Off To Paris

Time to start heading west. We'll be driving through the French countryside to Paris. North through Belgium back to Amsterdam where this journey began.

French Countryside

A drive through the French countryside is really a drive through history. As we passed through open fields, farm houses and little small towns, we experienced a feeling that we had been there before. But in reality, we were only seeing images that took us back to old WWII videos and Peter Sellars movies.

Paris, France

Paris is such a multi-faceted city with so much history, it's difficult to lump it all together under one subheading. This being our first trip to Paris, we were all wide eyed and gaga at everything we saw and experienced.

Bike Riding in Paris

We began our first day in Paris with a bike tour from Fat Tire Bike Tours. When I booked this, I had misread the company's name. I thought it was Fat Ass Bike Tours and run specifically for me. You really start to wonder about your fitness when the guy has to add air to the tires before you can ride.

Looking back on this ride, I couldn't tell you the names of half the places he took us to. We were so much in awe. Our heads were on a swivel and we loved this day!

The Louvre

Our second day in Paris began with a trip to the Louvre because, as you know, we're pretty sophisticated and we know our art. I do have an original Mickey Mantle photo on my office wall, after all.

Our first impressions of this world famous gallery? Damn, it's crowded!

You have no idea how many people I must have ticked off just to get a picture of the Mona Lisa.

All joking aside, the art work in the Louvre is stunning. It brings to life all the things you read about and saw in history classes and is a must see when you're in Paris.

The Basilica of Sacre Coeur de Montmarte

A funny thing happened on the way to visit Sacre Coeur. You all know about my keen sense of direction, right? I can get you lost no matter where in the world we are. In fact, growing up, my dad used to call me "Backwards Billy". He'd say whichever direction Billy wanted you to go, go the opposite and you'll get to your destination. Maybe that explains the number of times I ended up in the girls bathroom at school.

Our hotel in Paris was out by the airport. To get into town, we took the train each day. This has become sort of a method we've used in many destinations as it affords us the chance to intermingle with the locals and start their day off with the American tourists... which I'm sure is high on their list of ways to spend the morning. At least that's what I've been told. Each day, we had been riding the train from the airport to the Notre Dame station and starting our trekking from there. But this morning, looking at the map, it didn't make sense to go all the way to Notre Dame.

Being the sophisticated traveler that I am, I decided we should get off the train and a train station parallel to Sacre Coeur and just walk over to it. It was only a couple of miles and we'd get to see something off the tourist tracks.

It didn't take us long to figure out that we "weren't in Kansas anymore."

In fact, they pegged us as tourists right away. Not sure how. We tried to blend in.

Once we got to Sacre Coeur, it was worth the walk. You can see it from far away as it punctuates the skyline on a hill.

And as you get closer to it, you realize how massive it is. Always astounded at how these beautiful structures were built way back when. Groundbreaking on the basilica was in 1875.

And my darling wife, whom I love with all my being. But she has to climb to the top of every building we encounter. Not satisfied with the views from below.

You'll notice that I'm not in any of these climbing photos. I'm the one following her panting and sweating and trying to catch my breath. But, once I get there... the views are always spectacular.