Bonjour la Suisse!: Christmastime in Paris

BONJOUR PARIS!

Just two days after we officially moved, the whole family hopped on an early morning train for a few gleeful days in Paris. We met my sister CK there and had a fabulous time touring the place. I must say that most of my previous Paris experiences have been negative, but they've been getting better and better and this one was the best. I think it's because every time I've been to Paris before, I didn't speak any French, which doesn't help with the proud Parisiens. Although my French is not great, it was nice this time to at least be able to get around the place by speaking the Parisiens' language. Another smart thing we did, was to lower our expectations and limit our plans. Rob wanted to see only four things -- the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay and Versailles. But, surprisingly, we also made quite a nice walking tour of the city by default -- we were forced to walk in order to get the girls to nap in the stroller. I must say, the lights of Paris at Christmastime are magical -- and classy. (Even the flashing lights of the Eiffel Tower somehow escape the tackiness associated with similar lights in Vegas.)

Our hotel was nicely located near the Hotel des Invalides and the Eiffel Tower -- so we headed off to the Eiffel Tower (Anna's favorite) first thing. Of course, we couldn't just take the traditional photo--and this was the best view of the Tower!

Anna Claire with her stylin' Aunt CK.

Here we are strolling around the Louvre. We went on a Friday evening, which was a perfect time to avoid the crowds. However, we didn't avoid the picture-taking tourists. Anna and Mariah became tourist attractions themselves, with at least a handful of people stopping to snap photos of them. Strange, because they won't even pose for us!