Back to Paris

Saturday we took the train back to Paris. Saturday and Sunday were much more quiet and less hectic than our other days in Paris. We had pretty much seen everything we wanted to see in Paris, except for the Pantheon. Saturday, we just walked around and did some window shopping. I saw a very expensive ring at the Place Vendome that I would have loved to have as a souvenir, but that clearly didn't fit into our budget. Instead we settled on buying some chocolates to eat as a momento from our vacation. Yummy! We went by some really fancy chocolate shops that had some very beautiful displays of chocolate and that was kind of fun to see.

Sorry, the picture doesn't really give you an idea of how pretty their display was, but we took a picture anyway.

After our fun window shopping we went out to eat. We had a pretty good dinner, mine was good, but Aaron's was soo yummy. I should really have him order for me from now on.

Sunday we had a nice leisurely stroll through the Gardens of Luxembourg, and ate our freshly baked baguette and cheese. It was so good, the bread was still warm!

After our visit to these gardens, I had to go to the bathroom, but of course as luck would have it, had to pay to do so. Stupid French bathrooms, this was the second time I had to pay to go to the bathroom. One of the other things that makes America such a wonderful place!

After this it was off to see the Pantheon which is where many famous people in France are interred. Among these (that I knew of) were Madam and Monsieur Curie, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas and Voltaire.

Aaron in front of the Pantheon.

Victor Hugo's tomb. He's the only one I really wanted to see in there anyway. It made me in the mood to go and read Les Miserables again.

After our visit to the Pantheon we continued to stroll around the city and did some more window shopping. We also got some ice-cream at the famous Parisian ice-cream shop, Berthillon. Not to be rude to this famous place, but it cannot compare to ice-cream I'm used to here in America. (Aggie ice-cream anyone? Or Tillamook? Or my dad's yummy homemade raspberry ice-cream?)

After our visit to Berthillon, we strolled along the river and had a nice view of the back of Notre Dame.

We had a very nice and calm day. I thought it was fun just to take our time and absorb things in. After this we had our last meal in France, and yes, it was an American meal. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe. Sadly, it was my best meal in France. However, I'm sure I could have had some amazing food in France except it would not have fit into our budget. I did eat very well over there, don't get me wrong, but I had this pulled pork sandwich at the Hard Rock Cafe that was to DIE for! Oh my gosh, now I know where to get a superb pulled pork sandwich all smothered in yummy, yummy BBQ sauce. Ironically, I was kind of wanting good old American French's yellow mustard, since we had had fries several times over there. I like to mix ketchup and mustard and dip my fries in it, so I was very happy to have French's mustard!

All in all, the trip was very fun, and we had a very good time, despite its bumps along the way.

Things I loved about France:
I LOVED how much history there is around every corner in France. I love all of the architecture and how old everything is. It really makes it easier to learn history that way. I loved learning so much history since it is all around. I LOVED the bread! I LOVED the chocolate! (Need I say more!) I LOVED those little wax dipped cheeses. You can get them in America but they are so expensive. I ate so many of them, I absolutely love them! I LOVED seeing all of the chateaus, they were so fun. I loved the sandwiches over there, but since we ate one every day I kind of got sick of them. I loved the kabobs we ate over there, sooo good! They were even lamb, so it was a nice change of meat for me. I do like lamb, although sometimes it can be a little too gamey for my taste, but the kabobs I had over there were superb. I loved how different everything was over there, it was pretty impressive, but also made me really appreciate how wonderful my own country is. I LOVED the pastries, especially the ones filled with chocolate and apples.

Things I missed from home:
Bathrooms and bathroom stalls, cold water, ice, mustard, my bed, open spaces, so many little things about America.

I loved going and I loved coming home. Thank you to all who helped get us there! It was truly a once in a lifetime experience for Aaron and I that we will always cherish!!