Our 1st day in Paris -- Place Vendôme with Napoleon's column celebrating the victory at Austerlitz
view of the Louvre from the Tuileries Garden
Mollie in the Tuileries
Tuileries, Louvre, sunset
sunset in the Tuileries, with the Eiffel Tower and ferris wheel
sunset and the Eiffel Tower
another sunset shot of the ferris wheel and Eiffel Tower
Day 2 - waking up to the view from our hotel room patio
one of the enclosed shopping arcades in our neighborhood
stained glass in the gothic La Sainte-Chapelle
La Sainte-Chapelle's rose window
La Sainte-Chapelle's spire
The famous Pont Neuf
moi.
Notre Dame de Paris
Inside Notre Dame
one of Notre Dame's rose windows
"I'm melting! Oh what a world!"
more Notre Dame
Notre Dame's pipe organ
Mollie in front of a typically Parisian building and avenue
Notre Dame looks like a spider from the rear
We walked around the residential Ile Saint-Louis and it was one of our loveliest times in Paris.
Another shot of Notre Dame. Mollie, please let me delete some of these. Thanks boss.
Here we are completely obscuring Notre Dame.
Notre Dame de Paris viewed from the Left Bank
Shakespeare & Company, the famous English language bookstore owned by Sylvia Beach and patronized by Hemingway
main hall of the Musee D'Orsay, a converted train station
Manet's "Luncheon on the grass," which caused a minor scandal when it was first displayed publicly
Renoir's "Two girls at the piano" (this one's for Katie)
Hmmm.... intriguing.
Yes... delightful.
Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the oldest surviving church in Paris
monkey + chef = monkey chef
mollie interacting with the street art
upstairs at Harry's New York Bar, another ex-pat locale trading on its association with the Lost Generation
Day 3 - view of Sacré-Cœur from Boulevard Haussman, on our way to Montmartre
Les Galeries Lafayette, the French department store megaplex
the Paris Opera, or Palais Garnier, built in 1875
Another shot of the Paris Opera
Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre
Ascending the steps to Sacré-Cœur
Standing in front of... you guessed it... Sacré-Cœur
All that climbing and for what? A vista of overcast Paris.
The touristy main square in Montmartre
rainy day in Montmartre
one of the two famous windmills in montmartre
this is the other... shmeh
L'Hotel de Ville (City Hall) at night... they were broadcasting the Rugby World Cup on the giant television in front
Day 4 - inside the Louvre!
Winged Victory of Samothrace
Some ol' biddy
a painted & gilded ceiling in the Louvre
Dan Brown is a terrible writer
the gigantic (and wonderful) painting depicting Napoleon coronating himself as emperor
One of Michelangelo's slaves - there were two on display in the Louvre; the rest are with the David in Florence.
mollie in one of the sculpture galleries
mmm... gummy venus
we're all running around but she's standing still
fancy fireplace + butts
the sun came out! what are we doing in a museum?
the courtyard of the Louvre
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
last Louvre picture, I promise
a decidedly different art gallery from the Louvre
in the Luxembourg Garden
Luxembourg Garden
lovely flowers and . . . chard?
Luxembourg Palace
I was taking a picture of Mollie in front of the Eiffel Tower when a helpful Frenchman came up and said, "I'll take a picture of both of you" . . . and proceeded to snap this shot. So the French are much friendlier than advertised, but secretly terrible photographers. Maybe it was his idea of a joke.
the shot we were aiming for
a tower
walking from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc de Triomphe
some sort of arc(h)
the crazy wide sidewalks of Champs-Élysées
we walked approximately 100 miles and she's still smiling
arc de triomphe at dusk
we're everywhere
Day 5 - What to do on a rainy day except head for the underground mall of Les Halles?
we got soaked
view of the Eiffel Tower from Montparnasse
where better to spend a rainy afternoon than Montparnasse Cemetery, the eternal resting place of Charles Baudelaire, Samuel Beckett, and Jean-Paul Sartre?
Mollie in Montparnasse Cemetery
interesting buildings near Le Bon Marché
Jordan liked these buildings a lot
would you like some of my country crisp?
Jordan on the Left Bank
this little street was called Pancake Alley, and there was a lot of Rugby-related partying going on
happy hour near l'Odéon
Art Nouveau décor
For our "nice meal" in Paris, we reserved a table at La Méditerranée, a (somewhat) renowned seafood restaurant (no Michelin stars)
the menu was designed by Jean Cocteau, a friend of the owners.
chewing (everything was delicious)
Day 6 - In the garden at Palais Royale
Mollie in the Palais Royale - get ready for some crazy photo effects
zoom!
walking back to the hotel to get our bags and taxi to the train station... our time in paris is at an end
back in Paris for one afternoon before flying home
Archangel Michael defeating Lucifer
Bar Hemingway in the Hotel Ritz, home of the Ritz sidecar, the most expensive cocktail in the world
in front of Bar Hemingway, before purchasing the most expensive drink of my life (worth every penny) and watching Ben Harper tool around on his blackberry
here i am in front of the oldest continually-operating restaurant/bar/cafe in Paris (Café Procope)... aka a complete tourist trap
On our last night in Paris (and France), the Eiffel Tower went beserk and turned into the Eye of Sauron
"the ring of power... i wants it."
