Squiceland Day 9 - Paris!

Day 9 - Paris, France - April 9, 2017

Today was perfect even though it was long and exhausting.  These are the types of days that you live and travel for.

Robbie and Lyndee were the best hosts.  We started out with a lovely breakfast, then followed them to church.

Singing our French hymns.  5 points to anybody who can decipher what hymns these are.

We had to leave a few minutes before sacrament meeting ended to catch a metro to the train station.  Lille is a metropolitan area of just over 1 million people, but they had a fantastic metro and light rail system.

We had train tickets on an express train to Paris.

Train rides are a great time for French pastries.

We made all of this effort to get to Paris for one reason.

My blessed readers may recall that when we visited Paris in August 2016 we were having so much fun at Versailles, that we stayed there all day.

Our original plans had been to visit the Louvre that afternoon/evening, but Versailles was magical, so we decided to put it off until the Tuesday after our cruise.

But, due to my poor planning, I had forgotten that the Louvre is always closed on Tuesday.  We tried to break in, but the security system was decent so we couldn't get in.

Alison was super excited that we finally made it to the Louvre.

I nearly broke my ankles with my action shot...

We just loved the Louvre.  The girls were great, but we always know that we've only got an hour, maybe two with them in art museums so we've got to prioritize the artifacts and artwork that we will see.

Hello Venus.

Some tasteful crack has been in style for than 2100 years.

What a palace!

And we made it to see our dear friend Mona Lisa.

Looking especially smug today.

You've probably heard the quip about the crowds looking at the Mona Lisa and ignoring the huge and famous painting on the opposite wall.  Well, here you go, The Wedding Feast at Cana (by Veronese).

It was inevitable, but we did finally have a breakdown.  Art museums are tough on sweet Lyla.  Nothing some promises and bribes of future sweets can't solve.

We were all starving after the Louvre, so we were on a mission to find something to eat.  We walked through a few adjacent neighborhoods and found a number of decent restaurants that were closed on Sunday, so we kept on trekking.

We found the perfect little Parisian cafe, and it was a perfect April day to eat outside. 

We have always had wonderful service with friendly waiters and waitresses.  I'm sure that our semi-French speaking girls help, but I think it doesn't hurt to be super friendly and apologetic for our poor French.

We had a few hours to kill, so we continued to wander around new areas of Paris.  Above is the famous Palais Garnier (Paris Opera House), about which the Phantom of the Opera was written.

We made our way over to the Eiffel Tower.  We're at the Palais de Chaillot, which sits across the Seine from the tower and is a great viewpoint to see the Eiffel Tower.

When we got there, Lyla started complaining that her stomach hurt and that she was going to throw up.  We ran her over to the edge of the fountains (that weren't running) and she did her thing.  I've said it before and it still remains true, but 9/10 trips that we go on involve someone puking.

Love my Ly.

Anybody who pukes at the Eiffel Tower gets their own photo.

Alison and I make the perfect travel team.  She is the best travel companion.  She lets me worry about the details and arrangements and she takes care of all of the packing.

Ice cream!

Our train home didn't leave until after 9, so it was a late night.

We made it back to Lille and to Robbie and Lyndee's for one last night.

Tomorrow we make our way back to the UK.