Paris, Part Trois

We loved the narrow alleyways of Paris...walked along this one in the Latin Quarter to find lunch, and were successful at the very end...

...where we found a Greek gyro stand...DELICIOUS!!

Note the hanging hunk of meat from which they cut the meat for our gyros...

 

For dessert we had French pancakes (by special request of Tori Vintzel), complete with Nutella (Is there a more perfect food on the planet?) and bananas.  Scrumptious!!

So, these are some of the fountains in the courtyard of the Louvre.  There is a distinction to be made here.  We went TO the Louvre, not IN the Louvre.  Here's the story:  After arriving at 2:20pm (it opened at 2pm), we learned that the four hour (!) line had been cut off at 11am FOR THE ENTIRE DAY.   So, anyone arriving after 11am was not allowed to enter the Louvre that day.  SERIOUSLY?!?!?!  Who knew...  But...

...we still had great fun playing around the courtyards, like when Caleb took his turn to touch the top of the famous glass pyramid, which serves as the main entrance to the museum.  Or when, out of nowhere, a torrential hail storm struck, sending folks scrambling for cover.  It came about so suddenly that it reminded me of one of those cartoons where thousands of people dash for cover in mere seconds.  Hilarious.  THAT (the hailstorm) is my kids favorite memory of Paris. :)

So, we headed to the vast and impressive Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart of Christ) basilica, one of France's most important Roman Catholic Churches.  It is set high on a hill (the kids counted 228 steps up to it), from which one could see the whole of Paris:

It's a very common sight in Paris to see street performers of all varieties.  This guy was truly amazing with a soccer ball.  He was just outside the church on a raised column about four feet by four feet.  The things he could do in such a small space were remarkable...almost mesmerizing...  In fact, this guys won a VERY close second (after the hailstorm) for the kids as favorite thing they saw in Paris! 

WHEW!!  We're in the train station (the boys gave up their seats for adults) tired but happy before catching the Chunnel (Channel tunnel) back to London, to arrive home safely sometime after 1am (!).  What an unforgettable weekend in Paris! :)

Paris, Part Deux

The Eiffel Tower was the rage of the day.  If there was any thought that perhaps I should have gone up, one look at the pictures from the top and I knew I had made the right decision.  Well, that, plus when I asked if it swayed at the top, and was told, "Oh, not too much!", I KNEW this girl had made the right decision.  I don't mind high.  I just don't like exposed-to-the-elements-at-death-defying-heights-while-in-motion kind of high.  So yes, in fact, I (Dianne) was the one who didn't make it to the top, and I couldn't be more grateful. :)

Good night!!!  I would have passed out COLD had I been up there with them to take this shot.  This just in:  Caleb just informed me as I am blogging that at this level he STUCK HIS HEAD BETWEEN THE BARS to get a better view!!  God knew by giving me my boys that my prayer life would be strengthened. :)

Good buddies...

Back on the ground, these types of pictures are much more to my liking than the we-could-plummet-over-the-rail-at-any-moment sort.

For dinner we ate at this typical French bistro, which came highly recommended to us by Cremo, a new French friend we met en route .  It was kind of a mix between a diner, a pub, and a nice restaurant.  Well, we discovered early on that the French have a different kind of WC set-up than most Americans are accustomed to...there is a single door thru which EVERYONE enters into a type of foyer with sink(s), with several adjacent doors leading into individual compartments.  It was sort of like being a contestant on the Price is Right, only you had to pay to choose your door.  And, take this tip with you, Don't choose Door #1!  (They should tell us this in travel books.)  It is the broom closet!

So, I must digress just a moment and tell this story about the Vintzels...I have been asked if the Vintzels are European, as they certainly have that cool look, don't they?! ;)... right down to the dress code...blacks/grays/dark...So, I must answer and tell a quick story before continuing.  The Vintzels, in fact, live in Jackson...BUT James has a Greek heritage, so I think European style runs deep in his blood.  The fact is, they always look sharp--I mean, we spent a week with them 24/7, and they ALWAYS looked this good.  Amazing.  So, upon first meeting them, we couldn't remember their names, and so we referred to them as, "the 'hip' couple", and we both knew exactly about whom we were speaking.  So, we're thankful to now call the hip couple good friends, and can only wonder how they referred to US before they knew OUR names.

 

So, Easter Sunday 2010 will always be remembered as the year we went to the Easter Service at Notre Dame.  Somewhere in all our excitement, we had forgotten that the entire service would be in French.  All five kids fell asleep.  And, for the record, James did NOT read Scripture, but had they asked him,  we know he would have done a fine job. :)

Still Notre Dame, from the side...

...and from the back.  OK, so here's a great tid-bit.  Yvonne told me as I was snapping this picture, that the last time she and James were here, they walked along a narrow path on the ridge of the rooftop up on the right between the delicate cross (far right) and the massive steeple coming from the middle.  Aaaaaagh!!!  The things they let people do in Paris!!

After our morning at Notre Dame, we had one worn out little girl...

Paris, Here We Come!

So, our adventure began when we caught the 4:25am(!) train out of Cambridge.  In London, we boarded the "Chunnel" (shown above), which is the affectionate name of the train that travels BENEATH the English Channel.  I'm not exactly sure what I expected to see (water?) or hear (bands playing?), but it really was just a long dark tunnel, which the kids found fascinating, but it put me right to sleep...literally...:)

First things first.  Upon arrival to the "City of Lights", there was a great chorus of young voices joined together into a rousing rendition of, "We're hungry.  THERE'S MCDONALDS!!"  Desperate times call for desperate measures.  Yes, we ate at McDonalds in Paris. (Don't tell anyone.) But all new cultural experiences were not lost, as we noted that french fries are not served with ketchup in France, but with a special sauce similar to Ranch dressing.  You can see here that it is called, "Pommes-Frites Sauce".  I think that means, "We'll package this like ketchup and the Americans will think it is."

Such detail...carved into STONE...

Caleb took this picture.  As it's not our tradition, the lit candles in so many of these chapels/churches/cathedrals made a real impression...

Headin' down the Champs-Elysees, Paris' most famous thoroughfare...

Our good buddy, Winston Churchill.

We were struck by how ornate much of Paris was...

Our first glimpse of the famed Eiffel Tower...(the kids are reminding me as I type this that it took us FOREVER to walk to the Eiffel Tower from here.)  By the way, we are standing on a bridge over the River Seine, which winds thruout the city.

Speaking of Eiffel Towers, did everyone make it to the top?  We'll find out in the next exciting edition...