Okay. I have no idea when this will post, mid-afternoon your time on Wednesday, I guess. It’s about 8:30 pm in Paris. We’re exhausted, as we’ve been going constantly and we’re still not quite over jet lag.
To get the negatives over with – and there are hardly any – we chose a discount airline (Norwegian Air) that flies out of our local airport because we didn’t want to have to take the bus into Manhattan, then get all the way out to JFK before we even got on a flight overseas. In retrospect, I’m not sure that was the best idea. Everyone on the flight was very nice, the vegetarian meal we ordered was delicious, but the seats were unbelievably uncomfortable. Don’s knees were smashed up against the seat in front of him. There was no way he could get comfortable and my back started complaining about a third of the way into the flight. Eventually, I found three empty seats and sprawled across them and I slept for a couple of hours. Since I’d woken up at 4 am that morning, this left me seriously sleep deprived. Don hardly slept a wink either. Because of strong tail winds we got into Edinburgh earlier than expected and we had to kill about 5 hours there before we flew to Paris and that flight left late. That’s another story for another time. ANYWAY, by the time we got into Paris we were close to hallucinating from lack of sleep. I’m exaggerating a bit, but only a bit. The combination of the hard seats and then two flights in 24 hours was too much. We won’t do that again.
Nevertheless, as we took a cab in from the airport – we were not about to do anything but get into the city as quickly and easily as possible – we saw this extraordinary city appear before our eyes and we were thrilled. Photos will be in random order because I’m too tired to do anything else and I have hundreds of them, so it will take me weeks to share them all with you.
Hello!
Both of these photos were shot from the car as we drove into the city.
Our hotel is absolutely charming. More photos later. No, it’s not the Holiday Inn. That’s across the street.
Photos from the next day:
The Metro.
Église Saint Sulpice – Eglise means church.
And this next church is the oldest church in Paris, AD 990. Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés. We went inside and it’s gorgeous.
We were headed toward the Seine when we discovered the churches. Eventually we crossed over to the Right Bank to visit the Louvre, but it was closed on Tuesday. We went to the Musee d’Orsay instead. (Don’t worry, we went to the Louvre today.)
The Seine, which is beautiful and ever-fascinating.
That’s the Louvre on the right.
Love locks on a bridge. I see them everywhere. It’s a tradition started by couples who are/were in love, and they often threw the key into the Seine.
I couldn’t wait to visit the Pont Alexandre because it’s spoken of in the story of Anastasia. It turns out it was the bridge we drove across the night we arrived. It’s so beautiful.
Me on the Pont Alexandre.
Handsome husband on some steps leading down to the water.
We saw the Eiffel Tower. We want to see it at night later in the week.
We found Laduree! Of course we bought some macarons. It’s a gorgeous shop.
We ate here tonight and sat outside people watching. Cafes are on every corner. I love the pace of the city. We’ve met truly nice people, none of the rudeness we’d been warned about. Everyone has been helpful and kind and very charming.
I think this must be the most beautiful city in the world. I’ve fallen totally and completely in love with it. If I could get away with staying here permanently, I would. It has won my heart.
So far, we’ve seen the Eiffel Tower, the Musee d’Orsay, several churches, including Notre Dame, the famous bookstore Shakespeare and Company (right across the Seine from Notre Dame) the Louvre, the Tuileries and we’ve done that in two days! We’re going to slow down a bit tomorrow as our feet are tired, we’re tired, and Don’s knees are complaining.
I told Don a few months back that I wanted to buy some designer sunglasses in Paris. I wear sunglasses a lot, as my eyes are sensitive to too much sunlight. Today, we found a shop on the Rue de Bonaparte and wandered in and the next thing I knew Don was buying me a pair for our anniversary. I have a wide face (heart-shaped) and I often can’t find sunglasses that are big enough to suit my face and also fit the bridge of my nose. These are very modern and though you can’t see the color in these photos, they are a sort of burgundy with grey side pieces. I feel very Parisian in them.
Outside the shop.
And because my husband takes lots of pictures of me, another shot.
We’re having the time of our life. We have fallen hook, line and sinker for Paris. We’ve walked along the Seine and shared kisses. We’ve had romantic dinners. We’ve laughed like crazy. We’ve turned to each other to say, “I can’t believe we’re in Paris!!”
More later. I have a lot to share with you, but I’ll probably wait a day or two to share more. Miss you all, but know that we are so happy!
Happy Wednesday.
