Paris: Tourist mecca

Tour de France frenzy was fully underway when we arrived in Paris. Yellow jersey imitations were being hawked in souvenir shops around the city. In the days leading up to the big race, bleachers were stacked along the Champs Elysee, barricades were constructed along the major routes and by race day, swathes of the city were out of bounds to pedestrians and massive detours, using various metro lines were necessary just to cross large boulevards.

As this was Josh's first time in Paris, we visited ALL the major attractions on foot.



















































My old friend Ben from my days in Toulouse came up from his current home in Lisbon to join us on a few adventures.

Adding to the fun, was an ice cream evening on a bridge over-looking Notre Dame with K, another friend from Toulouse, who is now a diplomat stationed in Paris.




































It was a toss-up: A pair of Christian Louboutin shoes or a trip to China. . .
Hands down I chose China!!



















A view of Notre Dame from our cafe over-looking La Seine.



The one and only time I have ever been lost in a cemetery was in the Pere Lachaise, looking for the tomb of Jim Morisson. In 1994, I did not know who Jim Morisson was or what he had actually contributed with his music to create such a mythology surrounding him. But the older siblings of a few kids on the exchange were convinced it was 'the cool thing' to do.

Josh and I headed back to Pere Lachaise on the same mission 15 years later. This time we used a map and did not get lost.

2009 - there is now a gate to protect the site, but the fans still come in throngs with flowers,candles and tears. This time around we also visited other notable names in the cemetery including Chopin and Oscar Wilde.













1994 - exhausted and perplexed