Paris, France

We arrived in Paris and Madame LeChevre met us and took us to her home. She speaks both French and English. She’s a juried artist, renowned for her painting of horses. She specializes in circus horses. She has a skylight in the top floor of her flat and that’s where she paints. She welcomed us, let us spend the night with her, and helped us get our bearings in France.

Here she is with some of her paintings.  She took us to art galleries.  

Then we were left to wander and see what we could before heading to Spain.  Paris is wonderful and you need a lot of time to see everything.  We just had a taste teaser, but I’ll share a couple of things we ooh’d and aah’d over.  

This is the Alexander II Bridges at Invalidies.  It’s awesome!

The Arc of Triumph on the Champs-Elysees .  Also in this area is the Moulin Rouge  and the Club Lido – the clubs that Las Vegas clubs were built to copy.  We could not afford to even walk in the door because of the cover charge.

One of the 4 horses of Marley by the bridge.

This is the Chapel of the Saint at Notre Dame in 1970.  You might remember when there was a fire a number of years ago and that huge spire burned and fell down.  It’s being restored, but Notre Dame is the most impressive church I visited in my lifetime.  It’s a must see!

Here Notre Dame is in all of her glory!!! 

The Eiffel Tower is another thing you cannot go to Paris and not see!  You can go up to the top inside the tower via elevator and see all of Paris.

From the top of the Eiffel Tower you can see all over Paris.  At night it is even more spectacular when the tower and Paris is all lit up.

There’s a huge park around it that you can take to the Louvre – probably the most famous museum in the world.

I’m in the park with the Joan of Arc arch.  The parks in Paris are incredible and super well maintained.  Dave and Scott, do you remember the park near the Eiffel Tower where we got our sweatshirts?  I’m only 23 in this picture.  I was 60 when I took you to Paris for my birthday.  😊

Kids play in the park on Sunday.  Moms and dads sit around the edge and watch.

Loved the sailing boats.  

The Louvre is so big you cannot see everything in even a week.  We each picked out of a few things we HAD to see!  I chose the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.  😊  The Louvre is jaw dropping, trust me! I will need to go back when I have more time!!!

Sandy with the Venus de Milo.  She was supposed to be the perfect woman.  

This is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris.  I wondered if the one in the United States was modeled after this one.  What do you think?

This fountain, by what I think is a government building, was incredible.  Again, notice the cars from 54 years ago!!  

The Champs-Elysees in all its glory.

This is the famous Moulin Rouge.  The cover charge to walk in the door was $40 in 1970 and we didn’t have that much money so we could just take a picture.  The show is spectacular we were told, but we couldn’t see it.

Fountain on the Place de Concorde.  Only Italy has more elaborate ones!!!

This is the Place de la Concorde.  The Place de la Concorde is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. Measuring 7.6 ha (19 acres) in area, it is the largest square in Paris.  

The Seine River runs right through Paris.  Artists can be found all along there. It is fun to just walk along it.    

Palace of Versailles is amazing as well.  It is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV I. It is a beautiful building.  It’s the only thing we went to outside of Paris because of time!  We needed more time to explore, but we knew it was limited.  It was so nice to travel with the two Botts sisters.  

My traveling companion, Vicki Botts at Diane’s Joan of Arc.  Notice the horses on top. 😊 

A better view of the Joan of Arc.  These are amazing structures in Paris, all located with parks around them.

Paris streets are very crowded.  You’ll see lots of bikes.  It’s VERY EXPENSIVE, but looking is free!  

OKAY!!  I love cars and this was a fancy one.  I would have liked to try to drive it. 

This is the street where we stayed in a hostel.  We were pretty crammed in, but we didn’t care.  We were tired every single night from walking around all day.

This guy amazed me.  He’s the traffic cop who gets to decide which street goes first, second, and third.  Sometimes. 3 roads converge and it’s a bit crazy.  I had really no desire to rent a car and try to drive in Paris.  Public transportation gets you where you want to go. 

The Opera House in Paris.  Wouldn’t it have been nice to go in and listen a while.  The frustrating part of this journey is that so much of it is a taste teaser.  You get to see what’s there, but you can’t EXPERIENCE it all.  But….a taste teaser is better than nothing and the next time you go to a place, you KNOW what you need to experience more of than the first time.  😊

 PENCILS DOWN!  TIME’S UP IN BEAUTIFUL PARIS!  The three of us have a train to catch to Madrid, Spain.  The Ryndam will be in Spain two days and will arrive in Lisbon, Portugal on May 17th.  We have to be in Lisbon, Portugal when the SS Rynam gets there.  She leaves the next day for New York City, USA.  If we miss it, we have to figure out how to get home on our own!!!  I have only 3 pesetas left and that’s not even 5 cents.  So, it’s time to say goodbye to Paris.