A Tourist in Paris....

 

Yes, as much as I hate to label myself with this term, I am most definitely a tourist in Paris.  Over the last 2 days I have really knocked it out of the park with seeing the sites of Paris.  So in order to make best use of our time on Day 3, we decided we would exercise/ run to all of the tourist hot spots, prior to the Parisians even waking. This is where our 6 mile run turned into 8 miles. Thus, my last two days in review...

Eiffel Tower

I did think it was going to be bigger in real life, but the eiffel tower looms over Paris as few tall buildings exist in the city limits. Chris served as our historian for the trip, as my French history is subpar, thus the eiffel tower was originally built for the World Fair of 1889 and is the tallest building in Paris.

Arc de Triompe

So next stop on our run Arc de Triompe, I took pictures and  learned the history then approximately 100 feet later wiped out on ground on the " 5th avenue of paris" the Champs-Élysées. Thus forgetting all knowledge of what I had learned about this structure secondary to sheer mortification from my fall 
and now apparent limp, we moved on.

Garden de Tullerias/Louvre 

  

I love gardens, flowers, and fountains thus the Garden de Tullerias was a huge hit.  Nothing else life shattering just a gorgeous park that opens into the entrance of the Louve.

At this time I was becoming "hangry", which is  a combination of hungry and angry,  so we decided to head on back towards our home and grab breakfast. We went to  the most adorable patissierie. The woman who waited on us had on the most gorgeous burnt orange apron on and a blouse that was dark blue and speckled with a pattern the same color as the as her apron. I was in love and of course seemed very French.  I ordered an almond crossiant and cafe crema. I swear this was the best pastry I have every eaten, thus now nourished I was ready to proceed.

We then headed to Sacre le Coure

Sacre Le Coure is probably my favorite tourist site in Paris. It is an old basillica built long ago on top of a hill overlooking Paris. From here you can see the entire city, it really gives you a feel for how big Paris really is. Truly gorgeous. 

The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to eating. Yes eating, which I have done so much of  on this vacation. I am going to have to eat salads for months maybe years to work off all of the creme sauces, pomme frites, macaroons, and creme brulee  I have eaten on this trip. However, I would like to emphasize how much I love a good macaroon. I swear they are little puffs of goodness that melt in your mouth with a creme filled center that make you feel like you are eating air.  Check out Pierre Hermes, supposedly the best macaroons in town per our tour guide Steeve.  As an added bonus I was thouroughly entertained by the fact that there is an iphone app for this store. 

Lastly, no day is complete without cheese!! We went to Barthelemy for some amazing stinky cheese. It was a true parisian fromagerie as their English was as about as good as my French and the place had a true stench. Thus I am trying to do interpretive dance to communicate about cheese,  as well as by pointing and touching all the cheese in sight. I learned very quickly that touching the cheese is a huge no no in France. As the guy finally got my attention by making claw like hands that resembled bear claws everytime I touched the cheese. No wonder the French love Americans, we have to have our hands in everything. 

Ok another day down, more to come 

Au revoir 

jen*