a full day in paris, is one full day, no doubt.
we had really, only two full days to do all the sightseeing that can take weeks to see, if you have the time. afterall, three days is barely enough time to go through the enormous louvre museum!
we had a wonderful adventure the previous night but we were ready to get going the next day. our original plan was to go to versailles on thursday which takes a few hours to get there, done, and back. but we didn’t have our directions planned yet and decided to see the sights in paris and go to versailles on friday.
arc de triomphe was first on the list. this IS where the tour de france rides through in the final stretch towards the finish line. we missed this by two days! how unfortunate. paris is the place for history and TONS of people. Of course all of the sights we wanted to see were places that about 100,000 other people wanted to see too.
okay, these guys were everywhere. and all they did was stand there.
and expect money? seriously?
the orangery museum could very well have been one of my favorite places in paris. it was a smaller museum but it contained the works of monet, montague, picasso, cezanne, renoir, rousseau, and more!
one section i particularly loved. white walls covered in 20 foot long paintings of willow trees and outside landscapes. it was simple, yet satisfying (name the movie?? okay, lion king). i thought it was beautiful.
we purchased the museum pass which was cheaper than paying the entrance fee for each venue. this pass was amazing! it held the keys to almost every museum there in paris. we just didn’t have the extra day to get things done.
we walked down the biggest shopping street in paris, champs elyssees. it was full of the big name designers. chanel, louis vuitton, dolce & gabanna.
we arrived at the louvre and this was full things to do. a huge ferris wheel, small street vendors, food shops. you get it.
we explored these and went through to the swarm of peeps going to the louvre. this place was insane. we looked from a distance at everyone. i never knew so many people could gather at one place!
pictures were needed, of course. as hilary and i walked up to get some closer shots, we saw two guys and they asked about our cameras. hilary has a Nikon and i have a Canon. the man that spoke to us had a Nikon and that sparked our conversation. turns out, he thinks that Mormons are “the nicest people on Earth” and he is the author of the blog stuck in customs, the most popular travel blog in the world. he and the man he was with travel the world with their wives taking pictures. each day, they post a new picture of the places they have been. absolutely amazing.
i still am in awe of how extremely large the louvre is. three wings the branched out into almost a collge campus look from the outside. each wing had at least four levels and smaller levels in between. every piece of art you can imagine, i swear. i wonder how much that museum is worth!
it was incredible.
doing my part for toms!
us with trey.
she was smaller than i expected.
blurry, but i was there!
the walking was wearing on us, it was a lot of walking!
we stopped by notre dame.
look at those flying buttresses!
and on to the pantheon, a must see.
i apologize for all of the pictures, but like i said, it was a long and eventful day!
day one in paris equals tired and successful.
i love love love the ferris wheel picture! you're as cute as ever. love you!
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