Cindy and Mike Do the World!: Au revoir Paris!

Au revoir Paris, you have been great!

We spent 4 days in Paris. We rented an apartment, which was a great base from which to explore the city. While I admit that I have always felt slightly apprehensive about visiting this city (my inability to speak much French and the supposed rudeness that one would encounter because of this were some of the reasons), it exceeded my expectations. Everyone was very welcoming and helpful.

We are still adjusting to travelling in the 1^st world again and the prices that come along with it! I hope it’s just the Paris prices. We’ve taken to buying lots of baguettes, salami and cheese and eating snacks like this instead of full meals out all of the time. Although everyone else here REALLY is eating baguettes all of the time too. You see them carrying them in the morning, or on the way home from work. Having the apartment has been handy since we prepared most of our breakfasts. Mike balked at the 2 euro macaroons I just had to have, although I assured him that they were part of the quintessential Paris experience and came highly recommended. Yum! The wine hasn’t been cheap either…it is in the grocery stores but not when eating out. Hopefully that'll change when we head out of the city. ;)

Exploring this city is best done on foot, although we did take the metro sometimes, which is easy to use. I love the sidewalk cafes and restaurants with patios, which seem to exist on every corner. The chairs are placed facing the street (you sit side by side), so it’s great for people watching. There is just so much going on here. I have also gotten used to second hand smoke. Perhaps the next quintessential Paris experience should be taking up smoking. It seems to be the thing to do.

Kidding!

We have seen the Louvre (a small part of it since it’s massive), climbed the Eiffel Tower (the part that you can climb to, not the whole thing, although that’s fun to say), eaten lots of croissants, seen a live classical performance, looked at a bunch of bones in the Catacombs, had a picnic in the Jardin du Luxembourg and taken some epic naps (thanks to the time difference). Oh, and the reason we came here…the Broken Bells concert…was fantastic! Look out Europe, the Neufelds take to the road! Off we go!

Our first impression of Paris from the metro...a city with lots of graffiti!

Broken Bells concert

Early morning run to justify that baguette.

Classical performance inside a church

Our little home for a few days. The floor boards creaked every time we walked on them!

Bridge with all of the locks where people write 'so and so loves so and so' and throw the key in the river.

These public toilets were kinda funny since they get automatically cleaned after each use so they were always wet inside and the seat was so high! It was hard to squat over it.