days and knights: We're leaving on a "Jet Train"...Eurostar!

We are headed to Paris!!! Paris?? Somebody pinch me!! Our morning started early as our taxi was to pick us at 5:15, so we got up, finished our packing and said goodbye to our little London room and made our way to the curb where thankfully our taxi was waiting! What a nice driver. He was from Wales and was so warm and friendly. It was an enjoyable ride to the station and after he described his homeland, it made us want to check out Wales next time! :) We had to find the Excess Baggage Shop and wait till they opened their doors, fill out all the paperwork and leave our luggage with them until we return from Paris. While Larry was waiting with the luggage, I made a quick run to the other end of the station to locate us a cup of coffee and an almond covered croissant jumped into my sack! :) When I got back to the other end of the station, Larry was finishing up and then we quickly made our way back to the other end of the station again to get checked in. :) We got through customs and since we had to dump our coffee out in customs (duh, I wasn't thinking!) we got another cup and sat down! We got our subway tickets for Paris and exchanged some money and it was time to load! (Well, there was also one little scare when Larry didn't think I had handed him my passport back as he was keeping them both in his wallet and I about freaked out because I could not find it anywhere in my satchel but then Larry realized mine was in the wallet and it was his that was not there but he quickly found it in his back pocket!!) Oh my, I was in panic mode for what seemed like forever but was probably 5 minutes at best. I knew we could not get on the train without my passport! I wasn't even mad at him when he found it because I was so happy he realized he had them both!!!! It was a very nice train and we had great seats! We enjoyed the ride, our coffee, our croissant and had a moment to look over our map and decided what to go do first! The Eurostar really flies!

It was the weirdest feeling when the engineer announced we were fixing to enter "The Chunnel" and it should take about 20 minutes before we would be in France! Just to think about the fact that we were in a tunnel under the English Channel is mind boggling! It was dark and went fast and before we knew it we were seeing the countryside of France. Lovely. (The pictures is a little blurry but the train is moving fast!) Beautiful, lush green farms!

Once we were off the train, we made our way to the subway, got our bearings and hopped on board headed to our hotel. This little guy was the first "experience" in Paris. He hopped on the subway when we did and played the whole time we were on it. Nice little Paris "moment".

We were both carrying satchels and we were going to check in to the hotel and drop of one of the satchels off. We found our hotel without any difficulties, especially after Larry once again had studied Goggle Street View so much that he said he felt like he had already walked down these streets! We stayed at a lovely little Hotel, The Hotel Regais Bouquet and we were so pleased! Whew...when you are doing this from your chair in Abilene...you just really just never know and we have been so blessed with both places! (We highly recommend both places we stayed...the one here and the one in London). We left our bag with a very friendly and a English speaking desk clerk and headed to the bus stop nearby but it was hard because the area of this hotel is so neat!

The picture on the right...

you see the tip of something...

that is...

THE EIFFEL TOWER

from

our hotel room window!!!

Yippee!!!

Yep, doesn't take much to get

me excited! It was just so fun to

look out and see it! :)

This is the bakery right next to our Hotel.

All of this yumminess awaits us for breakfast.

Be still my heart!!

Here Larry is at the corner by our Hotel...yep...great location!

We were walking to the bus stop...to head to sightsee...

but these lovelies kept popping up before my eyes...

really, do I want to go sightsee? Ha...

We are in trouble...big trouble...we must pace ourselves.

So far we have just drooled on the windows. But not for long...

We had decided at which bus stop we would get off and it couldn't have been a better plan.

As soon as we got off the bus, we saw this little vendor and noticed the huge crowd of people in line.

That is always a good sign of good food.

It was this tiny little space between a McDonalds (ok, really who wants to eat at a McD in Paris!!!)

and a grocery store. She might have had a 100 square feet in her spot and yet this lady simply amazed us. She would be waiting on 3-4 people at a time, cooking numerous orders, adding up bills, taking $, etc. I have never seen anything like it. It wasn't just that...she was producing the most delicious creations! It was the best food of the trip to me. I know, call me crazy but let me just say...

WARM NUTELLA- BANANA CREPES

TO DIE FOR.

I am not kidding, these were the best things I believe I have EVER put into my mouth.

(I apologize in advance for how horrible my hair is in these pictures...can you say FRIED Chi...yes, the adapter obviously didn't protect my Chi. I was sad...very sad...and my hair was sad too!!!)

Larry ordered a Ham and Cheese Crepe and then my Nutella Crepe.

Here he is with his...it was also really good too! Full of cheese...good cheese!

Here I am with my much anticipated Nutella Crepe.

FYI: It is the one thing that I kept talking about when we were planning our trip to Paris.

I WANT CREPES! Crepes have a very special memory in my heart. My mom and I used to go to the "Magic Pan"...a wonderful crepe place that used to be at North Park Mall when I was in middle school. We never have anything quite as good as this...but crepes were at the top of my food list to have today.

This is before my first bite. It's warm in my hands. My heart is beating fast!

The taste has hit my taste buds by now...I am in a happy happy place!

I AM NOT DISAPPOINTED!!!!!

IT IS ACTUALLY BETTER THAN I EVER IMAGINED!

I AM IN CREPE HEAVEN!!!!

Being the wonderful wife I am (haha) I told Larry he had to try it! That could have been a mistake.

He loved it as much as I did. Which means it was gone in record time.

I would have gotten another one right then but while eating the line had gotten much longer.

We did come here to do some sightseeing so we reluctantly left. It was hard. Very hard.

Larry of course was still hungry...so as we made our way down a most lovely street...he stopped at a few more vendors and experienced some other wonderful creations. I just dreamed about my crepe.

We had decided since we knew we wanted to end up at Eiffel Tower for the evening/night hours...we would start at the far end and start working our way back across the city.

We used the subway very little. For a couple of reasons.

It's dirty. It doesn't allow you to see the sights. AND because we got pick-pocketed. Long story.

Important part is we were okay. Did lose some money. That stunk. But our credit cards, etc. didn't get taken. So, I guess a lesson learned...even when you think you are being super careful...they can still get to you! We heard Paris was really bad...guess it's true! :) But that was really the only downer of the whole trip...so we felt blessed...the rest of this whole 3 week trip went flawlessly!!!

So...on to the rest of the story.

We walked. A lot. We saw. A lot. Took pictures. A lot. Stood in amazement. A lot.

I think since I have so many pictures, I will just let them do the talking. I don't have words to describe all the beautiful and amazing sites we took in. We spent the rest of the day sightseeing.

Here is a list of some of the things we saw/toured that afternoon.

Notre Dame

Champs Elysees

Seine River Boat Tour

The Louvre (outside only)

Musee d'Orsay (outside only)

Saint Chapelle (outside only-closed for renovations when there)

L'arc de Triomphe