Good Morning, Paris

   Our flight to Paris was early Sunday morning so the terminal at Barcelona was pretty quiet. There was an occasional group of guys wandering through who looked like they've been up all night and just back from London for the big football match where Barcelona defeated Manchester United 3 - 1. Our flight took just under 2 hours and we landed at the small Beauville Airport, aound 40 miles outside the city. It looked like Ryan Air was the biggest carrier there, and the only one on the tarmac at the time.

   I  had pre-arranged a shuttle ride into the city, and when we picked up our bags, there was the driver waiting for us holding a card with our name (very easy). It was a nice morning for a Sunday ride in the country and we went straight to our hotel, in a quiet neighborhood on Boulevard St Jacques, south of the river. After checking in we decided to walk around to get our bearings; there seemed to be a nice outdoor cafe on every corner.

   On Monday morning we started out after breakfast to find our way downtown. The hotel is just two blocks from a couple of subway stops and we decided to follow Joe Mintzer's advice and take the Metro right away. Mary figured out how to use the ticket machine and we got the discount plan with ten tickets; it charged to my credit card at just over 1 Euro each. The single ride tickets are 1.70 so we got a bargain. We took the #6 Green Line to the end and walked up the stairs to the Arc De Triumphe. From there the rest of the day was laid out for us, right down the Avenue Des Champs Elysees.

   The weather was great so we walked for hours, and there was a picture composition in almost every direction we'd look; we stopped at the park in front of the Louvre for a quick bite and nap in the sun. Wandering into the Louvre courtyard, we were blown away by the size of the building; it was like six or seven Smithsonian museums in one. We weren't going to try to get inside, that was for another day, but it was fun sitting in the park watching all the people either walking by or sitting in chairs having their lunch on a sunny afternoon.

   We walked over the Pont Neuf to the island on The Seine, the heart of the city, to see Notre Dame Cathedral. It was another building that surprised us with it's size, the visit inside was just as impressive. I was amazed at it's age, the construction started in 1163 and was completed more than one hundred years later in 1272. We also wanted to see inside another church on the island, Sainte Chapelle, but the line was really long. We sat at a corner cafe and I kept wondering if the line into church would be any shorter if I had another beer ...... we never made it in.

   It was a long but really good day, our legs were tired and we followed the city map to the #10 line on the Metro, and transferred to the #4 back to our hotel. Thanks again Joe for the great tip.