We say “Oui” in Paris!

Enjoying the beautiful Paris skyline form the top of the Arch de Triumph.

The tiny not so pleasant smelly elevator to Kathy's 7th floor
apartment. We dubbed it "The Smelly Elly". I'll just say
it...it smelt like urine but it beat walking up the stairs!

The Chunnel Tunnel did not collapse and we arrived in Paris safe and sound! We were greeted with open arms and a smile by Kathy, a long time family friend of Matt’s, who kindly hosted us in her quaint Paris apartment for the week that we were there. Her hospitality and in-depth French know-how were greatly appreciated. We spent most evenings drinking wine and eating home-cooked dinners with bantering conversation until the wee hours of the morning. We even became quite close to PT the cat as we spent those long conversations with a hairbrush in hand. Needless to say by the time we left we thought PT might just come with us when it was time to leave. I have to say that it was nice to spend the week with family (Yes Kathy, you are family now!).

Our first day we spent seeing the sights. We walked down the Champs Elysees and climbed to the top of the Arch de Triumph. Next we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. We took the 670 stairs from the base to the second level and then the elevator the rest of the way to the very top since there are no stairs to the top. (If there were…I’m pretty sure Matt would have made me walk those too!) Needless to say I was done with stairs by the end of the day.

Inside the stairwell to the top of the Arch de Triumph.

The next day we hopped a train to see the exorbitant gilded Palace of Versailles.

The entrance to the Palace of Versailles.

There is so much gold and lavish decorations in Versailles that at some point, when you walk into the next room you think...Oh more gold. I mean when everything is gilded in gold after a while you kind of start to become a little numb to the splendor of it. There was never the idea of a little goes a long way for Good Ol' Louie. I know now why the people got fed up and beheaded all the royalty. Although, it did make for quite the site to see!







The golden gate to Versailles. Everyone needs one of those in front of their home!

The Hall of Mirrors
Note all the people...it was so busy at points I felt like we were
being herded like cattle.

Near the very edge of the enormous property line of the elaborate gardens is a cute, kind of out of place, little farm village. We were told by Kathy that this is where Marie Antoinette liked to dress up and play peasant-girl. I can only image King Louie thinking, “I don’t want that peasant place here…but if you must you can build it in the back.” And I mean way, way back…needless to say I don’t think she ever walked there.

Playing peasant-girl in the peasant village.

Over the weekend we explored the Musee D’Orsay and saw all the spectacular impessionist art as well as the Musee de L’Orangerie to admire Monet’s monstrous waterlily paintings.  We even had a very casual Friday night french picnic with Kathy and lots of other locals along the canal, complete with cheese, meat, bread, and wine of course.



View through the clock from inside Musee D'Orsay. You can see what we dubbed "The Paris Wheel"in the background.

The next day we headed off to see more sites. Notre Dame Cathedral was first on the list.

I lit a candle for Grandma Molly and Grandma LaVon.

We walked along the area around the Cathedral and made sure to try out some of the local goodies.

 

Matt enjoying some delicious macaroon cookies by the canal. They think very highly of their macaroons as they cost a fortune. But I have to say they were worth every mouth-watering bite. 

I got a Nutella crepe. I love that Nutella is a staple flavor here. I could get used to this just a little.  

We then made our way to the Pere Lachaise Cemetary to admire the beauty and pay our respects to some famous dead people.

Looking down one of the many beautiful paths in the cemetery.

Some of the people that were buried there included: Chopin, Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Poulenc, Fourier (for you math people out there) and Sarah Bernhardt.  

Morrison’s grave

                  Chopin’s grave
That evening we picked up Kathy for dinner and spent a wonderful evening touring the area of Montmarte.

On our way we had to stop to see the iconic red windmill of the Moulin Rouge.

The beautiful view of the city form our bistro dinner table.

We started our menu with an Apéritif of Champagne, à votre santé! (that’s cheers in French)

The one thing Matt and I really wanted to do was to enjoy an iconic or classic French meal at a fancy restaurant. That proved to be more challenging then we thought since most of the restaurants were more worldly then French. But Kathy pulled though and knew of the perfect place. It was exactly how I had pictured Paris - the little tables, the umbrellas, the dimly lit lamp posts, the tall skinny waiter bustling around in a long black apron pouring wine, the French ladies behind us with their cigarettes in one hand and espresso in the other, and of course the sounds of soft French melodies from the musicians down the street. Say what you want about modern Paris but this felt just like the movies. And to top it all off the food was spectacular!

Kathy and Matt enjoying course #1: smoked salmon with a creamy dill sauce and toasted bread. Delicious!

 

From left to right: Matt had a special French ravioli that was originally made exclusively for the King, I had risotto with shrimp and Kathy had chicken in some sort of tasty sauce with mashed sweet potatoes. We made sure everyone got to sample a little of each.

We then finished the meal with chocolate lava cake or creme brulee complete with espresso. All in all it was one amazing meal!

The following day we set off for the Paris Catacombs. Word to the wise, they only let 200 people in at a time. This being said we thought we’d show up earlier in the day to avoid any lines. 

One of the thousand of human skulls that decorate
the walls in the catacombs.

They open at 10 and we showed up at 10:30. The line to get in wrapped around the block and had an estimated wait time of 2 and a half hours. We considered just going somewhere else and skipping it altogether but it was a beautiful day and we didn't have any other plans. Little did I know, I wish we would have.

Matt said the wait was worth it…I would say otherwise. Don’t get me wrong I like cemeteries. There is a kind of mystery and peace wondering about the lives of those buried there. It’s peaceful and you're not underground with the dead! It was by far the creepiest place I have ever been! Matt laughed at how freaked out I was. I seriously ran out. No kidding! Ran out once I saw the stairs! (5 flights of stairs were the last of my worries at that point!)

The walls were stacked with bones upon bones. It really put into perspective the number of lives lost during the plague.

Next we headed off to marvel at all the sculptures at the Rodin Museum and then headed back to cross off #52 on my bucket list and add our addition to the lover's lock bridge behind Notre Dame.








Wondering what The Thinker is thinking about!

Our love lock on the bridge! Even after traveling together for over a month we still love each other.

Our love lock is the brass one with US American on it. For those of you who don’t know about this, the tradition is that a couple writes their names on a padlock and lock it onto the bridge. They then throw the key into the Seine River together as a symbol of their undying love.




The next two day were spent crossing off #56 from the Bucket List and getting lost in the Louve.

We had lunch one day on the balcony overlooking the glass pyramid.

 

Matt below the other pyramid and me with the Mona Lisa. I have to say I wasn't too impressed by her. 

With a museum filled with masterpieces I think she gets a little too much hype.

Matt found some ancient root masters and I found some mysterious stone faces in the less popular Mesopotamia wing.

We then wrapped up our stay in Paris by returning to climb the beloved Eiffel Tower at night and watch the twinkling lights of the city skyline. (#51 on the Bucket List)

The beautiful city view from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Au revoir Paris! Now off to the beaches of Saint Malo!