Strolling the streets of Paris

Today was another GORGEOUS day in Paris. The weather has been really fabulous. After we slept off our ridiculous jet lag (see previous post), we decided to spend a lot of the day exploring Paris by foot. We left our apartment via our tiny elevator...

...and started walking down the Champs-Élysées toward the Louvre. We walked to the Grand Palais which we can see the roof of from our apartment. It is a very large building with an ornate glass ceiling that was built for the 1900 World Fair.


Unfortunately the inside was closed so this was the best shot I could get from below it.

Across the street is le Petit Palais, which as you can see, isn't very petit.




We then continued along the Champs-Élysées taking in the various sites and sounds...



(Concorde)



(Jardin des Tuleries)

(and finally, ice cream)

...before continuing to the Louvre. We didn't go inside the Louvre today (that is for another day), but we really enjoyed walking around the outside of it.




After that, we walked for the first time in our trip along the Seine River. The Seine has such fabolous views as it goes right through the heart of Paris.


We followed the Seine until we reached Notre Dame.


(Darcy making this sign really great)

It is so cool to step in a building that is a little less than a thousand years old.


We walked around the inside, taking in the stained glass.



We wanted to go to the top...

...Quasimodo-style, but first we needed a quick lunch for energy.

After lunch, we climbed the 400 steps to the top and took in the panaromic view of the city. It really doesn't get old.




...and of course, the gargoyles...



Darcy then decided that a boat ride on the Seine would be lots of fun and I agreed, so we walked down to the Seine...

...hopped on a boat and began riding around.


(Hotel de Ville)

(Louvre)

(Tour Eiffel)
We hopped off at the Tour Eiffel stop and walked around below it. Talk about an amazing structure.



Darcy was also really impressed with the guards' guns and wanted to be their friends.


We decided to wait to do the Eiffel Tower until later (perhaps Friday) and that we were going to take the stairs up as far as we can to make it something of a challenge.


(Darcy showing she is up to the challenge)
We then strolled back to our apartment along the Seine...a great way to end our afternoon...



We went to le Grand Palais Restaurant for dinner. What is funny to Darcy and I is that we always seem to be the only people eating food when we go to a place. We realize dinner is eaten later in France, but we were eating dinner from around 7:45-9 at this restaurant and not a single person around us had food. Anyway, we really enjoyed it.

We grabbed dessert at a different place closer to our apartment that had live music, and then headed home. A full day...and a great one.

(View from our apartment of lit up Eiffel Tower)

Bienvenue à Paris

Wow! That was a LONG day of travelling! We woke up in Menlo Park at 3:30 A.M. PST on August 31 and did not arrive at CDG until 9:40 A.M. Paris time on September 1. We had intended to carry on all of our bags, but the United clerk at SFO deemed one of our four bags too large and demanded that we check it. So after customs, waiting for our bag, and the train ride in, we didn't arrive at our apartment in Paris until around 11:30 Paris time.

(We look tired on the train, huh?)

(Our first steps on the Champs-Élysées)

Even factoring in the nine-hour time change, that is a LOT of travelling.

We love our little place in Paris though. It is two blocks off the Champs-Élysées halfway between the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre. It is a small studio, but it is in a quaint old building and it has everything we need.


We also have a great view out our window.



(If you squint you can see the Eiffel Tower...haha)

And we love the location. So after a quick breather in the apartment, we headed out on the town.

(A shot from the courtyard of our apartment)
First stop, the closest bakery we could find for a fresh loaf of french bread!


Then we walked up the Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe.


Even though I had seen it before, it is amazing how big it is in person and you kind of forget until you are standing under it.




We climbed the steps...


...and went up to the top and took in the views of Paris. It really is so beautiful!


(Darcy looking at Le Sacré-Cœur)




After enjoying the views for some time, we went back down to the Champs-Élysées.


We made our way to a sidewalk cafe to take in our first French meal.

We were practically walking zombies at this point. Darcy had not been able to sleep on the plane at all, and I only got two hours of sleep because Darcy was lonely and bored...haha. So we were both about to pass out when we sat down for our late lunch around 3. After eating, we resolved to break the number one rule of preventing jet-lag and we went back to our place and went to sleep (around 5). 14 hours later (We NEEDED it, ok!!) we are up and ready to roll!!

More fun adventures today....