pictures

of Paris...

It dawned on me the other day that I have never posted pictures from our trip to Paris, back in September.  So, here are a few.

We stayed in a wonderful little apartment in the center of the 4th Arrondissement (The Marais).  I would definitely recommend renting an apartment over getting a hotel room.  We almost immediately felt at home and like we belonged in the neighborhood.  It was so easy to get around all of Paris from there, as well.  We were walking distance to many good restaurants, which I'm sure is true all over Paris.  They are not wanting for good restaurants!

Our little kitchen - we didn't use it very much, but it was nice to be able to make coffee in the morning.

The Master Bedroom.  Odd to us, but apparently common in Europe, was the fact that there was a ensuite bathroom that had a bathtub and sink, but no toilet.  That was in a room of it's own, down the hall.  We never did use the TV.

The Living Room.  The stairs go up to the Master Bedroom.

These are the outside stairs - five flights of them - that took us to this door:

Home Sweet Home!

We went to all of the tourist-y places and saw all the tourist-y things, like Notre Dame, where besides all the beautiful stained glass and the just-plain-awesomeness, there were these cute little rows of seats with teeny little kneelers.  We didn't go in while there was a mass, so I don't know if the priests still use these, but my guess is that they don't.  They were so tiny!

While we were in the neighborhood we went to the Catacombs - Lovey #2's special request.  I have to admit it was fascinating.  I kept thinking "all these people were alive at one time...". It was incredible how they stacked all those millions of bones so perfectly.

Of course we spent one day at the Louvre.  The biggest surprise?  How tiny the Mona Lisa is!

And where we had to fight off the paparazzi who were so intriqued by #2's tattoos.

And  of course, the Tour de Eiffel.  It was beautiful.  I mean beautiful.  The girls got a huge kick out of it when a Chinese gentleman, a fellow tourist obviously, tried to hit on me in the tour de Eiffle park. I got a giggle out of it, too!

We spent quite a lot of time talking, over espresso and cappachinos in parks and cafes all over Paris.

And picnics!

We saw and enjoyed the many gardens all over Paris.

And all of the open air food markets were incredible - although the girls enjoyed the "real" shopping a lot more!

We laughed til we cried, and enjoyed spending some real quality time together.  Something we don't get that much of anymore.

It was everything I had always hoped it would be.

I am one hell of a lucky woman.