Last Day in Paris - April 7, 2 of 2

After lunch we walked to the opera house. This place is so grand and amazing. I've never seen so much gold and marble. And there are so many ballrooms, you can really imagine the balls and parties that took place here.

It just so happens that there was an opera that night, but the tickets were 390 euros each. :o
Can't swing that one.

Our last meal in Paris.
Only one thing left to do, dinner. I found a place on Yelp that looked promising, and it was. Bouilion Chartier is a great value and gives you a very French experience.

Yep, we ate snails. YUM

Bottle of wine for ten euros. What a deal.

We've had a wonderful time! No worries, we'll be back.

Last Day in Paris - April 7, 1 of 2

Saint Germain area
 We woke a little earlier this morning hoping to make the most of our last full day in Paris. We walked to and through the Saint Germain area of town.

On our way, we walked over the lock bridge. I'm amazed at the variety of locks and how many locks people have been able to fit on the bridge.

We crossed back over to the north side of the Seine at Saint Michel Square.

The Marais area
We walked by Notre Dame and the Hotel le Ville.

Statues in front of the Hotel le Ville.

Just beautiful!

We walked to the Picasso museum, but it was closed :(. So we decided it was time for lunch and a glass of wine.

Second day in Paris - April 6, 4 of many

We still have time before we have to meet up with friends, let's see La Madeleine Dom. Why not?
We just happen to make 4pm mass, which included a concert by a high school orchestra. Another amazing moment. This day has been magical. I cried as they played amazing grace.






Ok, only enough time to grab a coffee before we meet up for dinner. Here are a few interesting things we saw on the way back to the hotel.






Paris is a wonderful place. Each day builds like well composed meal, flavors complementing each other and creating a once in a life time experience. I can't wait to take another bit tomorrow.

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Second day in Paris - April 6, 3 of many

After the Grand Palaia, we walked over to the Jue de Paume. A gem of a museum. The building is like a small jewelry box holding your most valued pieces. It happens to be that there were two photo exhibits this week. Plenty of inspiration for Jeremy on this trip.

The square, place de la Concorde, in front of the Jue de Paume.



From here we walked to the Opera Garnier to see if we could tour the opera house. It was closed :(
But the cafe was open :) so we had some wine.






Oh, there was live music on the steps in front of the opera house.
As we passes they were playing "Gangsters Paradise". So surreal.


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Second day in Paris - April 6, 2 of many

So it ends up that the Paris marathon was today. Many of the roads were closed off to cars, making the city easier to navigate.
We crossed the race route close to the finish line. In that area they had a percussion band playing to keep the runners motivated. It was moving and made me want to join the race.



After the Rodin museum we strolled by the esplanade des invalides on our way to the Grand Palais to see the Mapplethorpe exhibit.



The Grand Palais



Still more to come.

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Second day in Paris - April 6, 1 of many

We slept in a bit today, but it's Sunday and Paris gets a slow start on Sunday.
First, food! We ate a typical Parisian breakfast of bread and coffee in the amazing Art Nouveau cafe.



After breakfast we made a beeline for the Rodin museum.
Standing in the garden at the Rodin museum, I am home! This is now one of my favorite places in the world. It has everything one needs; a garden, great art, a view of the Eiffel Tower, a cafe, (and if you have ever been to Europe you will understand this one) a restroom.



An amazing sculpture garden with the Eiffel Tower always in the background.





You can see the Eiffel Tower and the thinker behind me.

More to come, this is just the beginning.
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Paris - April 5, dinner

Jeremy and I have a favorite restaurant in Paris, Vert Tulipe. This is our spot. We ate there a couple times last year and went back last night. Amazing streak and frites, not to mention great prices on half bottles of wine.



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Paris - April 5

We had to say goodbye to Bordeaux this morning, and she said goodbye to us with the most amazing sunrise.



The Bordeaux train station.



Coffee in Paris. Jeremy had the most amazing Irish coffee.



I finally had a good espresso :)



Doing to tourist thing. We walked up the Champs Élysées, under the Arc de Triomphe, and over to the Eiffle tower.



Tomorrow we will hit a few more tourist spots. I love this city.

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Bordeaux - April 4 continued

This was our last evening on the boat and in Bordeaux. So we packed, ate dinner, had a drink on the deck with friends, then we headed into the city to see it at night.

Jeremy taking pictures at the main square.



The city all lit up.



So magical!



This city is so alive at night. It was 11:30 pm and there were hundreds of people out in the streets. I could have stayed our all night, but we had a train to catch early in the morning.

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Arcachon - April 4

Friday morning we woke early to catch a bus to Arcachon bay.
The tour included a tour of the bay, oyster tasting and lunch on the lake.

Enjoying a glass of wine and fresh oysters. You just can't get this in ohio.






View of the houses on the bay.



Found a French snail.



Jer and Née at the oyster shack.



It was an amazing day by the sea. Only wish we had time to climb the worlds largest sand dune. Next time.

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Bordeaux - April 3

After the tidal wave Thursday morning, we set sail from Libourne to Bordeaux. Finally, we get to spend time in Bordeaux. Wait, what's that falling from the sky? Rain? That's ok, we are going to see Bordeaux one way or another.

Here we are at the fountain.



We walk across town to the cathedral, which is in the process of being cleaned.






We also made it to the Bordeaux history museum. After that it was raining even harder and we called it a day.



This is one of my new favorite cities.

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Cadillac - March 2

Our day started with a brisk walk thru Libourne. Then in the afternoon we took a coach to a winery and then Cadillac.

We stopped















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