Friday - The Eiffel Tower

Another bright sunny day to see Paris. Today we visited the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Elysees. The Arc de Triomphe was built by Napoleon in 1805 after his greatest victory - the Battle of Austerlitz. It now serves for the starting point of victory celebrations and parades.

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The Eiffel Tower was built to impress the visitors to the Universay Exhibition of 1889. It was the tallest builing in the world until 1931 when New York's Empire State Building was completed. It was a wonderful clear day and we could see all of Paris.

Day 2 - Versailles

Today Erin and I took the train to Versailles. Louis the XIV built this palace starting in 1668. It is large, beautiful and very crowded. This palace in known for the signing of the treaty that ended WWI.

On October 6, 1789 a Parisian mob invaded the palace seeking the despised Marie-Antoinette. This was at the beginning of the French Revolution.

Dinner at Leon de Bruxelles -a typical northern French mussel restaurant.

Our First Visitor

It has been more than two months since I have written. We are settled in our apratment and I will post more about July later.

Erin arrived early Wednesday morning. After a shower and a cup of coffee she was ready to see Pairs. Our first stop was Notre Dame. Alexander III started builing this Gothic church in 1163.

We then strolled along the Seine where vendors were selling various art work.

Our next stop was the Musee de Orsay which houses the French art of the 1800s. The most famous of these are the Impressionist paintings of Monet, Mante, Renoir, van Gogh, etc.

After a light dinner we went "the crepe street" aka rue de Montparnasse for dessert. We wanted to eat at Creperie de Josselin but like most of the French in August they were on holiday.

Our Apartment and Neighborhood

Our Neighborhood

Sunday we attended church at the American Church in Paris located on the Seine. We then started exploring what will be our new neighborhood.

Rue Daguerre - A pedestrian street with many shops and restaurants. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_Daguerre&ei=IuAPTPq0GJCaOJXN4PsK&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCAQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Drue%2Bdaguerre%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGHP_enUS367US368%26prmd%3Divm

The Lion of Belfort at the at the Denfert-Rochereau Plaza.

Montparnasse Cemetary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montparnasse_Cemetery

Rooms of the apartment

The apartment has long narrow windows and high ceilings. This is typical of the Haussmann redesign of Paris. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255-s01/mapping-paris/Haussmann.html

Arriving in Paris

We arrived in Paris in search of a place to live. Not an easy to do in a short time. Bruce and I looked at several apartments the first day. By the time we decided on one it was already under contract. Two days later we knew if we liked an apartment we should put a reservation on immediately. We did this and voila the owner accepted the reservation. Here is the outside of the building. Our apartment opens on the courtyard so we won't hear all the traffic.

Space is at premium.

Kitchens don't have appliances.