Paris, Paris, Paris ... the City of Love!

Monday we woke up and headed towards the Eiffel Tower ready for an awesome day of sightseeing in Paris. That quickly was put to the test by the transit workers doing random ticket checks in the metro. We had about ten of the (unused) metro tickets in hand but, for that particular journey, we had already tossed our tickets in the trash ... big Paris no-no. We got stopped by the metro "police" and they asked if we had our ticket with us, when they found out we had already thrown them away they told us we are supposed to keep them until the end of our journey. Um ... whoops! Even after trying to plead our case that "it was our first time in Paris" & "we didn't know any better" they still told us we had to pay up. "30 euro a person!" 

Awesome, right? 

Thankfully, he cut us a deal. Maybe he saw how annoyed Brad was by the whole situation? Or perhaps he was tired of having to explain things to us, as we were holding up the line for others who had to pay-up. We ended up only having to pay 15 euro a person. What a deal! We paid our dues and headed on our way, with legal tickets in hand. Hoorah for Paris tickets! 

I wasn't fully expecting to love the Eiffel Tower as much as I did. It's hard to explain what happens when you travel and something moves you to the core. It's somewhat of a spiritual experience for me and it has only happened three times here in Europe; the Statue of David in Florence, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam & most recently, the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Each time, upon first glance, I am moved to tears, initially making me feel foolish over my reaction but, I have lived my whole life only imagining a visit to the Eiffel Tower and to actually get the opportunity to see it, in person, with my very own eyes ... I can't help but be moved in all sorts of different emotions. 

It is amazing. Absolutely awe-inspiring and beautiful. I honestly have never seen a structure so phenomenal as the Eiffel Tower. 

I may, or may not, have taken a LOT of pictures of the Eiffel Tower. Um, sorry but I'm not sorry! Seriously, Brad had to pry me away from the Tower so we could go see the rest of Paris. I was mesmerized! 

Brad was there too, I'm not sure why I didn't edit any of the pictures with him in them. 

We decided to climb the stairs to the top, well, the 2nd level. We wanted to take the lift to the very top but, when we got to the 2nd level, the ticket offices were all closed and they weren't letting anyone buy tickets to go up. BUMMMER! But, we still got to see the views from the 2nd level. 

After climbing back down the Eiffel Tower we headed towards the Louvre. This park was right outside the Louvre and it was pretty fun to people watch, plus you could see the Eiffel Tower AND the Arc de Triomphe!

We went into the Louvre, fought the crowds of Asians (and others) to see this: 

The Mona Lisa. It probably is about 16 x 20 in size. Nothing too glamorous. I honestly don't even know why it's so famous ... maybe I should do some research before I admit that to all of you. But, there you have it. I've seen it. 

This is also famous: 

And this? Is just the most comical statue I have probably ever seen! 

We wanted to go to the Orsay Museum & the Rodin Museum but ... they were both closed on Monday and we were pretty bummed. Orsay has some original Van Gogh paintings (namely 'Starry Starry Night') and Rodin has the original Thinking Man statue ... we were hoping to see them but, no such luck! So, we headed over to Notre Dame! 

I have seen a lot of churches in my Europe days but the Notre Dame blows them all out of the water! It was so majestic! 

Out front is the exact center of Paris. 

Joan of Arc:

While we were there a couple Priests (maybe?) came out and started singing some Gregorian Chants. It was BEAUTIFUL. So, we sat down and enjoyed it for a bit. Honestly, amazing and so pretty to listen to. I loved the arches and the detail that was carved into them. 

Right next to the Notre Dame is the "lock bridge". People come from all over the world and lock a padlock onto the bridge and then throw the key into the river symbolizing their love. Well, we couldn't go all the way to Paris and not participate in the tradition! 

Don't we both look so thrilled in this picture? We're in love ... promise! 

Throwing our key(s) into the Seine River ... 

This guy ... oh he just added to the fun of our day. I thought he was a fun street performer to listen to so, I grabbed a picture of him and turned my attention back to Brad. Mr. Accordian-Man started yelling at me, trying to get my attention and yelling, what I could only assume, something like, "hey! if you're going to take a picture of me, you need to give me money!!" But, I didn't. Then, as we were leaving Brad tossed in 30cents and we walked on. This guy STOPPED his performing, grabbed the coins and chased after us. He called Brad a cheapskate and THREW the money back at us!!! Kid you not. We started cracking up...WHO DOES THAT!? Apparently 30cents wasn't enough for him ... watch out for this one, he's feisty!

We wandered around Paris, looking at shops and just meandering our way back towards the Eiffel Tower. I bought a super cute Eiffel Tower necklace that never made it home with us ... seriously, something called Karma was out to get us this trip! I was pretty bummed about that one, if I buy a replacement on Amazon, can I claim that I bought it in Paris? Hmm ... 

Anyway: We came across this adorable little bakery and we had to try some goodies. (Side note: We would get some croissants each morning for breakfast and they were AMAZING. We're talking, melt in your mouth deliciousness!!) So, we got some macaroons and some other chocolates. The Raspberry macaroons were easily my favorite, other then that, I wasn't too impressed with the overpriced cookies. 

We found a place to sit, opposite the Eiffel Tower and just enjoyed the sight, before finding a place for dinner. The weather was beautiful and this particular area hardly had any tourists so, it was a nice spot to just sit!

We ate a late dinner and had a great view of the Eiffel Tower. I got some ravioli and Brad got a steak and it was definitely one of the top 5 most delicious meals I have ever eaten. Honest. At 10:00 every night the Eiffel Tower starts to twinkle. This was the best shot I got of it, once we got around the trees, it was done twinkling. But, this was the view from our dinner table that night ... 

And the adorable Paris cafe we enjoyed so very much!

I love this view. I love Paris. I love everything about that city. 

I made Brad kiss me in front of the Eiffel Tower ... he's a lucky guy. I sure love him. I feel so blessed to have gotten to spend this time with him in Paris. 

We really wanted to get to climb up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe since it was closed when we were there on Sunday so we headed back that way. And ..... it was closed again. Darn! We have bad timing! But, we got to see the tip-top of the Eiffel Tower twinkling on the 11:00 hour!

While we were hanging around the Arc, I think I was honestly trying to stall. I didn't want to head back to the apartment because I knew that the next morning we were leaving Paris and that made me a lot sad. Paris has been my favorite "big city" trip that we have done and I wasn't willing to accept that we were leaving the next morning. I wasn't okay with it!! So, I decided to play around with the shutter speeds on my camera. And this, my friends, is the last picture I took in Paris, France. 

So long Paris ... 

We Visited Louis XIV ...

At the end of May, Brad & I took a trip to Paris without the little man. I had been looking forward to this trip for a L-O-N-G time & we couldn't have done the trip solo without help from The Miners. They took Kason for us for the majority of the time we were gone. It was heavenly to get some alone time with Brad on a trip, although, half the time I didn't know how to enjoy all the sights without a six-year old hanging out with us! 

We took the train out to Paris on a Saturday & once we got there it was the boring basics: find the apartment, find a market for some food, etc. etc. Before we went to Paris I had heard so many people say that Parisians were stuck-up and kinda rude towards Americans so, I wasn't sure what to expect but, between the time we got off the train and the time we found the apartment, we had four locals offer help & directions! The Parisians definitely redeemed themselves against my preconceived perceptions! 

Sunday morning we woke up to head out to Versailles. It was supposed to be a quick 30 minute train ride out there but, due to a train line being shut down, and lack of communication between the France train employees, it ended up taking us THREE confusing hours to get there! While we were trying to figure out how to get there, we ran into another group of Americans who were clearly lost and we offered to let them follow us out to Versailles. It was in this group that Brad gained "a groupie", aka: a crush. The whole situation was so classic and humorous, I can't pass up a chance to record it for posterity. She definitely wasn't very shy about crushing on my HUSBAND nor was she timid about flirting ... and I just laughed and honestly, was kinda flattered (who cares if she was 21 or so!). Any chance she had she would walk right next to Brad, touching his shoulder and telling him some impressive fact about herself. Case in Point: after claiming to be a "photographer", she said how much she loved our camera and then took a picture for us. The comical side of the story is the fact that the picture was pretty much us, lots of tour buses and a corner of Versailles. Some photographer! ;)
(I ended up having to delete the picture because I had to format my card after it had been taken...rats!) We ran into her a few other times while we were at Versailles and she ogled her eyes at Brad, looked him up and down, flashed him a flirty smile & then would walk on.
Ah, I don't want to forget the humor of those moments.
Okay ... enough about the poor girl, I'm starting to feel mean ... moving on now ... 

Versailles was BEAUTIFUL. Louis the fourteenth lived here and everything is plated in gold.
So. Much. Gold.
I guess he wanted to prove his wealth & I think he proved it quite well.

If you ever visit Versailles - BUY YOUR TICKETS IN ADVANCE!!! It will save you so much
time ... Rick Steve's recommended it, and we chose not to listen. (whoops...sorry Ricky!)

Inside the Palace he had Billiard Rooms, Music Rooms, Ballrooms, Game Rooms & what seemed like 15 different bedrooms. Apparently Louis was quite the ladies man ... maybe he let them all hang out at his massive house? The only room that I cared to document was the 'Hall of Mirrors' ... that's us in the mirrors. Promise it's us! 

Brad walked down this hall in awe, thinking about all the kings and dignitaries that walked this exact hall.

The gardens at Versailles were amazing. Brad and I had fun walking around, pretending we were guests of Louis XIV at a fancy dinner party. It would have been neat to be alive during that era. 

This stretch of garden behind us went for 1500 meters ... the water was called the Grand Canal of Versailles.

I loved these trees, someday, I'll let Brad prune some trees like this in our dream yard. ;) 

And a picture of my husband, just because he's pretty great. Oh, and look how TALL those trees are! They've been growing for a really long time. Do you think the royals walked through the orchards with the lady they were courting? They do it in the movies ... 

Brad kissed me romantically, a time or two while we were meandering through the gardens. I totally would have let him court me back in the day.

We wanted to be around the fountains when the water shows started. I was expecting some crazy fountains like the Bellagio but ... you need to lower your expectations of the Versailles water show. It was pretty much just water fountains being turned on. Nothing fancy. I was slightly disappointed. Because of that, we didn't stay long. 

(I spy Brad sitting on the side of the fountain ... left side of the picture, inside the arch of the water. Hi Brad!!!) 

After we grabbed an ice cream cone & finished our tour of the gardens we headed back to the train station. On our way, we passed this adorable antique shop. I love the antique shops over here, they are filled with beautiful treasures ... I only wish I could know the story behind each piece! I told Brad he should be grateful we didn't drive to France, or I would have been loading our car up with some of those treasures! 

Like this piano ... I would LOVE to have an antique piano like this!! It was kinda fun to play a little tune on this while we were there.

Once we got back into Paris we headed towards the Arc de Triomphe.

We wanted to go up to the top but, while we were there they were having some sort of Military ceremony. We were there Memorial Day weekend so, I am assuming that all tied together somehow. It made me pretty proud to be an American and see our flag flying in France. Living somewhere other than America sure makes me a proud American and has made me appreciate that flag, and the things it represents, so much more than before. Plus, having a husband who defends that flag probably helps a little, too! (Go 'Merica!)

Arc de Triomphe is at the end of Champs-Elysees (the ever famous shopping street of Paris) so, we walked down the street and my amazing husband let me go into this store and let me pick out whatever I wanted!!!

Okay, just kidding. And if there hadn't been a LINE just to go into Louis Vuitton, I probably would have dragged Brad in there, just to say I had stepped foot in that store. Instead, Brad let me do a little non-Louis shopping on Champs-Elysees. He's good to me. 

By this point I think we were both so exhausted we just wanted to go to sleep but, we needed food. So, we wandered up towards the Hard Rock hoping to get a table without too much of a wait. The wait ended up being longer than we wanted to deal with so we ate at Chipotle. Um, Chipotle in France is NOT as yummy as Chipotle in America. Blech. It did not taste like I was hoping!! But, we did get to see the Opera house. That kinda made up for a gross dinner ... kinda. 

After that we headed back towards the apartment and decided to go sit outside at one of the cute Paris cafes and have some hot chocolate. Two things: the hot chocolate in Paris is the most delicious hot chocolate I have ever (ever!) had in my life & this little date to the cafe was probably one of the funnest, most romantic dates Brad ANYONE has ever taken me on. It was perfection. 

Anyone who is in love really should take the opportunity to share Paris with the one they love, you fall in love all over again. I love, love, LOVE Paris.