Paris

Where was I...

Okay, so we took the train into Paris on Saturday, dropped our things off at our hotel, then headed out to the Montmarte area to see the church of Sacre Coeur. Ethan was not too impressed......until we got close and he saw how massive it was. Then we were both impressed. In our audioguide, it said that the church was paid for through a sort of fundraiser, where you could donate X money for a non-visible stone, X more money for a visible stone, even MORE money for a visible stone with initials or something written on it. You could even sponsor a column or a beam or something. All paid for by the people. It is in desperate need of cleaning (the pollution gets sucked up by that white stone), but gorgeous.

After Sacre Coeur, we had our first French meal (sorry...no pictures), then headed back towards the Eiffel Tower to meet our bicycle tour group. We walked back to their office, then spent the next ~3 1/2 hours riding around town, seeing the sights. It was cool to take over the streets and/or bike lanes in our big pack, all in reflective vests. The cars are very respectful of bikes, and it felt very safe. We even stopped at Berthillians for some ice cream/gelato. I had apricot, and it was divine. Near the end of our trip, we stopped for an hour-long cruise up and down the Seine River, to see the sites lit up from the water. Ooh, la la! Paris is a beautiful city.

We are three for three in cities we must return to and explore further.