The first few days of Paris (Par-eeeee)

7/7/2010: Well after taking in (literally) some of the best croissants ever (until we had the next ones today), we drank a ton of coffee and headed on a hike to the Louvre museum yesterday. I say a hike because from where we are staying in the Bastille area, it is about an hour walk. Running on 3 hours of sleep at that point, I thought that would be a very long ordeal, but truly it was magnifique! We walked down Rue de Rivoli (a famous street off the Bastille) and took in all of the sights and smells. The fruit shops where you are not allowed to handle anything, gothic churches from the 1500s, and pastry shops that just made your mouth water (well gush would be more like it!). Of course we could not get to the Lourve without a taste, so we stopped off and took some sandwiches to the closest park on Rue de Halles. WOW! It seemed like everyone in Paris was at the park! There were so many people of all ages just enjoying the grass, the sunshine, and the scene. It was amazing to see people just enjoying being there - something that I admire so much, the interest and pleasure someone has in just taking in the moment. So, we finally made it to the Lourve, avoided some gypsies, and headed towards the glass pyramid. Breathtaking to say the least! All those years of reading and seeing pictures, to actually be in these places is unreal (ah, but it is real!). We really feel fortunate. We decided to lay out a battle plan for the Lourve and we went with JJ's tactic of conquer in 3-4 hours. So we did. Everything whizzed by, yet I felt like I took so much of it in. My favorite parts were Napoleon's apartment, the Egyptian jewelry, and of course the Mona Lisa. Although just seeing the expanse of the museum, and the gigantic works was something I will never forget. JJ was amazed at the scale of the paintings and took a few pictures we will post that show just how large they are some 20X40ft. At about 2 hours in, we took a coffee break and completed the rest. So in the end we walked through about 90% of it. Yes, we know it would take a month and some expertise we don't have to take it all in, but we did it and enjoyed it! Afterwards, we headed back walking along the Seine and down some nice streets to the market to pick up some essentials. We watched the soccer game Spain vs. Germany, cheered, drank wine, and slept!

7/8/2010: The next day, we woke up late and I went to go get Mom at the airport. After she arrived, we came back to the apartment, got oriented, and headed out to Ave Daumesnil, where my Aunt Emily told my Mom about many artists workspaces and their one of a kind boutiques. On top, there was an old train track that had been turned to a garden, and after walking that, we turned around to see the artists - there was so much on Viaduc des Arts! Every kind of metal smithing, bookmaking, paper modeling, sewing, jewelry making, etc. etc. you could imagine! Just taking in the eye candy was incredible! We had a great time walking down the street with my mom. We made a nice stop for dinner at Cafe Lyon nearby the Bastille and I ordered Nisoice salad, JJ had the famous French sandwich Croque-Madame. We took the subway to the Pont de l'Alma and took the boat ride up and down the Seine! Mom wanted to do that in order to get the orientation of Paris and see the major sites quickly. The sun was setting the entire ride and it was picture perfect! We saw everything from a nice distant and it was like the whole city was out watching the sunset too! The best park was at the end when we were passing the Eiffel Tower, they turned on the lights, and I guess for Bastille day coming up, they had twinkly lights on the tower going off! It was like a huge firework display on the Eiffel Tower just for us! We could not believe our luck! After a long subway ride back, it is time to go to sleep! Goodnight from Paris!