Paris

View from our hotel

Gorgeous views, fantastic places and oh so exceptionally delicious sweets!
Paris was marvelous!
We arrived around 6pm, Thursday, December 13th in Paris but it took over an hour to get to our hotel with all the traffic. I haven't seen traffic like this since Houston!
It was COLD and rainy when we arrived so we decided to just settle into our room and order room service.
We stayed at the Mercure Paris Centre Tour Hotel on the rue Jean Rey. Now there are a lot of these type of hotels all over Paris but this is the only one this close to the tower - hence the name.
Our room for the week was located on the 5th floor and although we didn't have a great view from our location, the room was still more than we hoped for. We unpacked and we ordered a few basic things off the menu - a burger and a club sandwich and I ordered a chocolate cake with English cream that was divine!
My first taste of Paris dessert - I was instantly hooked.

Tree in the lobby

Our room

 Our hotel was located literally just a few blocks away from the Eiffel Tower.  I really liked our hotel. It was really pretty with purples and pinks everywhere!
Our room was a decent size and the beds were extremely comfortable. Everything about this hotel was wonderfully modern. Our bathroom was the coolest space - Erick and I both got really excited about the design. The light in the bathroom was a touch button on the mirror, so neat. And the shower was a large square in the ceiling of the shower space that literally poured down on you as if it was raining. The shower was big enough for all 3 of us to stand in!

In the entrance

The entire staff was friendly and courteous and everyone spoke English, which was really helpful to us. (I only know about 10 words in French and they are your basic mannerisms.) I still spoke the little I could but everyone was super nice about speaking to us in English to help out.
They had a breakfast buffet every morning - with everything you can imagine. And the absolute best croissants I have ever had in my life!
{Now the coffee I was a little disappointed with, it just wasn't as good as I thought it would be. And that is everywhere we went. Luckily, we were able to actually find a Starbucks on our last night in Paris and I had a decent cup for once. :)}
They would set up for lunch, then dinner and of course you could order room service at any time.
They were all set for the Christmas holiday. Really made me smile. They had lovely Christmas trees all over, with "sweet" decorations.

It was raining still on Friday, but we decided to head out anyway. Our first visit was to the Arc de Triomphe. We were able to catch a train with the exit being right across the street. This Arc was built to honor all those that fought for France and it has the names of all its' soldiers engraved into the stone. Right underneath it you find the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame that burns. It is lit and placed there to represent all those who perished that were never identified. It is a beautiful monument to visit. You can buy a ticket to walk through the walls and up to the top. Something that should be done on a sunny day. :)

We later met with our tour group at La Madeleine Catholic Church. It was a wonderful day for a walking tour. (Note the sarcasm.)
Lauren, our guide gave us a quick history about the church and we then headed off.
Our first "stop" - Literally the BEST place in Paris to get Macaroons - Pierre Hermé Paris. Absolutely delicious! Now Lauren states that there are a few ways to make these yummy treats but the best way is the Italian way, which they do here. I chose the Crème Brûlée; C.J. chose the Infiniment Chocolat; and Erick chose one with a special liqueur.
We walked through quite a lot of Paris, each way she told us a little more. We walked through the Place de la Concorde to see the Egyptian Obelisk that is topped with a gold-leafed pyramid cap.
We also walked past the Grand Palias and Le Petit Palais, two palace museums right next to each other.  Continuing on, we passed the Pont Alexandre III, which leads directly to Napoleon's Tomb. There are huge bronze statues all along this bridge - truly amazing to see.



We passed through this section for a quick rest as the rain and wind starting getting a little heavier. This monument stands in memorandum of Princess Diana. It is known as the Flame of Liberty and sits above the exit of the tunnel the Princess died in.

Our final stop ended at the Eiffel Tower itself. C.J. had just woken up from a nap so he looks a little funny. :) There are 3 floors to the tower and you can take the lift all the way to the top, on most days. Since this day was rainy and windy, we were only able to go to the second.
There are 2 restaurants in here and about 300 stairs but these are mostly used for maintenance purposes. It is a wonder to view! And this was the most crowded area we had been too all day.
We were up there for about 10 minutes admiring when it was time to go. After all, you do get a really great view of the entire city. But we were already all wet and the wind does not help being that high up. We enjoyed our tour but we had, had enough that day.
Luckily for us, our hotel was only a couple of blocks away.
We were able to catch a few glimpses of the guards walking around with their overly unnecessary equipment, (in my opinion.)




Since we were all still pretty exhausted from that day we decided to stay close. Dinner was held at this lovely restaurant - Chez Ribe. Found just a block down from our hotel, this was my favorite place by far. The food was superb. I had the scallops, Erick had the duck and C.J. had a pasta. (He loves pasta and doesn't care where he's at, that's the first thing he'll order.) Everything was absolutely delicious! The food was cooked perfectly, with so much flavor. I was very impressed!
For dessert I had an apple tart with vanilla ice cream - so good!
I would gladly go back to Paris just for this restaurant.

 Saturday was spent of course at The Louvre Museum. I had no idea the extensive size of this museum! And SO confusing! You are given a map when you purchase your tickets but there are so many sections closed for renovations that when you walk to an exit, it's closed off.

La Venus de Milo

Any who, so you enter through the pyramid at the center of the square and take an escalator down to the main floor. You purchase tickets, you can check your coats, and then you're off. There are 3 wings to the museum and one ticket allows entrance to all three. They are : the Richelieu, the Sully, and the Denon.

Winged Victory of Samothrace

We chose to enter the Sully Wing first. I was on a mission to see the Mona Lisa. :)
Now this museum is just as gorgeous as the Vatican but it was at least somewhat less overwhelming. There was still so much to see but not as excessive. We took tons of photos of everything we possibly could and all the paintings and statues we really admired. We got there at opening time so it wasn't extremely full but still had a good amount of tourists. Our first "big" attraction was La Venus de Milo. She stands in the center of the room surrounded by other Greek sculptures. The Goddess of all Goddesses, she is truly beautiful. As we walked through another hall we took some steps up to the Winged Victory of Samothrace said to be sculpted of another Goddess, Nike and also to honor sea battle as she stands on a "ship." This statue is also something else to see. It stands alone at the very top of the stairs.

The Mona Lisa

After getting a little lost, we made our way to the grand finale. As I stated on my Instagram, "The Saucy Minx, herself," The Mona Lisa. She is hung on a wall in the center of the large room. A few other paintings hang around the walls but not as many as the other corridors. She is behind plated glass, a wooden bar, and velvet rope. She was absolutely the most guarded of all in the Louvre. And one of the most popular as well. There were many people standing around the bar as I worked my way to the front. She is a sight!! I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined that I would be standing about 10 feet away from da Vinci's masterpiece. She is beautiful!
I had already been told to prepare for her size; (I had to look up her dimensions: 30in by 21in.) I guess with stuff we see in movies or on TV, we always imagined her to be huge - she's not.
After spending a few minutes in there and over an hour and a half in the first Wing, we decided it was time for lunch. We walked to the cafeteria found in the Louvre called the Cafés de la Pyramide. It wasn't the best of food but we were hungry and needed a sugar rush. My favorite part of the meal was the chocolate tart I grabbed for dessert. :/

Egyptian Antiquités

After an hour of rest, food, and chugging a Coca Cola we headed off to the Denon Wing. 
We walked through most of Napoleon's section and worked our way to the Egyptian Antiquités. They really do have an extensive collection of Egyptian history here. From small tiny artifacts to a large Sphinx. They had scrolls, tools, jewelry, even weapons. I really loved the pottery! So simple, and old but so beautifully decorated. This also took up a large section of the museum as I believe it stated, 9 rooms were dedicated to these artifacts. 

St. Mary Magdalene

We turned back around to finally head to the Sculptures section where all or at least most of them are from a Romanesque era. There were so many sculptures representing Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. So many others about His crucifixion. There were also soldiers. This section made me a little sad.
I did get a great photo of the one sculpture in this section that I was very interested in viewing. The sculpture of St. Mary Magdalene. According to scripture, Jesus saved her of her sins and they became close friends. She was at His crucifixion, his burial, and also the very first person to see Jesus after His resurrection.





After our long, first half of the day, we exited the museum and then caught a cab to head over to the Cathedral de Notre Dame. Such a beautiful church!
It's design is immaculate. The entrance is absolutely breathtaking. There are columns, and statutes of saints and the Virgin Mary, and the gargoyles - everything is gorgeous. The stained-glass found through the entire church is not like any I have ever seen before. This church was truly built for kings.
Once again, as we had in Rome, we walked in to give a donation and lit a candle. Saying a prayer to give thanks for being able to walk into such a wonderful place of worship.

In the center of the mall

Later that day after some much needed rest, we decided to do some shopping. Only to step out into pouring rain...again. We caught a cab to the, Forum des Halles, an underground shopping mall located in the central market. I was not impressed. There are about 5 underground levels to this mall but since it does intersect directly with the train station everything was dirty and dingy and yes, many sections - stinky. The only good thing I found in here was the Starbucks!
We walked around for an hour when it was just time to leave. Definitely one place I would not recommend or would ever return to.

My little reminder <3

When that turned out to be a bust we headed to the Galeries Lafayette. Now this was certainly my kind of shopping mall! Hermès, Prada, Jimmy Choo, they even had a Baby Dior section - OH MY Goodness!! Everything about this establishment was impeccable. Except for the overuse of perfume spray, which my allergies were not to happy with, I enjoyed our walk around this mall. As much as I was tempted to just charge it, I decided against it. :) I love these stores but just the fact that everything is the same number just in euros, basically doubles the price. I'm not that frugal, but I refuse to pay double for something I can easily get on sale online or back in the States.
I did get a really cute tee at one of the local stands before we returned to Italy.




Our final day we woke up early and headed towards the Napolean museum or Les Invalides and we were able to see his tomb. We didn't actually walk into the museum, more like through it. :) Towards the back where the tomb lay. We did get some nice pictures of the outside and great views. We could see the tower, the obelisk, and the bridge just by standing in the front. They have a really nice garden around the outside as well. The trees are shaped and trimmed nicely. They also have cannons all along the edge of the wall entrance.
The tomb itself is actually a little overzealous. I think it's a bit of an over compensation. It is directly under the large golden dome. I looked up a little information about this and the tomb is made of red quartzite (my first initial thought was wood) and it sits on green granite.

The paintings inside the dome are gorgeous! They are all along the walls - beautifully painted. I especially liked the giant angel statues placed all around his sarcophagus.
Some of Napoleon's family is also buried there. Along with some of the higher ranked military that served with him. There are also vaults with Generals and Marshals. And there are hearts buried there (the bodies are buried elsewhere) of some Major Generals and Lieutenants. These though are all found in the back not at the center where Napoleon lays. You have to walk through a couple of tiny hallways to see them.
It wasn't something we were very excited about visiting but at least we can say we've seen it. :)

We had a great time in Paris! A wonderful reminder for our 5th Wedding Anniversary. I would gladly encourage anyone to take a trip here at least once in their life if it's possible.