A Walk Through Montmartre

Our final day of sightseeing in Paris was spent walking through the Montmartre area. We found a recommended path to take through this hilltop village in our guide book and Brad did a lovely job playing the part of tour guide.

We took the metro from our hotel and started our journey in front of Moulin Rouge. Yes, Brad and I both took turns pretending to be cancan dancers...but we'll save those pictures for another day.

Just around the corner was the Cimetiere de Montmartre, a large cemetery with hundreds and hundreds of massive tombs. Honestly, we didn't know a single "famous" person that had been buried here but we found it interesting anyhow.

Along the way up the steep hill we passed one of the homes Van Gogh lived in for several years in the late 1880s. Thank you Fodor's Paris Guide Book, I would have missed this completely without you.

The streets continued to get steeper and steeper but it was so beautiful, we didn't seem to mind. I hope the parking break on these cars works better than on Brad's beater BMW; could be dangerous.

Another stop was in the Square Suzanne-Buisson where we found the statue of the third-century bishop, St. Denis. St. Denis was beheaded by the Romans and legend has it that he picked up his head and washed off the blood in the fountain right at this very spot. Thus the statue. A little strange, huh?

This is where guide books come in really handy. We were given directions that brought us up to the Sacre-Coeur basilica from the backside giving us an incredible view of the beautiful church. And we had the park to ourselves with the exception of a class of small children who appeared to be on a field trip. It was breathtaking.

When we walked around to the front side of the Sacre-Coeur basilica it was just swarming with people. This was to be expected as you have quite the panoramic view of Paris from the front steps of the church. We walked through admiring the many sculptures and mosaics; unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures inside.

From the top of the hill, we could see the Eiffel Tower off in the distance.

The afternoon was spent popping in and out of souvenir shops in the Place du Tertre. The square itself was filled with artists painting portraits of celebrities and willing tourists. As our self-made tour was coming to an end and it was time to make the trek back down the steep hill, we found ourselves in a small gallery. I had intended to do a little shopping in a unique store we had just passed but ended up going in the wrong door and before we knew it, we had picked out a beautiful painting by a local artist. It's my favorite souvenir from the trip.

Exhaustion was beginning to set in so we made our way back to the hotel. We ended the evening with a lovely dinner at a sushi restaurant followed by cappuccinos at a nearby cafe. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

The following day we were catching our train back to Frankfurt at 1:00 pm so we spent the morning shopping. I was adamant that any clothing I bought in Paris could not come from a store I could go to in Germany or Dallas....I came up empty handed. Fortunately, I found a cute top at a little boutique in the massive train station....it will now be known as my Paris shirt.

And that was the end of our Parisian Adventure. We said "au revoir" to Paris.......and "hola!" to Barcelona!

Paris: Part Deux

Let the record show, I wrote this entry almost two weeks ago and it disappeared. I have reason to believe the housekeeping guy in Germany deleted it....or the old Dell crashed like it did once every day and I forgot to save it. Either way I'm back aaaaand (drumroll please) I'm writing to you live from my new MacBook Pro. Get ready for some serious blog time people. I love this thing!

Alright, where were we? Right, Paris. For the next part of our trip, Brad and I decided to spoil ourselves just a tad and get a room at The Banke Hotel near the Opera Palais. It was beautiful inside and out and the staff couldn't have been more friendly.

After the bags were settled in our room we took a look at our trusty map (which was already quite worn by this point) and set off in search of the Louvre. Fortunately, the Louvre is about the size of a small city so it wasn't difficult to find. No, really - it's huge.

The line looked somewhat intimidating but it moved quickly and I, of course found ways to keep us entertained. Time to get crafty with the camera.

It was early in the day and we thought our best bet would be to make a bee line for the Mona Lisa before it got too crazy. On the way, we passed the Winged Victory of Samothrace which is quite stunning.

And then, there She was. THE Mona Lisa. In all her tiny glory. People had told me it was small...they weren't kidding. We're talking 30 inches by 2o inches small (that's 77cm x 53 cm for all of my European friends). As my sister-in-law would say - she's very schmaal.

And last on the "must see" list was Venus de Milo. Taaa daaaa.

After these three pieces had been checked off of our list, we spent the next couple of hours wandering through the maze of Egyptian art. This was our favorite part.

When our stomachs began talking to us, we started looking for an exit. And 30 minutes later, we found one. We had hoped to find another little place to get a sandwich and baguette to enjoy in the park but ended up at a corner cafe that provided ample people watching. We won't discuss the fact that our beverages were an astounding 10 euro each. Ouch.

Following lunch we spent the afternoon strolling the Champs-Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe. A little shopping and a lot of pictures.

We found the below statue strange. Right there in the middle of the Champs - a statue of what I assume was a god covered with cherubs...but none of them had heads. Hmmmm.

But we made it and harassed yet another person to take our picture. You can forget about walking across that street behind us to get to the Arc; people seem to loose all sense of traffic laws and it's a free for all. Pedestrians beware. Take the underground route instead.

While walking around the Arc, the wind picked up and dark clouds rolled in. By this point our feet had had enough (and by "our" I mean "mine") so we ended the day with a fantastic dinner at a nearby brasserie before calling it a night.

It had been another amazing day in Paris but the following day would be our best yet...

Je t'aime Paris

It has been a wild and crazy past couple of weeks. Brad and I have now moved out of our place in Mainz and into a lovely room at the American Arms Hotel. (Can you sense the sarcasm in my voice? It's there, promise.) It was a long day as it took the movers 12 hours to get everything boxed up and put on a truck. The 37 breaks they took throughout the day probably didn't help matters much. Nor did the fact that they had to carefully hand wrap each one of these:


But we survived "moving day" and two days later we were on an ICE train to Paris.

I wasn't sure what to expect of Paris. Sure, I'd done hours upon hours of reading up on the city but when you talk to some people they have nothing but negative things to say. "The people are horrid. The city is dirty. It's overrated." But after our trip all I have to say is

Je t'aime Paris!!!!

Love, love, love it! Brad and I had the time of our lives!

We arrived late on Friday night and wandered around the St. Germain/Latin Quarter in search of where we'd be staying for the first part of our trip...as well as where we were going to eat. We found our adorable little boutique hotel, La Maison Montparnasse, on a quiet little street near lots of restaurants and shops. Check out the stairwell inside the hotel. Funky, huh?

Our first day was kicked off with a lovely breakfast at the hotel. Why are croissants ten times better in Paris than anywhere else in the world? Mmmmm mmmm good. It was a day filled with sight-seeing. The pictures can tell most of the story....

Notre Dame Cathedral

A man moving a dolly of potatoes across a bridge tipped it over sending potatoes rolling every which way. Brad jumped in to help and said it was the United Nations of Good Semaritans. French, German, English, Italian. Gotta love it.

Standing on the oldest bridge in Paris, the Pont Neuf.

The Pantheon

Jardin Du Luxembourg

Our first baguette enjoyed in the beautiful garden

Entertainment on the metro...he played "What a Wonder World" which just seemed to fit

Do these really need captions?

That evening we had a wonderful dinner at a teeny, tiny restaurant not far from our hotel. I almost had a Pretty Woman moment with my escargot. Slippery little suckers. Following dinner we hightailed it over to the Montparnasse 56 Tower in time for the sun to set. The tower itself does not necessarily "fit" in Paris but the views it provides of the city make all arguments against it moot, in my opinion. We rode an elevator up to the 56th floor in 38 seconds. Whew! From here, you can take a few stairs up to the helipad and have to most incredible views. Take a look:

These are not postcards, folks. Is that not amazing? If you go to Paris, this is a must. Especially to view the Eiffel Tower light show. Unbelievable.

We sat at the little cafe looking out over the city and enjoyed a glass of wine and a cannoli. It was so romantic.

Can you see us?

The trip doesn't end there and there's more to come...but I'm still recovering from the trip that followed Paris and need some rest. Until next time...

Schweet Pup

I sat down to the computer with all intentions of telling you about our exciting adventure to Paris… but I got distracted. Imagine that. Scrolling through the hundreds of pictures that were on the camera I came across a handful at the beginning of the “roll” and decided an Ode to Stella sounded like a much better idea. Plus the little stinker is still at the kennel and I don't get to see that schweeeet face until Tuesday. Enjoy.

Still loving our walks through the orchard. I'm going to miss this.

Remember the first time?

Trips to the playground...

LOVES watching the kids play

What happens after a long walk...
Her new trick - we can yell "BANG!" and she'll play dead. So cute!

She'll sit on the end of the chair when it's reclined waiting for attention...

"Dad. Dad. Dad. Pay attention to ME!"

The reason I can't workout at home....the fact that I don't want to doesn't help much.

And lastly, here's the look I get when I've taken too many pictures...

Ahhh, I feel better. Don't you?