PARIS

So, I must say, we were quite dissappointed in Paris this time. Last time we LOVED it and this time we strongly disliked it (hate is too strong of a word). The difference...well, a few things...I didn't remember as much French as I did last time, so we spoke more in English and did get the Parisian snub that it is known for. We did not remember all the stairs in the underground, or lack of elevators, so we lugged Kaleb in his stroller up and down many, many stairs. Also, the newness of the city and the awe of all the sites were a distant memory. We also noticed how misrable and rude the parisian people were this time b/c we had a baby. When you're an adult you don't expect anyone to talk to you in the subway, but when you have a cute red headed baby waving hi to you, most people smile and wave back, but not in Paris...they look away and act irritated. This was so different in Greece b/c there everyone wanted to talk to Kaleb and try to make him laugh. They were so friendly. Paris was such a stark contrast and was very noticable. Nevertheless, we were still on vacation and enjoying ourselves. I don't mean to complain, we were just surprised at how different we felt about the city this time and I am not recommending Paris with kids. Above is a picture at the Arc de Triumph...The tomb of the unknown soldier is underneath it You can go to the top of it, but we didnt do it this time.

This pic is taken from the eiffel tower on the first level stop. We went all the way to the top and Kaleb kept sticking his head out of the rails, saying "car, car". It scared me to death!

Above is a "The Thinker" by Rodin, a famous french sculpture. Rodin is one of our favorites and we went back to the gardens this time.

Above is Notre Dame which was beautiful. Kaleb took a good nap inside and Jason went up top to have tea with Quasi Motto. A couple of pictures down is a picture of a gargoyle and the eiffel tower from the top.

Above is the Sacre Coeur or "The Sacred Heart" church. Tons of people go and sit on the stairs and listen to musicians sing songs in English and then start speaking in french. I wonder if they have any clue what they are singing about. And yes we drug Kaleb and his stroller up all those stairs. This church is in the are of town called Montmartre. We stayed here this time and last, but over the 3 year gap I think we forgot how hilly it was. Oh, here is a funny story. On the way to this church, we were walking up all the hills with the stroller and there were tons of "african-french" beauty parlors. Suddenly the stoller didnt steer right and we realized that we had a hair weave stuck in the front wheel...oooo, nasty...we weren't about to touch it to get it out, so it just roller up tighter and tighter. Anyone want to borrow a stroller??

Below is Saint Chappelle, a church that was closed when we were there last time that we were eager to see this time. It was one of the only new things we did and it was very impressive. It was full of stain glassed windows that told stories of the Bible from Genesis all the way to Revelation. It was very hard to see them b/c they were so far away and we had toddler scooting around on the very dirty floor.

We had such a great vacation and think that everyone should go to Greece at least once in their life. It was beautiful, the people were friendly and the food was more than amazing!! We've been cooking greek food every week since we've been home.