Finally Toured the Sewer

Ever since reading the part in Les Miserables about Jean Valjean heroically rescuing Marius and carrying him to safety via the sewer of Paris, I've wanted to visit. A section of the sewer is nicely set up for people who wish to see it and learn about its history. There's even a gift shop where you can buy sewer rat stuffed animals.

This is something I'd never seen before. It is a giant ball used to flatten waste. Dad stood next to it so that you could get an idea of how big it is.

We haven't climbed the Eiffel Tower yet, but today we walked very close to it. It's quite a tall structure.

On our way to the Eiffel Tower we turned a corner and suddenly saw a garden on a wall, really, there are plants growing all over this wall! I'm not talking only about vines and mosses. There were also large shrubs and ferns and perennials. We're guessing that the building these plants are growing on is about six stories. I didn't know gardens like this existed!

Dad's favorite part of today: Seeing the amazing garden wall.

My favorite part of today: Starting the day at a French street market and seeing all of the fresh foods, colorful flowers and everything else being sold, some of which I even get to take home :-).

Some More Pictures From Yesterday

I'd sure like to make a pressed-flower picture of this! 

This tree is in the Jardin des Plantes and is one of the most grand and beautiful trees I have ever seen! The pictures above and below this one are also of it.

This tree is very, very old.

The zoo at the Jardin des Plantes had a cool reptile display.

I don't remember what this guy is called, but he was Dad's and my favorite animal at the zoo. He was energetic and jolly. 

Best Day Yet

Today was incredible, and the weather was perfect! I think that I'll just get frustrated if I try to use words to describe the magnificence of Notre Dame's interior or the breathtaking view of Paris from its top, so I'll try to mostly use pictures.

Dad took a lot of the pictures that I'm using for today's blog. This is a panoramic shot that he took from Notre Dame.

We also got to enjoy French food in a peaceful park that had many plants in it that reminded me of Georgia.

Exploring the Jardin des Plantes was almost as exciting as Notre Dame. It's basically a big botanical garden merged with a zoo! It was amazing! I want to share pictures of it with you, but it's getting late and my phone is acting up, so I think that I'll try posting those pictures tomorrow.

Dad's favorite part of today: Purchasing French food from a sidewalk stand and eating it in a quiet park where we were the only tourists.

My favorite part of today: Seeing Paris from the top of Notre Dame like Quasimodo did.

I meant to post this yesterday :-)

Exploring Paris

It was strange, but exciting to wake up this morning and to realize that I was in Paris! Today we visited Victor Hugo's mansion because he is one of my absolute favorite authors. He wrote Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. We also spent a lot of time wandering around shops, court yards, parks, and the river. It was very fun and relaxing.

Cafés in Paris have excellent coffee, but only in very small portions, so we went to McDonald's thinking that surly they'd have bigger cups of coffee... Nope :-).

 This is a panoramic picture that Dad took of Victor Hugo's mansion. The building just goes on and on!

This was one of my favorite sights, and we didn't even know that it was there until we stumbled upon it! It's a nursery that takes up several buildings and spills way out into the sidewalk. It has everything from trees and shrubs to bulbs and seeds. It also has perennials and indoor plants and everything you need to take care of everything with and to enhance your garden. The picture I took really doesn't begin to show how large or how beautiful it is. I hope to capture it better with pressed flowers someday.

The Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is a very large park and is very interesting to explore. We did a lot of walking there and saw gardens, tumbling water, a cave, a pond and a tall cliff, on top of which is a fancy gazebo, from which you can get a great view of Paris. We also saw lots of cute dogs, one of which reminded me a lot of my dog, two bunnies, a pony and parrots.

 I'm deeply bummed that I'm not allowed to bring home this hydrangea that we saw at the nursery.

Dad's favorite part of today: Standing by the pond and looking up at the cliff in the Park des Buttes-Chaumont.


My favorite part of today: Sitting outside in a café and hearing the waiter say, "Bon appétit," as he set big plates of beautiful food before us.


One More Surprise

Last night after I finished blogging about my day, I glanced up and encountered one more special surprise. Through a window where we're staying, I saw the Eiffel Tower looking like it had been covered with silver glitter. Blinking lights were all over it and at the top was a spotlight casting light here and then there. After that the lights calmed down and the tower stayed lit with a subtle and steady golden glow.

First Day in France

What an amazing day it's been! After hours in a cramped plane we arrived in Paris at 6:00 in the morning and stood in line and went through customs. Then we rode a train through dark tunnels and walls covered with graffiti. It was very exciting to be in Paris, but everything seemed a little dark and gloomy, and then it happened. We walked up the stairs after getting off our train and there she was, Notre Dame, the place that I've always wanted most to see in Paris! I couldn't believe it! And then the bells started ringing in that great cathedral. It was the perfect why to start experiencing Paris!

After that came one wonderful thing after the next. We walked around three beautiful and very interesting gardens, enjoyed local food and sat in a cafe, explored a street market, listened to live music on the street (They were playing songs from Grease.) and went on a boat ride down the Seine. The guide in the boat was very knowledgeable and we saw countless great sights and monuments. For me the highlight of that was getting to see the Eiffel Tower from such an amazing perspective. Another thing that I enjoyed about today was watching the pigeons. I thought it was really funny the way those plump little birds waddled across streets, bobbing their heads or landing on top of statues like they own Paris.

Dad's favorite part of today: Seeing the Eiffel Tower from the boat.

My favorite part of today: Seeing Notre Dame for the first time.