Mike & Kris - Enjoying The Ride

We were so fortunate to spend a week in Paris and we stayed so busy it was hard to pick out our favorite pictures. My favorite part of Paris?? Impossible to choose between all the great sites and food. Here are some of the highlights in pictures:

We did an enormous amount of walking in Paris. It was often 20,000+ steps each day. One day my watch said I did 30 flights of stairs! It’s good because we may have eaten a pastry/macaron or two!! These pictures are of a couple walks we did- the first in the well known Cafe de Flore and the second is near the Eiffel Tower-it was kind of a hidden staircase.

This day included two amazing sites: Saint Chapelle and Notre Dame. We were not allowed inside Notre Dame because there was a fire in 2019 and it is under repair. But you can see the inside of Saint Chapelle and it is amazing. Inside this church they talk about how, up until recently, they housed the Crown of Thorns from Jesus in this church. You can tell by looking at the beautiful stained glass windows that money was not a problem.

We rode up to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower at night. What amazing views! It rained really hard for about 1/2 hour before our scheduled time and I was ready to bail on the whole thing. I’m so glad Mike convinced me to wait it out.

These pictures are from the Palace of Versailles. We did an all day bike tour and we loved it. The palace grounds are so big, it would be impossible to see as much as we did if we were just walking. We started with riding our bikes from the train station to the palace. Then we toured inside the palace which really was spectacular. Next we went to see some of the grounds and then got back on our bikes to see the town of Versailles and buy picnic supplies at an outdoor market. Finally, back to the palace grounds for a picnic and final ride around the grounds. Needless to say we were tired when we got back to Paris.

Next up was a visit to the Arc de Triomphe and a stroll down the Champs Elysees for window shopping. Little did we know that King Charles was visiting from London and he was going to the Arc de Triomphe too!! We ended up doing all our window shopping but we also stood along the Champs Elysees and watched with the rest of Paris while the King of England and President of France drove by. It was difficult when we tried to get back to our apartment only to find all the roads closed for several hours after to important people had left! The last picture is a street near our apartment and we are out to find some dinner.

We did a food tour called Paris by Mouth… what a perfect way to describe one of the best parts of Paris. Our guide was so knowledgeable and really made it fun. We started with a croissant of course and then purchased bread, cheese, meat, wine, and pastries to taste in the little wine shop. We also had chocolate and macaron samples as we were shopping. The chocolate shop was so good that we went back and stocked up a few gifts for ourselves and others before heading back.

Last, but certainly not least, were our visits to two of the many museums in Paris. First we went to the Musee d’Orsay and then the next day to the Musee du Louvre. We did both of these museums with a guide and we were so glad that we did. They were able to explain so much about the artists and what types of art were being shown in each place. It was really interesting to learn about Impressionism in the Orsay. The Louvre is just so vast that you practically need a guide to find your way around. But our guide really brought the art alive and made it such a worthwhile visit. The crowds in front of the Mona Lisa are no joke, but Mike worked his was to the front and got us this picture.

As you can see we loved everything about Paris and hope to go back again…there is definitely more to see and enjoy. We have moved on to Central Switzerland and hope to post some pictures soon. Talk about a change of pace…