Entering France from Italy!

After an unexpected bus trip to Torino (railroad work made it impossible for our train to get to Milan) we crossed the border and made it to Paris. The French countryside is beautiful. Hard to get pictures at 190mph, however.

Our apartment in Paris is great.

Big by European standards so lots of room for everyone to spread out. Will be hard to leave the comfort of the chair by the window overlooking Saint Sulpice, esp. with the drizzle outside.

View of the Louvre from across the Seine

Behind the scenes at the Eiffel Tower, including the view from atop the restaurant on level 2 and the original hydro-powered elevators in the east basement.

Walking the Seine

Notre Dame. Such a starkly different architecture from the Roman structures.

An orientation day for us today. We made our way to the Eiffel Tower and Champs de Mars first. From there we took shelter from the rain in the hop-on, hop-off bus. Lines were long at the Orsay and the Louve was closed so we took the opportunity to walk the Seine, have lunch, and explore Saint Germaine des Pres.

We had our first true French meal in a little 6 table cafe near the apartment. Very good, but not as approachable as Italian food. Hopefully the steady rain is behind us and we can hit the monuments and museums tomorrow.

Also stopped by a couple of Hemmingway's hangouts in St. Germain

Walking the Musee d'Orsay - a favorite. And sitting in the cafe behind the museum's clock. Sacre Coeur off in the distance.

The Ho-Ho tradition!

Paris after dark

You know where...

Nutella, peanut butter, and banana crepes. Wow! Second visit this week.

Finally made it around the corner from the apartment to the Luxembourg Gardens and Palace.

Very relaxing and beautiful place - except for the heated lawn bowling matches which were entertaining in their own right. Could see spending lots of time here with a good book and a thermos of coffee...

I think this is officially our longest vacation now.

We certainly have gotten comfortable here in the Saint Germain / Latin Quarter / Montparnasse section of town. So easy to walk out for breakfast treats, window shop, and walk up to the Seine. We enjoyed the Louvre today and a brief stay in the Luxembourg Gardens. Tomorrow is our last day in Paris before heading to Normandy early Saturday morning. So much we haven't seen and yet such a strong pull to take it easy close to the apartment...

Car spotting and clowning around

The World Equestrian Games in Normandy.

Kir and Cami are better equipped to comment but world class athletes are world class athletes. They’re all impressive. We spent the night at a B&B in Bayeux, up the road from Caen and a good spot from which to start our D-Day drive.

The airborne museum in St. Mere Eglese.

A wonderful museum just finished for the 70th anniversary. The locals were having mass in the church under the hanging replica of John Steele, who was captured but escaped and continued to fight.

Pointe du Hoc.

Army Rangers scaled 90 foot cliffs to attack German gun emplacements that were firing on Utah and Omaha Beaches. Incredible place. The ‘hills’ were formed by bomb and artillery strikes. Cami and D are standing in one of the bigger ones. The monument looks like a sword buried to the hilt in one of the bunkers.

The American cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach. Incredible. 9382 markers. Beautifully, lovingly cared for.

Utah beach and the remains of the Mulberry man made harbor and deep water dock at Arromanches

Arromanches.

The Mulberry at Omaha was destroyed in a storm later in June 44. Cherbourg was captured not long after construction and eliminated the need for the mulberry.

Au revoir, France...

first 787 - check!