Greetings from Paris!

We are in Paris!  It's awesome!  So far it's living up to the high expectations I've had for this city for many years now. As a teen I became interested in French culture.  My room at my mom's house is still decorated in the French posters I put up...my mom has yet to change my old room.

We left London around mid-day.  Before leaving we had our first traditional English breakfast since arriving.  We haven't been getting up early enough for breakfast.  The food was typical items available in the States but done in a very English way.  Every bite was yummy.  Brad had pancakes and I had eggs benedict.  We shared both!

The train was good.  I fell asleep though and missed going through the English Channel.  Maybe on the return trip back to England I can stay awake!  Lol!  There's something about a high speed train rocking you back and forth at times that makes a person want to snooze!

Oh wait I must tell the "train story".  We had assigned seats we chose when I first booked our trip.  A window seat and the one next to the window seat.  We boarded the train.  I grabbed the window seat as I was in front of Brad when we boarded.  I glanced up at him to notice a slightly curious look on his face.  I didn't think much of it.  A few minutes later it hit me....he loves window seats....how rude of me to take the window seat.  I quickly asked him if he wants the window seat.  He couldn't resist in a very kind way of admitting he was wondering why I sat down in the window seat after knowing how much he likes window seats.  The look on his face during this conversation was one of a kid's face on Christmas day....a happy/excited/eager look.  I gladly switched seats as we casually laughed about how funny he is concerning window seats.  LOL!  Man, he's a cutie!

Once arriving to Paris we took a taxi to our hotel.  Our Paris hotel room is nice.  Some similarities to the London hotel.  We have amazing windows that help give the room a very good feeling.  No view of the Eiffel Tower, but still a very typical "French" feel. I'll explain more about the hotel room maybe tomorrow.

After settling in it was soon time to venture out for dinner.  We decided to walk in the direction of the Eiffel Tower.  After being in awe of the height of the Eiffel Tower we went to dinner.  It was a must for me to dine on a special sandwich I knew the French invented. Brad followed suit by getting  a similar version of the sandwich I got. We then shared them both.  We of course had the national side dish of fries...called frites here. The sandwiches are called Croquet Madame and Croquet Monsieur.  Both are toasted ham sandwiches with a thick layer of cheese broiled on top.  However the Croquet Madame also comes with a fried egg on top.  The Croquet Madame was Brad's fave!  The fries were a bit more simpler than ours back home. Brad and I are realizing on this honeymoon, Americans season things to death!

After dinner we walked over to view a particular palace.  My husband was a good sport in wanting to search out this old palace I was interested in. Once we found the palace we found a bunch of other stuff.  We just kept walking and walking.  Soon we were going right down the most famous street in France, Champs-Élysees.  It was awesome!  We loved every moment of it!  We were capturing photo after photo of the sights as we both agreed Paris is better than London. London was quite packed together, the buildings and the people. Paris is more spread out with a much more casual "take your time" vibe.  London was seriously fast-paced! We liked London but so far we are really enjoying the relaxed and romantic atmosphere of Paris. I see what the fuss is about...there is something about this city that is quite unique!

Our dinner!

Institution Nationale des Invalides, which houses Napoleon's grave.

The Grand Palace

The Petite Palace, located across the street from the Grand Palace.

We visited a car store.

Pic 2 from the car store.

Tomorrow we shall go explore the Louvre.  Hopefully we can fit in the Gardens of Luxembourg too.  Unsure how long going through the Louvre will last.  It's the largest museum in the world.  I think we'll do our best to go back towards the Eiffel tomorrow as well and this time go inside it. I'm definitely excited to spend time here! To finally be here is amazing!  I did express to Brad a few months ago that I was concerned about coming to Paris because I was worried it would never live up to the hype.  So far so good! 

Guess what?....my little boys....we saw a French pug!  Yep, we were walking towards the Eiffel Tower and a pug was out for a walk with his owner.  The pug is the type of dog the French royal family chose time and again as their companions.  That isn't why I first got my Cody-man, it's just a strange coincidence.