Paris AirportExusez-moi parlez-vous anglais? (par-lay voo ong-lay) That means, “Excuse me, do you speak English?” This is the phrase we are getting really well at speaking here in Paris! And YES the french people are very kind. They speak English actually well when they answer “A little bit.”
It felt like a marathon day yesterday. We were able to fit a lot in despite having little sleep. We made up for it by going to bed last night at 8 pm and not waking up this morning until 9:30 am. Hopefully we are good to go when we hit Portugal.
Our favorite thing we did yesterday was climbing the steps of the Eiffel Tower and then seeing it glimmer at night. It really was beautiful! We also saw the Sacre-Core, Arc de Triomphe, and Moulin Rouge. The Metro is as easy to use as Paul reassured us. We did run into a girl who quickly grabbed our hands before we could get away and she made us each a friendship bracelet each. We told her we didn’t have any money (we hadn’t gotten any euros yet) and she just continued making them asking us all about ourselves. When she finished and realized we really didn’t have any money, she said I’ll take some gum – you Americans always carry chewing gum. So now we don’t have any gum!
The Sacre-Core was our next favorite. It is very beautiful, and the atmosphere around the Sacre-Core is very nostaglic of Paris. There were many artist’s set up painting for the tourists, the streets are close together and made of millions of stones, and the apartments have window boxes oozing flowers. It is very lovely to look at.
We also ate our first pan le chocolat (pan le shoko-lah). The man at the shoppe gave us two extras with a wink. We have yet to meet any snubby French people. The croissants with chocolate inside were very delicious – all of the pastries here are very beautiful to look at. We were greeted at the airport by Jana and Ryon (waiting for their flight home) and they recommended this, and also gave us the low down on Paris. Thanks guys!
We miss our children like crazy but know they are well taken care of and happy at home. (We got them some fun souvenirs already) It would have been very difficult to travel with a baby, so I know JT is much happier at home. I am grateful that my friend Darla talked me into going without, even though it was a hard idea to embrace it was the right decision.
Au revoir (oh ruh-war)
 Our Hotel |
 The Metro – much like the NYC subway and as easy to use as Paul promised. |
 Day shot of Tour Eifell – we saw two GIANT rats across the street (No exaggerating!) |
 Merry go round |
 Arc de Triompe – Napoleon’s triumphal arch, celebrating battle victories. |
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 Very lovely streets of Paris |
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 Very Chic |
 Paris Artists |
 Sacre Coeur – watches over Paris from its highest point. The basilica was built as a memorial to the 58,000 French soliders killed during the Franco-Prussian War and took 46 years to build and cost 6 million euros to build. |
 French Kissing – G version |
 The steps of Sacre Couer – we saw a man taking pictures of his beany baby bear here! (We had to turn away and stifle a grin) |
 Pretty houses |
 Thes puppies cost us two packs of gum |
 Sein River |
 we walked to the top 700 steps – fascinating engineering! |
 Top of the Eiefel Tower |
 The Eiffel Tower at night is lit in blue lights right now- it “twinkles” 10 minutes out of every hour. Very beautiful! |
 Eiffel Tower was erected for the Universal Exhibit of 1889. Six million visitors a year ascend to the top of this most famous Paris landmark. |
Comments:
Mom and Dad Parker said…
Welcome to Europe! If you like Paris, you are really going to love Portugal, and it’s at least 10 degrees warmer here. But people seem good everywhere. See you Wednesday night.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:12:45 AM
Scott said…
Wow, I miss Europe. Seeing those narrow streets makes me really miss England.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 1:53:28 PM
John said…
It looks great. We are getting excited. Take good notes for us. It sure doesn’t look like Bolivia. Enjoy the great food and beautiful landscapes. Say hi to Mom and Dad for us. We are excited to see all of your photos. Even if it is 5000 of them.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 3:12:13 PM
Paul said…
I told ya! Paris is my favorite spot in Europe. So much to see and so easy to get around.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 4:55:26 PM