Paris, France

We made it to Paris successfully!  The night train wasn't too bad.  I slept pretty well (to be expected) but unfortunately Steve didn't sleep very well.  Apparently somebody opened our door at 6a and woke him up.  They must have been trying to find their own door.  Good thing they didn't try to crawl into bed with one of us. Lol. That is why it is important to lock the door. Lesson learned. Lol.




This is the over night train cabin. 
There were four bunks, two in each side.


When we went outside it was raining :(. We got on a bus and it was packed! I felt so bad because we both had our backpacks on and so we each took up the space of two people.  We were all so close to each other and my feet got stepped on a lot.  Our hostess, Ludivine, met us at the the bus stop by her flat.  We dropped into a bakery for some bread and continued towards her flat.  When we got there we found put she lived on the 6th floor.  Normally that wouldn't be a problem except the elevators are microscopic!  Steve, always the gentleman, walked up all 6 flights on a spiral staircase with his very heavy pack while Ludivine and I squeezed in the elevator.  Maria's stair stepper has nothing on that!  Once up stairs we got to meet her boyfriend Mustapha. Right away we both knew we would all get along very well.  We then had a very nice breakfast together before they went off to work.  At this point there was a thunder storm going on so Steven and I stayed in and enjoyed the show.  We both really enjoy thunder and lightning. In the afternoon when it had cleared up a little we ventured out into the great unknown.
Our first stop was at the Eiffel Tower. We all know you can not to to Paris and not see the Eiffel Tower. Steve and I didn't have a huge desire to go but we did because it is the thing to do.  WOW!!!  It was amazing!  Steve liked it much more than he expected.  He kept saying "We are at the Eiffel Tower!!!  That is the Eiffel Tower!!!"  lol  It was so cute.  He was totally starstruck by the tower.  The pictures and little figurines we see of it back home does not do it justice in the slightest. Of course we wanted to capture it on film so we asked some nice ladies from England (Emma and Lauren) to take our photo.  They were very nice and we got to chat a bit with them.  They gave us some brilliant ideas for pictures and then we offered to take pictures for them. Then we realized there was 3 others in their group.  So we got to meet more people and had a blast!    After taking our million photos and me crashing into an innocent bystander, we headed down some stairs to get closer to the tower when we saw a wonderful water fountain display.  It was phenomenal!  It started out simple and small and then got huge and powerful. After the show we walked down to the base of the tower.  I wanted to go to the top and Steve said he would for me but the line was ginormous and the sky began to open up and down pour again. 

Showing a little love in the place where all lovers go <3

Our cute British friends Emma and Lauren

Steve climbing the tower.

Jennifer crushing the tower with her gigantic foot.

Jennifer jumping over the tower.

Steven jumping into the tower.

To all of our new French friends, please do not take offence to the following two photos.  We were just being silly. 

Steven watering the tower and helping it grow. 

Heater and Jer this one is for you :)

Us in front of the water show.

Last but not least, the nice picture of the Eiffel Tower. 

We found cover and after the rain and calmed down we continued over to the Arc de Triomphe.

It was a strange day for weather.  As you can see it is completely over cast.  It was very humid and hot but the rain was chilly.  So after we finished at the arc, it started to rain but we decided to walk in the rain for a while to cool off.  We walked down Champs-Elzsees.  This area was nice with lots of shops and restaurants. We even found the Disney store :)  Can´t pass that up. 

Honestly, what girl wouldn´t want her picture taken with a large picture
of the handsome Leonardo?  Don´t judge me :-)

When I pressed the red button, Steamboat Willie
started to dance and whistle.  Super cute.

Ok, so it is just a stair case, but it was so "magical".  The floor was sparkling and everything
. . . Angle, help me out here.  I know you understand :) Krista, I know you get it too.

As we walked along we also got to see the Grand Palais, Place Vauban, and eventually we ended at the Musee du Louvre. :)

Petit Palais

Grand Palais

We have seen so many weddings on our trip, but this photo shoot
I thought was really cool how she was put into the statue.  :)
That would be a cool picture to have.  To bad it was raining. 

Hotel des Invalides

Entrance to the Louvre.  The whole thing was beautiful but it would not all fit into a picture. 

We covered a lot of ground in the half a day we had left after the thunder storm.  It was amazing and very exhausting!!!  We got back to the flat around 7p and our hosts, Ludivine and Mustapha, prepared dinner for us.  A mix of French cheeses, meats, and bread and of course wine. .  .lots of wine :)

The next morning we headed out to the Latin Quarter. Thank you Mustapha and Connie for recommending this.  It was beautiful.  And of course, we could not leave that area with out going to Notre-Dame.  This had to be my favorite church so far.  It was breath taking!  I don´t know if anything will top it.  This is where I got starstruck. lol    

A photo can not even convey how big and beautiful Notre Dame really is.

Just like in Madrid, Spain, this is the zero kilometer marker.
All distances in France are measured from this point.    

Around the back side was this beautiful garden.  It was sweet too because there
was some kind of children´s choirs singing.  It was a very peaceful place.   

I loved this one red rose in the middle of all the white roses. 

Another wedding :)  (I told you we saw a lot of them.)  As we were watching their new love being captured by the camera, we met a couple from Northern Scandinavia who told us, it is after the wedding day that all the trouble starts.  We laughed and began talking to them for a while.  They had been married for 30+ years.  Their view on weddings was different and they brought up a good point.  They said people should´t have a huge wedding because they haven´t truly accomplished anything.  The big party should come after you have been together for at least 10 years.  Then you can celebrate how you and your love have made it through the different obstacles you face in marriage with out parting ways.  I liked their thought process.  I think we do tend to focus too much on the wedding day and the actual marriage is a side thought.  On the other hand I think it is important to support and encourage a couple´s choice to commit their lives, unselfishly, to another.  Maybe Steve and I will celebrate our big anniversaries and throw a big party with plenty of food and dancing. You know us, any excuse to through a party :)  You all are invited!  Put it on your calenders now.  Your welcome ;-)  

 

Ok, so we don´t really remember where the original bridge of locks is but this one worked for us.  :)  It is very common for couples in Europe, and I would guess tourists too, who are in love to put a lock on a bridge.  This signifies their love will be locked and endure forever.  Many of the bridges have these all over them.  Mustapha said they clean all the locks off once a year but they are constantly being put back on.  I wonder how long it takes the authorities to take off all these locks. 

 After we left the Latin Quarter, we went to see the Moulin Rouge (again, you can´t go to Paris and not go here).  We quickly popped in, took the pick, and popped out.  Not really a place I wanted to stay at or wanted Steve to stay at.  lol  Then we headed to La Butte Montmartre.  Ludivine said this is her favorite area of Paris.  It was really a nice area to wander through.  We found a cute little church. It really was little compared to the big cathedrals we have seen.  Right next to this church we found a delightful tea shop.  They lured me in and suckered us into buying some tea by giving us a sample of some refreshing ice tea. lol  Then we headed up to Montmartre Basilique du Sacre-Coeur.  This was also a beautiful church but the view and the skyline was very impressive. 

Honestly, we expected this to be a little bit bigger and grander than it really is. 
It is so small, especially compared to the buildings next to it.
 Well, I guess we can check this off our bucket list, not that it
was really on it in the first place. But hey, why not? When in Paris. . .  

Montmartre Basilique du Sacre-Coeur



I like the quote above the columns: "Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors of Christ!" 
From all our fellow Christ followers, can we get an AMEN?!?!?
I think our world needs a little Jesus right now. 

Another view of the Sacre-Coeur

After our day out on the town, we went home to our lovely hosts and all went out to dinner together.  Ludivine is from an area where crepes originated.  In her neighborhood there are many Many MANY crepe places.  (Benjamin and Sylvie we found out why) Their are 4 train stations in Paris.  Each connects Paris to regions in the North, South, East, or West.  The area that comes into Ludivine´s neighborhood is from the the region where crepes are made, so they settled in the area and it is now a popular place to have crepes.  She took us to the "best" crepe place and we enjoyed both a savory and sweet crepe.  I also learned the savory crepe and sweet crepe batter is different.  The savory batter is made with a brown flour and the sweet with a white flour.  I will now have to adjust my recipes :)

Ludivine and Mustapha where such a cute couple.  They are very much in love and it shows in everything they do-the way they acted towards each other so sweetly, looked at each other, held hands, danced, and shared the same desire to travel and their conviction to enjoy their lives.  I pray they will last forever!

After dinner we all went salsa dancing at the river.  We were very excited!  The dance floor was packed so we went down to the bottom and danced where their was more space.  Then we took a romantic stroll along the river.  There were many college students eating and drinking in big groups along the river.  I am sure it is a pretty popular party scene for them, but for us it was romantic.  Steve and I really wanted to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night so we tried to hurry over there after dancing and just made it before the Metro shut down.  Unfortunately, we missed the light show but it was still beautiful.  When we were done, we all headed back in a cab to the flat.  These crazy kids had to work the next day but stayed out to make the night special for us.   

On the way to dancing Steve decided to fly

Dancing!!!!!!!!

The view of Notre-Dame on our romantic walk along the river. 

On our last night in Paris we wanted to treat Ludivine and Mustapha to dinner as a thank you for showing us a great time and for all their generosity.  Steve thought it would be a great idea for me to cook for them.  Once we got to the store we realized, we did´t know what cooking supplies, such as pots and pans ect., she had so we wondered around the store for a bit before we decided to just get some meats and cheeses and replicate the lovely dinner they provided for us the first night we were there and then I would make them dessert.  When we got to the meat and cheese section we were definitely at a loss.  We had no idea what anything was and could not read French.  lol  So we then decided to go back to the flat and wait for Ludivine to come home so we could all go together and she could help us purchase some tasty morsels. Plus, I wanted to buy real Champagne to have when we were in France and I needed Ludivine to help me pick out a good bottle. We tried to think of something easy to make for dessert so we decided to make sweet breakfast dish for dessert.  We purchased those ingredients and afterwards we realized we were making them French Toast!  LOL  It is Stuffed French Toast, but still!  What crazy Americans?!?!?  LOL  It turned out well though because they don´t actually eat French Toast so it was a treat for them :)  So silly!

It was one of Steven´s dream to dress up as a pineapple and go around France saying
"Je suis un ananas."  Well, there was no Pineapple suit so this picture will have to suffice. :)



Those of you who know Steve or have at lease lived next door to
Steven will know what this is. He loves being nosey. . . I mean he is a curious person,
and loves looking out the window at all the people passing by.  lol
Sean, Cari, Chris, Laura, Bob, Josh, Krista, Monica, and Celia I know you get it.  lol



Cheese! Glorious Cheese!!!! (Les fromages glorieux)

Ludivine and Mustapha, this one is for you :)  This was the hardest door ever to open up!  It took three of them about 5 minute to get it to budge.  We almost had to call the neighbors to let us in.  Then again it wouldn´t have been the first time we had to call the neighbors.  lol  At least this time it wouldn´t have been 1am.  lol



Our last night in Paris celebrating our time in France, all our good times, and our new friendships with good food and a bottle of Champagne.  Thank you Connie for our gift.  We used it to provide this nice dinner and a delicious bottle of Champagne.  We enjoyed every last drop!

This was the view from the flat we stayed in.  If you look closely you can see the Eiffel Tower off to the right.  In person it actually looks a lot bigger.  Since we didn´t get to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle the other night when we went, we watched the clock closely and looked out the window (way, way out the window) at midnight and got to see the whole tower sparkle like it was a sparkler on New Years Eve or the 4th of July.  It was an amazing last memory of our time in Paris.   

Jenn teaching the French how to make an "authentic" French dish of Stuffed French Toast. ;-)

Oh Yeah!  Look at them looking very happy to eat this yummy dessert. 
One plate was stuffed with berries and the other with Nutella and topped with a little powdered sugar. 

Bonne nuit et au revoir!!!!