Oh La La!!!!

Oui oui! Nous sommes passes un tres bon Fete de Dinde a Paris! Okay, so we didn't eat turkey or mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving (and boy am I craving some!) but we did eat well and really soaked up the city of Paris for the four point five days we were there.

Here are ALL of our photos:

See Marc and Natalie in Paris, Thanksgiving 2007!

And here are some highlights with descriptions:

The Metro was actually on strike for 2 weeks before we got there and there were horror stories about how we wouldn't be able to get around Paris by Metro while there due to the continuing strike. Thankfully, everything was pretty much back to normal by the time we arrived! This was our stop to get to our hotel in the 19th arrondissement. Marc and I love the Metro in Paris. So efficient, fairly clean, and it goes EVERYWHERE!
Probably our favorite museum was Musee D'Orsay. It is just so comfy and bright in there. Lots of variety of works and really made for a pleasant visit. We went on Marc's birthday, and I thought that this screaming, naked sculpture was the best artistic remembrance of Marc, 28 years ago, at birth. :) So triumphant!:
The Louvre can be overwhelming... if you know about art. Marc and I are... um... less than knowledgeable. But we can still appreciate it! So we spent a very looooong Friday night (I was completely exhausted!!!!!!!) wandering hallways of great art at this amazing museum. We could clock through a room in like 48 seconds: nod left, nod right, smile, pause, hand to chin, hmmm, beautiful, nod, nod, yes, like it, interesting, hmmm... okay! next room! My favorites were, of course, the crown jewels (Marc said if you ever wanted to pick up on girls in Paris, this is the place to be... just a bunch of googly-eyed girls just waiting to be swept up by any man who even hints at spoiling her with jewelry); and my number one favorite painting of all time, the Coronation of Josephine; and Napoleon's quarters. Marc was really fascinated with "mighty man" sculptures and the Renaissance period.
Anticipating the "greve" on the Metro, I had researched and planned to use Velib! The wonderful bicycle rental system that all the locals use in Paris. A genius idea for only a Euro a day for rental with "pods" located nearly every other block... but... alas. One slap to the face from the French! No American credit cards accepted! Other tourists we met, British, German, everyone, all the French were happily riding past us... but we were rejected! After we tried our credit card at 4 different locations, we submitted to our pitiful fate. But everytime thereafter, when we saw a Velib riding past us, we "slap, slap!" motioned our faces, to remind us of the sting and the spite of the French.

We, of course, did a lot of walking. And Marc’s favorite phrase of the trip was, “L’homme vert!” Which means: green man! Marc never crossed without seeing “L’homme vert.”


Le Tour Eiffel! We didn't actually GO there, but we got great pics. We received great advice from my co-worker, Rachel, who lived in Paris for 5 years. We did fewer touristy things and more local walks than otherwise. Since I've already been to Paris and Marc is so laid back, neither of us felt badly about "missing" the Eiffel Tower or not seeing this or that.
I thought it was hilarious how all the garbage ‘cans’ there look like giant hanging condoms.
We spent a lot of time using the bathroom, planning our next day, getting warm, and wandering the delightful gift shop at Beauborg, or Musee Pompidou. this modern museum was designed by the same guy who designed my science center at Wellesley, so it had a special significance to me. Plus, I hadn't seen the Pompidou the last time I was in Paris.

Speaking of using the facilities... I couldn't figure out their craaaaazy public bathrooms!!!! Free, and supposedly self-cleaning, but... um, what's with the little doggie bowl attached to the wall with NO DRAIN OR HOLE!??? Am I supposed to go in that? Where does what I deposit go after I'm done?? I was so confused and left without feeling relieved. That's when we went to the Musee Pompidou (see Marc above).

We treated ourselves to a diabetic's deathbed at Angelina's. A delightful tea house with hot chocolate so thick it nearly had to be scooped out, and so rich it nearly took us 1.5 hours to get through it, and sooooo much (it comes in a PITCHER!) that we weren't sure if we could do dinner that night. It was a true tea house, in the traditional French style, so it was really a treat. Thanks for the recommendation, Anne!

We love food and we LOVE their breads and pastries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first day we arrived was BEAUTIFUL!!!! Sunny, rather warm-ish. The perfect way to begin our trip, with views from on high at Sacre-Coeur. We actually had mostly beautiful weather throughout and got to enjoy the outdoor markets and take lots of neighborhood walks. Besides the Velib, though, we were extremely jealous of all the tiny little cars there! Our favorite was the SmartCar, but Marc was also fond of this little fella.


More pictures on the link above and many more stories to tell. But for a blog, I think this is quite enough. As a summary, most of all... we loved being together, in the city of love! What a great trip!