Bon Jour from Paris!!

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We have been in Paris for 2 days now. Took us awhile to find a Wifi place. We have been sightseeing like crazy. We have walked, taken the bus and the Metro train all over the city. We have seen pretty much all the sites including the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysees, the Grand Palace, the Louvre Museum, Saint Chapelle and Notre Dame. I am sure I am forgetting something..... Anyhow, we are enjoying it very much. We have chosen our itinerary wisely, choosing the rainy day to spend inside the Louvre Museum. The Museum has art from prehistoric times up through the famous painters of the 1800s. Everything you every heard about in Art History class was there. Then of course, the glass pyramid seen in the Da Vinci Code movie was neat too. The Mona Lisa painting is a bit smaller than expected and the Venus de Milo statue is nice and clean looking, not as ancient in appearance as might be thought. Oh well!
We have only seen one fat person out of the thousands of folks around here! Bet that person was American! Kim is a keen people watcher and that was something that she noticed right away. That and EVERYONE here wears black and nothing else. There is no bright colored clothing anywhere. Strange. Anyhow, people take food here pretty seriously. It is expensive also. But what we have eaten so far has been fantastic! There are little markets everywhere and everything is sold fresh with very little that is prepackaged or frozen. A bit of a challenge for us vegetarians but not too bad since we researched this before we left and know where to go.
Our hotel is Hotel Nord et Champagne and is very near two major train stations. This is a basic 2 star hotel without much in ammenities but is decent enough. Our room is tiny (my dorm in college was larger!) but the bathroom is nice with a deep dish tub and bidet. We get fresh croissants and coffee for breakfast. Simple but good. We supplement with instant oatmeal we brought from home. Helps save us a little $.
Bright and very early, we leave for the airport in the morning (Thursday 12/7). Chennai, India will be our next stop. Funny thing, on our shuttle van from the airport to the hotel, we rode with 2 other American couples who were transiting through Paris on their way to India also! One couple was headed to Goa and Kerala and the other folks were heading to Delhi, Agra, Jaipur. So, our next blog entry will likely be from Chennai! We love Paris but are looking forward to seeing some sun and warm weather! Stay tuned.....! Au revoir for now!
Oooops! Forgot to bring the camera so I could upload a picture or two! Next time, I promise!

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Photos

Paris night lights
The Eiffel Tower in the background. Taken on the bridge over the Seine River.

Comments

[Rani Siva]

Brought back memories
Kim and Anant enjoyed reading your journal. I was reminded of our visit there some 8 years ago. From your description looks like Paris is the same Paris we saw - ha ha ha! Enjoy rest of your travel!