Paris...The City of Lights

Ooh la la...

(and yes, we heard a few people say this:)
Come with me on our adventure to "La Ville-Lumière" or
"The City of Light".

We left London on a Saturday morning and took the Eurostar train to Paris, UNDER the English Channel and through a bit of the French countryside.
Oh my gosh...we LOVED the train travel!!!

I could go on and on about this...
the neatness, comfort, service, the feeling of NOT traveling in the air:)

We arrived in Paris and were met by our driver who took us on a scenic tour of the city,
hitting the high spots, before taking us to our hotel.

The architecture and history in this city is incredible, no doubt.

Even the apartment buildings are beautiful, with flowers on every window.

And for some reason, I was in AWE at the beautiful old doors on every building.

Yes...I was the crazy lady taking pictures of DOORS in Paris!:)
And the iron scroll work in all 3 countries was beautiful, too.

We went to the Louvre museum, home to the Mona Lisa:),

 the Eiffel tower...and climbed up a number of levels,
all while oblivious to the increased terror threat, I might add!

Whew...we made the climb...

..so don't you think we deserved some pretty french perfume?:)

After our climb, we relaxed in the grassy park at the base of the Eiffel tower...

 (Jordan thinking about life in Paris)

 ...and just marveled at the fact that we were really there.  How incredible!

We took an evening cruise down the Seine river and while we FROZE
(we ARE from Florida you know:)
 it was gorgeous!

We saw many beautiful cathedrals, including Notre Dame,

visited the Arc de Triomphe

and the Place de Concorde,

a place rich with history, unfortunately not all of it happy during the French Revolution.
This is where they used to do their "beheading".
In fact, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were killed here.
But it's really pretty now, filled with fountains and statues.

We saw the Flame of Liberty, a life-sized replica of the torch on the Statue of Liberty given at the time of their Centennial.  However, now it is commonly referred to as "Diana's Flame"  since under this sculpture is the tunnel Princess Diana was riding through when she was in the fatal car crash.

 Since then, visitors flock to "Diana's Flame" and leave flowers and notes to the Late Princess.


We  took the Metro

to the Paris Flea Markets

 (we're ready to SHOP!!!)
Two of my favorites...the amazing frames

and the crowns, of course!

and visited the Paris Opera House,

which was one of my favorite spots of all.

 (Taylor dreaming of the Paris Ballet at the Opera House)
It was just magnificent!
(Actually, I thought maybe the Phantom of the Opera would appear any minute:)
We strolled down the Champs de Elysse

 and since one of the main things we wanted to do was to relax at
a sidewalk cafe like a true Parisian, we did just that!

(although like a true American, we chose the one with the BEST dessert...
and they have quite a few!)

While we enjoyed Paris and can't deny the history and beauty of so much of it,
between London/Paris/Italy...
it was lovely but not our favorite.
Maybe if we had ONLY visited Paris but since we didn't...
This SHOCKED me since it was the ONE place I wanted to visit.
It was a big and very crowded...more like NYC.
I'll leave it at that.
Would I go back???
Yes, definitely.
There is way more I would like to see.
But I'm not in a hurry.
Although when I look at photos from our trip like this...
I might just change my mind.

(photo...by Taylor) 

As for those so called "rude" French, I didn't get that impression at all.
If you're nice...most of them are nice. Just like here.
But unlike Italy, where they fall over backwards to understand or help you understand,
and London, where they smile and ask if they can help,
it was almost like they had more of a take it or leave it attitude.
Not real warm and fuzzy, you know?
It doesn't make them rude...but I bet that's how some take it.
Our next trip to France will most likely be to the Provence area,
which I'm told I will love...the area and the people:)
But I must say, the churches all had welcoming signs on their doors...

 SO NICE!!!!!

Okay, on to the sites...again.
The street markets were awesome...and so French!
And the croissants and baguettes...AMAZING!!!

I could LIVE on their fresh croissants in the morning.
(Yeah...no dieting on this trip!)
But no dieting needed...because you WALK like crazy!!!

(walking the streets of Paris)

We were warned MANY times about pick pockets, especially near the flea market.
I get it now.  I was prepared though and made sure everyone else was.  Phil kept money in his FRONT pocket and I had a small bag slung across my body and the girls kept their phones and any money in their front pockets also.
But I did catch one pickpocket hit me on the back of my jeans,
saw him hit Jordan...than Phil and then Taylor very quickly,
all while I glared at him and said out loud to "watch out for that guy, he's trying to pick pocket".
DO NOT mess with me buddy!:)
Maybe it was my glistening watch that made him think I had something to steal.
Hahaha...joke's on you!
It was my $8.00 Jacklyn Smith/Kmart special bought just for this reason!!!

Okay, and here I wasn't going to ramble.
Bottom line, if you ever have a chance to visit Paris,
it is worth the trip, at least once.

I wish I could show all of our pics as there are so many amazing ones.

 But you get the idea. (photo by Taylor)

Next stop...Roma!
And those Italians are VERY warm and friendly.
Cute, too...not that I cared.
But my girls MIGHT have noticed:)