Thursday, December 25, 2014

My Mom and Dad in Europe (Paris Leg Part 2)

Based on estimates from my Nike Fuel Band, we walked about 7 miles exploring Paris the first day. We bested that on the second day, exceeding 10 miles of urban hiking while using the hop-on-hop-off bus tour. Turns out touring Paris is good exercise.

Also, dad very much enjoyed pastry shopping in Paris, as pictured below.


Stop 1: Tuileries
From Tuilleries to the Seine; this is the bridge with all the locks, but they had covered up the locks.
Stop 2: Notre Dame, where Katie and the kids lit candles for Nana Shanley


It wouldn't have felt like a Paris trip without lunch at a cafe.
Stop 3: Arc de Triomphe
On top of the Arc de Triomphe looking down Champs Elysees. If you look closely, you can see the giant Christmas ferris wheel at the end of Champs Elysees.
Stop 4: Eiffel Tower; at this particular moment, the tower's flashing Christmas lights had just been turned on
In mom's words: So many times the real thing doesn't live up to my expectations but the Eiffel Tower was so much more impressive than I had imagined.
As a matter of record keeping on my mother's behalf, sites observed from the bus tour also included the military academy that Napoleon attended, Les Invalides (military hospital, museum, and former armory), Place de Concorde with the Temple of Karnak obelisk "gifted" from Egypt, the opera house (inspiration for The Phantom of the Opera), and Ernest Hemingway's favorite road full of cafes and bookstores.

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