Why do you think I have this outrageous French accentuh? (or, the Paris entry)

Ah, Paris. City of gorgeous architecture and baguettes. I absolutely love the architecture in Paris. The roofs are amazing. And again, I loved the buildings rising along both sides of the busy streets, with shops on the first floor and apartments on all the others.

Our first meal there we went to a little cafe on the corner near the apartment where we stayed. Our waitress spoke very little English (she spoke a bit more English than we do French, though) so we had an interesting but entertaining experience there. My dad took French in high school, so he knew enough to get us water. We ordered our food by just pointing at something on the menu and hoping for the best. And for the most part we did very well. The food in Paris is amazing. And nearly every entree comes with fries--what's not to love about that!

There was a transportation strike in Paris so about 1/3 of their trains and subways were working. We were lucky to have even that. So getting to our apartment from the airport was quite an experience. I packed like a girl, so I had a huge suitcase I had to carry up and down subway stairs, push onto sardine-packed subways, and pull for blocks through Paris. It was an adventure. People talk about the stereotype of French people being rude (one of our French waiters even commented on how rude French people are) but I did not experience that. At almost every subway stop different men got off the subway and offered to help me with my bags, even though it wasn't my stop or his. I was very impressed by that. And one morning we went to this fun little busy bakery to buy bread, and the woman was very patient with the two Americans who spoke no French.

We saw many beautiful things, and I can't do them justice so I will just quickly describe everything.

• We went to Notre Dame and climbed to the top of the towers (because we hadn't done enough walking. The stairs were very twirly, which wasn't so good for my already questionable equilibrium). But the climb was totally worth it. The view from there is amazing, as are the gargoyles. Gargoyles are neat and I might have to put one somewhere in my house (if Todd lets me).



• We spent two hours in the Louvre. I am not appropriately cultured so I do not appreciate things like museums, especially famous huge museums with famous and actually very unimpressive art (ahem, Mona Lisa). But the Louvre itself is a stunning former palace that I greatly enjoyed.
  
• Because transportation in Paris was so crowded, and some subway cars took 30 minutes to arrive, we walked along the Champs-Elysées (which is a very long big road filled with shops and restaurants and lots of people) to the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc is beautiful, especially at night. Eight roads lead to the Arc, and then it's a huge crazy roundabout. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the mass of cars navigate it. Europeans and their roundabouts. I don't get it. (p.s. I took this picture from the Eiffel Tower, which is miles away from the Arc. I'm proud of it.)

• One day we took a train to Versailles. The palace is beautiful and the roof on the chapel is phenomenal (I have a thing for roofs and doors. Nearly half of my pictures from the trip are doors). I cannot believe how those royals lived. Total luxury. No wonder the people revolted. Versailles also has gorgeous enormous gardens, which are not as beautiful in the winter (and all the many fountains were turned off and the statues were covered, which sucked) but it was still beautiful. There's a large pond and people were rowing boats in it--I loved that. It was like a postcard.


• We were very lucky to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and we got there right at sunset, so we got to see the city at sunset and then as all the lights came on. It was great. They have flashing lights on the Tower that go off every hour (I think) and we were there when the lights went on. The Eiffel Tower is very beautiful and quite an architectural wonder (for me).


• We took a river tour on the Seine, and although it got SO much colder on the water, I loved the water tour because you got to see Paris from another angle, and because there are so many cool bridges spanning the river.

One interesting thing about being in France is how much they love Napoleon. In Madrid they talked very negatively about Napoleon invading Spain, placing his brother in charge, etc. They do not like Napoleon. Then you come to France where everything is "Yea Napoleon!" I enjoyed that.

Oh, and the omelettes in Paris were so yummy. My family made fun of me for that, but I really liked my omelette. Those French can cook. I'd be so overweight (and happy!) if I lived there.