Tuesday, July 15: Paris

Egyptian Obelisk in Place du Concorde

After our late night, it was a slow morning. We headed to Paris mid-afternoon and caught the hop-on, hop-off bus to finish out the tickets we purchased. First, we did the Montmartre loop that takes us near the Sacre-Coeur Basilica and then down some of the grand boulevards of Paris. Next, we finished out the tour we started yesterday that cruised down the Champs Elysee, around Notre Dame, the Sorbonne, and the Saint Germain area and the Latin Quarter – a bustling area of Paris that was the home of the great novelists and philosophers. The bus has given us a chance to view all the major areas of Paris and get a good overview of history.

Arc de Triomphe

We returned to the RV early evening, had snacks and a light dinner before some revenge rummy and to bed.

Monday, July 14 – Bastille Day: Paris

The Moulin Rouge in Montmartre

We took our time getting ready this morning, had a big lunch and a long nap before heading into Paris. We rode around Paris on a double-decker hop-on, hop-off bus so that we could get a good overview of the city. We first took the Montmartre loop and then a portion of the “Grand Tour” loop covering the Louvre, Notre Dame and the Seine. We got off at the Place du Concord – one end of the Camps Elysees and we walked it for a bit, but it was an obstacle course of bleachers and barriers that were still up from the morning's Bastille Day Parade.

Madeline Church

The Louvre

A bridge over the River Seine with lover's locks attached

We walked across the Seine to the Left Bank to find a cafe to have a snack.

Champs Elysee

Fashionable Parisiennes

Bridge Over Seine 

The view as we left our Cafe and headed for the Eiffel Tower

 I had a Kir, supposedly The apertif of Paris. It was okay, but too sweet for me. We lingered doing lots of people watching for a couple of hours before heading over the plaza next to the Eiffel Tower to listen to the French National Orchestra's live concert and watch the fireworks,scheduled to go off at 11pm. We sat on the concrete along with thousands of locals and tourists.

Stunning....stupendous......with photos and videos to prove it..  (I am getting errors when uploading the videos, so do not know if they will appear in the blog.  When I have better internet, I will try again.)

Maneuvering through the crowds afterward wasn't too bad as most of the streets were blocked off, but we found that all the metro stations adjacent to the Eiffel Tower area were closed – I guess because of crowd control. We had to walk another 20 minutes or so to another metro stop and we arrived without a problem at the campground shuttle bus stop around 12:30....where there was a huge problem. At least a hundred folks of all ages waiting for the shuttle. We were so lucky to get on the first one that came because the shuttle arrives every 15 minutes, but with that crowd, it would take at least another hour or more to get everyone back to the campground.

Today was quite the happening ...worth the very long day and late night.

Sunday, July 13: Paris

The "real" Notre Dame

After a nice big Sunday breakfast, we took the campground shuttle bus to the Metro and then the Metro to Notre Dame. We knew it was supposed to rain off and on all day, so we planned indoor activities – Mass in Notre Dame and The Louvre. The lines were huge to get in to view the Cathedral, but we asked about attending Mass and we were directed to an separate entry where we walked right in. The Mass was in French, although they did have an English written translation of the Liturgy. Quite an experience to attend Mass in THE Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. Time to pinch me....again.

We stopped at a old cafe overlooking the Seine for a nice lunch and then on to the Louvre. Well, obviously our plans were the same as lots of other folks because the lines to get tickets to the Louvre stretched across the plaza. Since we are not on any schedule, we decided to wait for a few days to visit the Museum. We took some photos – oh, just the usual sort of thing – Notre Dame, a bateaux boat on the Seine, the Eiffel tower....same old stuff. OK, so I am getting black and blue from the pinching....  

We walked through the Tuilleries Gardens and in between rain showers, we sat by the fountains, just as the Parisians do, watching folks feed the birds and ducks. We are so grateful to have the luxury of waiting out the weather and see the sights on our terms – The stained glass windows in Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower all require good weather to fully appreciate them. We scheduled four days here, but we have already figured out that will not be enough...