Paris Vacation

Yup! Now we can say, "Paris...been there, done that, bought the T-shirts!"

Our first vacay since we came to Spain, 5 nights in Paris. And seriously, our flights were cheaper than from Winnipeg to Calgary - like 1/3-the-price cheaper. WestJet, eat your heart out!

We did not try to NOT be touristy. We saw all the main touristy things, went to the touristy places, took the touristy pictures, so don't expect anything else. But to summarize, for myself, with a contented sigh, not a jump-up-and-down-giddy-teenage-giggle-or-scream, but a hushed, in-awe-kind-of-perma-grin: I LOVED PARIS. Someone told us before we left that Paris was one of their favourite cities, and when we asked why, the reply was simply, "It's Paris!" I, too, cannot describe to you what exactly it is...but there was just something about this yet-another-European-city that just captured me for the moment.

 Warning: This post is picture heavy.

Arc De Triumphe 

 Paris was Macy's #1 pick when we talked about where we might like to go this year. She was not disappointed. She, too, got captured by the charm and loved every minute of just being there. Here she is at the Seine River (note: not clear water by any stretch, but better than the Red at The Forks in Winnipeg).

 We are not huge museum people, but we had to go to the Louvre. Braden especially liked the huge Ancient Egyptian and Roman collections. Somehow we missed taking a picture of the actual mummified body which, in Rayna's words: 'was really creepy, but I kept going back to look at it'.

 And yes, we saw the original Mona Lisa, but as you can see by this picture ("she" is the tiny thing in the centre of the pic), if your idea was to sit in silence and just contemplate this masterpiece...it ain't gonna happen here.

 Opulence at its best:

 Then we had to change it up a bit after two days and went to an Aquarium, complete with sharks and a petting pond.

 Notre Dame: somehow we stumbled in on a full-fledged mass, to unveil 9 new bells, as part of a whole year of celebrating Notre Dame's 850th Anniversary.

 Oh, and this was just a "Department Store":

 And this was our cutesy little (and I mean little) apartment on the 3rd floor. Accommodation Hint: go VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner - there's a website). This was our first experience, but we would highly recommend it for the Thrifty Traveller.

It was not in a touristy area, so we lived like Parisiens, with fruit, cheese and meat markets right outside our window - literally!

Oh my! I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the pastries!!!!! Did I mention the pastries?! The pastries were.to.die.for. We went and got fresh ones every morning - again, literally right outside our door. No toast and cereal for breakfast on this holiday! Oh, the pastries! And we also went out for crepes - both main course and dessert crepes - yum! But did I mention the pastries?! Mmmmmmmm.