Day 16- Walk About Paris
ParisMonday June 20, 2011
We started off the day in true French fashion with coffee and crepes. Delicious! Our mode of transport in Paris is the Batobus (boat) via Seine River. We took the Batobus to Notre Dame Cathedral, where we spent the day on various walking tours learning about the history of Paris. Fascinating!
View of Notre Dame from the boat, probably the best view you can get of it.
The front of Notre Dame
Ok, here is a little interesting tid bit we learned on the tour. The guide had us pretend we were 13th century peasants that couldn't read or speak Latin. Because we couldn't do either, we couldn't understand how to go to heaven or hell per the church. This engraving was here for that purpose. The middle row shows a person's good and bad things he has done in his life being weighed on a scale. If your good outweighs the bad, you get ushered to the left. If its the other way around, you get ushered in chains by demons to the right. Guess they didn't need any words to get this fear across.
This isn't a very good picture, but the building in it is the oldest hospital in the world. The hospital is located in the same square as the cathedral. It was built in the 700's and still is a working hospital. Back in the day, it was ran by nuns and priests. So, people didn't so much go here to get better, more to die in the presence of clergy. I thought all of my medical friends might find this interesting.
Just down the road from Notre Dame, this is the university of Paris. The area is called the left bank. Paris is split by the Seine River. If you are a Parisian, you are either a left banker or a right banker. Our guide who considers herself a left banker, told us how to tell the difference. A right banker will ask you how much money you have in your bank account. A left banker will ask you what book you read last.
We spent the evening at and around the Eiffel Tower.
Just to prove we were actually there.
If you weren't aware it sparkles on the hour and it is quite the sight.
We finished our first full day in Paris by doing a 4 mile midnight hike from the Eiffel Tower to our hotel. We could hear Marlene saying to us the whole time, "when you guys come up with one of your plans, you should call me first!" yes, we agree of all the things we did on this European excursion this probably wasn't our smartest. Paris is both lovely and frightening at night. But, lay off us we were able to see the Eiffel tower sparkle, not once but twice. We would like to say we have a picture for you of us on our midnight hike but we were literally too scared to stop to take a picture. Good news, we made it back to the hotel safely.
Day 17- Eat Around Paris
ParisTuesday June 21, 2011
We started our day super early (1:30pm). Naturally, we headed straight for food. We went to a restaurant that was French speaking only. The only two word we recognized were Bordeaux and formagge. We said sold and sold. In other words, we pointed and said si vous pleis.
Next, we made our way to Sacre Couer (Spelling? Means sacred heart). We enjoyed a beautiful bird's eye view of the city of Paris, as well as a free concert.
This is a common scene on our vacation. Trading cameras. The picture above is taken by this anonymous friend. Merci!
Our free concert
Next, we went shopping for a bit.
We saw the Eiffel tower during the day
As per our friend Jamie Tracey's suggestion, we indulged in beef bougninon(spelling?). It was delicious! Did we mention it was in front of Notre Dame Cathedral?
Paris celebrated e first day of summer with music in the streets. This group was one of our favorites.
Goodbye Paris. We had tons of fun but we are excited to be home sweet home. One more important goodbye. To our shoes, you carried us miles and miles. However, you look terrible and you smell worse. Your trip ends here.
Phoenix bound tomorrow. Thank you'll for enjoying our trip with us. We loved all the comments.
