Paris - The City of Lights!

Photos from Paris can be found here. 


Wednesday, September 14

Invalides Park

When we arrived in Paris, we went down to catch a taxi.  Since there were five of us, it was a tight squeeze getting all of us in the taxi along with our luggage.  Ashley had to sit in the back with the luggage in a tiny little seat!  We were staying at the Hotel du Palais Bourbon near Invalides.  After checking in, we walked around the area and then had dinner in a restaurant with outside seating.  Frank and George ordered a raw steak dinner with french fries!  Frank, Cheryl, and George headed back to the hotel, while Ruth and Ashley went to see the Eiffel Tower.  On the hour, the Eiffel Tower twinkles and does a light show.


Thursday, September 15

Ashley along the Champs-Elysées

Rather than taking public transportation and taxis, we decided to get a two-day pass for L'Open Tour.  It was a great bus system that went to all the major locations within Paris.  First, we got french pastries from a nearby shop - chocolate croissants... yummy!  We took the green line by Le Louvre and then to Notre Dame.  We got off at Notre Dame to walk through the cathedral.  This church is almost 850 years old!  It was awesome walking around and seeing all the stain glass, art, and the amazing history.  We then strolled through some souvenir shops and grabbed lunch down an alley.  Next, we caught another bus loop (blue line) that went along the Seine River towards the Bibliothèque Nationale.  Next, we got back on the green line towards the Champs-Elysées.  We walked part of the Champs-Elysées to the Arc du Triomphe.

After the Arc, we headed to the Eiffel Tower for our 5:30 reservations.  The elevator ride was not a highlight of the trip for Ruth.  She did not like the height!  However, once at the top, it was perfect.  The weather allowed for a clear view of Paris. We walked around the very top (last time Ashley went to Paris she didn't get to make it to the top so this was a thrill).  We took tons of pictures and there were tons of people up there.  After riding back down, we caught the green line back to Invalides so we could return to our hotel.  Dinner was simple that night for Ashley, Ruth, and George from a local cafe - lasagna and paninis, while Frank and Cheryl went out to dinner.

Friday, September 16
Today was our last full day in Paris.  We started early by catching the green line so we could head to Le Louvre.  But to no avail, there was lots of rush hour traffic and the road was crazy.  There was lots of honking of slow moving cars.  This was the worst weather so far for us... it was overcast and colder than expected.  We finally made it to Le Louvre.

First on the agenda, Mona Lisa of course!  Frank said it was small, George said he can check it off his bucket list.  We saw a ton of other sculptures - Venus de Milo, Nike, Sphinx, (I would list them all but I am tired of writing this blog and you probably don't really care).  We then took the green line again and stopped for lunch in the same alley as the day before.  We then caught the orange line and made our way back to the hotel.  Everyone but George went to the Musee d'Orsay for some Monet, van Gogh, Whistler's Mother, etc.  We had to speed seeing in the museum... the museum was closing and there was no chance to appreciate.  One of the most amazing parts of the museum was the ceiling.  It was so pretty!

Dinner on last night

After we got back to the hotel, we got ready for our last dinner abroad.  We went to a lovely sidewalk cafe to enjoy wine and amazing service. George enjoyed Quiche, Ruth and Frank had ravioli, and Cheryl and Ashley had lasagna. We finished the meal with a delicious crème brûlée. Next, we walked over to the Seine for a night river cruise. We picked Bateaux Mouches as our cruise boat.  We had perfect timing because the Eiffel Tower light show was starting right as we boarded the boat. The cruise was an hour long and we got to go by Notre Dame and all the other sites along the Seine.  Since it was a Friday night, romantic couples along the banks of the Seine enjoying wine and each other's company. Similar to Ljubljana, there were locks on many of the bridges going over the Seine.  Paris as the "City of Lights" was confirmed during this night cruise.  We lucked out and saw the Eiffel Tower show at the end of the cruise tour.  It was an awesome last night in Paris!!! 

Saturday, September 17

Ashley with the luggage
in the back of the taxi

Oh what a trip.  The weather was perfect, the travel companions stayed on speaking terms, lots of memories were made, and much laughter was heard.  After almost two weeks of travel, we were all worn out!  Ashley had to pack the taxi so that all the people and the luggage would fit.  It was easy getting to the airport and getting through security.  We were all in the same terminal, but Ashley's flight left a little before the others.  Back to reality.

If you made it this far in the blog, thanks for reading.  we hope you enjoyed our travel blog of the Benedicts Strudeling through Slovenia and Paris!

Have an awesome holiday season along with a healthy and happy new year!