Josh is always telling me that my blog is depressing - I will admit, there have been most definitely some low times since moving to Barcelona. It's been a huge challenge on so many different levels. Though my hope is that the last few months have been more positive to read. However, the biggest plus to moving here which we are most certainly taking advantage of, is the travel. We are trying to see as much in our short time living in Europe as we can. Paris was just an hour and a half flight away - how could we not resist? Especially when we had a willing friend to watch the kids! I'm so glad we went on this trip and on the other trips we've done so far.
So today is our final day in Paris. When I first planned this trip I asked my facebook friends where we should stay. In addition to getting several recommendations on hotels, no less than 5 people told me that we absolutely MUST go to Angelina's for hot chocolate. Now, I'm a hot chocolate LOVER but we're talking July here and some hot temps. But since it was recommended we decided we must check it out. However, I forgot to bring the address with me. I emailed a friend of mine and she sent it over - turned out it was less than a block from our hotel and we had walked by it several times thinking it was a chocolate store (which was in my plan to go back to!). It was the sweetest looking cafe and it turns out it's over 100 years old! And yes, to all my friends that recommended it, the hot chocolate was to die for! I bought a back of the mix (for 20 euro - yikes!) to bring back to Barcelona and I'm hoping the quality comes even close to how they make it in the store.
We figured we had somewhat seen the big sights - though I'm sure there is plenty we missed just looking at the map I have here. But our goal of this trip was also to relax and not stress about the things we didn't see but to enjoy the stuff we had the time to see. One great way to see the city we decided was the boat tour. Our hop-on, hop-off bus tour tickets also included the boat tour so we headed down by the Louvre to pick up the tour.
Most of these pictures are of the bridges we crossed under - like no two people, no two bridges were alike. All were built during different periods and have completely different styles. I also just loved the buildings along the river so you'll see a few of those as well. I'll identify where I know them but otherwise, as with the other entry, please feel free to chime in if you know the location.
The Louvre
The Louvre - another view
Random apartments that I thought were pretty
Pont Neuf
More pretty looking buildings along the Seine
Le Pont Saint-Michel
Notre Dame
Pont au Double
Notre Dame again...
One last shot of Notre Dame as you see where the river separates around the Ile de la Cite
Pont Sully
More pretty buildings
I'm pretty sure that is Notre Dame's tower in the center
Ile de la Cite
Palais de la Cite
Possibly Pont Royal but not sure...
National Assembly
Musee d'Orsay
View of Eiffel Tower and Pont Alexandre III
Pont Alexandre III
Pont d'Iena
More of the Eiffel Tower
Prt of the Jardin des Tuileries
Place de la Madeleine - Church of Sainte Marie-Madeleine which is built in the style of a Greek temple.
The day was a beautiful one for a boat ride and it was nice to see the city from a different perspective. We had a fantastic lunch on the Champs Elysees where we strolled along checking out all of the shops - again, my favorite was the Gap, sad but true... We ended the day at the hotel where we relaxed by the pool with a good book and just enjoyed the peace and quiet - chaos would resume when we returned to Barcelona :) There is still so much more of Paris for us to see and I can't wait to book our next trip!
Julie
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