Thursday, December 13, 2012

Paris


First off let me start by telling you about First class international treatment….it was awesome!!!  Not only do you have so much space, but you have more storage space than we do in our house.  Also, there were only 12 seats in first class and there were at least 3 attendants!  So, you should never have to push the call button.  We were served a 5 course meals as courses, not like domestically where they bring one tray with everything on it…in fact there are no trays, it was just like a restaurant including a menu with a variety of choices.  Lay flat beds with a ton of entertainment options!!  In other words, it was the best flight ever!  However European business class is not awesome, it is just like our economy seating except they do not sell the middle seat with the food of our first class.  So the food and service is good, but there is absolutely no space!
Now to Paris – it was amazing and beautiful.  The first day we walked and walked and walked without having a clue as to what we were seeing.  We walked around the Louvre and then down Champs-Élysées
We went back to the hotel for a nap around 5pm and that nap turned into a full night’s sleep. 
The next day we bought hop on hop off bus passes.  This is a tour bus that guides you as you ride on the history of the city and I must say this was a much better attraction than the one in Barcelona but we will get to that later. 

The second day we rode the bus all around and saw the Louvre, Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde.  Then we hopped off after 1 loop at the Louvre.  And can I say that this place was amazing….seeing statues still in tact after hundreds of years, seeing the Mona Lisa in person (this was actually a little bit of a let down considering it’s not that great of a painting), it is only so famous because it has been stolen or attempted to steal several times.  As amazing as the Louvre was it does not compare the what comes later in Egypt.  There were so many awesome things at the Louvre, I can’t see how anyone can go there and not be inspired.  The kids being raised in the city and going there for field trips have no idea how lucky they are, but one day they will realize.

The third day we once again got on the bus, this time we toured the Redlight district and Moulin Rouge which was also not as beautiful as the movie made it, but still awesome to see.  We also got off the bus and toured Notre Dame, what an incredible place!  It is huge and so old and beautiful, how did they build such amazing structures back then?  How could they afford it?  I want my house to look like the Louvre, but it is just not possible nowadays.

The evening was spent watching the sunset at the Eiffel Tower with Champagne.  What a fabulous and perfect ending to our time in Paris.  The Eiffel tower is an amazing structure and was the tallest in the world when built in 1889 surpassing the tallest structure for thousands of years…can you guess?  The Giza Pyramid which we will later see.  The Burj Khalifa in Dubai surpassed in 2009 which we will later see as well.  It’s almost like we are on a world tour to see the tallest buildings.

To sum up Paris….it was a gorgeous city with many beautiful and fascinating artifacts!
 our morning run
 sunrise

 the Louvre empty

 the food!
 1st class international, ah!







 people on the Arc




 sooo many amazing pieces 


 Moulin Rouge
 Red light district
 Notre Dame

 details
 candle chandelier 




 views from the top with lots of zoom, trying to find famous landmarks


 the louvre
 Notre Dame

 great thinking, champagne at the top

 we will be visiting the top of that building soon 


 Rat race at the airport

 another look at 1st class

 lay flat is awesome

so tired in Germany