(Quick) Tour de France

Saturday, October 14th – Tuesday, October 17th: Paris (Amanda)

Paris has always been a city high on our list to visit, and even with our lofty expectations, we were both blown away by the grandeur of the city.

After a quick flight from Florence, we arrived at Gabriela and Arnaud’s house. Bill and Gaby are good friends from high school when Gaby was a Mexican exchange student in Erie. Gaby, her husband Arnaud, and their darling three year old daughter Juliette graciously opened their beautiful home to us.

On Saturday night Gaby and Arnaud took Bill and me to Bon, one of their favorite restaurants in Paris. We enjoyed some nice champagne and an incredible meal that was followed up by our new favorite dessert…molleaux au chocolat! Move over baklava! After dinner we all drove around to see Paris by night…..it is the City of Lights, after all. Bill and I were very quickly impressed by the city and excited to see more the next day. We were already starting to wish we had planned for more time there.

With only two full days for sightseeing, we were so lucky to have Gaby. She helped plan out each of our days: Sunday we would hit the sights on the Rive Gauche, Monday we would spend on the Rive Droite. We began Sunday at the Arc de Triomph, most notable, of course, for being the spot where my sister Alisha and her fiancé Alex got engaged earlier this year. It was great to see the place where they shared such a special moment. After seeing the Arc we headed down the Champs Elysees, through the Place de la Concorde, and into the Jardins des Tuileries. It was there that we realized we were in Paris during the perfect time of year. The air was crisp and the leaves were just beginning to change colors. It was the first time on this trip that it felt like autumn to us.

After a stroll through the Jardin des Tuileries we ended at the Louvre. Initially we had planned on going inside, but we've heard that the Louvre itself takes at least a day. With our time running short, we decided it would be a good excuse to skip it (and plan a return trip to Paris, of course!). We crossed over to the Ile de la Cite—a small islet in the middle of the Seine—and spent what seemed like hours just staring at the Cathedrale de Notre Dame. The rest of the afternoon was walking and shopping, and, naturally, stopping for more molleaux au chocolat. We ended the day at the Bastille Memorial and then took the metro back to Gaby and Arnaud’s house. That evening Arnaud whipped up an incredible Parisian meal including fois gras, confit de canard, and lots of smelly French cheeses that I won’t try to spell. Everything was so delicious (even the cheese)! It was a perfect, cool evening, so after dinner we ventured back out and took the metro to Montmartre for some great nighttime pics of the Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge.

On Monday we headed out for more of Paris, beginning the day at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I think it’s worth a trip to Paris if only to see the tower in person. It’s hard to believe that this magnificent structure was initially poo-poo’d by the public and considered an eyesore. It was once the city’s plan to tear the tower down after twenty years; can you imagine Paris without La Tour Eiffel? Thankfully, it proved to be valuable for radio communication purposes.

After a few hours gawking and touring the tower we followed the Seine down to Saint German-des-Pres. On Gaby's recommendation, we went to the most famous cafe in Paris, Les Deux Magots, once frequented by famous artists such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Ernest Hemingway. What was supposed to be a quick stop turned into a long lunch and an afternoon of people-watching. We eventually went back to the house and had one last fabulous dinner with Arnaud and Gaby at a nearby restaurant.

We were sad to leave Paris the next day but were both comforted by the fact that we knew we would be back. It was so nice to finally meet Arnaud, Gaby and Juliette. They made our first trip to Paris so specical, and we hope we can soon return the favor by hosting them in our nation’s capital.

Bill wants me to include a quick Hooray! for his Cardinals, and we hope all else is well back home in the States. Au revoir!

Amanda