Paris, France: August 3 - August 7, 2014

August 3
By train from Barcelona, we arrived Paris around 3:30 pm!  We were looking for a sign with our names.  There he was - we saw our driver!  He took us to the car in front of the busy train station - Paris Gare Lyon.  Fortunately the hotel was not far from the train station - only 5 minutes - Hotel Paris Bastille. 

After checking in, we rested for 1 hour and we started exploring Paris!  We walked  around.  I was so excited to see so many pretty places/buildings/river and so on.  Then we were hungry and decided to eat at a French restaurant to eat authentic French foods for dinner :)  After that, we walked and enjoyed the city.  Of course we were at the Love Lock where couples and lovers come here to lock the bridge to symbolize unbreakable love.  We didn't do it but we enjoyed seeing all of those locks!   We kept walking and saw a street show on another bridge on the way to Norte Dame Cathedral.  We were at the Notre Dame for a while and had to head back to the hotel because we could see the rain was coming.  We would be here again tomorrow!  It was a wonderful evening in Paris!

A Street Show

Enjoyed the Love Lock Bridge

 August 4,

We had a good free breakfast at the hotel.  Once again, we used Hop On/Hop Off Bus to go around Paris.  The bus stop was by Norte Dame Cathedral.  We hopped on at the bus stop by Norte Dame Cathedral and hopped off at the Arc De Triomphe or Paris Gate.  From the bus stop, we had to walk underground to the Arc De Triomphe.  The kids wanted to go up to the top and I didn't realize that there was no elevator.  Yes we walked up stairs about 400 plus stairs.  My legs were so exhausted!   It was worth it to see Paris from the top and we saw Eiffel Tower too!

The next stop of course was the highlight of Paris, Eiffel Tower!  The line to go up by the elevator was too long.  Therefore, we decided to walk up to the second floor using stairs which was about 600 plus stairs.  The kids ran up and had so much fun while my husband and I were slowly walked up and rested every often to catch our breath!  What a beautiful view up there! The boys also enjoyed the glass floor.  They walked and danced on it.  I was too scared and nervous to even stand on it!  We stayed up there for a while and walked down. The Eiffel Tower was so special.  We loved it!!!!

second floor of Eiffel Tower

City view from Eiffel Tower

On the glass floor - second floor of Eiffel Tower

After visiting the Tower, we hopped on the bus again.  We went around the great city.  The buildings and architectures are really amazing to me.  We came back to the Norte Dame stop in the evening around 6 pm but it was closed!  While we were on the bus, we saw a Chinese Restaurant so we decided to go there for our dinner.  It was delicious!

August 5,

It was a lazy/relax day for us.  We were going to the Louvre.  Unfortunately it was closed so we decided to do a boat ride.  We hopped on/off the boat on different ports, walked around, ate ice cream, took pictures, sat in a park and enjoyed the city.  There were so many tourists like us.  Finally, we got inside Notre Dame in the evening.  It was such a beautiful church!

The Louvre

Boat ride

Norte Dame Cathedral

 

August 6

It was the metro (underground train) and bike day under the rain!  We went to Versailles!  We met our tour guide at the train station.  Then we took the train from Paris to Versailles about 30 minutes.  When we got there, it started pouring.  We went to a market to buy something that we would have for lunch.  I got sandwiches, desserts and drinks for us.  We walked to the tour office to get our bikes.  My boys were so excited for the bike tour.  Although, all of us were soaked, we had a lot of fun!  The rain stopped around 3 pm.  We spent all days in Versailles.   Beautiful Palace!

  

Once we arrived the hotel, we took a bath and went to a Japanese restaurant near the hotel.  Great foods!



August 7,

Another rainy day!  We used metro all day.  After using Metro in Barcelona and Paris, I think I really liked this.  It was so convenient and fast!  We tried the Louvre again in the morning but the line was too long.  It would take us about 2-3 hours in the line under the rain so we decided to do something else.  We went to The Centre Pompidou - designed in the modern style.  I liked the glass elevator in the building!  After Pompidou, we did some souvenir shopping and walking under the rain!  We found a Vietnamese Restaurant near Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis.   It was awesome!.  

We went back to the hotel around 4:30 pm, changed clothes, relaxed in the hotel lobby and got ready for the driver to pick up us to the airport.   We were ready to fly to Thailand and see our family!!!! 

  

Luke and a musician in front of the Centre Pompidou

The Centre Pompidou

Waiting for a train - Metro

 I love everything we did in Paris.  The buildings and architectures are amazing.  We loved the Eiffel Tower.  Only thing that I wish we could do was to get inside the Louvre. I hope we can come back again to do that.  Paris is a very special and lovely city.  I love seeing people eating in cafes and the street sales.  We had a wonderful time.  I already missed you Paris!

Other trips:
- Canada (Calgary, Banff, Jasper and Yoho)
- Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Monica and Venice Beach
- Transit Tour in Hong Kong
- Salzburg, Vienna and Prague
- Southern Laos
- Japan (Tokyo-Hakone-Kawagoe)
- Washington State
- Universal Studios, FL
- NOLA and Bahamas
- Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and Antalop Canyon
- Paris, France
- Montserrat and Barcelona, Spain
- Dubai
- Laos (Vang Vieng and Vientien)
- Disney World, FL
- Skiing Red River, NM
- Niagara Falls, Toronto, San Francisco and Los Angeles
- Western Caribbean Cruise (Jamaica, Cayman Island and mexico)
- Camping Guadalupe River, TX