Paris, France

My parents had already been to Paris and continued up to Wales, England to do some genealogy work. Leslie and I went to Paris. We arrived without incident at our hotel on Rue Cler, which was within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower. The Tower is by far the highlight of the city for me. It was awesome to be so close to it and be able to walk there in the evenings to people watch and just take in the grandeur of it. The little street where our hotel was located had some great outdoor cafes and bakeries and little shops. It was very quaint. The hotels are very small and their elevators are even smaller. You felt like you were being beamed up like Star Trek. We embarked on the red double decker tour bus for a bird's eye view of the city. While walking down the Champs E'lysees we saw a person dressed up as a pharoah sitting on a park bench. We bought fun hats and scarves and souvenirs for our family. It was great and money well spent. We were able to hit all the major attractions and get on and off the bus at our leisure. It was neat to visit the cathedrals on Palm sunday. They had palm fronds out in front. The food was simply delicious. The pastries, breads, and crepes were yummy. We waited a long time in line to get to the top of the Tower, but it was well worth it. The people watching below was so fun too. There were some soccer players that displayed amazing skill and coordination. There were people singing and dancing too. Leslie didn't get into the Louvre very much. You definitely have to be in the right mood and be prepared to take in all of the artwork. The Louvre is very overwhelming. I braved the mosh pit of people trying to catch a glimpse of the famous Mona Lisa. I snapped a picture of her although she is behind bulletproof glass. The architecture of Paris is simply beautiful and has alot of golden intricacies. The people were generally friendly and it was so fun to practice my conversational french with them. They were good natured and amicable when I attempted to speak to them and apologized for my inadequacy. So much fun!! Paris is one of my favorite places to visit. I could go again and again. We also were able to take a day trip out to the Palace of Versailles. It was magnificent and the gardens are similar to an Alice and Wonderland garden.