Oui...J'aime Paris!
Brad and I started off Day #2 in the "city of lights" with a chicken and cheese crepe (poulet e fromage!) on Rue Mouffetard, of course. I was looking forward to my first Parisian Crepe...it didn't disappoint! We both LOVED them. I promised Brad that I'd attempt to make them once we got home...and I did! They were fabulous! That will be the subject of my next post.
After eating our crepes, we continued down Rue Mouffetard, window-shopping along the way and ended at our next destination - the famous food market on Rue Mouffetard. Ladies and gentlemen, I was in some serious foodie heaven. I can easily imagine stopping at that market on my way home one Sunday afternoon and then whipping up a fabulous & fresh French dinner. ;) Here are some pics:
Once we were finished drooling over all the beautiful produce at the market, we experienced the Metro for the first time - what fun!!! After asking for help from a few very friendly French people, we were all set to go. We made it to the correct stop without any trouble. I wish we had something as efficient as the Paris Metro in my city. You can literally be just about anywhere in Paris in 10 minutes. No matter where you are, you're going to be close to a Metro stop...it's wonderful! The Metro!
Upon exiting the Metro, we headed to a cafe for our first authentic French lattes...gosh...they were heavenly! I had fun ordering...even the waiter was impressed with my attempt at speaking French...it's such a beautiful language!
After the museum, we raced over to Napoleon's Tomb..barely making it through the entrance before it closed. We were so happy that we made it in time...it was such a cool place. There were handwritten letters by Napoleon, including a love letter to his wife that said, "I would give 20 years of life to have you near." Isn't that so romantic? His compass, eating utensils and pocket watch were among the other items on display.
Once we finished up there, we wandered over for our long-awaited visit to the Eiffel Tower. There are no words that describe seeing it for the first time...we rounded a corner, and there it was! We spent a lot of time taking photos and having fun. I'll let these pics do most of the talking:
We got a bite to eat at a place called "Castle Cafe." It was decorated so perfectly...chalkboard menus, dim red lighting, and murals of the city on the walls. The Diet Coke was expensive at about 5 Euro EACH...but it was still fun. We both had a mixed salad, cheeseburgers, fries (frites), chocolate mousse for dessert and red wine.
After dinner, we strolled back over to the Eiffel Tower. It was dark by then, so it was lit up beautifully...what an AMAZING site!!! I got a chance to sit on a park bench and write an entry in my travel journal...that was certainly one of my favorite moments from the entire trip. Brad caught the moment perfectly with this photo:
What a perfect way to end the evening! :)
Next, we strolled down to the Musee d'Orsay...what an amazing place!!! I was so excited to see works by Van Gogh, Renoir, Degas, Rodin, Toulose, Delacroix, Manet and Monet. We spent several hours just taking it all in.
After the museum, we raced over to Napoleon's Tomb..barely making it through the entrance before it closed. We were so happy that we made it in time...it was such a cool place. There were handwritten letters by Napoleon, including a love letter to his wife that said, "I would give 20 years of life to have you near." Isn't that so romantic? His compass, eating utensils and pocket watch were among the other items on display. Once we finished up there, we wandered over for our long-awaited visit to the Eiffel Tower. There are no words that describe seeing it for the first time...we rounded a corner, and there it was! We spent a lot of time taking photos and having fun. I'll let these pics do most of the talking:We got a bite to eat at a place called "Castle Cafe." It was decorated so perfectly...chalkboard menus, dim red lighting, and murals of the city on the walls. The Diet Coke was expensive at about 5 Euro EACH...but it was still fun. We both had a mixed salad, cheeseburgers, fries (frites), chocolate mousse for dessert and red wine.After dinner, we strolled back over to the Eiffel Tower. It was dark by then, so it was lit up beautifully...what an AMAZING site!!! I got a chance to sit on a park bench and write an entry in my travel journal...that was certainly one of my favorite moments from the entire trip. Brad caught the moment perfectly with this photo:After sitting there and taking in the beauty of it all for a while, we got in line to ride to the top...WOW! We waited until nighttime for a reason...they don't call it the city of lights for nothing. Seeing the entire city of Paris all lit up is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
What a perfect way to end the evening! :)
