Europe 2010 - Paris

This will be our final post of our vacation! We ended the trip with a couple days in Paris before returning to Amsterdam to catch our flight home. We thoroughly enjoyed Paris. The weather was great and the city was very clean and friendly. It was a great end to our trip and at this point we were getting quite homesick.

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9/6/2010
Paris

We had a SUPER early start, waking up at 4am in order to get to the airport on time to catch our flight to Paris. We flew into Beauvais which meant a one hour bus ride after the two hour flight to actually reach Paris. Then, we took the metro to our hotel near Gare Du Nord to drop off our bags.

Then we hopped back on the metro and took it to Notre Dame and spent some time exploring the church and the surrounding area. Unfortunately, the batteries on our camera went dead just after reaching Notre Dame, so we only got a couple photos and then had to rely on the video camera for the rest of the sightseeing.


Notre Dame
For the rest of the afternoon, we took our time walking around Ile de la Cite, the island that Notre Dame is situated on. We sat for a while in the gardens behind Notre Dame and popped in and out of some souvenir shops nearby.


The main front entrance doors to Notre Dame
Overall, I think we would have to say Pairs is one of our favorite cities we‘ve visited. It’s very clean and it was easy to get around. However, every place has been so different, it’s been great getting to experience each of them.


Fontaine Saint Michel near Notre Dame
We are looking forward to spending another day here despite our increasing homesickness.

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9/7/2010
Paris

We woke up and set out on our way to see the sights of Paris. First things first, we grabbed a bite to eat at McDonald’s for breakfast and then caught the metro to the Arc de Triomphe.


Arc de Triomphe
It was quit spectacular to walk out of the metro station right in front of the monument. The arc is surrounded by an extremely busy roundabout so you have to take a quick tunnel to get to the middle where you can usually pay to go to the top of the monument but it was closed due to some strike that was going on. So, we just took a bunch of pictures and walked around it then headed on our way toward the Eiffel Tower.


Champs Elysees - one shot looking toward the Louvre and one shot looking back toward the Arc de Triomphe (that was a lot of walking)
It was quite a walk to the Eiffel Tower but it was a nice morning and we enjoyed it. Across the Seine (the river) from the Eiffel Tower is Trocadero and the Palais de Chaillot and it has a huge fountain and a great view of the tower. So we stopped there first and took a bunch of photos. Then before walking over to the tower, we grabbed some crepes at a food stand. Tracy got one with ham, cheese, and eggs and Alan just got a sweet one with nutella on it. They were delicious!


Palais de Chaillot
Finally we crossed the bridge to the Tower. We were thinking about going up until we saw how long the line was!! Also, you have to take the elevator one level at a time and the second level’s wait was long as well (the sign said at least 45 minutes). So, we decided to skip out on waiting in line a couple hours and just leisurely walked around the park and took more pictures.


The Eiffel Tower
Then we walked along the Seine toward the Place de la Concorde. Along the way we stopped at Pont Alexandre III which is a famous bridge with gilded bronze statues that really shine when the sun hits them directly.


Pont Alexandre III
Across that bridge was the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais which serve as exhibition halls, museums, etc. From there we walked the Place de la Concorde. It is the largest square in Paris and standing in the middle you can see the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and more famous Parisian monuments/buildings.


Place de la Concorde
We also walked through the Tuileries Garden (the gardens between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde) and took a look at a bunch of its pools, fountains, and pieces of art. The museum was closed because it was Tuesday (who'da thunk?!). Apparently, that is the only day of the week they are closed. We really struck out on our trip: first was the Colosseum, then the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel, and in Paris we missed out on the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre!!! On the positive side, it saved us a bunch of money ;-).


The Louvre
After the Louvre, we grabbed some dinner and took the metro back to the hotel. The metro was extremely crowded (apparently due to the same strike that closed the Arc de Triomphe) and we had to push our way on. Each subsequence stop more and more people pushed their way on (several more than would get off). So, the small subway car was extremely hot and we were literally squished between all the other people on the car. We had seven stops and it was a huge relief to get off at our stop.

A quick walk brought us back to our hotel and we called it an early night. We were quite tired from all of the walking we did throughout the day.


Our hotel room in Paris

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9/8/2010
Paris -> Amsterdam

We took the morning train out of Paris to Amsterdam. Our reservation took us into the city of Amsterdam but we decided to get off at the airport instead because the weather was poor (rainy, windy, and foggy) and we didn’t feel like walking around any more because we have been doing a lot of that lately.

So, we just hung out at the airport and grabbed some lunch then took the shuttle to our hotel and checked into our room and spent the afternoon taking it easy watching TV and doing puzzles.


Our hotel room near the Amsterdam airport
It was nice to wind down our vacation with a relaxing day. We’ve been so busy with traveling and sightseeing at every stop.

We’re super excited to see Paige tomorrow!!

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Another shot of Palais de Chaillot


Tracy looking up at the Eiffel Tower


A light post on Pont Alexandre III


No walking on water! Apparently they have a real problem with this at the Louvre


Arc de Triophe du Carrousel (not to be confused with the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile) sits just outside the Louvre


One of the wings of the Louvre