Paris

What a beautiful city - if I had to rank my top three cities in the world, Paris is definitely in there. It's hard to describe the feeling I've had both times that I've been there, but a few words that come to mind are as follows: awestruck, breathless, absorbed, enlightened. Sean had never been to Paris, so it was fun to take him to my favorite places, and to discover a few new ones on our own. We got in on Saturday morning (again, with no problems - I think my travel karma has improved!). We dropped our stuff off at our hotel in Rue Cler, then began our adventure. We started with Notre Dame and St. Chapelle, both special and impressive in their own ways. I could stare at the stained glass in St. Chapelle for hours, and the internal construction of Notre Dame leaves me amazed every time. We had some yummy "croquettes" and freaking expensive beer after this, then made our way into the never-ending Louvre. I had elected not to visit the Louvre on my last trip to Paris, so going inside was something new to me. I have to say, this was not my cup of tea. It was nice to see all of the famous artwork, and there were definitely a few (Venus, the Greek Goddess of Victory, Napolean's apartments) that were absolutely amazing to look at, but, for the most part, a lot of it all looked the same to me. I know I'm going to have a lightening bolt sent down from the artists in heaven for saying that, but that's how I felt. Anyways, after about 3 hours of strolling around, we decided it was time to go. We waiting in line for about 90 minutes, and then happily took the elevator up the Eiffel Tower. Can I just say that while it was cold at ground level, several hundred feet up it was absolutely freezing?!? :) We certainly enjoyed the view, but enjoyed coming down and warming up as well. Dinner that night was traditional French in Rue Cler. We absolutely crashed that night, and woke up on Sunday morning ready for more fun. We started the day with a trip to the top of the Arc de Triumphe, enjoyed the views, then made our way to Monmarte for a look at the breathtaking Sacre Couer. I hadn't had time to actually go inside the church the last time, and, wow, was I so glad we had time to go in this time. It is amazing! After checking out the church, we drank a lot of wine and strolled the streets just taking it all in. We had a great time, and will certainly never forget our first trip to the beautiful "City of Light".