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Susan and I took Max and Ben to Paris for a week, a celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary. We did a ton of touristy things, and marvelled at everything. Day 1: get there, nap, then walk a bunch. |
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Lunch at a nice little cafe; cost too much, however. Susan's goat cheese was particularly goat-y. |
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Surprisingly, the boys found things to eat at every meal, not always easy when traveling. |
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Gilded creatures |
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Pont Alexandre III, Susan's fav (though a bad Tsar!) |
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Tuileries carnival across from our hotel |
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Susan and Ben tried a really great ride at the Tuileries. They saw the Eiffel Tower twinkling in the distance. |
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View from the top of the Ferris Wheel. |
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Day 2: Notre Dame, Latin Quarter, and Ile St. Louis for ice cream. |
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Refreshed and ready for a long wait in line and a 400-step climb. |
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C'etait incroyable. |
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The bell tower |
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Modern family, ancient light |
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A vegetarian gargoyle. |
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Max got video, I got stills. |
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Taking their places among kings and queens. |
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We rode the Metro a lot. |
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Latin Quarter sweets: "Ooh, what's that!?" Something called "Butter and Sand," and also a honeyed confection for Max. Should have eaten much much more. |
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The butter and sand thingies directly right of Susan. |
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Day 3: Montmartre and Sacré Cœur. |
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Climbing Sacré Cœur, a cream-puff-like confection of a church. |
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Fun to be at the top at last. |
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Utterly magical view from Sacré Cœur. |
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A whimsical fountain. |
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A rare all-family shot. |
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Day 4: Catacombs, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées |
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Another cafe breakfast before the catacombs. |
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Walking through the quarry tunnels was spooky enough... |
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... then you get to the Empire of the Dead. |
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Not only spooky; also sad and somber. |
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Now.. where are we? |
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To the Arc de Triomphe. |
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Detail of sculpture inside the Arc. |
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I was fascinated by the Arc, how massive it was, how beautifully carved. When I learned you could climb it, I went back on my own and did. |
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Beautiful, but Susan and Ben were too tired to see much more that day. |
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Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc. |
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A light snack at Ladurée on the Champs-Élysées. |
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Day 5: Assault on the Eiffel Tower! |
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It's amazing to see the Tower peering over the neighborhoods. |
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The Eiffel Tower is big... |
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... really big. |
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Climbing the stairs is a little intimidating... |
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Max is the tallest person in all of France. |
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A fine way to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and with Champagne, too! |
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Back down on the ground, a quick Batobus hop... |
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...back to the Tuileries... |
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...and the amazing Ferris Wheel. |
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Day 6: Chateau de Vincennes, etc. |
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Chateau de Vincennes is an 800-year-old castle, home to Kings like the pious Charles V. |
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Susan kept feeling like she was going back in time. |
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Medieval love seats. |
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I guess it was pretty windy. |
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A fireplace fit for a king. |
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Beautiful. The flowers are nice, too. |
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Scary fork-gate at Invalides. |
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A gorgeous dessert of noix de coco and framboise glace, at Amorino in Le Marais, 3eme arrondissement . |
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Dessert after dinner at Amorino's gelato |
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Day 7: Leaving :-( |
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Even waiting for a cab is historic in the shadow of the Louvre... |
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Settling in for the flight across the Atlantique. |
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