One More Time . . . Through Paris. . . With Feeling

On April 9 of 2011 my sister Marilyn and I boarded a plane in Calgary and within hours we landed in Paris, France.  To get into the spirit of this posting play this music while you look at the photos below.



Now with the mood set, come along for a sneak peek of 17 glorious days...

Room with a bit of a view...

Above you see Marilyn getting ready to enter the compound around the Louvre.  Love the Louvre.

An open-air-double-decker bus gave us a grand view of grand subjects.

Next time I go back I will make sure I take a river cruise.

The Opera House...we went back 3 times before we could get inside to see the ceiling. Opéra National de Paris Garnier.  There is another Opera House on the east side of the city but this is the one with The Ceiling!

Since Marc Chagall is an art hero for us it was so awesome to see the ceiling.

Bicycle rentals are available all over town if you are into mob cycling.

Back end view of Notre-Dame Cathedral.  We were there a few days before Easter so the line-ups to get into some attractions were too overwhelming and we just kept walking. Another next-time view.

Loved the art deco signs for the metro...

At the end of the day it was hard for me to say good-night and put my camera away.

And, of course, The Tower!  I probably have a hundred photos of just this tower but we never did go up.  The line-ups were very long and we just didn't feel we had enough time or patience for that.

Before I left for Paris I had read about this bridge with padlocks.  We walked across it often to go between the north and south sides of the Seine where we lived.  Notice all the padlocks attached to the fence along the sides of the bridge?

Well, you come to the bridge with your lover and a padlock.  You put your padlock onto the fence, lock it and then throw your key into the Seine. That seals your love forever!

Versailles in all her glory!  My friend, Lorne, said, ...'and that wasn't over the top?'

Looking out the back side of the Chateau the gardens were so awesome.

We rented a golf cart for the tour of the gardens and the Petit Trianon and the Grand Trianon.  Marie Antoinette and her husband each had a little Chateau out on the back 40 to get away from it all.

This is the courtyard at Marie Antoinette's Petit home.

Don't you just love those darling little cherubs?  When we drove out through the gardens the fountains were not working, coming back they showed off for us very nicely.

As the day ended we turned to look out behind us and said goodbye to the Grand Canal which is the view from the back side of Versailles.

So Marilyn left exactly one week after we had arrived and Gail came from Spain where she had been touring and joined me for the last 9 days.

A trip to Paris is not complete without a little shopping...Au Printemps was my favourite department store with spectacular merchandising.

And because I am a sucker for open-air-double-decker bus rides, Gail and I did the same tour that I had just done the week before with Marilyn.  That tower has a charm that pulls you back again and again.

The artists at work along the way up to Sacré Coeur.

Sacré Coeur was the only place we toured where they asked me to shut off my camera and put it away.   Lovely cathedral.

Viewed the movie "Moulin Rouge" before I left home...this was somewhat disappointing in size.

St. Eustache is a great church we found where the lines of people were non-existant but it was still a very beautiful place of worship.

The windows are magnificent.

Outside in the courtyard in front of the church is a large sculpture done by Henri Miller.

You can see by the wear and colour that people crawl all over it and perch there for photos or fun.

We took the Metro out to Père Lachaise to see the graves of famous people.  Chopin is buried there; Marcel Proust, Edith Piaf and of course, Jim Morrison have all come to rest in this spot.  My favourite graves were for Heloise and Abelard, the greatest lovers of all time.  If you do not know about these two, Google it up!

Napoleon is buried under that golden dome.  That man definitely left his mark on Paris.

This small church was just footsteps from our hotel so every night Gail and I would buy our supper in a bag and bring it here to eat outside to people-watch and enjoy the evening.

Our last day there we enjoyed the Luxembourg Gardens better known as The Shelby Gardens.  When he and I talked on Skype he asked, have you been to my gardens yet?

Aha, so this is why Shelby owns the gardens!  There is a section set aside for tables of chess players.

Gail tried to get some reading done while I wandered and snapped photos.

But then it was time to say goodbye to Paris.  It truly is a magical town that pulls at your heart.

Oh yes, before I leave you I must tell you about the Sheraton hotel we stayed in the last night right at the airport. This hotel is part of the airport.  It is so sound proof that you hear nothing once you are in the bedroom area of the hotel.  It is so cool!  We had early morning flights so appreciated the closeness to our airlines.

Hope I have either reminded you of your trips there or whetted your appetite to go.  It was pure joy; just going through these photos again makes me want to make reservations.  And a very special thank you to Marilyn and Gail.

Tell me your favourite memory of Paris or any other trip that brings back fond memories.

(just want you all to know I only showed you 100th of the photos I actually took...now you have something more to be grateful about... )