this is the time when i post an overabundance of eiffel tower pictures, because really… is there anything more grand? [the answer is no.] it’s the sort of thing where you’re in awe being so close to it because it is so huge in real life, and then you see it lit up, and it’s like, WOW. and as if that’s not awesome enough, if you stay even later to watch the light show – it’s 5 minutes of the whole tower just SPARKLING. it truly is too beautiful for words. [i took a video and posted on my instagram so you may have seen that back in june when i was there.]
also notable are some photos from montmartre, sainte-chapelle, and the louvre from our bus tour around the city. there are too many amazing places in paris to speak of!
{my lovely mother, montmartre, and the funicular, which is this uphill railway that gets you up to the top of the hill}
{le basilique du sacre coeur de montmartre}
{the view from montmartre. i spy a teeny tiny eiffel tower…}
{there – here’s a better picture that i stole from my cousin ashlin! all of a sudden it doesn’t look so tiny… and doesn’t it look like it was painted there in the background?? i promise it wasn’t}
{more of montmartre… we had yummy gelato here, and then just around the corner, there are lots of artists selling their lovely creations. we bought several pieces of art here.}
{that beautiful basilique du sacre coeur up there on the hill is so fascinating to me.}
{pretty ladies! [another pic i stole from ashlin]}
{the group minus aunt debbie at the foot of montmartre. stolen from ashlin’s phone, photo credit: debbie}
{the louvre}
{another one, photo credit: ashlin}
{more of the louvre and hotel du louvre}
{moulin rouge! and a mean mugger… photo credit: ashlin}
{musée de l’armée invalides and arc de triomphe, photo credit: ashlin}
{the luxor obelisk, photo credit: ashlin}
{paroisse de la madeleine, photo credits: ashlin}
{mom and mimi on the bus tour, photo credit: ashlin}
{ashlin and i got off the bus tour early so we could go watch the U.S.A. play germany in the world cup}
{this is how we watched the world cup in france… we shared a burger and some pommel frites}
{mimi, mom, aunt whoa, and aunt debbie went to a different pub to watch the game, and we met them there at the end. here’s the whole group sporting our U.S.A. attire!}
{dinner: a tomato tart with mozzarella. mom had the prawns with risotto!}
{the hotel de ville, which was right by our apartment. it took us a long time to realize that this wasn’t actually a hotel – “hotel de ville” means city hall in french!}
{mom, mimi, ashlin, and i had champagne at this lovely bar/cafe facing the centre pompidou. in paris, all the chairs at cafes face out towards the city so people can people-watch instead of facing each other. it’s quite funny to see everyone looking out at you as you walk by – it’s like you have an audience!}
{i was only moderately excited to wake up early and go stand in line to get inside sainte-chapelle, but it was 100% worth it.}
{the lovely sainte-chapelle}
{those stained glass windows are incredible.}
{i can’t help myself… more of the gorgeous sainte-chapelle}
{photo credits: ashlin}
{we had both lunch and dinner near the eiffel tower on this day.}
{isn’t it lovely?}
{the view from the eiffel tower}
{ashlin and aunt debbie having champagne at the very top of the eiffel tower!}
{boat tour on the seine}
{and then we saw a bride and group getting their wedding portraits taken in front of the eiffel tower and that pretty much made my life. i was a total stalker, didn’t even try to hide it.}
{her dress was stunning}
{there’s nothing sweeter than a carousel and the eiffel tower in the same frame. [insert smiley with hearts for eyes here]}
{…when mom held the eiffel tower in her hand…}
{just before it was lit up}
{the eiffel by day and the eiffel by night…}
{the eiffel tower at night… i’m in love.}
{photo credit: debbie}
{during the light show… this photo just doesn’t do it justice.}
{just a couple more glimpses of it as we made our way home for the night…}
{…and then on our way home, in the middle of paris, in one of those neighborhoods that looks exactly like the movies, there’s this white horse, just chilling on the sidewalk. at first we thought she was roaming free, but it turns out that she was tied up, but with no owner to be found. at this point, having just seen the eiffel tower sparkling in all of its glory, my starry eyes convinced me that i was either living a dream or a handsome prince was about to come sweep me away and we’d gallop into the horizon on that white horse. i didn’t even know what to think. [turns out, the former was true. i was pretty much living a dream. a real live dream.]}
{notre dame and the seine}
{notre dame and our tower}
paris, you’ve already outdone yourself and this trip isn’t even halfway over…
xoxo