Around town in Paris

This is Ransom "driving" the double-decker bus. It was the kids' other pick of things to do (the 1st being the Eiffel Tower). The top deck is open so you can see the sights as they drive you around all the attractions of town with a commentary offered in headphones. As we could get on and off at the different stops and get a feel for the layout of the city, it was really a pretty nice activity.



















The Seine River flows right through the center of Paris. Just about every block has a bridge across it so there are countless of them gracefully stretching across the river. And all illuminated at night! In certain areas, the river is also flanked with paved banks down by the water (not in these pictures, oops) so of course we strolled along the Seine a few times.




























The Louvre Museum. The glass pyramid is even stranger in person than I figured it would be. I suppose it's the juxtaposition of old world and modern. We didn't go in for if you look really closely, the courtyard was crowded with people. We generally stay away from crowds. I know, so unSpanish of us.


We ate dinner on the Champs Elysees just for the experience- same as many others there no doubt!

Notre Dame

Notre Dame was amazing. Absolutely beautiful inside and out. Mass was going on when we walked through so we got to hear the choir singing- and the acoustics under those arched ceilings is incredible. Had we had more time there (and maybe a babysitter) I would have liked to attend a concert they were holding as they were performing Bach and Gregorian chants. Next time!

There are huge, elaborately stained glass windows in the cathedral and as we were admiring them (from inside, though, when all the colors show - sorry, didn't get a picture of that) Corrie says matter of factly, "Boppa (Grandpa Paul) makes windows like that."

I am sorry to admit that our children's favorite feature of Notre Dame was this spinny thing in a small playground in the back corner of the cathedral's garden! Maybe instead I'll just tell you that they requested daily to visit Notre Dame again.

Brian turns 30 at 1063ft.

We spent the weekend in Paris, celebrating Brian's 30th birthday on Sunday with a lift to the top of the Eiffel Tower and dinner nearby at a stereotypical little French Cafe.



We were relieved to find the top deck completely enclosed so we could loosen the death-grip we had on our children and let them explore.

The view down:

Who needs an elevator when we can climb up?

Looking at the third deck (top)
from the second deck.





Escargot anyone?

(We couldn't get the kids to try it even on bribe of ice cream!)