Our weekend in Paris

Sam had Friday off, so we decided to do a quick trip to Paris. While we're here in Germany we plan to take advantage of being close to so many countries.

France was our first visit to another country outside of Germany. We made sure to take our passports and international driver's licenses, which we ended up not needing. We were surprised that there was no border crossing. It took us awhile to figure out we were no longer in Germany, but in France. I thought we would have to go through customs or at the very least there would be a sign saying we were passing into France. Probably what frustrated me the most was that I didn't get another stamp in my passport :) I really wanted that France stamp!

The landscape of France was very similar to Germany, but we kept noticing how many more cow there were in France. We stopped at a truck stop for lunch along the way, but other than that we (Sam) drove the whole way. We printed out directions to our hotel from Mapquest and they were great until we got into Paris (where we really needed good directions). As a result, we ended up lost for 2 hours and finally, 9 hours after leaving home, we arrived at the hotel. It takes quite a bit to frustrate Sam, but he was sufficiently frustrated.

After checking in we went for a walk to see about getting some dinner. What we decided on - Pizza Hut. I know...we were in Paris with wonderful French restaurants and we ate pizza. I think we both were so tired we just wanted to take something back to the room and chill. I did find the Pizza Hut bag interesting though. I'm not sure if the corners were cut out to save plastic or for the fit of the box. Probably a little of both.


Saturday morning we were up early and took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower. I don't really know much about the Eiffel Tower other than it was built in 1889 as an entrance arch to a World's Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. I found that out on Wikipedia. It's also the tallest structure in Paris and, according to Wikipedia, the most visited monument in the world. I was a little surprised at the number of English speaking people visiting the Eiffel Tower. It was rather nice for me to hear other Americans.

Looking up at the Eiffel Tower

Sam on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower

Me and Sam at the top of the Eiffel Tower

It was very windy and rained on and off throughout the day, so instead of trying to find our way to Notre Dame church we hailed a taxi. By the time we arrived it was getting to be lunchtime and we hadn't eaten all day so we stopped in a little cafe for lunch. The line to go to the church steeples was very long and we decided not to go there this trip. We did go inside the church. The detail on this building is amazing. It's covered in carved images. The front of the church has scenes carved into it. It was built in the 1100's and was built mostly by the town people who donated their time and money. This statue of the Huntchback of Notre Dame was in the little cafe we ate lunch in. It's said that the real Huntchbacks of Notre Dame were the workers who hauled all the huge stones from distant queries to build the church

Carvings on the front of the Notre Dame church

Carved scene of "The Judgement"

Next on our tour of Paris was the Louvre Museum. Before this trip I really didn't know what it was. Now I know that it was once a palace, but now is an art gallery and museum. There are lots of famous paintings and sculptures. This is where the Mona Lisa is hung. We were not suppose to take pictures where the paintings are hung. It was funny seeing the Mona Lisa. You hear so much about it, but when we saw it both of us felt like it just looked like another painting. There were so many beautiful paintings I would have loved to get pictures of, but was afraid to get caught. Of course other people were taking pictures, but I know I would have been the one to get in trouble. I don't get by with cheating.

Statue of mother and child

Sam did manage to get a picture of this painting

We bought the most delicious cherries I've ever had on Rue Cler. Rue Cler is a stretch of road, about 2 blocks long, with lots of open markets. The fruit was delicious and we tried a couple of pastries. The fish market and cheese market (directly across from each other) didn't smell so pleasant, but it was a neat experience.

Sam at the Rue Cler fish market

Rue Cler cheese market

Overall, we had a nice trip. We were done around 4:30 on Saturday and decided to just come on home instead of staying that night. We wanted to get home to Gabby and be in our own house. We really enjoyed seeing the attractions in Paris, but I much prefer Germany to France. Paris seemed pretty dirty. The Metros had a bad smell and quite a few of the French were not at all friendly. Those of course were just our impressions from spending one day in Paris. We'll most certainly go back at some point, but I'm really glad we're in Germany.