Nous Arrivons a' Paris!

Bonjour! We had quite the interesting time getting to Paris from Greece. We didn't leave Santorini until about 10:30pm this past Wednesday night. We said goodbye to Yorgos & the Aretousa Villas, where they treated us like family. We'll miss them for sure! That flight into Athens is about 30 minutes, however, the way our plane schedule worked out, our fight from Athens to Paris didn't leave until 8:00am THE NEXT MORNING. Well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do I guess. "You are young," as Yorgos lameted...So that's what the youngins did. We tried to sleep in a 24- hour McDonald's which blasted cheesy nightclub music all night and into the morning....we're trying to sleep, people! I think I slept about one hour. We got onto to our plane on time, but it was delayed almost an hour due to a strike in France (does everyone in Europe go on strike?). Anyway, we made it there about 11:30am. We were just getting ready to buy our train passes into the city, when a girl stopped me and asked if I spoke English. Yes, I replied. She and her parents were from Toronto staying in the Loire Valley. They had planned to spend a day in Paris, but because they were flying home tomorrow, they were worried they wouldn't be able to get out of the city because of the strike. So they offered their tickets to us, plus their tour tickets for the day! They wouldn't let us give them any money for it. Yay, Toronto! We were very grateful for this bit of good fortune. It saved us $25 at least, plus a free tour, so many thanks to those who have prayed for us!



We easily found our hotel in the city, and although we desperately wanted to sleep because we hadn't in about two days, we had to go on the tour because it was only good for that day. Waste not, want not, eh? It was one of the Cars Rouges tours (red buses...probably didn't need a translation there) that drive you around the city showing you the main sites, plus you can hop on and hop off. I like to take these tours at the start of a trip to a new place whenever I can, but they're pretty pricey. Luckily for us, ours was free this time! Before going on the tour, we also walked through the Parc Monceau and ate some lunch. I had  lovely carrot soup and Joey had a chicken sandwich. On the tour, we saw the Louvre from the outside, Notre Dame, l'Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, Musee d'Orsay, Champs Elysees and much more. I definitely passed out at some point while on the bus and missed a few things, but that's okay. Here are a few photos from the tour.



Looking like death from lack of sleep...and yes, we're tourists.

L'Arc de Triomphe

La Tour Eiffel

Notre Dame

I guess we got back to the hotel around 5pm or so and PASSED OUT. We slept for about 16 hours....we were beyond exhausted. This backpacking through Europe is not for the faint at heart! But totally worth it.


The next day we visited the Louvre. This place is huge....it would take weeks to see all the art and artifacts within her walls, but we gave it our best shot. Of course we saw Mona Lisa, which was really neat to see, even if there's nothing terribly remarkable about the smallish painting itself. The fact that you're actually seeing the real thing is pretty incredible.

Mona Lisa in the flesh

Inside the Louvre



Outside the Louvre, by the famous glass pyramide



Since it was a nice day (for the moment), we decided to head over to the Eiffel Tower in hopes of getting to the top and seeing an aerial view of Paris. This really is a sight to see, and I wanted Joey to experience it. Unfortunately, once we got there, it started to rain hard, and also the line to get in the tower was astronomical. So we just took some photos and waited for the Tower to sparkle, as it does at night. If we have time, we'll try to go back.

La belle Tour Eiffel

Eiffel Tower at night

I am enjoying speaking French again! Although I am out of practice, I can definitely get by. This is definitely a new experience for Joey, not being able to communicate properly and even more so, having to rely on someone else (that would be me) for information. He's trying very hard to learn the language and is doing a great job, but he's humbly said repeatedly, "I don't know what I would do if you weren't here..."


Well honey, I feel the same!

Beaucoup bisous a' vous,