The Louvre Part Deux: Part One

Since the Louvre is so big we planned a second day to explore the museum. As much as we enjoyed all of the amazing works of art we both agree that the museum is too large and overwhelming. There is so much to see, after a while it's hard to remember what you've seen.

Picture #1: Ted at the bottom point of the Louvre pyramid.
Pictures #2-3: We had lunch at Cafe Marly on the first floor of the Louvre. It was delicious.
Picture #4: Greek statue.
Picture #5: The great hall.
Picture #6: Painting at the Louvre.

The Palace Of Versailles: Part One

Ted and I traveled to Versailles today to visit the Palace of Versailles. This was the second of our two day trips. As grand as the palace is I think we both enjoyed exploring the gardens even more than touring inside the palace.
Picture #1: Ted on the train heading to Versailles.
Picture #2: Ted in front of Louis the XIV statue.
Picture #3: Beth and Ted in front of the gold front gates.
Pictures #4-6: Different rooms in the Palace of Versailles.

*Due to confusion in the time difference between CA and France I accidentally posted this entry too early. These pictures were taken 9/20/2011.

Free Day

We didn't have any specific plans today so we used it as a free day and took it easy. We headed back to the Eiffel Tower, had a leisurely lunch, then walked around a bit before calling it an early day and heading back to our hotel.
Picture #1: It is weird to see military police with fully loaded machine guns walking around.
Picture #2: We decided not to eat at Le Jules Verne restaurant especially since the prices are around $100 per plate.
Picture #3: Baby in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Pictures # 4-8: A delicious and leisurely lunch at a cafe near the Eiffel Tower.

Musee d'Orsay: Part One

Ted and I are fans of Impressionist art so we were excited about visiting the Musee d'Orsay. We arrived around 12:00 and the line to get in was very long. As we stepped into the ticket line a museum employee spoke to us in French and the little we could understand is that she was saying we should head to the priority line. I thought she meant that we already had tickets or had a museum pass so we said no. She then spoke to us in English and asked if I am pregnant. I confirmed that I am and she explained pregnant women are given priority and don't have to wait in line. She directed us to the priority line and her colleague ushered us to the front of the line and we got in immediately. Instead of having to wait 45-60 minutes to get in we gained entry immediately. This was a stroke of good fortune because we had not eaten breakfast and I didn't know if I could wait that long to eat lunch. Pregnancy has it's benefits in France.
Pictures #1-3: Pictures in the beautiful restaurant in the museum.
Picture #4: Thank you Baby for getting us in the priority line.
Picture #5: Delicious lunch of gazpacho, fish and ratatouille.
Picture #6: Standing in front of the priority line.
Picture #7: A shot of the non-priority line.

Rouen: Part One

Ted planned a fabulous day trip for us in a town called Rouen in the Normandy region of France. Rouen is a 1-hour train trip away from Paris. It was nice to get out of Paris and visit a smaller town. We spent about 7 hours in Rouen and it was the perfect amount of time to experience the sights of the town.
Picture #1: Paul is a chain in France that serves coffee, pastries and sandwiches. We discovered Paul on our first day in Paris and we have eaten there every day since.
Picture #2: Gros Horloge- an astronomical clock dating back to the 16th century.
Pictures #3-6: Different views of Notre Dame cathedral in Rouen.

*We had Internet connection difficulties yesterday so I was not able to post this entry until Sunday. These pictures were taken on 9/17/2011.

Notre Dame and Les Invalides: Part One

The weather today was a bit cooler and overcast but that did not slow us down one bit. Our main focuses today were Notre Dame and Les Invalides. We started at Notre Dame then decided to walk to Les Invalides about 1.5 miles. As much as we like the metro system walking allows us to see different parts of the city we wouldn't see otherwise.
Picture #1: Beth and Ted in front of Notre Dame.
Picture #2: Baby in front of Notre Dame.
Picture #3: Ted in front of Notre Dame.
Picture #4: We made a donation and lit a candle on behalf of Baby.
Pictures #5-6: There is so much amazing stained glass in Notre Dame.
Picture #7: A close-up of statues as you leave Notre Dame.

The Louvre: Part One

On our second full day in Paris we decided to go to the Louvre. We started off the day with breakfast in the metro station; a baguette for Ted and pan au chocolat for me (yum). After breakfast we took the metro to the Tuileries Gardens and walked through the gardens on our way to the Louvre. It was another beautiful day and I'm glad we passed through the gardens to get to the museum.
Picture #1: Ted enjoying his breakfast baguette.
Picture #2: Ted at one entrance to the Tuileries Gardens.
Picture # 3: Baby enjoying the gardens.
Pictures # 4-6: Different views in the gardens.