Paris - Day 1

Today was the first day of our vacation in Paris. I think it started more than 24 hours ago, though. But I'm not sure. After a short flight from Little Rock to Dallas, we arrived in Paris nine long but uneventful hours later. There's not much to tell. We sat, we watched several hours of TV shows on the boys' DVD player (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for that Christmas present!), we ate a little, and we tried to sleep. Next thing we knew, we were there.

Our friends Jason and Marna Musteen picked us up at the Charles de Gaulle international airport, which is the major airport serving Paris. We are truly grateful that they were able to do this. I can't imagine how much more difficult it would have been for us to try to navigate trains, buses, and taxis to get from the airport to their house. [Author's Interjection: As I am typing, Jason has channel surfed and stumbled upon the Duke's of Hazzard - in French. They translate the show's title as "Sherriff - Make Me Afraid." Picture this: Uncle Jesse speaking French into the CB microphone.]

The Musteens live in a nice apartment near the Arc de Triomphe. After a shower and change of clothes, we walked to the metro (subway) station and caught the train to the Champs Elysees. We had a tasty lunch at a restaurant called Chez Clement. The food was good, the portions were modest, and the price was somewhat high. It cost 70 Euros (about $91) for the four of us to eat lunch.

After lunch, Marna took the metro back home so she could pick their kids up from school. Jason, Kristi, and I continued our afternoon tour by visiting the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 and completed about 30 years later. Victorious French armies as well as conquering Nazis have marched under the Arc, much as the Roman generals marched centuries ago.

We climbed the 200+ stairs to the top of the Arc, and from there we had a 360-degree view of Paris: Champs Elysees, Louvre, Eiffel Tower, the whole city. Of course, Jason had a story to tell about every view. The best tale was how the French soldiers engaged in tank battles through these very streets in the 1944-1945 timeframe.

We finished our tour by walking about 20 minutes back to their apartment. On the way back, we stopped by a bakery in the Plaza de Victor Hugo to pick up some baguettes. (That's misspelled French for long bread sticks.)

Here are some pictures of today's adventures. I'm not sure what's on the agenda for tomorrow. Maybe the Louvre.

More later.

Jeff