Thursday, April 12, 2012

Paris Stroll

So we went to Paris. We walked miles. We saw tons. I thought I'd share some of my favourite photos from that incredible city with you.  I mentioned in this post that our guide book of choice was Rick Steve's Paris 2012. I can't recommend this book more highly. I loved Rick's guided neighbourhood walking tours, his hand-drawn maps and building plans and personal anecdotes sprinkled throughout the text.  Here are most of the activities/sites that we managed to hit in 6 days:

Eiffel Tower (twice, once in daytime, once in nighttime)
Centre Georges Pompidou (saw Matisse Pairs exhibit & Evolution of Dance)
Arc de Triomphe
Sewer Tour (stinky but cheap and informative!)
Musee D'Orsay (speed walk through Impressionist galleries only)
Seine boat tour
Notre Dame
Sainte Chappelle
Cluny Medieval Museum (just me)
Museum of Science & Technology - Arts et Metiers (just the boys)
Musee Carnavalet
Montmartre/Sacre Coeur
Robert Doisneau - Les Halles photo exhibit at Hotel de Ville (just me)
Rue Cler walk
Le Marais walk
Left Bank walk

One of the great (and unexpected) things about visiting Paris with kids under 18 is that they are free at every art gallery and museum! Adults can save a few Euros by buying multiple day museum passes which also allow you to skip lineups at many locations. March is pretty low season so out longest lines were at Musee D'Orsay and the Eiffel Tower at night: both about 40 minutes. I understand that's considered a short line for Paris.

Okay, time for a little slideshow. These are in no particular order. They're just some eye candy and a little taste of Paris.

Metropolitain railing, Paris
art deco metro station railing

Planning our next move, Place des Vosges, Paris
B & D planning our next move, Place des Vosges

Trio on Saturday morning, Place des Vosges, Paris
Saturday morning music, Place des Vosges

Fromagerie on Rue Cler, Paris
Sunday market morning, Rue Cler

Tower twins, 2012
Tower twins

K&B on Pont de L'Archeveche, Paris. View to Notre Dame.
B & I on Pont de L'Archeveche, Notre Dame's flying buttresses in the background

Lock your love and throw away the key. Pont de L'Archeveche, Paris
Lover's locks. D says "this makes me want to fall in love in Paris even more". 

Spying pickpockets, no doubt. Notre Dame, Paris.
Notre Dame gargoyle. I think he just spotted a pickpocket!

Notre Dame columns and chandeliers
Notre Dame chandeliers. I was initially impressed with the number of pious visitors, all sitting in the main cathedral, heads bowed in prayer. Then I realized 99% of them were on their cell phones.

Montmartre Carousel, Paris
Carousel horses, Montmartre

Courtyard at Musee Carnavalet, Paris
Courtyard at Musee Carnavalet (City of Paris museum)

A left bank bookseller, Paris 2012
A left bank bookseller

Carousel in Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
Jardin des Tuileries, carousel

Sewing machine as modern art, Paris
Turn your old machine into modern art!

Knobs in a curio shop. Passage de Grande Cerf, Paris
a curio shop, Passage de Grande Cerf. Thanks to Rick we discovered the very old and special covered passageways close to our Marais neighbourhood. 

Passage de Grande Cerf, Paris
Passage de Grande Cerf where I accidently discovered a yarn and fabric shop called Lil Weasel (I made a small purchase of some FQ's and buttons)

Versailles cappucino
Cappucino. B and I figure between the two of us, we spent about $25/day on delicious coffee. Good thing the wine was cheap! One cafe creme = one decent bottle of wine!

Eiffel tower, night
Nighttime Eiffel Tower

I hope you enjoyed this little snippet of our week in Paris. There are lots more photos to come, but organizing and uploading is taking much longer than expected!  

35 comments:

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Just lovely Krista. Thanks for sharing.

Lise-Lotte said...

I think that the gargoyle should/could have a little camera in his eye to catch those pick pockets.. I've been looking forward to seeing some pictures--thank you for this!
Lise-Lotte

Katy Cameron said...

Oh I love the Musee D'Orsay, in fact I'm slightly upset that on the way to Sewing Summit in October, I'm only in Paris a couple of hours changing planes! Thanks for the tour though, and the pious phone users gave me a giggle ;o)

Heather D. said...

Beautiful photos! I'm curious though, what is Lover's locks? Never heard of it!

Susan said...

Ah memories! Thanks for sharing your great photos!

Amy Friend said...

Please tell me that you are kidding about the cell phone comment???

Ariane said...

Oh! It looks amazing!! Thanks for sharing!!

♥Duff said...

ah, lovely! You're giving me lots of great ideas!! I'm definitely going to invest in the Rick Steve book. And hey, it's less than a cafe creme from what I hear.....

Leanne said...

Beautiful! I look forward to more pictures.

Rachel said...

Lovely photos! They bring back such good memories. The D'Orsay and the Cluny were a couple of my favourite spots in Paris. Oh, and the Pompidou and the whole Latin Quarter and... yeah yeah you know exactly what I mean.

And, for the record, we drank a bottle of wine every night with dinner when I was there. 2 Euro 13. Big spenders! haha

felicity said...

*happy sigh*

Jo Ann said...

Thanks for the incredible tour. I loved every picture!

Nicole Gendy said...

If I can't get to Paris, I can live vicariously through your photos. le sigh.

Sandi said...

I do appreciate the time and effort to show us your photos. They are stunning!
Sandi
sahill@telus.net

Chez Roo said...

Beautiful, beautiful pictures! I totally want to go there right now!

Nina Lise@Mrs Moen said...

Your Paris trip look wonderful. How many days did you stay?

dutchcomfort said...

Thanks for a trip down memory lane!! Beautiful pictures. I love Musée d’Orsay!

Did you know that there are different prices for drinks at ‘cafés’? When you drink your coffee standing at the counter it’s much cheaper than when you take a seat at a table.

CitricSugar said...

Love love love. Thanks! Just what I needed.

Lynne (Lily's Quilts) said...

fab fab fab

Di said...

Looks like a fantastic trip. Di xo

Rafael's Mum said...

LOVE your photos! Great composition in all of them and so well photographed. Lovely to have people featured too. Having been to Paris it brings it all back. Amazed at how many locks there are on the bridge. When I was there you could see the actual bridge ironwork and locks dotted about. Now the bridge has disappeared!! (oh and would like some of those door knobs... can just see it!)

greelyrita said...

I noticed your much better than average photo composition too! I thought I'd heard that the Eiffel tower is no longer lit at night. My daughter lived in France for a year and invited me to visit. We spent a few days in Paris. She walked me to exhaustion though and I never ended up with the energy to see the tower at night. Besides having longer legs than I do, she'd gotten used to walking everywhere. So, I thank you for the photo of that especially. I was surprised how expensive it was to eat at restuarants. We ate baguettes, cheese and wine in the parks. That's what's cheap there but delicious. Thanks for letting me revisit.

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

So near yet so far!

Elsa said...

Wonderful photos ~ the lover's locks is very intriguing, had to look it up. It would be fun to start something like that here in Portland, OR. I'm sure people would get into it!
We've got lots of bridges here!

paulette said...

I can now say that I have strolled down Paris...in the Spring time!! Wonderful pictures...and topped off with a fabric purchase!! Doesn't get any better than that!! Bonjour!
P

Cynthia F said...

Oh so lovely!! It makes me feel homesick strangely! And heehee you did the sewer tour!! :D

Andrea C said...

Absolutely beautiful...now I want to go!!

Dianne said...

I echo Felicity's comment....happy sigh!

Sana Saroti said...

Great photos Krista! My favourite one is the Gargoyle! When I was 15 my Dad, my little sister (6 at the time) and I explored Paris in 2 days by foot! I think my feet never felt worse, but I have the greatest memories and a photo album I still love to look at!

**nicke... said...

tower twins! lmfao! your pictures are amazing! you are loving your camera i assume! beautiful beautiful pictures!

Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts said...

Beautiful, beautiful pics. Thanks for the tour!

Candy said...

Thanks for the pictures and the lists. We are going in May and I am collecting ideas and places. Your list will come in handy. Candy

PinkGranny said...

Oh I enjoyed this glimpse of Paris. I think I could easily fall in love with the city and their coffee, wine, music and amazing architecture!

Thanks for sharing!

Jennifer said...

This is so fun to see your pics because my family and I were in Paris very recently too. In fact, we may have been there at the same time! We pretty much followed your itinerary - the Lock Bridges and Sacre Coeur were definite highlights. Cappuccino = awesome. Ditto wine.Etc.Etc. Thanks for sharing your photos! Back to reality in central Alberta......
Jennifer

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

I've been to that cheese shop on Rue Cler.Oh Paris, how I love that city.