Paris….tres magnifique!

Bonjour!
Today we spent a magnificent day in the romantic city of Paris. Our guide called us at 6:30 a.m. and we came down to be met by a man who drove us to St. Pancras station where we were guided onto the Eurostar train. We traveled to Paris is 2 hours and 15 minutes under the English Channel at speeds of up to 180mph. (On an interesting note, we learned that although English people measure most things using the metric system they drive in mph as well as calculate distance using miles as well….interesting. Also, in Paris they drive like in the US…right side of the road, driver on the left.)

We went to Gare du Nord station and were met by Madeline and Charlotte who took us around Paris. We first went on a bus tour and then went to the Eiffel Tower for lunch. We were brought to the front of the tremendous line (over two hour wait) to the lift that took us to the Altitude 95 restaurant. We enjoyed a two course Parisian meal with champagne and red Bordeaux. Justin and I ended up drinking an entire bottle ourselves because no one at our table was drinking it and there is no use wasting it. While we were leaving we saw that others hadn’t touched it as well….I wish we could have bottled it up and taken it with us ☹ The meal consisted of marinated green olives, poullet (chicken), and carrot mashed potatoes. We had dessert which was a chocolate and pistachio pudding and then a coffee. It was fantastique!!!!!

We walked around the first floor of the tower which is tremendously high and our guide pointed out some interesting sights. Then we went on a scenic boat tour down the River Seine we saw Notre Dame and many other beautiful sights. We floated under a bridge (can’t remember the name, we’ve seen so many) and made a wish…we were told that whatever we wish for will most certainly come true by the end of the year. We’ll see if it does!

After the cruise we were taken to the Louvre where we saw the inverted pyramid from the DaVinci Code Movie and book. Justin and I left the group then and walked down the Champs Elysees and reveled in the fact that we were in PARIS!!!! What a life. Everything seems so relaxed and calm. (Except the TRAFFIC) We walked through the park area that reminded me of the mall in D.C. but instead of museums and monuments lining the path it was the beautiful architecture of the Louvre and many Parisians laying in the grass and sitting at cafes…Do they work?

Then we took the Eurostar back and now were packing up our things to head to Durham tomorrow for the wedding! We are all on our own tomorrow. We’ll see if we can navigate our way.