Paris

It's absolutely as beautiful as everyone says it is. Especially in the springtime, with early summer weather, no rain, not a cloud in the sky and being on spring break. It was absolutely idyllic. I stepped out of the Paris subway, and lo and behold, I felt like I was in a wonderland of beauty. The buildings, the sanity of the way things worked, the people carrying bread under their arms. I was definitely now in Northern Europe.

Eleni and I agreed to meet in Paris right at the end of her month stay. Somehow, I managed to land in the 4th as did she and we were staying only a few blocks away from each other in the Marais. Here's the view from her tiny, but amazing top floor corner apartment.

Eleni looking out from one of her two decks.

This was pretty much the theme of my visit to Paris. Find a beautiful place to sit down, catch some sun, some naptime. Here I am in Luxembourg Gardens right after having run into Anderson Cooper. Yeah, that one.

Just walking the Left Bank, I was taken back by this dome, known as Invalides. Turned out that it has a great museum of military history and a exhibition on the role of France in WWII which was fascinating. But, the highlight is Napoleon's tomb. I came back to see the exhibition and tomb on the night Invalides is open until 9PM and had the place all to myself. It was me and the little general sharing a moment.

Paris is one amazingly well planned park. It's like a big green space with beautiful buildings lining the parks. Eiffel Tower, enough said. Didn't go up however.

But I did "kiss" it....

I've heard about the Pompidou center, always wondering why it was such a big deal. Having now seen it in juxtaposition with everything else in Paris, I get why it's so "out of whack". I went up for a view from the top partially to pay homage to Richard Rodgers with whom I had lunch last summer.

Out of town, at the end of subway line is where Paris built the Grande Defense. This area is where major businesses are located. I love this building.

More sitting and enjoying the sun and people watching.

The Arc de Triomphe and the Grande Defense are at ends points of a long boulevard and "dialogue with each other", although it turns out the Grande Defense is slightly angled due to construction issues. Again, didn't go into the Arc, but was FASCINATED by how drivers negotiated driving in and out of the circle. With 12 boulevards coming off the circle, it was amazing.

It's a female leading a bunch of males.....

More cafe time along the Champs Elysees

Here's the famed Notre Dame, but I prefer the rear of these gothic churches....

Cafe time with Yalie, who is finishing up a masters in French, doing her thesis on French rap....

Cafe time on Rue Cler

An awesome picture of Yalie and I just hanging out on a bench in a park in Paris. As you can gather, the weather was great and I spent lots of time just hanging out in cafes and parks, getting tan. Very Parisian!