Paris

Finally..Finally..Finally.. I made it! I have this check list in my mind & for the last 10 years getting to Europe has been on my list. Seriously on my list, like a dream waiting to happen. Touching down in Charles de Gaulle I made my mental check...it felt good!!

We stayed at the Hotel Voltaire. Okay, so the hotel looked like a bomb had gone off in our hallway (major renovation happening there!), the elevator barely fit Brandi & I without our suitcases; maybe the fire alarms went off at 3am (false alarm); yes, the door to our room was made of plywood with the number 24 written in pencil on it...BUT the view was SPECTACULAR!!! What more could these first time Parisiens want then to open our windows, look out over the Seine & on to the Louvre? Nothing!

With only three days, jet lag and a bit of a language barrier (i sounded like Dolly Parton trying to par lay vu fron say!!!), I don't think we saw even a quarter of the city. We did make a valiant effort! We saw the Louvre, even just from the outside it is amazing..the detail in the architecture, the fountains, the people..incredible! I must say I am not a fan of the big glass pyramid..it seems to clash with the elegance & intensity of the moment...NO we didn't go in (sacrilege)..We felt like we would be lost in there for days, it's that ginormous. Notre Dame on a Sunday evening, during mass, enough said? Goosebumps, tears, awe, Joan of Arc, angels, candles, stained glass, gargoyels. A moment I will never forget & one I fiercely wished I could have shared with my love! I remember standing outside after the mass, dark clouds forming & the wind & rain stinging my skin...and at that moment I felt perfectly at peace.

Next, a trip to Montmartre (I have a serious speech impediment at this point) to vist Sacre Couer & the Moulin Rouge. Breathtaking views of the city as the Sacred Heart sits above Paris (get ready to climb about 500 steps..it's SO worth it). Enjoy the Parisien Back Street Boys & their accoustic happenings. Next, pay the 1 euro to vist the tombs. Instead of ending up down below you climb to the top, finding yourself on the rooftop dome eye to eye with the growling gargoyles. From here the Eiffel Tower looks like a tiny toy. Then we wound our way down streets of vendors (finally we found some cheesy souvenirs) selling magnets, post cards, & all the hotdogs wrapped in bagettes that you could ever want!! Once we saw the first of about 300 XXX shops, we knew the Moulin Rouge was not far.

The Eifel Tower, a fun photo op; the Musee D'orsay; the best chocolate mousee ever; a hop on hop off tour of Paris via the River Seine; nutella crepes; a glimpse of the Arch D'Triumphe; wine truly flowing like water....all staples. We stumbled on a little piano bar in an alley across the river from Notre Dame. We drank too much wine listening to Benedicte-Laurent sing & play Edith Piaf & Frank Sinatra. Finally, we stumbled back to our hotel realizing that this was what Paris is all about!