Day Two Highlights - Sleeping until noon- lunch in a garden - Arc D' Triomph - Louvre - Walk along the Seine - Dinner - Internet Cafe
So, as you know, we slept until noon, and even then it was so hard to get up. We forced ourselves out of bed and decided to make a picnic lunch. We had fun shopping at a little corner grocery store. We got some Lipton Peach Ice Tea, which tastes just like that gummy peach ring candy. Yummy! We went to a fruit stand and got some strawberries. Having only ever purchased produce at a grocery store, it amazed me that it was sold clean and ready to eat. We enjoyed those strawberries while walking about a mile uptown. We also stopped at a bakery and picked up some yummy snadwiches. I have to say that I really love French Ham - I don't know why - but it's different from the stuff we have in American delis- very light and flakey.
We strolled to a beautiful garden on the Champs Elysees. It was not the Toulleries Garden, but near by. We had a wonderful picnic and then walked to the Arc D' Triomph, up Champs Elysees. The street reminded me so much of Times Square in New York - so many shops and PEOPLE! It was crazy crowded, but fun to see how many shops are the same as back home, and check out the ones that were different.
The Arc was amazing. We climbed many stairs to get to the top (our calves are killing us right now!) And the views of Paris from the top were incredible.
From the Arc, we walked back down Champs Elysees to the Toulleries Garden (Gorgeous! Spectacular! Amazing!) We took many pictures and will try to upload some tomorrow. We didn't bring the right cable with us today.
From the Garden, we went to the Louvre. It was open late this evening, so we again didn't have to deal with crowds (I'm telling you - Rick Steves is full of great advice.) When we saw the Mona Lisa, I got teary-eyed, because it really hit me at that moment that we were in France! What an incredible experience! By the way, I actually thought the Mona Lisa was much larger than I expected. I've heard so many people talk about how tiny it is, and it is in comparison to other paintings. But I'd say that it was at least 2 feet by 4 feet. It was fun to see. Other highlights were Da Vinci's Madonna of the Rocks, the Venus De Milo and Winged Victory. You can tell that The Da Vinci Code has had an impact on the Louvre, because soooo many people and tour groups were surrounding Madonna of the Rocks, trying to unlock its hidden messages.
The funniest part of the Louvre is that it took us over an hour to find our way out, once we decided to leave! It was like a crazy maze. But the good thing is that forced us to see more of the museum. Truly, it is a place that you could spend days and not see everything!
From the Louvre, we strolled along the Seine River - again, GORGEOUS!!!!- and found a fun little cafe for dinner. Now here's the funny thing I have yet to mentions. Wine and beer are significantly cheaper than soda. In fact, a small glass, 33 cl - however much that is, costs around 4 Euros (which probably equates around $5.00), but a glass of wine, the same size is only 2.9 Euros. Crazy! So I decided, when in France.... and had a glass of wine. Hopefully it won't hurt my stomach, but so far so good. I also branched out a little and had a toasted ham and gruyere sandwich, which was sooooo yummy! Eric had pasta. And we had creme brulee for dessert - also very good.
So now we're hear. It's almost 9 pm and the sun is still shining. We will try to stay up later tonight, and hope to be up at a decent hour tomorrow. Our plans are to take a trip to Versailles, but you never know what we might end up doing!
Incase my first post is on another page, be sure to check for three new postings - 2 from me and one from Eric. I personally can't wait to read his perspecitve! :-)
Love and miss you all! Comments to our post are greatly appreciated and cheaper than postcards! :-) Good luck to our friends who are about to start summer school, and we will try to add pictures when we write again!
So, as you know, we slept until noon, and even then it was so hard to get up. We forced ourselves out of bed and decided to make a picnic lunch. We had fun shopping at a little corner grocery store. We got some Lipton Peach Ice Tea, which tastes just like that gummy peach ring candy. Yummy! We went to a fruit stand and got some strawberries. Having only ever purchased produce at a grocery store, it amazed me that it was sold clean and ready to eat. We enjoyed those strawberries while walking about a mile uptown. We also stopped at a bakery and picked up some yummy snadwiches. I have to say that I really love French Ham - I don't know why - but it's different from the stuff we have in American delis- very light and flakey.
We strolled to a beautiful garden on the Champs Elysees. It was not the Toulleries Garden, but near by. We had a wonderful picnic and then walked to the Arc D' Triomph, up Champs Elysees. The street reminded me so much of Times Square in New York - so many shops and PEOPLE! It was crazy crowded, but fun to see how many shops are the same as back home, and check out the ones that were different.
The Arc was amazing. We climbed many stairs to get to the top (our calves are killing us right now!) And the views of Paris from the top were incredible.
From the Arc, we walked back down Champs Elysees to the Toulleries Garden (Gorgeous! Spectacular! Amazing!) We took many pictures and will try to upload some tomorrow. We didn't bring the right cable with us today.
From the Garden, we went to the Louvre. It was open late this evening, so we again didn't have to deal with crowds (I'm telling you - Rick Steves is full of great advice.) When we saw the Mona Lisa, I got teary-eyed, because it really hit me at that moment that we were in France! What an incredible experience! By the way, I actually thought the Mona Lisa was much larger than I expected. I've heard so many people talk about how tiny it is, and it is in comparison to other paintings. But I'd say that it was at least 2 feet by 4 feet. It was fun to see. Other highlights were Da Vinci's Madonna of the Rocks, the Venus De Milo and Winged Victory. You can tell that The Da Vinci Code has had an impact on the Louvre, because soooo many people and tour groups were surrounding Madonna of the Rocks, trying to unlock its hidden messages.
The funniest part of the Louvre is that it took us over an hour to find our way out, once we decided to leave! It was like a crazy maze. But the good thing is that forced us to see more of the museum. Truly, it is a place that you could spend days and not see everything!
From the Louvre, we strolled along the Seine River - again, GORGEOUS!!!!- and found a fun little cafe for dinner. Now here's the funny thing I have yet to mentions. Wine and beer are significantly cheaper than soda. In fact, a small glass, 33 cl - however much that is, costs around 4 Euros (which probably equates around $5.00), but a glass of wine, the same size is only 2.9 Euros. Crazy! So I decided, when in France.... and had a glass of wine. Hopefully it won't hurt my stomach, but so far so good. I also branched out a little and had a toasted ham and gruyere sandwich, which was sooooo yummy! Eric had pasta. And we had creme brulee for dessert - also very good.
So now we're hear. It's almost 9 pm and the sun is still shining. We will try to stay up later tonight, and hope to be up at a decent hour tomorrow. Our plans are to take a trip to Versailles, but you never know what we might end up doing!
Incase my first post is on another page, be sure to check for three new postings - 2 from me and one from Eric. I personally can't wait to read his perspecitve! :-)
Love and miss you all! Comments to our post are greatly appreciated and cheaper than postcards! :-) Good luck to our friends who are about to start summer school, and we will try to add pictures when we write again!
3 comments:
I dunno....awful long way to go for le burger de cheez.
Your blogging is just like being there :-)
xoxoxox-D
Oh, this is so fabulous! And I'm so happy that the two of you have this wonferful opportunity to visit all these places that many of us only get to visit through National Geographic and the Travel Channel. I can just see it all from your descriptions! Have fun... be safe... post some photos (would love to see the gardens!).
LOVE, MOM (and Mykayla who is sitting on my lap :-) )
When we were in Paris, we LOVED the peche iced tea. I had forgotten about it until we read the blog. Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Reading about your adventures brings back happy memories. Can't wait to read more. Have fun!! Love, Beth
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