Oink. Oink.

Saturday we woke up and got on the train to Paris. We stopped at a cafe and had brunch. Our meal consisted of the most delicious croissants we've had yet, cafe au lait, salad, scrambled eggs, Rose vin and cheese burgers (I ordered the salmon and ended up with a burger somehow). For dessert we had fromage blanche. This wasn't the array of soft cheeses we were hoping for, but a yogurt of some sort. Very sour if there wasn't enough sugar. On to the Eiffel Tower we went. As you can imagine, this is very toursity. Tons of people waiting in line to climb up the tower, people enjoying their picnics (among other things) on the lawns and police guarding the area. We chose not to wait in line and didn't realize that we could've brought a bottle to enjoy, so we walked around for a bit, caught the end act of some street dancers and decided to head home.


Sunday we woke up on the early side of morning and headed right down to Notre Dame. We got there about 20 minutes before the international mass started. We were able to stage our spot and get a 3rd row seat for the mass! Victory! Unfortunately for us, the mass was mostly in French. Only one reading (or the verse of the day for us Lutherans) was read in English. Oh well, it was still pretty cool. Ethan wouldn't let me take photos during the service, I guess he was probably right...but I was able to get one.



After the service we walked around the cathedral to get out and saw all the magnificent stained glass, statues and alters. Here I was able to take plenty of photos.

But the most amazing part of this place of worship is the outside.








After getting ripped off at a touristy cafe (touchy subject for Ethan) we made our way across the bridge to the boats. This was great! There are all types of boats that are there catering to all the tourists. You could have lunch on one, then grab another to take a Seine River boat tour. We decided to hop on and take the boat to Champs-Elysees. After stopping by the Jardin Des Plantes, Hotel De Ville and Louvre (to let people on and off) we arrived at our destination. The ride wasn't long, maybe 30 minutes but well worth the 12 euros ($17.65) we paid. After a longer-than-expected walk we arrived at the Arc de Triomphe. (The shops on Rue de Champs-Elysees are so strategically placed. You HAVE to walk by Louis Vuitton and all the other outrageously expensive shops to get to the Arc. Damn marketers! Ha!) It was all worth it. This was just another amazing sight. The detail of the sculpted warriors and angels on the sides of the Arc is unbelievable. The tomb of the unknown soldier is also a sight to see. After a short photo shoot and deciding not to go up, we went on our way. Don't worry - we got left.

So, call us the Griswald's, but we got a lot of sight seeing done this past weekend. We're going to plan our trips to Lille, Belgium and London today, then head down to the Moulin Rouge tonight!
I'll keep you posted!