Paris baby... here we come!!
At about 5:58am I was finished packing and by 6:05 we were out the door to pick up J and head to the airport to catch our flight to Paris! We had booked our tickets completely separately and somehow managed to get on the same flight (via Chicago). It was great, because even though we weren't sitting together, I had someone to vent to after the 2-year-old next to me screamed for 45 minutes. Then the pilot announced that the winner of the FIFA World Cup was Italy and I was a little bummed (Sorry to my Italian readers, but I was hoping for a French victory) J was nice enough to have a bottle of wine sent back to me to ease my woes... and from there out our trip was a blast!! :)
After helping a very young lone traveler from Iowa negotiate the public transportation system in Paris, we found our hotel. It was in the perfect location, just across the courtyard from the Notre Dame. Our views of the cathedral were stunning. It was perfect, and unique, considering it was located in the roof of the oldest hospital in Paris! It was founded in 651 by the Bishop Saint-Landry. The hospital was very, very old and looked like something out of a movie. It had an "Urgencies" (or an ER in English) and we were told it was a teaching hospital, but all we saw were people with eye problems, although that may be because we had to pass the eye clinic to get to our room. I love distinctive, out of the ordinary places to stay, and this was the perfect place!
Our time in Paris was relaxing (especially after an accidental 5 hour nap to get over our jet lag!) but we also saw a lot of the sights of the city. A few highlights included, touring the Louvre, walking Montmartre, boating along the Seine, and climbing the Eiffel Tower. We even explored the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, searching for Oscar Wilde, Sarah Bernhardt, & Jim Morrison's graves (among others) before getting kicked out. We split up here and there too, since I had been to Paris before. One morning, I went to Versailles while J went to the Musee Orsay.
Our big day trip out of town was visiting the D-Day sights in Normandy. It was incredible. We visited Pointe Du Hoc (where the first wave of US Rangers landed), Omaha Beach (a place so moving that you really cannot imagine what went on here until you walk it for yourself), the Omaha Beach Museum, the American Cemetery, and the battery at Longues-sur-Mer (the only place in France where the original cannons are still in their bunkers, untouched since 1944) Most of the areas are still as they were on D-Day, including massive holes where allied bombs struck the earth and German bunkers that were blown up. Our guide (FML) is from this area and his family were local fisherman and resistance fighters during the occupation. His stories were fascinating! All in all, it was a very moving and simply amazing day.
Back in Paris, our evenings were never dull! One night we stumbled across a bar where all the employees were guys who were only wearing short shorts. It was probably a gay bar, but it was full of girls, so we stuck around for a drink (complete with a sparkeler) before heading out! Another night we had dinner with a pair from Michigan, a Canadian couple, and three Parisian guys. Walking the Champs-Elysees the next day, we hear this guy call out to us. Fearing it may be some random guy cat-calling, we rushed off, but he caught up with us and it was one of the guys from dinner the night before!!! We couldn’t believe it!!!
The big finale to our week in Paris was Bastille Day (or Fête Nationale – French Independence Day)! We bought a bottle of wine, cheese, crackers & chocolate and enjoyed a picnic dinner after the spectacular fireworks show at the base of the Eiffel Tower. So French! The next morning we were flying to Italy!
Bon au revoir Paris! Merci pour votre hospitalité et vos bons temps!
Our hospitel hotel
Cruising the Seine
Finding our way in the Louvre!
Me at "Point Zero", the exact center of France and the point from which all distances are measured!
At Pointe Du Hoc in Normandy
With our guide (FML) in Normandy
Our new dinner friends (sans the 3 Parisians who headed out before the photo).
The Eiffel Tower during the fireworks extravaganza!
Picnicking at the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day!
After helping a very young lone traveler from Iowa negotiate the public transportation system in Paris, we found our hotel. It was in the perfect location, just across the courtyard from the Notre Dame. Our views of the cathedral were stunning. It was perfect, and unique, considering it was located in the roof of the oldest hospital in Paris! It was founded in 651 by the Bishop Saint-Landry. The hospital was very, very old and looked like something out of a movie. It had an "Urgencies" (or an ER in English) and we were told it was a teaching hospital, but all we saw were people with eye problems, although that may be because we had to pass the eye clinic to get to our room. I love distinctive, out of the ordinary places to stay, and this was the perfect place!
Our time in Paris was relaxing (especially after an accidental 5 hour nap to get over our jet lag!) but we also saw a lot of the sights of the city. A few highlights included, touring the Louvre, walking Montmartre, boating along the Seine, and climbing the Eiffel Tower. We even explored the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, searching for Oscar Wilde, Sarah Bernhardt, & Jim Morrison's graves (among others) before getting kicked out. We split up here and there too, since I had been to Paris before. One morning, I went to Versailles while J went to the Musee Orsay.
Our big day trip out of town was visiting the D-Day sights in Normandy. It was incredible. We visited Pointe Du Hoc (where the first wave of US Rangers landed), Omaha Beach (a place so moving that you really cannot imagine what went on here until you walk it for yourself), the Omaha Beach Museum, the American Cemetery, and the battery at Longues-sur-Mer (the only place in France where the original cannons are still in their bunkers, untouched since 1944) Most of the areas are still as they were on D-Day, including massive holes where allied bombs struck the earth and German bunkers that were blown up. Our guide (FML) is from this area and his family were local fisherman and resistance fighters during the occupation. His stories were fascinating! All in all, it was a very moving and simply amazing day.
Back in Paris, our evenings were never dull! One night we stumbled across a bar where all the employees were guys who were only wearing short shorts. It was probably a gay bar, but it was full of girls, so we stuck around for a drink (complete with a sparkeler) before heading out! Another night we had dinner with a pair from Michigan, a Canadian couple, and three Parisian guys. Walking the Champs-Elysees the next day, we hear this guy call out to us. Fearing it may be some random guy cat-calling, we rushed off, but he caught up with us and it was one of the guys from dinner the night before!!! We couldn’t believe it!!!
The big finale to our week in Paris was Bastille Day (or Fête Nationale – French Independence Day)! We bought a bottle of wine, cheese, crackers & chocolate and enjoyed a picnic dinner after the spectacular fireworks show at the base of the Eiffel Tower. So French! The next morning we were flying to Italy!
Bon au revoir Paris! Merci pour votre hospitalité et vos bons temps!
Our hospitel hotel
Cruising the Seine
Finding our way in the Louvre!
Me at "Point Zero", the exact center of France and the point from which all distances are measured!
At Pointe Du Hoc in Normandy
With our guide (FML) in Normandy
Our new dinner friends (sans the 3 Parisians who headed out before the photo).
The Eiffel Tower during the fireworks extravaganza!
Picnicking at the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day!
posted by Swiss Miss | 09:42
1 Comments:
very beautiful..even with the water-logged camera--it manages to give everything a soft glow like a filter attachment...hey I think you're on to the next technique in photography ;)
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