Celebrating our 8th Anniversary ~ in Paris!

I feel a bit spoiled. Very spoiled, in fact. However, when we lived in the States, a 3 or 4 hour drive for our anniversary would have gotten us down to Portland or over to the coast. Because we live in London though, that same 3 hours can get us to Paris - so why not go back?? Especially when there is an anniversary to celebrate!
Paris is our favourite city to visit... we arrived at 8:30am and walked to the city centre from Gard de Nord - the Eurostar train station. We wondered a bit to enjoy some streets we'd never discovered, as well as some previously undiscovered sculptures next to a beautiful church!


We stopped to have our first chocolate crepe of the trip, served by a very friendly Frenchman (who spoke no English, of course!).

When we'd visited Paris previously, we stayed near the Eiffel Tower, but this time, we chose to stay in the Latin Quarter, near the Parthenon and just a few minutes walk from Notre Dam. Funny though - our hotel was called Hotel California! (We just can't seem to get away from the States!) After dropping our packs at the hotel, we brought our baguette sandwiches to the Luxembourg Gardens where little birds (see picture below) literally tried to steal the bread RIGHT out of our hands! Annoying little critters, but Micah and I were able to ward them off.

Awww... beautiful views from our lunch in the garden.
We enjoyed seeing many of the same sights we'd seen before, and some new ones too! Here's a classic sight, but still takes our breath away.

In the evening, it is even more beautiful!
Here is one of my favourite streets in Paris - it is called Rue Cler and is a great little market street. Fresh fruit and veg, great crepe stands, and some nice restaurants too! Plus, it is near the Eiffel Tower, so it is a great place to get breakfast before joining the queue up the BIG sight! Unfortunately though, we got to the Eiffel Tower at 9:30 and the queues were already hours long - literally. So we decided to change our plans and try again the next morning... earlier.
So we walked the River Seine... And road the Metro to the Montmartre district, an area we'd never gone before! It is a fun, quirky, Bohemian-artsy area, with splendid views of the city because its up on a hill!

This building is Sacre Coer, a church built only about 130 years ago. It is fantastic though, and is like a beacon on a hill. I can't believe we'd never been to this area before!

Views from the church...

Lots of stairs! Down the hill from Sacre Coer is a nightclub area (note that Micah and I went there in broad daylight only!), including the famous Moulin Rouge.
We walked and walked and walked... literally hours of walking, but we loved it! We walked to the Arc de Triompe and down Champs de Elyses...
Back to Notre Dam! Though we'd been inside the Notre Dam Cathedral before, we hadn't ever climbed the towers to the top, so this was our chance!
We waited till dusk (which this time of year, isn't until about 9:30 or so!), and we hiked 422 stairs to enjoy some beautiful sights...

Then we wandered to the Louvre to see it lit up at night as well. We finally crashed late that evening, ready for Bastille Day on Monday, the French Independence Day!

We celebrated Bastille Day by joining the Eiffel Tower queues at about 8:50, 10 minutes before the place opens. The last few times we'd been to Paris, we road the lift to the top platform, but this time, attempting for something new, we hoofed it up the stairs! They only allow hikers to go up to the second platform, but that was enough for us - 700 stairs up. Whew...


Look at those queues! Thank goodness we got there early today!
More crepes and baguettes, coffee, and gelato filled up our day. Then we sat in some grass to rest, near the Pont Alexandre (a bridge) and Military museums. There were hundreds of people milling about, getting ready for the Independence Day celebrations to come. All of the sudden, the noise of the crowds was drowned out by the hacking sound of a helicopter's propeller.

Helicopter after helicopter flew right over our heads and landed in the grass, not far from us. It was an incredible sight! They must have been delivering some very important people because there were loads of military men all over the place! In fact, the city was coated in military and police, both in honour and protection of the day's celebrations.

What an incredible experience! Paris is wonderful and if you ever have the chance to go, I encourage you to take it. Being there for our 8th anniversary is a memory to never forget. We were able to enjoy relaxing with each other in one of the world's most romantic cities. Even with no agenda, we seemed to see and do quite a lot, but it was in the most laid-back, experience-the-culture type way. We loved it!