We spent a good amount of time in Paris, about four nights at a camp site where we stayed in a small motor home-esque house. Jason’s girlfriend met us in Paris, as well as Suzy, Bridget’s German friend.
Day 1
Our first day in Paris was crazy. Nixon, again, was so amazing. He went in and out of the different sites attached to the backpack. He hardly slept and basically had a full adult day and barely complained. He would though fall asleep at times in my shoulder while in the pack. He really didn’t want to miss a thing.
With Nixon on my back, we were able to see:
- Arc de Triumph – amazing monument with such craft and creative used to design the monument. It was raining while we were there and it was worth getting soaked.
- Eiffel Tower – surrounding the tower are some great things to see: beautiful churches, amazing fountains, and interesting people. We explored the surrounding area quite a bit, stopping for a chocolate croissant. We then meandered underneath the towers. I had wanted to get to the top. I broke away from the group to get to the top. (I was one of the few who had never been to the top.) I thought I had made a poor decision, braving long waits and two ten minute rainstorms. I also felt bad about having everyone waiting. When I got to the top about 90 minutes later, the view was amazing and they had the distances to major cities labeled around the walls. Outside you could walk around the tower which was the windy side and not so windy side. It was fun. When I returned below, I couldn’t find anyone so I tried to conceive a plan to still enjoy Paris and get back to camp. Just as I was about to put the plan into place, I luckily bumped into Suzy as I was doing my last rounds. We ended up coming back to the Eiffel tower two additional times – one on a three mile jog from camp and the other was to see the tower at night.
- Notre Dam – this was an incredible church. I don’t know how they constructed such an amazing building back then. It was a bit larger than the one we saw in Bayeaux. When we arrived, they were also just about to give a sermon in Francais. Many people crammed into the holy building holding awe across the great hall. There was even a second section to the building which we didnt see.
That concluded our first day… With lots to see and a very tired Munsty we slept good that night.
Day 2
We traveled over to Monet’s garden. It was a bit out of the way but Chris really wanted to see it. The gardens were nice and I enjoyed seeing the Lilly pond in real life. They also had fun little frogs that were croaking in the pond. Nixon liked that.
The next stop was Versailles. The gardens were incredible. Unfortunately the palace was closed but the gardens were well worth it. The fountains, the statues, the bush shapes – all of it was us such an amazing thing to see. (It reminded me of being in the movie Labyrinth). I did wish I could see the Hall of Mirrors but maybe if there is ever a next trip. Overall though the Versailles garden has been one of my favorite places to see. That center pool is amazing and since the palace was closed there wasn’t much foot traffic, so we had a lot of the place to ourselves.
Day 3
We, as a group with Bridget, Ron, and Jason, decided to go for a run to the Eiffel tower. The run through the park was beautiful. We got back and I decided to go a few more miles to get 9 under my belt. And so our day began.
We first went to the cemetery where Jim Morrison was buried. The graveyard was huge and also included other famous people such as Oscar Wilde. A good rainy day made for our setting, but it was really cool to see the different crypts around the graveyard.
Next, we went to a Museum D’Orsee. That was neat. It’s an old train station that has sculptures and paintings. Also, we luckily caught them when they were exhibiting Vincent van Gogh. I found the van Gogh where he painted his own room, which I had as my desktop background for quite some time.
We then grabbed some expensive drinks and waited until it got dark (which is around 10pm here because we’re so north). The drinks later we found out were about $12 each. It was expensive and (before we got the bill) worthwhile to relax with the family. As soon as it got dark, we then explored the Eiffel tower at night. We then quickly got back to camp afterwards.
That was really our stop in Paris. Joie de vivre.
There’s a lot to see in Paris. Next round I do want to check out the Louvre. I really did want to see the Mona Lisa, but with little Munsty, no Internet, and a busy morning schedule… It really wasn’t going to happen. Gives me an excuse to come back one day. And I can’t complain about all that I did see. We saw an incredible amount with Nixon, so I’m happy.
We then headed out of Paris, droped off Loes (Jason’s girlfriend) at the airport and headed to the Champagne region. On the way out, we stopped by Reims before we arrived at our AirBnB. The trip took a bump as Jason nailed a pole with his van while trying to park. If I had been driving the van, I probably would have taken out more than a pole through our trip. Typical Jason though as he nailed the pole in front of a police station. And then two minutes later some officers just asked him to move. Typical luck of Jason.