Happy 4th of July

My one concern about Paris was missing 4th of July. This is my second favorite holiday. The first being Christmas. So when I planned today, I tried to make sure we did quintessential Parisian things so I wouldn't miss all that was going on in the States. In spite of missing one of my favorite holidays, today was a total blast!

I also realized I booked us really tight. You'll understand after you hear everything we did today. I also want to point out something you will see in all the pictures. Everyone else is usually dressed in long pants and jackets. I, one the other hand, am usually wearing shorts and no jacket. I definitely had a much higher tolerance for the nice 65-75 degree weather. Perfection in my book!

First stop today was the Eiffel Tower. We didn't spend too much time in line and made it to the top rather quickly. Robin decided to stay behind on the second platform while the rest of us traveled to the top. The elevator up freaked me out. A bit petrified. However, once at the top, I had no problem. The view was amazing! Paris stretched for miles in front of me and I loved every minute of it.

After the Eiffel Tower we took the metro and headed to the Palace de la Concorde. Interesting history tidbit: During the French Revolution, the guillotine stood here. Prisoners were taken from La Conciergerie and transported here. The plaza now houses an obelisk from the Luxor. We weren't able to get too close because barricades were set up in preparation for Bastille Day celebrations. We stopped for a bite to eat for lunch, eating in the Tuileries Garden, before heading to Musée de l'Orangerie or what I called The Orange Museum. :)

Musée de l'Orangerie is home to eight Monet water lily paintings. They lined the walls and were beautiful! I loved being able to see the different brush strokes and the layers of paint. Incredible! The museum also had Cézanne, Picasso, Rousseau, and my favorite, Renoir. I loved the simplicity of the museum. Plus I enjoyed artwork I had only seen in books.

Next on the list was the Louvre. Because you can spend hours upon hours in the Louvre, I scheduled us for three to see the highlights. It really was enough time for one day. Once again, I saw sculptures, paintings, and artifacts that I had only read about in books. You probably can't guess my favorite part. It was all that wasn't on display. The Louvre was the palace to the royal family. In some rooms the ceilings were covered with a mesh but if you looked closely you could see the former grandeur of the palace. The Napoleon III apartments were still intact but the rooms from before the Revolution were stripped of the history they had witnessed. I included a picture that shows one of the ceilings that wasn't covered. Truly an incredible museum. One problem was the crowd of people. Oh well. Guess that is what happens when you go in July.

After the Louvre closed, we headed over to Rue Cler which is near the Eiffel Tower and enjoyed a relaxing dinner. The place we ate at wasn't my favorite from the week but the dessert there was divine! Definitely my favorite from the entire trip.

I was exhausted at this point. Yes we are only at dinner with hours of daylight still left. We took a casual stroll back to the Eiffel Tower and then headed to our river boat cruise. After walking all day long, it was so nice to sit. To enjoy Paris at dusk with all the lights coming on. Yes. I'm a sucker for ambiance. After the cruise was finished, we enjoyed the Eiffel Tower lights before heading home. Isn't Paris beautiful at night?