Paris!

 We got up early on the last Saturday of our trip--we had a long drive ahead of us to reach Paris.  After a few hours on the motorway, we stopped in Beaune, a medieval Burgundy town.  There was a farmer's market since it was Saturday that had meat, vegetables, fruit, clothes, baskets, there was even a flea market.  We had a nice stroll along the streets and ate some very tasty strawberries.

 We had lunch on the road and rolled in to Paris mid-afternoon.  And with a huge city like Paris came the oodles of traffic along with crazy drivers.  That's when sitting in the front of the bus got a little nerve-wracking.  The Eiffel Tower greeted us as we entered the city.

 As we pulled in under the Eiffel Tower, we hopped off the bus for the Seine Cruise.  I couldn't hear the English commentary on the boat, but I did get some nice pictures.  We went under lots of beautiful bridges and saw Notre Dame, the Lourve, Alexander the III bridge, the Eiffel Tower, the National Assembly, the American Church, Obelisk in the Concord, St. Michael's Church, the Museum of Modern Art, and many others.

 After the Seine River cruise was a walk across the street to the Eiffel Tower.  Constructed for the World's Fair in 1889, it was originally supposed to stand for only 20 years and then be torn down, but the Parisians liked it so much they kept it.  When it was guilt, they didn't use scaffolding, just the girders from below to make the next levels.

 We rode the elevator up to the second floor viewing platform where we got a great view of the city--it's huge!  In addition to those sites listed above, we also saw the Arc di Triomphe, the Grand Palais, Museum of the Army, Sacre Coeur, and many others.  I took tons of photos!  

Arc di Triomphe

 Our first night in Paris was a little low-key since we opted out of the cabaret show, but we did eat at the restaurant at our hotel which was delicious.  One more day in Paris (and one last day on vacation)...trip wrap-up coming soon!