Gay Pari !

  Paris, France
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

                                                
Arrived in Paris @ 2pm on a very balmy Tuesday.  After checking into our tiny hotel in the Grenelle area,
      
Hotel de L'Avre...


we walked to get a glimpse of the Tour Eiffel....AMAZING!
                                                    

Because of storms (and LONG lines for the elevator), we opted out of trekking up to the top this evening.  Wandered around to get acquainted with 'our' area.
                   

                                       

Found a great corner cafe...La Terrace (Sarah eating snails once again!)

                


Rainy night in Paris...
       
...took cover @ Cafe La Terrasse du 7e (3 carafes of wine later, we strolled home


Our neighborhood market...stocking up on picnic supplies for lunch at the Tower and dinner along La Seine...
      

Breakfast at one of our corner cafe's...crepes & coffee


Back to the Tour Eiffel...what a difference a day makes!  The weather is perfect...decided to climb to the top (or at least the 1st level) because the elevator lines were soooooo long again.
                                           

                                                           
                

            
..had a picnic lunch here & visited 'la poste' to send some goodies home to my boys!

Batobus tour along the river Seine...hop-on/hop-off all day for like 12euro!
      

Musee d 'Orsay...
       
                                                 ( LOVE Renoir!)        & ; ;nbs p; Museum  Roof-Top Terrace
  Monet...(going to Giverny tomorrow!)


Wandering around Paris...

Jardin de Tuileries...
           
                                            Place de la Concorde     Grande Palace

  ...the grandest of all avenues...

           
      Arc de Triomphe   ... taffic is CRAZY here... 9 boulevards converge here!


Now she's French!!!


Enjoying the 'plat du jour' at a little cafe on the Camps Elysees...


...more wandering...
         

 ...we stumbled upon a  French Fashion Photo Shoot!!!

Ile de la Cite...
  Cathedrale deNotre-Dame (our alma mater!)


Our pre-dinner 'roller blade' show (hey, is it 1995? Rollerblades are EVERYWHERE!)


Before our picnic dinner along the River Seine in Ile St. Louis...
   
( a popular spot to dine: ...tablecloths, china, music, candles...we joined them asap)

Heading back by boat to our 'Tour Eiffel' stop...
        
                     
                                                     The hourly light show is wonderful!  Decided to call my dad from this very spot!


French breakfast to go...(apricot croissant this morning...YUM!)
  

Train to Vernon, bus to Giverny...
The home & gardens of French Impressionist, Claude Monet
        
       
                                               
                                                       'Waterlilies'

This place was amazing...so glad we came!

...little cafe in Giverny for a late lunch before heading back to the city...


...we tried to get to Pere-Lachaise Cemetery (Jim Morrison) but it was closed when we got there.
Also wandered a bit around Montmartre...decided we liked it better in 'our' neighborhood!
Back to La Terrace for another great outdoor dining experience...only this was Thursday evening...they have outdoor live music & little bars set up all over the city!!! People literally singing & dancing on the sidewalks...so cool! A wonderful way to spend our last night in Paris!

Early to bed...early train to the north-west coast of France to catch the ferry back to Ireland!

                                                         Au Revoir Paris!