Week 6 - Paris

This was my 3rd time in Paris.  I really love the city, though Parisians definitely win the rudeness award so far!  I forgot about that!  My cousin Daniel and his fiancee Sabrina were joking about this.  They are not your typical Parisians in this regard, as they are super friendly!  We went out for a proper French meal and I stayed at their place on my last night.

Sabrina, Daniel and I in a French restaurant near l'Opera.

L'Arc de Triomphe

Eglise St. Eustache

Sculpture in the courtyard outside Eglise St. Eustache

Fromagerie.  I love love love cheese in Europe!!  I've been seriously overdosing since being here.   Paige (my roommate) doesn't seem to appreciate opening the fridge to the delicious stench of a good strong Camembert! 

L'Hotel de Ville

You know what this is!  Daniel and Sabrina live very close to the Eiffel Tower.

The Louvre.  I didn't go inside this time.  I may have to go back soon!

Les Touilleries.  This is the park extending from the Louvre, which is behind me as I'm taking the photo.  If you look closely, past the ferris wheel is L'Arc de Triomphe way off in the distance.

Le Seine.

Sacre Coeur.  I was staying about a 15 minute walk from here for a couple of days.

Sacre Coeur by night.

Notre Dame

The organ at Notre Dame is winning the organ competition so far!  It's so amazing!

Galerie Lafayette.  I did not buy anything here for a couple of reasons: too expensive and crazy crowds before Christmas!

The Dali museum (near Sacre Coeur) had some really cool sculptures.  Most of which are also recurrent images in his paintings.  Like this one of Alice (in wonderland).

Dali got the idea for the melting clock on a hot August afternoon as he was watching some Camembert melt!  I'm a fan of the Audio-guide!

Another famous image.

Dali had some identity issues, mostly to do with his brother who died before he was born.  His parents gave him the same name as his dead brother.  Creepy, eh?

Bike chronicling again.  There are lots of bike lanes in Paris. They also have a bike sharing program, but I didn't see as many as in Barcelona.  There is definitely a difference in the weather, so that's probably a factor!

That's all I'll say about Paris.  I returned to London on the train, which was so great!  It took 2 hours and 15 minutes from central Paris to central London.  So much better than the plane!

Shopping at Lidl's with Edwin in Pinner!  This is one of our favorite activities to do together!  I am holding up brussel sprouts on the stalk!  Those Brits love their brussel sprouts!

My report on Germany will have to wait a few days, as tomorrow I'm off to Stamford to see Rachelle and Mark who are visiting Mark's family.  Yay!