Paris Day 1 - Powering Through with the Magic of Paris

A few months ago, Keith and I went out to dinner and we discussed my upcoming 40th birthday.  There were many options that we were entertaining but what I wasn't expecting was for him to suggest for the two of us to go to Paris.  While I thought it was a suggestion on a whim to avoid having to plan a party, he later told me that he wanted to do something special that I would have never expected.  He was right, I never expected to go to Paris.  I did clarify that he meant Paris, France and not the Paris hotel in Las Vegas ;)

In the airport, we were ready to fly and had some time to spare.  Keith wrapped up a few business calls and I started what would become a trend, selfies to capture our vacation.

Finally, we were on the plane and on our way!

We left Denver at 11:20 AM MST and landed in Paris at 7:45 AM Paris Time (11:45 PM MST).  It wasn't too bad and our plan was to power through the day.  After dropping our bags at the hotel, our first order of business was to get some breakfast.  We stopped at a cafe near the Arc de Triomphe and after they brought us our coffee we realized that it was called Cafe Richard.  How fun since my Dad's name is Richard and he happened to be with our boys while we were in Paris.

We walked everywhere in Paris, from the first moment.  It was a great perspective to experience the city from, plus great exercise.  Along this street, which we walked many times, we experienced businesses opening for the day with the Arc de Triomphe standing high above the street.

The details in the Arc de Triomphe were mesmerizing.

Our first tourist activity of the trip was to climb to the top of the Arc.  Keith counted 375 steps up the Arc, all in a circle.  Yes, we got a bit dizzy.

Almost near the top.

A few more steps up and we broke through to the top of the Arc and a great view of the city below.

There she is... the Eiffel Tower!

We attempted a selfie with the Eiffel Tower in the background but it wasn't as easy as it looked.

Another friendly traveler saw our selfie challenge and offered to take our photo.  Of course, that came with a fair trade to take a photo of them.

This was a great circular map that gave us the direction that we were looking and monuments that we could see.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe.

When you're at a tourist stop and people see you with a camera, you are bound to be asked to take a photo.  Keith found it entertaining to take photos of me taking photos.  He's so funny.

While crossing the street, we got stopped mid-way so we had a bit of traffic zipping around us.  They take the traffic signals and cross walks very seriously in Paris.  We never saw anyone jay-walking or not following the walk signs.  We did, however, see a police officer lecture a lady who didn't stop for pedestrians in a cross walk that did not have a traffic signal.

As we continued our Day 1 tour, we headed out to find the Eiffel Tower.

We hadn't found the tower yet, but we did find George Washington.

Finally, as we rounded the corner and tucked down into a park, we found the Eiffel Tower standing before us.

Right beside this awesome gold statue.

The famous Seine River.

Hey Keith, is that the Eiffel Tower behind you?

The Eiffel Tower!

It is HUGE!!!

I wondered if it would be a disappointment like many other monuments that I had imagined to be much grander than they really are.  No, the Eiffel Tower did not disappoint.

Looking up her skirt.  ha ha ha ha! :)

We aren't quite sure what this was, but what we knew was that it was a group of young men in dress pants and white shirts running around the Eiffel Tower.  They had a large duffel bag that they would pass around.  We figure that it was training of some sort, but we never did find out what it was.

We had to walk quite a ways out to get a photo that would fit the entire tower in the photo frame.

Getting a selfie with the tower was quite tricky as well, but so fun.

We've made it!!  Bucket List item complete, we've seen the Eiffel Tower.  Now to go to the top.... tomorrow.  The line was atrocious and we were starting to lose steam! 

We headed out in search of an afternoon cafe stop and left the Eiffel Tower behind us to explore again later.

We happened upon the Liberty Flame which has become a memorial for Princess Diana who died in the tunnel below.

We were there 19 years and 1 day after Princess Diana's tragic death.

The buildings and architecture in Paris was gorgeous and just as I imagined.

We found a great Italian Cafe that was buzzing with local diners  and they happened to have one small table on the street available.  It was exactly what we had in mind.

We call charcuterie and cheese plates Pu Pu platters in the Ham Fam.  France takes Pu Pu Platters to a whole new level.  They take their charcuterie serious and it's a great price in comparison to what we pay at home.  It was heaven.

We continued our walk back to our hotel along Champs des Elysees.  This street is famous for it's shopping and was a major artery toward our hotel so we travelled it regularly.

This was about 4:00 in the afternoon, which would be 8 AM at home.  It was definitely time for one of our natural energy drinks that we brought from home.

It was super fun to see the fashions in Paris.  Keith refused to accept that it was socially acceptable for a man to carry a purse, even though it was quite trendy.

At the very end of the Champs des Elysees is the Arc de Triomphe, these two major land marks showed us the way home to our hotel.

Keith in the dirt.  Often, the sidewalks or walkways were dirt.  Interestingly, there weren't any weeds.

Once we checked into our hotel (and took a tiny nap), the sun had set on Paris and the view from our room was AMAZING!!! Keith specifically picked this hotel because we were guaranteed a view of the Eiffel Tower and it did not disappoint.

In Paris, most restaurants don't begin serving dinner until 7 PM, so we went to dinner at 9 PM.  Keep in mind, this is 1 PM at home and we've been up and at em for 30 hours by now.

The concierge referred us to this great family owned Italian place and we got a perfect seat on the patio.  It was exactly what we were looking for.

They call this a tomato and mozzarella salad.  I guess Caprese is Italian, not French, so it's tomato and mozzarella here.  Whatever it was, it was seriously good.

After dinner, we enjoyed some coffee.  This was our second coffee of the day after not having coffee regularly in 1.5 years.  We may have had a bit too much fun with the coffee but when they serve you in tiny cups, you have to have fun.  Keith encouraged us to pose like we were secret spies sipping our coffee.  I'm thinking that we should probably keep our day jobs and not go into the secret spy coffee sipping business.  HA!

Day 1 was magical and we powered through on only a few tiny cat naps (on the plane and in the hotel).  We had big plans for Day 2 including making our way to the top of the Eiffel Tower and taking a tour of Versailles.