Paris September 08

I've been working on this post for over a month and just can't get it finished. So I am just going to add some pictures and be done with it! I'm sorry it is so long.

Paris was the last city on our tour. We spent two nights with the tour group and then an extra two nights on our own. When we got to Paris we took a nighttime city tour, it was really pretty. I wish the pictures had come out a little nicer though. The next morning we took another city tour, we basically saw all the same things as we did during the nighttime tour.

After lunch a small group went to the Palace of Versailles. We had private guide so that was nice and then we had some time to walk in the Gardens. It was very beautiful. Three Kings of France lived there, Marie Antoinette was one of the wives.

After that tour, we had the bus drop us off with some people we met from Ohio. We walked through Notre Dame Cathedral and went to the Louvre and took pictures. Then we had a fun dinner with them before finding our way back to the hotel. Erika took an instant liking to Dave. She wanted to hold his hand all day. I felt bad because they were on vacation to get away from kids and here is my child hanging all over him! He was a good sport about it though, he didn't have any girls at home.

The next morning we slept in a little and missed everyone leaving because they all had flights to catch. I took the girls down the street to find a luggage store we had passed the night before. Erika's backpack was ripping and mine was so full we couldn't stuff one more thing into it. So we ended up buying 2 new suitcases that we didn't really need. We had tried to pack very light but the backpacks were not quite big enough for everything. It wasn't like we bought a ton of souveniers or anything either.




The kids waiting in the subway station


Pantheon


Louvre


Colton and Erika at the Louvre


Corey at Luxembourg Gardens


This was a game in the park. The girls gave it a try even though the questions were in French.


Luxembourg Gardens


Riding the carousel at Luxembourg Gardens. The girls were given sticks and a man held out rings for them to try to get on their sticks as they went past. When all the rings were gone he stopped the ride. Weird!


Napolean's burial place




View from the Eiffel Tower


Next to the Eiffel Tower




Corey and Erika with Ivo and Don from Ohio




Colton on the Eiffel Tower


Erika in her new beret on the Eiffel Tower


Corey on the Eiffel Tower


View from the Eiffel Tower




The Gardens at the Palace of Versailles


Colton at Versailles


The "King's Bed". What is really funny is that the Queen's bed was larger!


Hall of Mirrors at Versailles


Statue in the street by our hotel


Versailles


Erika at Versailles


Inside Notre Dame


Notre Dame. I'm not sure why I don't have a better picture of it.


Big Head statue -- not my kid laying on it!


Arc de Triomphe




Opera House


Montmartre - There are artists all over the place around there.


Erika, Dave from Ohio, and Corey


The girls and Steven having dinner at Montmartre.


The Eiffel Tower will be blue with yellow stars, representing the EU flag, for six months. It is to mark the start of France's six-month presidency of the European Union.