Au revoir, Maryland... Bonjour, Paris!

Warning - it's not every day that we get to take a trip to Paris so the next few blog posts will contain massive picture overload. We flew first to Atlanta and then from there, a long, LONG flight to Paris!

I didn't sleep a wink on our flight, just watched movies, talked a bit to our neighbors who were from Malta, ate dinner and then breakfast, and enjoyed just being with David. We got through customs and then caught the train to our hotel.

I absolutely loved the view from our hotel room!!!

It was just so surreal thinking that we were finally in Paris!

While we waited for Josh and Lenae to show up, we took a nap...we were both SO exhausted. Before laying down I had taken off my sweater and got pretty cold but I was so extremely tired that I couldn't even drag myself off the bed to get it back on. Our hour and a half power nap really helped. We met Josh and Lenae down in the lobby once they arrived but they had had a long flight as well and needed to recharge so David and I decided to just head out for awhile and we'd catch up a little later for dinner. Unfortunately as we headed toward the Eiffel Tower, it started to rain. Ugh!

We didn't let it dampen our spirits one bit. I was looking at the Eiffel Tower, for pete's sake!

The Trocadero.

In the city of love with my love.

I just couldn't stop taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower!

David wanted to find a little place to buy pastries and of course I couldn't wait to have a baguette so we wandered down the streets of Paris for awhile looking for a bakery . I LOVE the architecture of the city.

Simply beautiful!

At some point during our walk, which was a success as far as finding tasty treats go, the rain disappeared and out came the sun!

We found a park bench and devoured our Chocolate religeuse! Yum, yum, yum!!!

Springtime in Paris!

And a baguette!!

We headed back around the Eiffel Tower, spotting a family sporting BYU t-shirts as we walked, and crossed the Seine.

How different things are! I don't think too many Americans would approve of their policemen walking around with guns that size.

The Trocadero, including the Palais de Chaillot.

We thought Noah might appreciate this statue!

Several of the gilded figures on the terrace of the Rights of Man.

It is in the Palais de Chaillot that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948 and the esplanade is known as the "esplanade of human rights'.

The Trocadero is a prime spot to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower so of course we had to take a few, I mean, a bunch more!

The Crowes let us know they were ready to meet up so we took the metro over to the Arc de Triomphe. I am so thankful that David knew his way around the metro...I would have gotten hopelessly lost on my own.

And there it is!

Vive la France!

The Crowes hadn't quite arrived so we strolled along the streets, checking out some of the small shops and grabbing a coke for David.

I loved seeing the movie posters in French.

The Avenue des Champs-Elysees.

Back to the Arc de Triomphe for our official reunion. We were all so excited to be together in Paris!

On the inner facades of the small arches are engraved the names of the military leaders of the French Revolution and Empire and on the ceiling are 21 sculpted roses.

There are sculptural groups on each of the Arc's pillars. This one is Le Triomphe de 1810;

La Paix de 1815.

and La Resistance de 1814.

So many beautiful reliefs representing important moments of the French Revolution and of the Napoleonic era.

A ceremony took place while we were there...not sure what it was all about.

Instead of taking the metro down to our next stop, the Place de Concorde, we decided to stroll down the Champs-Elysees. It ended up being quite the stroll!

Although it was an extremely long way to walk, we really got to see Paris life.

We stopped in at a few of the shops to check out the high end of life. The Louis Vuitton store actually had a wait line outside just to get in the store - good grief!

A memorial to the three French National Police officers who had been killed in a terrorist attack the previous week.

Looking back at the Arc de Triomphe...

and the view in front of us at the other end of the Champs-Elysees.

We passed the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais, shown here, and hoped to make it back some time on our trip but unfortunately we never did.

The Hotel de Crillon at the Place de Concorde, one of the major public squares in Paris. The Place de Concorde was the site of many notable public executions of royalty during the French Revolution.

In the center of the Place de Concorde is the Egyptian obelisk that once marked the entrance to the Luxor temple. It is decorated with hieroglyphics exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramesses II and was given to the French in the 19th century by the Egyptian government. It is absolutely beautiful!

One of the two fountains located there - the Fountain of River Commerce.

We talked about riding the ferris wheel but by this point we were all starving and tired from our "stroll" and just wanted to find a place to sit down and eat!

Our first dinner in Paris was at a little restaurant we found a few streets up from the Place de Concorde. We were introduced to water in a fancy carafe.

We had a fabulous waiter who was extremely kind and encouraged David in his insane idea to order escargot. They both insisted that it was something we had to try.

David and Lenae were totally on board with it but Josh and I...not so much.

Posing for a picture...

and then taking a closer look. Probably shouldn't have done that.

Despite all the garlic and butter, it was still just a gray slimy snail on my fork.

But, when Josh was brave enough to try it, I decided I better go for it as well.

When in Paris...

Yeah, neither of us liked it but I can now say I ate escargot. For my actual dinner I had a ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top; apparently it's a French thing and wasn't all that bad. Josh was still struggling with the snail aftertaste.

After dinner we took the metro back up to the Arc de Triomphe.

I loved seeing it all lit up!

We pretty much zonked out on the train ride back to the hotel. After our super long day and a cold evening, my hands were frozen, my feet were sore, and we were all exhausted.