ahhhh Paris

by Chris

Florida friends Bobbie & Mike"Bingo"Reid have been visiting us in Dublin, so we all decided to take a side trip. When picking a destination for first time visitors to Europe, we had to go to

Paris

I haven't been to Paris since 1989, but Kelly just went recently with Alli. We were all very excited! We were greeted by mild weather (45 degrees) and clear skies...and the Arc de Triomphe !

We stayed in an area of town called Montparnasse, which is a great central location to use as home base when seeing the sites of Paris.

Unlike Dublin, Paris is gigantic...so although we walked alot, we also took the Metro.

Taking the Metro still involves alot of walking through the underground maze of tunnels connecting different lines. In the picture above Bingo is demonstrating moves he learned watching the Matrix.

We walked through the Luxembourg Gardens (jardins de luxembourg) and the Latin Quarter on day one...on our way to

Notre Dame

Visiting in the low season is always a great way to avoid the crowds. We walked right in and spent some time checking out the amazing interior.

Wow.

Afterwards we had some refreshments at one of the cafe's overlooking the cathedral.

On day two of our trip we encountered some small problems.


After having some difficulty finding the entrance to the Catacombs, we discovered that they are closed until March for renovations. So off we went to the Louvre museum.

Turns out the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays...we were stunned. Luckily, many people will say that the Louvre (although the largest museum in the world & home of the Mona Lisa) is not the best museum in Paris. That title belongs to the Musee d'Orsay which is just across the river from the Louvre AND is open on Tuesdays. So off we went !

Although much smaller, the Musee d'Orsay houses an impressive collection of mostly French art. It is most famous for holding the worlds greatest collection of impressionist masterpieces.

All the big names are here : Degas, Manet, Matisse, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh to name a few.

Starry Night over the Rhone - Van Gogh

Japanese bridge and water lillies - Claude Monet

Whistler's mother - James Abbot McNeil Whistler

But of course...the highlight of anyone's trip is when you first see the great lady of Paris.

After a day of small mishaps with closings and renovations, it comes at no suprise that the top of the Eiffel Tower is CLOSED during the week in the winter for renovations !

Luckily a trip up to the first and second levels is still quite amazing, and gives you a great backdrop for pictures.

The view from the first level looking down the center of the tower.


Chris & Kelly on the second level.


Bobbie & Bingo in Paris....ahhh Paris.