Thursday, June 28 2012

Greetings earthlings.

Today we got up early (again) and headed out to the Metro to go over to the Lourve (Louve? Loove? whatever). We got there and were starving so we sat down and got some croissants for breakfast (shocker i know). Once we were finished we headed into the labyrinth that is the museum. I don't know if i have ever seen so many statues and paintings and artifacts. absolutely nuts. some famous pieces we saw were Venus du Milo, Winged Victory, and of course the Monna Lisa. 

Venus

Winged Victory

sexy lady

 The museum is indescribable. So many rooms with countless pieces of art and other historical artifacts. Besides just the paintings and sculptures, almost every single ceiling was painted extravagantly with a story of a king or a mythological story or something like that. Although the museum was awesome, our feet wouldn't stop "barking" so we snagged every free bench we could find. 

woof woof

 After we got some lunch and finished inside the museum we went out front to the famous glass pyramid to take a couple pics mostly because i love having my picture taken. (joke)

priceless

classic

Since our dogs were howling at this point and most of the day was spent at the Louvre, we decided to lay low for the night after we went out for a quick meal.

Paris is awesome. We're seeing things that most people only ever see on tv or in a book. we are extremely blessed to not only be here but to be here together as a family and although we miss everyone at home, we are loving our time together! (Also, the whether is very Seattle-esque so we aren't too homesick. lawl)

Well, boneswab for now!

Spencer "YOLO" Eble

ps. from carissa

ancient door

Wed, June 27th

Today was incredible! Our trip has been one adventure after another. Riding the metro has quickly become a very normal part of our day. Today we dashed off for an early start at the Eiffel Tower. Several elevators were under repair and reservations were not available.....so we decided to do what anyone that had been on their feet for several days & skipped breakfast would do.....climb the 720 steps to the 2nd Level and catch a different elevator that would take us to the top.

Notice the smiles.....we are about 40 steps into it

The 2nd Level provided a great chance to catch our breath before going for the roof.

And the top was certianly worth the effort

Of course after any trip up the Eiffel Tower (or anywhere else in France), a good cafe' and some food are in order.....sitting at a typical Paris sidewalk bistro. Watching people, laughing about our sore legs & enjoying the time together! 

On our way back to the room for some "get off our feet time", we did stop at the Arc de Triomphe for our first view of Eble history in France. Beleive it or not, our name is etched on this incredible landmark.





Resting those "barking dogs" was certianly in order. Not sure we will catch up on sleep completly until we are back home....but afternoon naps are becoming a daily occurance.

After this pass out & relax session, we climed the metro again and went to dinner in Sacr'e Coeur @ Le Coq Rico. There are a few resturants that we have visited which are a litte intimidating, but fun to experience.....menu, language, food, drinks and even water are challenges at times. This one was no exception to the above...but for the waiter. He was funny and very helpful. According to him, Le Coq Rico had the best chicken in France (whch was good to know, we supposed). We had duck, chicken, salad, vegetables, mac/cheese and of course french fries (which is a staple at most every meal except breakfast). We enjoyed a bottle of wine for dinner.....and when I say "we"...I mean all of us...again a new experience!

We finished off the night by stolling the streets of Montmarte and the church at Sacr'e Coeur, the highest place in Paris. Now this is the Paris that we always pictured and will certianly visit again before we leave. Small streets, bistros, cafe' shops, live music, art shops, artists sketching and at one point a young lady doing a solo song in front of a bistro accepella.....it was awesome to say the least.







My wife is very happy!

A very nice setting for live music and city lights

I am blessed beyond what I deserve!

-Tim

Tuesday 6/26/2012

Tuesday morning we got an early start so we could get to Notre Dame early to avoid waiting in a long line. We jumped on the metro and made our way there.

 

 


As you can see everyone was bright eyed and bushy tailed..

On our way to Notre Dome we stopped to get some croissants... I mean you can't really pass those bad boys up. They taste like heaven. Seriously Justin was not joking about how many carbs the French eat, but it is understandable because everything is freshly baked and delicious.

Notre Dome was absolutely beautiful and we were able to get there early enough so that there was not a line.  It took us about an hour to walk through the entire downstairs and take everything in. Thankfully there were some descriptions in English or else we would be in the dark because we forgot all of our other touristy description books at the hotel.  While we were walking around inside there was a Mass service going on, unfortunately it was in French so we could not understand it, but it was still crazy to be there.

After exploring the inside we got in line to go on the roof... and by we I mean my dad. (He is seriously the best, he told us to go sit in the cafe across the street and have breakfast while he waited in line.. in the rain. THE. BEST. right??) So the four of us sat in the cafe and ate omelets, crepes and drank cafe leit. 

After we refueled we got back in line with my dad and headed up to the top of Notre Dome. All I have to say is... HOT DARN. There were so many stairs, it may sound like I am exaggerating, but our legs were shaking by the time we got back to the bottom.  The view from the top was breathtaking and I was amazed that towns people were able to build such a beautiful structure without tower cranes and what not. This building made all of us want to go back and watch the hunch back of Notre Dome. (Justin even attempted to be the hunch back. lawl.) Gargoyles were also all around the building, just like in the movie, although they did not come alive. shocking I know..

Spiral stairs alllll the way to the top. Running was not a good idea.

                                  

Making our way to the top!

The view from zee top of Notre Dame.

 

Hunch back of Notre Dame. 

                       

     

GARGOYLES!! 

In front of the Notre Dame is the spot that marks the center of Paris and so naturally we took this cliche picture. whateble.

After throughly exploring Notre Dame it was time for a snack! We walked down the street and found a crepe place where my dad ordered a cinnamon sugar crepe! He asked if they had buckwheat... but he didn't know how to say it in French, so it totes wasn't buckwheat.

  

nom nom nom.

After the snack we took the metro over to some suggested shopping areas... it was ridiculous to say the least. There were literally 9 floors of just women's clothing and accessories. Also their bathrooms were "luxury bathrooms" (lol wut). Basically you have to pay 1.5 euros or more, I am not quite sure what services more euros entail, but it was quite intimidating. Justin, Spence and I were just upset because we just wanted to find a darn bathroom. We went all the way up to the 9th floor just to find out that there were not any normal bathrooms, so back down to the first floor it was.  We walked around outside for a while and saw the obelisk which is where the guillotine was in the french revolution. Talk about cray.

The toilet paper in the "luxury bathroom" was colored!

Obelisk

After shopping and exploring we were quite exhausted and our feet were "barking", but we made the "10 minute" walk back. By the time we got back to our room it was 5pm and we all passed out until 7pm. All in all it was a great day and I love the feeling of coming back to the hotel completely exausted from a full day of new experiences.



-Carissa