Destination: Holiday Festation (Part 2)

Hello again. This is my 2nd attempt at a blog (the first one got erased) so this one may not be quite as detailed. We arrived back in Paris on Christmas eve in the afternoon. We got checked in then set out to find a place for nice Christmas Eve dinner. Unfortunately for us, they celebrate Christmas on the 24th, so most things were closed. We ended up eating at a small cafe. I had the ham and eggs (which was one of the best meals I have had in months), and Seth had French onion soup and a hamburger which was supposedly also very delicious. The next day was Christmas. And what does one do when spending Christmas in a foreign country? Why, do laundry of course. We needed to do some laundry so we went down to the laundromat for few hours that morning. we decided to spend the rest of the day exploring the city. We first went to St. Sulpice (of DiVinci Code fame) and saw the Rose line. It was pretty interesting to see even though it is supposedly fake. After that we went to the Eiffel Tower, climbed up all 700 steps, and took the lift to the very top. It was pretty nice to see all of Paris form the top of the Eiffel Tower at night. After our long day, we enjoyed Christmas dinner at another cafe which was also delicious. We didn't find much to complain about concerning French food. The next day we went to the Arc D'Triumph, which was much larger than I expected. After that we went to the Louvre and I know I'm going to dissapoint a lot of people whe I say I didn't enjoy it much. I loved their art of Islam exhibition along with the Egyptian art, but the rest of the museum and the Mona Lisa is overrated; at least I can say I saw it. Food in Paris was very interesting. Most of it was great. We ate crepes everyday (at least one day), at a really good Tex Mex place, a delicious grill, and an awful attempt at a Mexican food place (you should have tasted the quesadilla! I don't know what that tortilla did to deserve such an awful cheese punishment!). One of our days, Seth an my dad decided to take day trip down to Marseilles. You have to understand that at this point it was either raining or snowing in Paris everyday, and my mom and I were tired of being so cold. We stayed back, did some shopping, did some eating, and did a lot of reading and relaxing. Meanwhile in Marseilles, they ate a delicious seafood meal and walked around the city. Unfortunately, they hit some bad weather and ended up spending more time on the train than in the actual city. Our final day in Paris was New Year's Eve. That day was rainy so we all went to see a movie and have some yummy food. That night Seth and I went to the Eiffel Tower to ring in the new year. They lit up the tower and had fireworks. Not a bad way to spend New Year's Eve! The next day we al said our goodbyes, my parents going to the airport to go home and we caught our train to the Netherlands. Amsterdam here we come!

Now the pictures:

Christmas Day:

Opening presants:



Laundry:



St. Sulpice and the roseline:



Amanda being attacked by birds outside the church:



Some tower:



The line for the stairs (You should have seen the line for the elevator):



I made it!!!:



Stair 700:



Views from the top:







Home is a little far away:



The night line:



Food fare:

Mexican food with the bad quesadilla's:



Our daily crepes:



Rick and my lunch in Marseilles:



Snow fun:





The Louvre:







The Mona Lisa (that little postage stamp at the end that everyone is staring at):



The lines when we left:



Rick and my day trip to Marseilles:



A fort that extended the whole way of the port:



The harbor:





More sights of Paris:





The safe way to get to the Arc D'Triumph:



Nancy says, "Is that Harry Potter?" Amanda says, "Uhhh...no mom!":





Rick and Nancy cutting a rug (dancing):



Amanda attacking her parents in bed:



New Years Eve festivities: