Bonjour Paris (Part I)

We left Toronto on July 26th... Destination Paris, France! It was a long flight, and luckily Eve slept most of the way, however, the lineup at the Paris airport seemed even longer. For a large international airport they really should have a better system organized. The passport verification resembled a free-for-all much more than any lineup we've seen before!

Our hotel is very nice and outside of the main tourist areas, which is also very nice. Eve loves Paris and once again she is a hit wherever she goes. Locals and tourists alike stop us in parks to pinch Eve's chubby cheeks-which grow ever chubbier the more we fill ourselves with chocolat et banane crepes, mmmm!

Our first night out we walked down to the Notre Dame cathedral. It is incredibly detailed and we cannot wait to go back and tour the inside. We also walked down the Paris Plages, a makeshift beach area that is opened for one month of the year along a roadway on the banks of the Sien River. It was nice and there were lots of musicians out to entertain. We stopped for some homemade icecream and chocolat et banane crepes, mmmm!

Before retiring to the hotel we stopped again at the Notre Dame cathedral where street performers of all kinds were out and about. Eve was most impressed by the fire dancers and fire eaters who demonstrated death defying feats with fireballs and fire chains, quite a spectacle! One man even breathes fire in 10 foot streams out towards the audience while trying not to accidentally inhale the flame when he is out of breath. These guys obviously lie to there parents about their profession.

Our second day we took it easy, still recovering from jet lag. We walked around some of the side streets and observed people as they went to bakeries, fresh markets and cafes. We ate lunch by a large fountain at the Parque de Luxembourg and mostly relaxed today.

Later that evening we went up to the Eiffel Tower. The lineups were horrendous and so we decided to save the excursion to the top for another day, hopefully once all of the tourists leave on Monday. We did stick around, however, and watched the tower light up and sparkle. It was really very beautiful and we are excited to go back and see the top. We'll post some pictures on the next post.

Sunday is the finale of the Tour de France so we called it an early evening.