Paris, Day 1

First of many shots of the Eiffel Tower. It's kind of hard not to get pictures of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It's everywhere you look somehow.

Us in front of the Lourve. I don't feel good at all (obviously).

We drove in late Saturday night from Belgium into Paris, and didn't get to bed until about 2:00am (after meeting the apartment owner for keys, finding a gas station to fill up the rental car, returning the rental car, walking back to the apartment, and calling the kids to say hello). The next morning, we slept until 9:00 (or was it 10:00?) and just lounged around. The rest of our trip had been so go go go that we hadn't taken any time to just relax. Hunger and excitement eventually drew us out of the apartment and we found ourselves walking the streets of Paris with fresh French pastries in hand. We spent the day just walking the city and being amazed at how beautiful and historic and big Paris was in so many ways. The Eiffel Tower was only about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. Our plan was to go to the top, but it was Sunday and the lines were outrageous, so we kept on walking and saw the Louvre, the Jardins des Tuileries, Notre Dame, and about a thousand other noteworthy sites. We had lunch at an outdoor cafe under the trees at the gardens. Classic Paris.

I had a killer headache, so that afternoon we ended up going back to the apartment for the evening. I laid down in front of the fan because, really, it's the only thing in the world that sounded good to me. (And then I cried because I was in Paris and all I wanted to do was lay in bed.) While I laid there all miserable, Aaron went out to get stuff to cook dinner at the apartment, which ended up being quite the ordeal since most shops and butchers and bakeries are closed on Sundays. But finally (after eventually finding an butcher open and managing a conversation in Spanish of all things), he came home with fresh pasta, proscuitto, and basil and got to cooking. Dinner was so delicious, and I think I loved eating there with him more than any other cafe or french restaurant we might have visited otherwise. We sat at our little table with the windows open, and even though I was still feeling bad, it was good.

Later that night, I was feeling slightly better (or was at least propelled by the fact that my future self would absolutely kick my behind for laying in bed when I was in Paris), and we got out again to explore the "City of Lights". It really was pretty magical exploring the city and areas like the Latin Quarter at night. Gorgeous. Romantic. And there were crepes. (Filled with Nutella, might I add.) I still had very little energy, but I loved walking hand in hand with Aaron through the streets and laying my head on his shoulder as we rode the metro. No words necessary. Just us and Paris.

The Lourve

A guy juggling pigeons. Yeah. Pretty crazy!