Paris Sights Day 1

Okay, I’m not sure if it’s that I was so over-tired or that the map I’m looking at doesn’t have it…but one of the first places we visited in Paris doesn’t have a name (or at least one that I can remember!).  

Liz & Stuart...the map readers!  Such savvy travelers!  :)

We went to a famous cemetery, and although I have a huge respect for those that went before me, I couldn’t get over the fact that there was an Adams Family headstone!  From the cemetery we walked through the Luxembourg Gardens.  (Or maybe it was the other way around…either was it was fantastic!)   The gardens are supposedly the most beautiful gardens in all of Paris, and I can’t say I disagree.  They were breathtaking.  Well maintained.  Great variety of flowers and plants and colors.  I personally really liked the pond in the middle with a little duck house and the paper boats you can rent to said on the pond (the boats you sail…by themselves…you can’t go on them!).  The gardens cover 60 acres and the palace (where the French secret service meet below) is said to be modeled after the Pitti Palace in Florence.  No wonder it looked vaguely familiar!  :)

Luxembourg Palace
The flowers in the gardens are changed completely 3x/year!

Dave and me outside the palace, in front of the pond!

One (well two really) of the MANY statues in the gardens 

Duck pond with a small sailboat...it was REALLY windy and kinda rainy...
so only one boat today :(
And yes, that IS a little duck house!  how kind of you to notice!!!

Yup...I was the one who pointed this one out!
Come on...kinda funny! Right? 

Following our time in the gardens and cemetery we headed for “the sights”.  Or at least the two things that topped my list of “Must Sees”.  First we made our way over to the Eiffel Tower.  I didn’t have a clue what to expect…really.  Dave said he wasn’t a huge fan and all the books I’ve read say not to waste your time going up in it (unless you have time to waste…which I might on my next trip there!) so I really didn’t know what it was going to be like being there.  Well, I tell you what…I really like it.  I think it’s charming and although it’s rather cold (brown metal) it’s a very neat building architecturally speaking.  I had a feeling it looked better at night! 

It's real!

Not sure where I'm looking...BUT...this is my cousin Liz on my mom's side.
The sign says "Johnson Girls in Paris"
(our moms are sisters and their maiden name is Johnson!)

Dave and me!  Duh!
First time together up close and personal with the Eiffel Tower!

Our silly attempt at being "cool"...
 Rockin' the peace signs!  :)

Just bein' me!

From the Eiffel Tower we strolled the Champs Elyeese (high end shopping…for tourists…not really the French!) towards the Arch de Triumph.  We did have a good laugh when we passed a store with a line out the door and through queues you might expect to see at an amusement park…which turned out to just be Abercrombie and Fitch.  Really?  Yup!  And you could smell it down the street!  Poor fools!!!  It’s not worth a wait THAT long!

I think there are better ones of the two of us here on Dave's camera :(
Hoping to swap pics with him...maybe once things slow down a little!

We then hopped the Metro up to Montmartre…the highest point in Paris and home to fantastic sights (usually…but not much could be seen in the “pisser” (major rain…think DOWNPOUR) that we were experiencing!  :(  But it was a grand adventure and has wet my appetite to go back!  The church at the top (Sacre Coeur) was beautiful and lovely on the inside and a welcomed haven from the weather.  Stuart gave me a little tour from under my umbrella of what I was looking at while I chose to bare the elements.  Dave had been in contact with a high school friend who was backpacking with a friend of hers and we all just happened to be in Paris so we all (the 6 of us) met up for dinner in the Montmartre area.  It was cold and wet and well…that just about sums it all up!  We found a nice little restaurant off the beaten path and invited ourselves in.  We were the only patrons in the place and had a very a-typical French waiter who played into our jokes and gave us a few food laughs!  It was a fantastic time and dinner was wonderful!  It was nice not to have to worry about keeping our voices down or feel like we had to finish up quickly. 

Beautiful church...WAY too large to fit it all in one picture!   

Rainy...but making the most of things!

I really wasn't miserable!  Promise!  But that WAS supposed to be a lovely sight of downtown Paris...can't see too much!  But you CAN check out that wind!

Wet...but still smiling!

All in all…although it was a terribly long day…it was a wonderful start to our weekend in Paris!