May 18th, 2014
Yesterday we went back to the Notre Dame to climb to the top of the tower. We had great views of Paris from there.
View from Notre Dame
Next we had a coffee on another boat cafe before finding some gelato recommended by Jeremy.
Relaxing on beautiful day
Since it was our last day we walked along the Champs Élysées to look at the shops and climb the Arc de Triomphe. Afterwards we celebrated our trip at a restaurant close to our apartment. It has been a great trip.
May 17th, 2014
We had a very warm and sunny day. We started with a tour of the Notre Dame church. There was a mass going on (10:00) and the pews were full with worshipers. The pipe organ music and singing was impressive. Due to the line up we did not go to the top of the church.
Notre Dame
For lunch we found a cafe on a boat on the Seine. It was very nice to sit outside in the sun enjoying our meal and our friends company. After lunch we toured the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa along with some other great art.
Lunch on the boat
Louvre
We walked back to our apartment which was about 5 km. away. It was a nice walk with tree lined streets and many interesting sites.
May 16th, 2014
On Thursday we took the Metro to the Montmarte area and toured the Sacre Coeur and walked up the 300 steps to the dome where we had a great view of Paris.
Sacre Coeur
Toured the artist area and continued shopping for scarves and souvenirs. After dinner we took a night cruise on the Seine. The Eiffel Tower was lit up when we returned.
The Seine at sunset
Eiffel Tower at night
On Friday we took the metro to Versailles. It was a beautiful sunny day but there were also a lot of people. The palace is very large with beautiful art. The garden (800 hectares or 2000 acres) is also very large. Fortunately it was not crowded in the garden.
A painting of Versailles
Part of the garden at Versailles
May 14th, 2014
On Tuesday we walked around Amsterdam some more including Vondalepark. We now probably know all the streets in central Amsterdam. For lunch, since we are in the Netherlands, we had pannekoeken. We picked up our bags at the hotel (we used a winch to lower bags from the 3rd floor rather than carry them down). A tram took us to Central Station to catch the Thalys train to Paris.
Arriving in Paris, we eventually found our way to our apartment and settled in. Don and Karen caught up with us as we were finishing our dinner.
Today we walked to the Eiffel Tower just as it was about to open. Riding to the top, we had a great 360 degree view of Paris.
Yvonne at the Eiffel Tower
Back on the ground we walked to the Place de Chaillot and the Trocadero gardens.
Another view of the Eiffel Tower
After lunch we continued walking, this time to the Arc de Triomphe. We wanted to go up to the top but a one day strike had it closed.
Arc de Triomphe from the middle of the Champs Élysées
On the Champs Élysées we found a double-decker bus and took a 2 hour tour of Paris that showed us all the highlights. Due to a road being closed we had the bus driver drop us off 1 block from our apartment. The weather was better than forecasted and we had a great day.