le Tour de France

The City of Lights. We drove into Paris in the late afternoon. I was relieved to see our hotel was once again beautiful. We would be staying four nights. After quickly checking in, we reloaded into the bus for a farewell dinner followed by a city lights tour. This was great because it helped me get my bearings so I could navigate the city for the rest of our stay. We had originally opted out of this excursion to save a little green. Darn the dollar! But, we made such good friends with several of the people on the tour that we wanted to spend one last meal with them.

The highlight of the night was, of course, the Eiffel Tower. It was not only lit but we got there in time to see it's twinkling lights. We took our turns with all the other tourists snapping our once in a lifetime shot in front of the famous landmark. No time to sit and marvel, back on the bus to finish the tour, back to the hotel for some rest and then, back in the bus for the same tour in the morning light. This time, went into the tower and I must say, it was bit disturbing. We were rushed straight to the front of the line, ushered into the weird slanted elevator, taken to the top and deposited in the middle of a mass of tourists all competing for a space by the rail. I was content to stand as far away from the rail as possible but Adam coaxed me over for a picture which, to be honest, was not that great as it was a hazy shade of summer. I left Adam with some friends and ventured inside to the gift shops where I picked up an ornament for my tree and a purse for my little Taylor. After that, I was Ready for the bus. Along the way we fought off several street sellers with cheap statues of the tower and witnessed the pursuit of a pick pocket. Not a bad adventure for 10 o'clock in the AM!


In the afternoon, we headed for Versailles. What can I say? WOW! You step off the bus to a sight that even under construction is more than you can imagine. "Less is more?" I don't think so. Gold leafing everywhere and gardens. Holy cow! So, we get our headset and begin our audio tour which leaves me a little A.D.D. Still the beauty, the details and the art are not lost on me. I look over and Adam seems to be really enjoying his tour...who is this person who hates history and would rather tour the SEC football stadiums? My mind is wandering and I find myself coveting the molding in each room and mentally pricing it out for my living room...

We come across an amazing mural painted on a bedroom wall which probably belonged so someone important, I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. It is an exact replica of a much smaller painting in the Louvre, except, one of the women of the court is wearing a different color dress. The portrait is of the coronation of Napoleon in 1804 and the story is that he was really in love with her and not Josephine? I just can't believe it. huh. Of course, the most amazing part of the castle was the gardens. At this point in the trip we had seen many gardens but none came close to the gardens at Versailles. It is impossible to fully describe them and equally impossible to get a good picture of them. The one here is from a window in the castle. With the weather being so beautiful, and my love of reading, I feel I could have sat there in the garden a read everyday and never once felt that I needed TV, a car, or anything else. Leaving the castle, we stopped at McDonald's where Adam got to have a Royal with Cheese and if you have seen Pulp Fiction, you know why he thought that was so cool. Finally, ending our first full day in Paris, we headed for the Moulin Rouge Theatre. This picture is taken out front with our tour guide. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Adam and I were taken aback by the topless dancers...The show we saw was a series of novelty sketches interspersed between a weird story that involved some cheesy singing while topless. It was strange. There was one really cool act in between one of the segments where this man and woman used a jacket and did all kind of tricks passing it back and forth and it never came off...it was always on one or the other. Also uncomfortable was the fight between some of our fellow travelers because she felt he was looking a little too closely so he spent the remainder of the show looking down at his plate. Which is what Adam had been doing the whole time. Such a good boy! The rest of Paris can be blogged in pictures...I know I don't need to go back. The only other stand out was the Tour. Lance didn't win but that's ok. We wandered the city and headed over to the mall where the riders would be looping several times into the finish. We came up out the Subway, stood looking around and scored some awesome seats right there on the wall where we had basically front row seats for the finish of the race...Our European vacation comes to a close.





Adam with his Cheeseburger.










Napoleon's coronation...see, her dress is white in this one...









One of our fellow tourists who just happens to look exactly like my grandma!










Venus has some pretty nice abs! We also saw Mona and some other famous ladies.












Arc de Triomphe: big, beautiful...a tribute to French soldiers.












Luxembourg Palace: also amazing gardens...sensing a theme?








Oscar Wilde's grave at Pere Lachaise Cemetery. We also saw Jim Morrison's, Ablard and Heloise, Chopin's etc. The irony was that on Wilde's grave they ask that you not deface it and yet it is covered in lipstick kisses and someone has carved, "here lies the greatest man to ever live." Really? As we approached, a young man was sitting there bawling out loud. Really? huh.







Our view of the peloton...who needs tickets?












Napoleon's tomb...short man's complex?














Notre Dame Cathedral...Amazingly beautiful but I liked St. Paul's in London better...or, maybe I just liked London better.






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