Day 2 and 3

After getting a good's night rest and fighting the jet lag we got ready for the sight-seeing of Notre Dame, the area and cathedrals around Notre Dame and a night boat tour. We were told that the English tour for Notre Dame started at 2:00 so we got their early to look around and eat our lunch in a gorgeous park that faces Notre Dame. We headed in and waited for the tour to start but alass, no tour. I wish that we would have had a tour because there were SO many beautiful things that had stories behind them, small chapels, sculptors, etc. We did the best we could but I will be finding a book about Notre Dame so that I can read up on what we saw. After looking around inside we decided to climb all 800 stairs to the top.
The view from the top was amazing.
Trying to look like the gargoyles but ending up looking like American idiots.Matt had had enough of the stairs and I needed a little stretch.Later that night we took a boat tour. We were enjoying a romantic evening sitting outside on the back watching the sunset when a hoard of teenagers came out and started dancing. So we moved inside.It was getting late after the boat tour so we called it a day. The next day we decided to go a local market that we had heard good things about. Disappointingly, it was closed! Instead we walked around some neighborhoods and parks and then met up with Chris to go see The Paris Opera House (aka The Phantom of the Opera House.) This place was incredible and extravagant to the extreme. Years later after they built this Opera house they found a lake underneath it!This hallway was used just for the sole purpose of parading who you were with and your dress during intermission. We decided to take a little stroll of our own...After walking for about 6 hours straight it was time to hit the Lourve for the free Wednesday night! After being in there for about 3 hours we were shuffling our feet so we wouldn't have to pick them up! We were so tired but so determined to see everything we could possibly see. A few of our favorites:

Winged Victory--stunning.
Matt liked this dude.Napoleon's apartments. This was just used for the sitting room (the picture doesn't even do it justice). Surprisingly it looks exactly like OUR apartment! Ah, the Mona Lisa. If it wasn't famous and nobody really knew about it, I think we would have walked right past it. Those were just a few of our favorite things that we saw that night. We wanted to go see more so we want back on Friday for another look. Next post is Montmartre, Moulin Rouge, the top of the Eiffel Tower, and the Catacombs!

We're back!

We're back and adjusting to Matt starting another semester and me back at work. Paris was incredible and we had such a fun time. Thank you again to Chris and Nicole, Matt's sister and brother-in-law, took us all around and let us stay with them! We did so much, walked everywhere, and took SO many pictures so I'll do a couple of different posts to break it up.

We took off early on Sunday morning and flew all day to arrive in Paris about 7:30 the next morning. My co-workers fly a lot for work and they told me that if I give the flight attendant a box of chocolates and thank them for their service that they always get bumped up to first class. We tried it and all we got was a lousy thanks. Two sleeping pills, a couple of movies, and bad airplane food (that only Matt ate because I won't touch that poison)later we made it to Paris! Before we left Chris and Nicole gave us instructions on how to get our train ticket and money so that we could meet them at Notre Dame which was right by their apartment. With instructions and luggage in hand we set off to get our tickets. We were told to go to an ATM machine to get money first. No ATM in sight. The ticket machine only took coins and we just had bills (after we found the ATM machine an hour later) so we tried to find a change machine and found it was broken. After an hour and a half later of figuring things out we made it on the right train heading towards Notre Dame. For our entertainment on the way to our destination we got to hear an American couple in front of us have a full conversation about how bad this guy treats her and her adventures with her tattoo gun. Very interesting. After being 2 hours late meeting up with Chris and Nicole we made it and got to their place. The agenda for the day was an observation tour. We started at Notre Dame, walked up through a couple of parks to the Louvre, through another couple of beautiful parks, up Champs Elysee to the Arch de Triomphe and over to the Eiffel Tower. It was a beautiful day and thrilling to see all of these sights.

We started here...Walked up to the Louvre.Saw my first Paris fashion. However, I don't think this will come to America anytime soon.Walked up and shopped along the Champs Elysees and took a few pictures in front of the Arch de Triomphe.And then came around a corner and saw this beauty. It's big in pictures but more breath taking in real life. How could a statue made out of just metal be so elegant and beautiful?There was a peace monument at the end of the park by the Eiffel Tower. Matt found his Korean pole.And of course we had to do a little of this in front of the Eiffel.
By the end of the first day we were exhausted! After watching some Samantha Brown on Paris we hit the sack and got ready for the next day.

Help!

For the past 9 weeks Matt and I have been dreaming about visiting the Eiffel Tower, going to a concert at Notre Dame, shopping at the markets (more of my dream), and enjoying the city of love. We've done a few things to help prepare ourselves for this little adventure. For example, I've been brushing up on my French and have a few important phrases down like, "Where is the restroom", "Do you have that in my size?", and "Does that come in chocolate?" We've also been watching things on how not to visit the sites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kq6w-McPHk (Sorry, for some reason it won't let me use the link tool or add pictures. Is this happening to anyone else??!!)

We leave on Sunday and I’m finishing up a few last minute itinerary items. So if you have any suggestions on things to see or not to see let us know! Can’t wait to hear and try out your suggestions!

A little of this and that

This post is a little bit of a smorgasbord of what we have been up to or what I've forgotten to post about.
In February we celebrated Matt's sister's birthday and had a little shindig at our place.
We went to see the King's Singers a couple of months ago when they came for a visit. I worked with them about a year ago and it was good to catch up with them and see what's new in their lives.We had card club (turned dinner club) with all the Danville girls and wives. Such a great group of girls.One day Matt was doing the dishes and I asked him to give his craziest face. This is what I got. He cracks me up.One of my best friends is getting married and we had a little bridal shower for her at our place. Less than a month and I am so excited!The annual "Bret's Birthday Bash" took place at no other than the Sports Grill. They love 'em some b-ball. This past weekend we took a little last minute jaunt down to Brig and Caitlin's cabin. They needed to move their storage down there and Matt's and Bret's muscles were available to help move. We had a fun time watching Conference, eating, getting addicted to Nertz (sp?), eating, 4-wheeling, eating, and more eating. In other news, a little more than a week before we take off to Paris! We hope you all have a wonderful weekend and Easter!