Paris Day 2

It was wonderful waking up in beautiful Paris in our little room on Day 2.  We went out and picked a little cafe next to our hotel and had croissants with jelly, cafe creme and orange juice.  Connor liked the croissants too and inadvertantly fed a few of the pigeons with his crumbs.  It was nice sitting outside enjoying the sunny weather. 


Cafes next to our hotel

After breakfast, we took a walk to the Luxembourg Gardens or Jardin du Luxembourg as the French call it. The Gardens are the second largest public park in Paris.  There is a palace on the grounds with a few ponds, fountains, statues, and beautiful flowers and trees.  It is my favorite park in Paris and a great place to relax and enjoy life.  They even have chairs all over the park that are designed so that you can sit and put your feet up.  

Palace at Luxembourg Gardens



In front of a statue at Luxembourg Gardens

 

Going up and down the stairs



 Connor had  great time in the gardens and loved going up and down the stairs.  A few people would stop and talk to him in French because he was so determined.  I had no idea what they said but I could tell they thought it was cute.  There were also ponies that children could ride in the park and Connor really wanted to touch their tails. 

After the gardens, we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. 





On the metro

We went to the great lawn in front of the Eiffel and took pictures. 

Connor ran all around the lawn and would not sit still for any pictures.  He was also hungry and in most of the pictures, he's either got a cookie in his hand or in his mouth.  There were a lot of people on the lawn and a lot of people making out on the lawn.  I think most of them were oblivious that they were in a public place - or maybe not.  This was also the start of the wedding sightings that we saw all over Paris that day.  I think we saw atleast 8 weddings as we were walking around. 



Posing with his cookie



Giving his signature "look"



We left the Eiffel Tower and Connor fell asleep in his buggy, which meant Michael and I could eat peacefully at a cafe for lunch.  Hooray! 

Our wonderful French lunch at a cafe

After lunch we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and took a few more pictures.  We didn't cross the roundabout because you have to go down stairs and under the street to get to the Arc and it would have been hard with our buggy.

We walked from the Arc down the Champs Elysees and saw a few photo shoots along the avenue.  We decided to walk next to the Seine with Connor who had a ball looking at the different bridges.  There is a bridge with a bunch of faces and he kept pointing at the faces. 


Pointing at the faces



We walked down the Seine until we reached Pont Neuf and took a cruise down the Seine on a bateau-mouche.  The one we chose had a speaker that narrated in both English and French and pointed out all the famous sights and different bridges.  It was interesting and a great way to get your bearings around the city.  I would recommend doing this on the first night. 


On the bataeu marche

After the boat ride, we got some take out and ate our food in front of Notre Dame.  We also went into Notre Dame but there was only candle light on inside.  The cathedral looked eerie and spiritual at the same time. 



In front of Notre Dame at night

Once we were full, we headed back to our hotel and had a good nights sleep!


Seine River at night