First Day in Paris

Yea, we made it!!   Long trip over but worth it to have travel over with. We step outside the Hotel Victoire and Germaine into a gray, cloudy morning.   It was in the 50s, typical for this time of year.  The hotel is in a really cool section of the city called Latin Quarter.  Full of restaurants, bakeries, and bars.   Carolyn got a map of the city and we decided to start walking. Turns out we're about four blocks from Notre Dame. Having seen the classic example of Gothic architecture in our high school text books, we still weren't prepared for the magnitude of the structure. The stained glass and flying buttresses are astounding for their beauty as much as for the human ingenuity it took to bring this building together. We took photos, wandered the garden, walked to the Seine for a different angle and proceeded on our journey.  

Notre Dame

St John-Paul II

Carvings at entry of Notre Dame

Entrance to Notre Dame

Side view of Notre Dame

We hadn't gone too far when we both stopped suddenly mouths agape,  we turned to each  other and high-fived; the Eiffel Tower was visible on the horizon. Even though we've both seen it in photos, there are few sights more compelling than this structure. That might have been the moment we both realized we'd have to return to Paris one day.

First view of Eiffel Tower

Next, we ended up at the Louvre. The grounds demanded to be noticed, so we took a few photos of the building, not for its beauty, but for what it represents.  The sheer size of this building is a testament to Europe's love of art.  The building goes on and on and on.  We will go inside tomorrow.  It was originally built as a fortress in the late 1100s and then became the residences of kings until finally in 1793 it became a place to keep art collections of royalty.  It is the world's largest museum.  Headed back to hotel after a total of about 10 miles walking.

Louvre courtyard

Finally dinner at Zorbas - the plates on the last page of menu include an app., an entree, and a dessert. Bon apetit!  The prices are very comparable to US dinner prices.  Side note:  Do not use the "Change" stores to exchange US dollars to  Euros.  They charge a huge fee.  Use the ATM machines with your debit card and you get the going exchange rate plus a very small fee.  We lost about $30 using the "Change" store.  Lesson learned.

Fried cheese and salad