Sofitel Paris Forum Rive Gauche

We are in Paris, I can't beleive it! Neither of us slept much on the plane and poor Kaylyn was half asleep as I drug her through the Louvre. That place is amazing (and freaking huge!). Too bad we don't have any pictures because the camera battery died as we got to the Louvre and we didn't want to go back and get the other battery. Lesson learned - always bring the spare! We used the train and subway to get to our hotel - it was fairly easy to navigate. We dropped some serious euros on a 3-day...

The day started out your typical Monday morning...slept through the alarm and got up an hour and a half later! Oh well...we needed the sleep anyways! Hopefully I can remember what these places are called...We started out the day at the Notre Dame cathedral...specatular! Then walked over to another cathedral called Sainte Chappelle. It was quite beautiful, probably one of the most beautiful ones we have been to. After that we navigated to the Pompidou Center, a well known modern art gallery. I...

Today we made our way out to the Chateau Versailles. It was huge, and the gardens were really amazing. The bad thing is that is was misty/drizzling all day. And we had to deal with the masses of tour groups which was not that fun. After Versailles, we headed back in town and visited les Invalides where Napoleon and his family are buried. There is a really nice church there and we got to see the short guy with an attitudes tomb. Next on the plate was the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe....

Ah, Paree! What a beautiful city! I wouldn't argue with anyone who says it's the most beautiful city in the world (city, mind you...not town or village). There are trees lining every street...amazing gardens everywhere you go, and of course the narrow streets (Rues) with beautiful buildings that are not too tall, and not to short. Oh...and did I mention there's a flower shop practically on every corner (okay...an exaggeration, but still). I'm not even going to go in to the 8 hour airport wait...

The idea of travelling to Europe alone was pretty daunting to me but I did it. I chose London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam as my "cities to visit". Having no working knowledge of French, I was feeling really nervous as to how am I going to survive with just a few French phrases at my disposal. But when I arrived in Paris, all my apprehensions (the whole "not knowing enough French and being alone" situation) quickly disappeared. It is a real cliche but Paris took my breath away. It was indee...

Okay, I just spent 20 minutes typing a message but lost it all when I hit send and don't have it in me to re-write. We were able to find an unsecure wireless network to log on to from our room, so hopefully we can do this all week! All is well and we are in Paris. Enjoying it very much but surprise we are up this late and ready for bed. Bon jour! Karen & Jude

Yesterday was probably the most beautiful day we will have on the trip... cool, but sunny and fairly clear. While Jude went with the boys to get their penguin suits, I walked from our hotel down Boulvd Saint Jacques past the Place Denfert Rochereau and the Fondation Cartier Pour l'Art Contemporain to the Cimetiere du Montparnasse... It was beautiful. The sun was first coming out, and these people know how to do their cemeteries right!! It was like New Orleans but with even MORE history (can y...

So while Jude was out taking pictures around town with the other boys, I spent the first part of my day walking around our neighborhood. We found out about a street that has a lot of consignment shops and "stock" - which is kind of like an outlet. Mostly I found out though, that everything is still really expensive in France. I did find a cute jacket to buy though! I also decided I could really fit in well here if I were rich and spoke the language. I blended in pretty well! The coolest thing...