The Travel Buggers: Paris, France

When we arrived in Paris, we were surprised to find that our hotel lobby was under construction and our room was not yet ready. We left our bags at the hotel, picked up a map, and rode the metro to a more central area. When we got off the metro we did not know exactly where we were, but our plan was to walk toward the Eiffel Tower. Although it didn't take long to see the Tower in the distance, it took us about an hour to walk to its base. We then relaxed in a nearby park while admiring the Eiffel Tower and planning the rest of our time in Paris. The next morning, while trying to find breakfast, we stumbled upon a street market around the corner from our hotel. We walked along the food stalls before Kim decided on a croissant and Lorenzo tried some green beans. After breakfast, we rode the metro to Notre Dame so we could begin another Rick Steves walking tour. We followed the audio tour from Notre Dame to the Left Bank, before stopping at Subway for lunch. Then we continued walking on the Left Bank to the Orsay Museum. The Orsay is in an old railway station and contains many classic works of art. We especially liked the art by Monet and Van Gogh. Later that evening, we walked along Champs-Elysées, a famous avenue with cafes, restaurants, and luxury shops.

The next morning, we changed hotels and Lorenzo headed to the airport to meet our brother Travis who would be traveling with us for the next 10 days. Once we all finally met up, we headed to Champs-Elysées. We happened to be in Paris when the Champs-Elysées was "going green" - it was closed to cars and filled with plants, trees, and animals to support Parisian farmers. It was also about 85 degrees, so we tried to stay cool and dodge the crowds while walking up the avenue to the Arc de Triomphe. Next, we walked over to the Eiffel Tower so Travis could see it for the first time. Despite the heat, we continued walking around the city and ended up at the Louvre. It was too late to buy a Paris Museum Pass to use the following day, but we finally took a break and ate at the food court. We began the next day with a visit to the Louvre, one of the world's largest museums and the most visited museum in the world. Some of our highlights included seeing the Mona Lisa (although it was much smaller than we expected) and Travis posing next to statues and paintings throughout the museum. Next, we toured Notre Dame and the Modern Art Museum at the Pompidou Centre. We ended the day with dinner at a restaurant near our hotel that specialized in mussels. It was too late to go up the Eiffel Tower after eating dinner, so we headed over to take pictures of the Tower at night. The next morning, we rode the train to Versailles to tour the royal Palace built by Louis XIV. The Palace was richly decorated with various styles of art. We particularly enjoyed the gardens and the famous hall of mirrors (surprisingly the mirrors are on only one side of the hall with windows on the other). That afternoon we used our Paris Museum Passes at the Arc de Triumphe, where we climbed hundreds of curvy stairs to the top of the Arc for a great view of the city. Finally, we ended the evening with another visit to the Eiffel Tower. This time we rode the elevators up to the top level. It was amazing to see the city lit up at night and we were able to spot various landmarks that we visited during our stay in Paris.