this year's trek was somewhat different than previous years because netter and i did VERY little planning for our parisian adventures. this is very much not like us...okay, not like me. we knew generally what we wanted to see and do but for the most part we let our feet take us and allowed for spontaneity which resulted in my favorite memories of paris 2010.
sainte chapelle was one of my favorite things about paris 2004 but this year my love was heightened because while waiting in the security line for entrance netter noticed an ad for a concert the next night in sainte chapelle. we immediately asked our hotel conceirge to procure tickets. we got them and enjoyed an amazing performance of a classical ensemble performing Pachelbel Canon and Vivaldi's Four Seasons. it didn't suck that we were front row center completely surrounded by illuminated stain glass. it was a truly wonderful moment to be surrounded by light, color and glorious music. very inspiring.
my second highlight was also the most stressful part of the trip for me. the night before our last full day in france we elected to trek out to the coast to see Mont Saint Michel and the beaches of Normandy. so early on the last full day we took a train to Caen and there the friendly people of Hertz took our money in exchange for a vehicle of a make and model i'd never heard of. since i had more recently driven a manual vehicle i elected to be our designated driver. took a little bit to get used to this new vehicle but once on the highway everything was gravy. it wasn't until we reached the country rode that took us to Mont Saint Michel that all went wrong.
a gaggle, herd, pride of sheep decided to do their road crossing right in front of our vehicle. for whatever reason this freaked me out that i wasn't able to get the car in gear so soon smoke started to billow from the hood. by the time the car was in gear and we pulled up to pay our parking fee smoke was billowing from the hood, under the car, through the air vents inside the car and out our vehicle windows. the parking lady wasn't amused by the deluge of smoke we brought to the parking lot.
after lifting the hood and being deluged with smoke we opted to hang with the car until only few puffs of smoke remained and treked up to the fortress. it was an amazing site! i started to get paranoid about lasting damage to the car so we cut our time short and headed back to the vehicle. thankfully all was well and we started on our way to Normandy with me freaking out about going into 1st gear the entire rest of the voyage.
normandy beaches were truly beautiful. the thing that surprised me the most was that families were playing and frolicking on the beach and in the water. i was very aware of what had taken place there almost 70 years ago and had a hard time remembering that it was still a beach. tragically we left the beach to late that the american cemetary memorial was closed. next time.
i loved our trip to paris. we had amazing food, great company, beautiful photographs were taken, new adventures were embarked upon and we took cabs almost everywhere. :) it is sometimes humbling to know that i have these amazing opportunities to see other places in the world. i hope i never take it for granted.
view from Eiffel Tower
Trocadero Plaza overlooking Eiffel Tower
Sainte Chapelle stain glass
Classical Ensemble concert in Sainte Chapelle
Seine River boat cruise
Foyer of Garnier Opera House
Golden light of Paris
Place de Concorde fountain
Mont Saint Michel
Omaha Beach of Normandy 
2 comments:
This all looks amazing! I want to go!
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