Our first day in Paris actually started out very early in London. We had to be at the train station to take the Eurostar to France at 5 AM. So we were up at 4, I think, to pack up the last of our things, eat a bowl of frosties, and catch the cab to the station. After we finally got on the train, we fell asleep. In Paris, we got on the Metro to the hotel and dropped off our bags, but couldn't check in because it was about 10 AM. We had the first of our delicious breakfasts in Paris - crepes on the street! YUM!
We walked across the Seine to Notre Dame. It was very beautiful and full of tourists, which might explain why this picture is so bad.
Look at that architecture! And the cute boy in the handknit hat.
This pretty little park is behind Notre Dame. I look rumpled because I had been in a train all morning. After Notre Dame, we tried to go tour Saint Chapelle (more on it later), but they closed for lunch, so we checked in at the hotel, cleaned up, and then had a small lunch sitting on the street outside a cafe. We saw a lot of the big landmarks this first day, because then we walked down the Champs Elysees, looked in the stores, and saw the Arc D'Triomphe, which is not terribly impressive to be honest.
Then, the Eiffel Tower. The lines were way to long for us to seriously consider going up in it, so we found a park bench instead. And that is when something horrible happened.
A pigeon pooped all over me. Quite unpleasant, especially when the guys on the next bench were laughing themselves silly about it. (Although they were nice enough to point out that it was in my hair and not just on my shoulder. We hadn't noticed that.) It was a mess, but I finally got cleaned up in the bathroom of the cafe where we had dinner. Matt did his best to make light of the situation, explaining that the pigeon was named Jacques Pipoo, and that he was merely trying to ruin my jacket so that I could get a more fashionable French one. (I didn't.)
After dinner, we returned to the green behind the Eiffel Tower, avoiding trees all the way. We waited, freezing, me jacketless, Matt sweaterless, since I had taken his sweater to combat my jacketlessness. It was worth it, though, for this! Our guidebook called it the "electric shimmy." Every hour for 10 minutes. Nice.
Isn't this lake beautiful? I can see why so many people have summer homes here.
Snapped this pic before we jumped in for some swimming.
Our first stop was Saint Chapelle. It's right next to this - the Palace of Justice. There was some sort of filming going on here. An actress (playing a lawyer?) was striding out of the gates with fake newspeople trying to interview her. There were film crew people all over the sidewalk while we waited in line.
This is Saint Chapelle.
Ceiling in the lower chapel.
The stained glass was so beautiful, but hard to photograph.
I think our guidebook decribed it as being inside a kaleidoscope. There's these jewel tones everywhere - so magnificent with the sunlight shining in.
Flower Market.
Us in front of the Lourve. Also an amazing place. There was so much to see; it was actually fairly exhausting. Of course, we saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Matt really liked these paintings of monkeys painting. There was a recreation of an opulent royal palace suite and a ton of people. 
We walked across the Seine to Notre Dame. It was very beautiful and full of tourists, which might explain why this picture is so bad. 
Look at that architecture! And the cute boy in the handknit hat.
This pretty little park is behind Notre Dame. I look rumpled because I had been in a train all morning. After Notre Dame, we tried to go tour Saint Chapelle (more on it later), but they closed for lunch, so we checked in at the hotel, cleaned up, and then had a small lunch sitting on the street outside a cafe. We saw a lot of the big landmarks this first day, because then we walked down the Champs Elysees, looked in the stores, and saw the Arc D'Triomphe, which is not terribly impressive to be honest.
Then, the Eiffel Tower. The lines were way to long for us to seriously consider going up in it, so we found a park bench instead. And that is when something horrible happened. 
After dinner, we returned to the green behind the Eiffel Tower, avoiding trees all the way. We waited, freezing, me jacketless, Matt sweaterless, since I had taken his sweater to combat my jacketlessness. It was worth it, though, for this! Our guidebook called it the "electric shimmy." Every hour for 10 minutes. Nice.
