Paris!

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June 30th 2015

Published: July 1st 2015

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Notre Dam

Paris!, so much has been written about Paris and there is so, so much to say that it is difficult to condense. We arrived on Wed, the 24th to a perfectly Parisian loft apartment, near Buttes Chaumont, a wonderful park where it seems that all Parisians had gone out to enjoy a great sunny day. Since then we have discovered that Parisians everywhere simply go out to enjoy the sun whenever it comes out and wherever there is the smallest patch of grass.

The biggest take away for me from this great city is perhaps a high sense of pride that Parisians have in their city, fed by the knowledge that throughout history this city has played a major part in world events going back to the construction of Notre Dam in the 12th century to the French Revolution which inspired so many other countries to fight for independence. You can see and feel the grandeur and history as you walk through the center of Paris and see Palace after palace and church after church and all sorts of grand buildings which have been painstakingly maintained for many centuries. This city has done a great job at also keeping homes

Deportation Memorial

A little known corner in The ILE the la Cite, discovered thanks to Rick Steeves

and architecture true to its historical origins, such as the one we stayed at.

Although Paris has a great metro system, we found ourselves walking all the time so as not to miss any of the sights.... and boy did we walk! And we walked...! Not only throughout the city but also in the Museums, as we spent more than 5-6 hours going through the Louvre where we were taken from Egyptian statues which date back to 11 centuries BC through the Greek Sculptures 400 to 300 Years BC and through medieval art, renaissance etc. and then of course... The Mona Lisa !

And then there were so many more museums as well as a great cruise on the Seine, which we took with Catalina, one of Patricia's nieces who is completing her masters and doctorate in Paris. A great view of the Eiffel tower from the river, by the way!

And the food!, Wow, Alongside the obvious great Parisian food we discovered the Tartines.... a sort of three part sandwich on salad with choices of hams etc., covered with cheeses all au gratin... spectacular ...it's classified as a small plate, but t really is a great

Chaumont Park

Great park by near our apartment

meal!

With these short paragraphs I know I am not doing justice to the time we spent in this city, and certainly not doing justice to the city itself.

With that disclaimer, I will close by sharing a perfectly Parisian experience we had at 6:00 AM last Sunday morning as our Uber driver took us to the Train station:

As we came upon a turn on a very tight street we found a young couple dancing in the street with a couple of friends just watching them and sharing the moment,; the smile of the driver and their smiles as we drove by reassured us that with all the growth and the grandeur of the city, Paris is still that romantic city of love it has always been.

And on to Barcelona!

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