our first full day there it was still a little chilly and rainy, so we killed a few hours at the louvre. we had our game plan of what we wanted to see, which is a very good idea for anyone going. the place was crazy, and very easy to get lost in. its a beautiful museum with alot to see; you could easily spend a full day there. after finding our pieces [in about 3 hours], we decided to see the rest of the city. over the course of our vacation, we visited the typical spots... the eiffel tower, rodin museum, sacre coeur, and the catacombes. we also tried to enjoy the parisienne lifestyle and wander thru the neighborhoods of saint germain, the latin quarter, the marais, montmartre and montparnasse. it was fun and relaxing [after all of our walking!] to sit at a corner café and enjoy an afternoon snack and just watch the city.
everyone we came across was very pleasant, and although most people spoke at least a little english, we always tried to speak french whenever possible. we enjoyed the food for the most part... tomato/mozzeralla/basil salads were very popular, along with steak frites, duck a l'orange, and onion soup, which we tried all of. we found that the steaks were mostly cooked on the medium rare side, and the onion soups we tried weren't as tasty as we were used to. water was never served at a meal unless asked for. then you were given a bottle and charged about $5 for it. it cost about the same to order a wine/beer as it did to order an iced tea or soft drink. beer selections were fairly limited... usually a choice between a few belgian beers or kronenberg 1664. aperitifs were very common, such as a kir cassis, which was dry white wine with a splash of creme de cassis. very tasty. of course, we stopped at many crepe stands and had our fair share of croissants. one note of interest... when we ordered a coffee [they would always ask, "avec lait?"], and the little pitcher of milk they brought to the table was always hot, so that your coffee would stay hot. odd at first, but it was enjoyable :)
everything in paris is very expensive... from shopping to dining. a coffee usually cost 3.20 euros, which is about $4.25 US. and that does not include a refill. we still enjoyed ourselves and did alot of walking and window shopping. prior to our trip, i had surprised ian with a birthday gift that he would receive in paris.... a tattoo from an artist who he admired the work of. we had sent him a quick sketch and a general idea [a skeleton/skull with a heart]. we arrived at the studio, and he freehanded his idea onto ian's back. five hours later, the tattoo was finished.
we loved the city so much, we decided to stay an extra day! errr... i mean... hmm... the day before our flight, we checked at the hotel front desk to see what time to be at the airport. they said to arrive 1 hour before our flight. so we did. but.... we were not even allowed to check in :( apparently, you need to be there *2* hours early, so we were told to come back the next day to fly standby on the *1* flight a day that goes to philly. we tried to make the best of it and enjoy the rest of our day. luckily we left the airport by 11 am, so we had a full day ahead of us. the next day we were able to make the standby flight [and sit together :)] and arrived in philadelphia around 3 pm, slightly jetlagged. we were on standby for flights to pittsburgh, and of course, all 3 of them were oversold. by 8:30, we were finally headed back home for some much needed sleep.
i miss the croissants and delicious coffee, but its good to be home. check out the rest of the photos on my flickr set.
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