicate pointer finger, he touched the wiener….oh em gee. We were all cracking up! Hilarious.

The inside of his house held a ton of work, including paintings. The house is, well you know…old. The wood floors were nailed in, what I’m guessing, every place it seemed to need it. The second floor was a little nerve racking due to the fact that those old floors are holding a crazy amount of solid marble. And the creaking was so loud we could barely talk to one another. I started imaging Aaron disappearing, leaving behind a hole in the wood where he once stood and him looking up at me from the first floor.

The Army Museum was right next door. It was definitely lot more interesting than I thought it was going to be. There was a giant courtyard when you walked through the first opening.

When we walked in the front, we were surrounded by armor, guns and swords. It showed the military history between the thirteenth and mid-seventeenth century. We passed large themed areas that included reproductions of European workshops of the sixteenth century, the suits of armor for jousting and tournaments, hunting guns… think lots of war outfits and accessories hehe. Aaron was loving it.

Ghost of "War Hero Fetter"

Hehe! Didn't want to squish the mustache!

"That's for when you're drunk" - Aaron

The next section was the WW1 and WW2 museum. The WW2 walk-through was tremendously moving. There was a picture of Hitler in front of the Eiffel Tower. I almost threw up. It actually made my stomach turn to look at something so repulsive standing in front of one the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen (and also the fact that I was standing in almost the same spot not too long ago). There was a room that held items that were thrown from the trains by Parisians being deported. Combs, mirrors, letters…there was a uniform and a concentration camp registration form. The museum was also playing a video, showing the horrifying acts that were done. I couldn’t talk for about 15 minutes after leaving the room. Seeing Nazi flags and posters of the Nazi party, just the symbol that represents one of the most hideous and appalling times in history, made me nauseous. It was quite the experience. Aaron was blown away thinking about how both his Grandpas fought in WW2. His parents have an actual Nazi helmet at their house. We think we saw a similar one at the museum, bizarre.

a comb

a uniform (the lighting was weird)

Next up, Napoleon’s Tomb. All I can say is, I now truly get why they call it “The Napoleon Complex”. Rick Steves explains it perfectly. “Napoleon is dead and so it seems is everything else that matters. Jesus leans out from His cross in mourning. Twelve angels stand shell-shocked around the mortal remains of Napoleon, who lies majestically dead. Lesser generals, all French and five-star, fill ignored chapels, as if to decorate the emperor’s grave. The vast dome, like the gilded lid on a fancy room-service meal, keeps his memories warm.” It was not what I was expecting at all. The entire time all that was going through my head was “You think he’s compensating for something?”. We wondered, if we had x-ray vision, is his casket is a box inside of a box, inside of a box, inside of a box, inside of a box…..you get it….with little Napoleon, like a lima bean in the very bottom? It really is something to see though. It is beautifully overdone.

The "Tomb"

The "Casket" - look at the people in the background!

We took the metro back to the hotel to rest a bit and figure out what to do for dinner. As we rested, we made our “Things to bring back for friends and family” list. I also took out my trusty Rick Steves Guide Book. As we started crossing off what we did on our glorious trip, to my horror I realized that we couldn’t check off Sainte Chapelle. It was 4:15 and Rick said it closed at 6 so we rushed out the door. We reached the chapel in less than 15 minutes. There was a longish line, but it was the best we had seen yet. We had been standing there for about 15 minutes when an employee came up and cut the line 3 couples, I repeat 3 couples, ahead of us. He told us that closing time was 5:30 (not 6, Steve – not so trusty now) and there wouldn’t be enough time. Booo! After some pouting, Aaron reminded me that we did so many amazing things and we’ll just have to go back. Sweet man.

The streets ans sidewalks were CRAZY! It must have been the fact that its was Saturday. We tried to do some shopping but decided to stop to have some drinks instead. Noth’n like french beer and wine to beat the crowds! We almost forgot that the shops close around 6 or 7 so we went searching for some chocolate, scarves and cheesy mini Eiffel Towers.

After we dropped our parisian gifts off, we were starving. On our first night, we passed this adorable pizzeria. I loved the exposed beams and stone walls, tiny two tops sandwiched between a booth lined wall and small wooden chairs. I know that eating Italian on our last night in Paris would be frowned upon by many but I dont care! It was the ambiance that I cared about more than what I was going to be eating. The tables were so close together you would have thought a party of 30 was in there. The waiter had to move the table out so Aaron could scoot in. We decided he would sit booth side only because we were so close to the door, he would have gotten knocked every time someone walked by. However, once he was in, we realized he was the only guy on that side. Haha! Oh well! When ordering, We were cracking up because we had a little difficulty ordering a bottle of wine.The couple next to us started laughing with us and the guy said, “Your Italian is much better than your French. But at least you tried!” Very nice people. We spent our last night in Paris drinking, eating and talking and we took the long way back to the hotel. Taking in the last little bit that we could. It was perfect.

Xoxo

My converse were starting to rub me the wrong way, literally. So I decided to switch it up and wear my boots. After doing test walks (it was really marching in place to be honest. Our room isn’t really good for testing out shoes) the pressure was off the hurty areas so I thought, why the hell not.

As we left the hotel, we stopped once again to get our delicious french breakfast, croissants. We munched as we headed toward the Notre Dame. We have walked past and taken pictures many times but the line is always crazy long when we get there. We thought that maybe we could catch a break if it was our first stop in the morning. And we did! ZERO line. I love non existant lines! We turned the corner and we were in! The inside of Notre Dame is pretty amazing. Like every other building up to that point, the inside doesn’t really match the outside. There are the beautiful, detailed carvings but the facade doesn’t give you an idea of whats inside. What I’m trying to say is, both are truly spectacular but in different ways.

Next up was supposed to be Sainte Chapelle but the line was so long it almost went through a crosswalk. Who knows how long we would have been standing there. So we set off for the Sacre Coeur.  Knowing that there about 1,000 stairs there (not really) we took the metro again. We got off on an earlier stop so we could explore the area surrounding the Sacre Coeur. We regretted the decision the second we came up from the metro. We had previously discussed certain things we wondered about the city. Like, where are the gas stations? and why are the streets always so clean if the garbage cans are every 10 blocks? (both of those answered by the way. 1.they are tiny and hard to find but we saw one! 2. Street cleaners. Every single day.) And another pondering was I wonder if the city has a “ghetto”? We now have the answer for that too! It’s down the hill from Sacre Coeur. I was actually getting a little nervous.

The sidewalks started to get more and more steep. Aaron made a comment about how he thought we were in Paris, not San Francisco. I had to agree. It was pretty painful. Great for the legs and butt though! When we reached the top of the hill, there was a fork. We could either take about a gazillion stairs or walk up another steep sidewalk. The sidewalk only won because it had a view.

We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside but I slyly took a video. Once again, I’ll post when I have a better internet connection. We got lucky while on the hill. The sun came out and we got some really great pictures. You can imagine we were pretty happy about that.

After the Sacre Coeur we headed back to the Sainte Chapelle. The line was much shorter BUT they were closed for another hour for lunch. Wah Wah Waaaah. Obviously there was still plenty left to see it so we weren’t worried, just bummed. After taking out the map and seeing what worked best, we went to Musee d’Orsay. It is housed in a former railway station. It’s mainly known for it’s collection of impressionist and post impressionist pieces. It’s actually the largest collection in the world! We weren’t allowed to take pictures there either! That was a big bummer because the art we saw was some the most amazing pieces I have ever seen. Renoir’s “Le Bal du Moulin de la Galette” almost moved me to tears. Aaron couldn’t believe that he had spent his entire Art Education looking at these paintings in books. There was a elementary class there learning about the art. I wonder if they know how good they have it. What an education. We both agreed that we loved this museum more than the Louvre. Yes, the sheer volume of paintings and sculptures is amazing in the Louvre but when a museum has paintings that bring you to tears, I think it wins.

We decided to stop at a crêperie for lunch on our way back to the hotel.  Delicious ham and cheese crêpes. It was so much fun to watch the…crêperist?…do their thing. I wanted to take a video but more than that, I didn’t want to be the weirdo recording the lady making my lunch. So with a “Merci!”, I happily took the crêpe. They fold it so many times, I was full with half of it left. Hey! Now I can say I had a crêpe in Pareee. Pretty cool.

We rested (well, he rested while I was knocked out cold) before heading back out. We had planned to walk through Luxembourg Gardens only to find out it closed at 6pm. So weird. I could see maybe 10, but 6? So we walked over to The Panthéon. It’s about 5 blocks from our hotel. Go figure we visit it on the second to last day. We plan to tour the inside in the morning.

We stopped at a small bar to have some drinks. At the table next to us, there was an older woman, a younger man (I assume was her son but it could have been her “lovaaa”) and an adorable dog, Daisy. The young man told us that Daisy has been to the states 10 times. Quite a travel’n pooch!

Delicious!

Daisy

We ventured back out to the Paris streets. Mostly just meandering. We came across this gelato shop and I HAD to have some. I have been watching people eat ice cream and ice cream like treats all over this city. It was my turn. I tried ordering a small cup but I must have said it wrong because the woman started speaking in english. I laughed and said, “Well, I guess you speak better english than I do french.” She responded, “No! You Rule!” It was absolutely hilarious! The guy behind the counter kept saying “YOU’RE WELCOME!” like he just learned it that day. I think it’s my favorite ice cream place now.

YUMMMM

We walked toward the Seine to take some night shots. We realized we hadn’t been to the Île Saint-Louis yet. As we walked, we stopped to take pictures of the tour boats on the river.

Aaron pointed out a beautufully lit bridge and suggested we stop there to take more pictures.

After a couple of shots of the Seine with the Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower in the background, he said, “So, there is a reason I booked this trip” and got down on one knee! Never in my entire life could I imagine something so wonderful!! I am so lucky to have the love of my life ask me to spend the rest of my life with him, while in the most romantic city in the world!

Engaged and Elated!!

**If you wanted to know the bridge… Pont de la Tournelle, Paris, France…my favorite spot in the world.**

It was chilly but sunny when we left the hotel. We stopped again at our “favorite” boulangerie. As we munched on freshly baked croissants, we headed toward the Louvre. We had our museum passes ready for our special speedy line. Speedy it was! We were the only people. Not that we were complaining. The Louvre is HUMUNGOUS! We saw some of histories most famous works of art. From Venus de Milo to the Mona Lisa. Mona Lisa was a lot smaller than I thought she would be. There was a giant line to take her picture. I waited, of course, because when would I be back? A lot of walking, looking, resting, looking, walking and looking again we made it out in about 41/2 hours. Which according to people who have been there, is a feat. I think we hit almost every room. I was impressed. We worked up quite and appetite so we stopped at a small cafe and had some salads. Our dogs were bark’n so we headed back to the hotel to digest and rest. Thats when I wanted to start the last blog but ended up taking a nap instead. C’est la vie!

After our much needed nap, we decided it would be a good time to invest in metro tickets. We took the metro to Champ de Mars and the Eiffel Tower. When we got out of the station, there is stood. Steal beams never made anything so spectacular. I still thought it was just a backdrop in a movie until I was standing in the center of it, looking up.

We wanted to head up at around dusk. That way we could get pictures in day light on the way up and beautiful night shots at the top. When we got there, the line for the elevator was loooong. We knew that if we waited in that line, we wouldn’t reach the 1st floor until it was dark. So, the other option? Stairs. 360 stairs for the climb of 187ft to the 1st floor. Another 360 stairs for another 187ft to the 2nd floor. Totaling at 720 stairs and 378 ft!!! WOW! We went for it. Boy were we glad we took the metro! After a couple breaks, we made it to the 1st floor. Looking down, “are those ants?!” I couldn’t believe how small everyone looked. And we had to laugh at the idiots that were still standing in line for the elevator. I swear we loose weight  when we go on vacation.

After our climb to the 2nd floor, we could finally get on an elevator to the tippy top! We were concerned it was going to cost an arm and a leg but it was only 5 euros (that’s about 10 dollars cheaper than the Stratosphere in Vegas)! I think it should have been free for the people who climbed the stairs, but that’s just me. I took a video in the elevator on the way up and walking outside. As soon as we get home and have a better internet connection, I’ll post it. Aaron was freaking out. He isn’t much a heights person. Which is weird….because he’s so tall. You would think he would be used to the ground being far away. When we got off the elevator, there was a indoor space to look out. Of course I wasn’t going to look at that view through a window. I needed to get outside. Holy crap was it windy. It actually made me a little nervous. Like with the right gust, I would be holding onto the railing on the other side.

The lighting was perfect for a night shot when we got up there. In the later pictures (I’m talking like 10 min later) you can only see little lights. It was pretty…awesome. After we walked around (in a small circle) a little, we headed back down. Oh! While we were standing in line for the down elevator, which was clearly marked as a LINE and not a area to walk through, two American’s were shouting, “EXCUSE ME! EXCUSE ME!” while pushing themselves through the line. I stopped them and pointed to the large gate in front of us. CLEARLY a no go! The sign above it and on it had the big red circle with the white line through it. Also, everyone standing in line in no way looked like they were standing around, checking out the view. We were all facing the same direction. Plus, did I mention the signs!? It was pretty embarrassing, for us. Those are the “stupid americans”. They couldn’t even been saying “pardon” or “excusez-moi”? Rude little piggies!

Anyway!  When we got back to earth, we walked down the Champs de Mars. We got out our gorilla pod (best tripod ever!) and were getting ready to take some pictures for when it started to sparkle. Right on the hour mark. GLITTER! It was beautiful! The pictures and video, obviously, do it no justice!

One last picture before heading back to the metro. Even beautiful without the sparkle!

Xoxo from Paris!

Ok, so I actually attempted to start this post at 4:00 Paris time only to be woken up 20 min later by Aaron with only the title done.

Day 2 started with us sleeping in a little later than we had hoped. Being a power tourist is tiring! Plus, we were up at (my Aunt Wendy called it:) 2:30am. It wasn’t too difficult falling back asleep though. French only TV will make you tired pretty quickly. Rushing around, trying to get ready, I only had to straighten to my hair. I plugged in the adapter and POP!, a big blue spark shot out. The TV went dead. All the lights were still on thank God and the 3 other outlets in the room still worked. We don’t touch that outlet anymore. On the way out of the hotel we let the front desk know that our TV was out. He informed us that he knew, it was out for the entire building. I like to think it was a coincidence. I know what you’re thinking but honestly, all I did was plug in the adapter, nothing else. I blame it on bad wiring.

Once we were out and about we stopped at our favorite Boulangerie. Meaning, the one next to our hotel. We picked up two croissants. “Deux croissants, s’il vous plaît.” and continued on our way. We found a small supermarche and picked up some orange presse (juice) and headed toward the Champs Elysees to eventually end up at the Arc de Triomphe.

The Champs Elysees was great people watching but the shops were pretty much all the same as in the states. I’m pretty sure H&M’s window had the same set up. Good to know for my next trip out here! We stopped at a FNAC (like a FYE-SamGoody…if you remember those) to get our museum passes. You can get 2, 4, and 6 days passes. It gets you into about 30 museums and monuments for free and at some places like the Notre Dame, you get to take the express line. Pretty cool. We have already used it 3 times and we already know about 10 other places we want to go. So with a 4 day pass, it’s totally worth it.

We went through the underground tunnel to reach the Arc because the street surrounding it is a giant roundabout. I was cracking up when we stood toe to roundabout. All I could think of was the scene in European Vacation when they get stuck for HOURS circling. That would be me for sure! Just watching the cars made me nervous. There are no lights, just yield signs. Chaos. When we came up the stairs, the Arc just TOWERED. It was different than looking at a building like a church. It’s just an incredible mass of beautifully carved stone. Our pictures do it zero justice. To look at the detail of the carvings is jaw dropping. But so is about 90% of the architecture in this city.

Next up, Centre Pompidou. And we walked. SOOOO far. It was worth it though. The building itself is really cool. Very modern; appropriate considering it’s the modern art museum.  When we got to the top, it was the best view yet. We could see Sacre Coeur and the Eiffel Tower. I have a FANTASTIC zoom on my camera and I got a couple cool shots.  Each floor of the museum has an exhibition.  Aaron loved looking at a lot of art he did papers on for school (Art History Major). It’s much different when you are seeing it in person than when you look it up on a computer (Aaron, “We had books back then”). I even remember talking about the controversy surrounding Marcel Duchamp’s “The Fountain” from my High School art classes. Interesting to say the least. The bottom floor of the museum was an exhibit by Michel Gondry who is a French film, commercial and music video director and a screenwriter. He did Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (A MUST SEE!). This exhibit was a fun set up encouraging people to bring their own cameras to make movies using the sets and props provided (hence our tree pictures).

The red part is where the escalator is

SUPER ZOOM!

The restaurant at the top

Me unsure how I feel about Marcel Duchamp's "The Fountain"

LOVE this! View 1

View 2

View 3

On our way home we “happened” upon a large park. We later found out it was Jardin du Forum des Halles. We sat in front of a monstrous church while watching kids play on a giant head (lol).

Anyone know the name? *AHEM- Catie?*

And then a gang of roller cops! HELLS YES!!

That’s all she wrote! Stay tuned for pictures of our trip to the Louvre and Eiffel Tower!

Xoxo from Paris!

This is my impression of Aaron before we left.

WE FOUND A CHARGER!

As we walked out of the metro for our first glance of the city, I almost couldn’t hold back the tears. It was like a movie. I felt like reaching my arms out and spinning but then we immediately realized that we were standing in a high traffic area with our luggage and we had no idea which way to go. Slight chaos ensued as we took our giant map and tried to figure out where we were. If you can picture this, I bet you can believe how well we blended in.  The good news was, other people were just as lost and someone asked to see our map. As we walked to our hotel, we passed Musee de Cluny and a small fresh air market. Small brasseries and patisseries lined the streets. Seriously, movie-esque. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, mid 50′s and sunny. If we sat in the sun for a while, we had to take our jackets off. After we dropped of our luggage, we headed toward the Seine. We were in awe as we approached the Notre Dame. I have been looking at tiny pictures in my books the past 6 months. Never did I image it could be that spectacular. After taking pictures from every angle, we walked further along the Seine before stopping at a quaint park to just, sit.

Quiet park behind Notre Dame

The mood changed when about 50 5th maybe 6th grade students came RUNNING through the park. As they gathered and fussed over which bench and who they would sit with, they took out lunches. It was so much fun to just listen. Obviously we couldn’t understand what they were saying. Two boys were laughing hysterically (we think because a pigeon almost pooed on them) and we could help but laugh as well. Turns out laughter is infectious in any language (ha ha! Too corny?).

Stampede of Children

After watching these children eat (one kid had 4 sandwiches!) and noticing that many people had sandwiches in their hands, we decide to get some of our own. As we circled around Notre Dame, there were a few sandwich shops. We both got a Salami et fromage. Its just easier to say “Deux…” then listing two different things haha. I thought I was doing really well until I said “por favor”! My high school spanish spewing all over my “perfect” first French order! I still haven’t heard the end of it.

So for the rest of the day, we did a lot more wondering. We started getting hungry enough to start thinking about dinner. But there were so many questions, “Do we seat ourselves?” “How do we ask if we do?” “How do we order drinks?” “How do we ask for a menu?”. Finally we just had to deal with the fact that as soon as we said “Bonsoir” they’d know we were American. I’m glad we stopped where we did. We drank the best Heinekens we have EVER had and ate the fantastic French version of a grilled cheese sandwich. Perfection. When we got back to the hotel, I attempted to write. After the first post I started envying Aaron’s slumber, I had to call it a night.

Much love from Paris!

On our way to the airport, Aaron said, “I know we forgot something…” He was right! I forgot my laptop charger! So please stay tuned. We will be getting one tomorrow!

I know that we have some people who are waiting to see pictures! I am temporarily posting them and then tomorrow, we will actually blog. We are EXHUASTED!! Aaron is already asleep…. Bon Nuit!

Our room

Notre Dame

Ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top! Served with lettuce and tomatoes and spicy mustard. SOOOO goood!

We departed Detroit at 9:25pm on AirFrace, which is the nicest and biggest plane we have ever been on. The BEST thing about this flight was that it was only about a quarter full so we got to move up to a row with extra leg room. And believe it or not,  Aaron could actually cross his legs. A first on a plane, train, or automobile for him!  We took our sleeping pills, put our earplugs in and adjusted our eye masks. Ready to get some sleep! Or so we thought. I guess it doesn’t really matter how much leg room you have or how little the light hits your eyes. It’s quite a feat to get a good nights rest on a plane, even on a 7 1/2 hour flight. As we walked off, we couldn’t help but groan out of envy as we past the plush tri-fold-out first class seats. One day…one day….

It was definitely odd to get on a plane at night and to walk off in the day. Granted, it was 3:30am Ohio time so everything seemed a bit odd. The CDG airport is beautiful but holy crap, IT’S HUGE! Multicolored everything from doors to escalators to lights all surrounded by gray everything else. It took us about 2 hours from landing to stepping on the RER B. The train ride wasn’t bad at all. When we arrived at our stop though we were the confused Americans trying to get through the doors to exit.