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After a couple of days in Lugano, Karen and I
flew out of Milan
to Paris for the weekend. Dodging snowstorms in both Milan
and Paris, we made it there without a hitch. Our first evening in Paris
it was snowing, which is quite rare there, so it made for a very magical evening. We stayed with the mother of my girlfriend
Patou, who lives in the 18th arrondissement, behind Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur. That
evening we walked up to that area in the snow. We had to keep brushing ourselves off as the snow began to cling to everything.
We stopped inside the Sacre Coeur church, where there was a special service going on for the pope, and the nuns were singing
with truly angelic voices. It was very moving. The many different stairways leading to Montmartre are
always so charming anyway, but I was extremely excited to catch this picture of a couple walking arm in arm under their umbrella.
What a gem!
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| Lovers descending Rue Foyatier in Paris in the snow. |
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| Charming boulangerie in the 18th arrondissement - making our way to Montmartre. |
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| The Sacre Coeur in the snow |
Since we only had a weekend, it was
a whirlwind tour of Paris,
and we got up each morning to take advantage of the day. Mme. Trichaud, Patou’s mom, always had a breakfast laid out
for us to start our day. On Saturday it was drizzling on and off, but fortunately never rained hard. We explored more of Montmartre
and continued on to the Latin quarter, Notre Dame, and Ile St. Louis. We found a little restaurant
to enjoy some good wine and of course, chocolate crepes!
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| Carousel and Sacre Coeur in the daylight |
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| Karen and I behind Notre Dame. |
| Ile St. Louis |
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| Little boy looking in store window. Notice his feet - how cute! |
As evening fell, we found ourselves
at the Eiffel
Tower as it began to light up. Since my sister is very emotional, she began to
cry at the sight of the tower. As a matter of fact, she’d cry at almost every new sight she saw! That evening we had
dinner at Mme. Trichaud’s and Patou’s sister and her family joined us for the evening. This was the first time
that Karen had met Patou’s family.
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| Eiffel Tower at dusk |
On Sunday morning we enjoyed the local market
in the 18th arrondissement before heading out to see the Chateau de Vincennes. Mme. Trichaud and her daughter will
be moving out to this area of Paris
in June. We didn’t stay long because it was bitterly cold!
We then went back to the Eiffel
Tower, where Karen and I hiked to the second floor on foot. This hike up kept us
warm! From there we saw Pont Alma – the area where Princess Diana was killed, and stopped in a nearby restaurant for
lunch. I ate the best warm, goat cheese salad I’ve ever had in my entire life! We then continued to the Champs Elysées
for a quick look at the Arc de Triomphe. Karen didn’t expect to do so much walking on this trip – good thing I
brought an extra pair of comfy shoes. We then headed to the Marais section of Paris
by the Place des Vosges – walked and shopped, walked and shopped! On our way back to Montmartre,
we caught this great picture of the Sacre Coeur lit up, with also the merry-go-round in the foreground lit up – just
before the man unplugged it! We had a nice dinner in the 18th before calling it a day.
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| Carousel and Sacre Coeur at dusk. |
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| Bistrot in the Marais district of Paris |
Before heading back to Milan on Monday, we
managed to get in our last freshly baked chocolate croissant with a cup of French coffee! Our time is Paris
was so short, but fantastic. Anyway, there was much of Switzerland
awaiting our discovery!
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