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      :: paris : 29 march -03 april 05 : click any thumbnail to see a larger version of the picture
                           
 march 29: we arrived in paris tuesday afternoon, checked into our hotel, and then spent an hour or two wandering our 'hood - which was right near the eiffel tower. we stumbled on a great street market during the wandering that happens to be one of my aunt's favorites - rue cler.          
    ^ cool birds ^ attempting close-up shot of cool bird ^ the view from our room   ^ our modest accomodations + my sore feet   ^ making reservations for dinner...
 
the weather was kinda gross - gray and rainy. but that didn't dampen our spirits... we were in PARIS!		            
  ^ take 1: megan, conor & the eiffel tower. failure. ^ take 2: megan, conor & the eiffel tower. better...   ^ take 3: megan, conor & the eiffel tower. almost. ^ take 4: megan, conor & the eiffel tower. success! ^ view through some trees   ^ whaddya want? i'm picking places to eat!
                           
             

after dinner we took a walk to see the eiffel tower at night - in all it's blinky, twinkly, craziness!

watch this sideways movie of the glittery eiffel tower at night. ~514 KB.
                           
                           
 march 30:

for our first day, we mapped out a couple places we wanted to eat, then structured our day around them accordingly. this included eating pastries from an eastern european bakery for breakfast, lunch at a famous falafel joint (frequented by lenny kravitz & other celebs), and berthillon ice cream in the afternoon...

these adventures brought us to the picasso museum, victor hugo's home/museum, for a visit to the notre dame, and on a walk around the latin quarter - bustling with people and bookstores.

  
^ pastries & coffee		  
 
^ a room in victor hugo's house		  
^ close-up of hugo's plate collection (that's for my mom)		  


^ cool wall carving

> les miserables poster

      

< falafel menu

  

^ the outside of the eastern european bakery

< conor ordering the best falafel we've ever had -- the falafel special
                           
 
^ a neat little shop 		 
^ finding the ice-cream shop 		 
^ sweet & delicious!
conor enjoying our second ice cream cone.		     ^ fun bookstore
  
^ really old books in their free library upstairs		  


^ the love wall where you can leave notes

 

< looking up at the notre dame cathedral

see the bell towers and listen to the notre dame chime. ~587 KB

  

 

  

^ a lot of stores and restaurants in europe have pets. this sleepy cat lived upstairs at the bookstore we were poking around in.

< our first "real" french lesson came from the nice man at the ice cream shop (with the blue apron on in the picture). he taught us how to properly say 'one scoop' or 'un boule'. we practiced by coming back for seconds!

    
  > dinner on our first and second evenings were very traditionally french (read: rich & delicious!). to the right you can see some of our dishes from the second night... and yes those are black truffles in picture number 2!        
              ^ scallops ^ black truffles and maiche ^ garlic & shrimp pasta, with beans   ^ cassoulet (i know i spelled that wrong)
                           
                           
 march 31:           < we didn't have a real reason to go to the end of the champs d'elyses where the arc de triomphe is - other than feeding my own obsession with the tour de france (how can i be there and not walk along the street that makes up the final laps?). so i convinced conor we should go on a run from our hotel in the morning, wtih the arc as our turn-around point. it was well worth the pain to get these sweaty pictures...
  ^ the arc de triomphe ^ closer view ^ it was more fun than this looks ^ yay! us & the arc ^ another view
 

> after our jog, we decided to have a picnic in the park before heading out for the day. we walked to rue cler and found another one of our 'treasure hunt' spots - the little bakery you see here, with the blue truck. we grabbed a baguette, hit up a frommagerie for some cheese, and a fruit stand for apples and strawberries... and we were set! mmm. picnics in france can't be beat!

  
^ boulangerie poujauran		  
^ our picnic treats		    


< at the high-end grocery store 'fauchon' we saw this old bottle cognac - ca. 1840

  
^ walking around place de la madeline, we saw this basket full of black truffles
                   
     


^ ornate panelling in the ballroom

   > for dinner that night, we high-tailed it to 'Le Pamphlet' where we had another amazing dinner... i'll have to update all the food descriptions when conor gets back home with his journal. i do remember the adorably sweet waitresses we had here, and the after-dessert desserts that they served with our coffee. yum!  
^ le pamphlet		  
^ paris is going for the 2012 olympic bid and the city had these rainbow displays all over it the week we were in town
  ^ a view from above: musee d'orsay ^ an ornate ballroom in the museum        
                           
                           
 april 1:
^ the moulin rouge		  
^ views from a cemetary we went exploring in		  


^ more cemetary views

 

        
    ^ marie antoine careme's grave (french chef) ^ emile zola's grave ^ edgar degas' grave   ^ adolf sax's grave (he invented the saxaphone)
 
^ we walked around the 'hood where picasso and van gogh once lived 		    < this was van gogh's apartment. we also saw the cafe they used to hang out at... "where cubism was born!"       ^ the basilique du sacré coeur  
^ view from the sacré coeur
              ^ conor's shadow ^ gargoyles on the sacré coeur
                           
                           
april 2:
^ train in the paris metro		     < technically these were taken on our train ride home after dinner the night before...
    
< on my last full day the sun came out! perfect for going up the eiffel tower! 		 
^ an eiffel tower leg		  
^ conor patiently waiting in line with me to walk up the stairs
                           
             
^ champ du mars ^ good lookin pair ^ views of the city ^ the sacré coeur is on the hill in the top left ^ me and paris
    < looking up from the 2nd floor   after our tower trek, we hunted down our last piece of the food treasure-hunt... a small tea shop where we heard they served amazing hot chocolate... it was literally a pot of melted candy!  
^ our rich treats... hot chocolate and a ginger blueberry cake		  
^ the cluttered little tea house		  
^ on wednesday's it's open for kids puppet shows		  
^ outside 'la charlotte de l'isle