I'm alive

I didn't die. I just lost that blogging feeling...all summer. Sorry.

To be honest, I had a mental block. In my organized mind, the next post I needed to write was continuation of our European vacation (which happened in MAY!?!? where did the time go?). Problem was, I couldn't blog about our vacation until I loaded, corrected, and sorted our hundreds of photos. Therefore, I couldn't blog period. I know it makes no sense, but has that ever happened to you? You can't start one project until you finish another, and a horrible domino effect ensues.

Well, I'm happy to report that I have sorted my photos and can now share with you the last half of our vacation.

Stuart and I were really excited to visit Paris. The first time I had the chance to visit, I immediately knew it was a place that I wanted to return. Stuart's brother had served a mission in France and that combined with his study of music and art made him extremely excited to see the city.

Arriving in Paris was fantastic. There is nothing like Paris' architecture. The ambiance is romantic, and history oozes. The first night we sprinted down to the Eiffel Tower with Camille and Russ. It was a perfect welcome.

French sisters in France.

LIGHTS!

Smooching at the Tower.

We started off the next day with rain...rain...and more rain. But isn't that appropriate for Paris? We found a bakery close to our flat - it was divine. We practiced some French, and ate a lot of pastries. Donning our raincoats, we made our way to the beautiful Notre Dame.

The saints at Notre Dame

The nave of Notre Dame. Beautiful.

The rosary window. Need I say more?

Stu and the flying buttresses.

After hitting the Notre Dame, we walked through the Latin Quarter for a Croque Monsieur (French grilled cheese), bought some fancy shoes for Stuart, and arrived at the Musee d' Orsay. The one disappointment of Paris were the crowds. We were only one of thousands and thousands of tourists trying to see everything. There was an hour long line at the Musee d'Orsay. We waited in the rain, because that's what you do when Van Goghs and Degas are on the line.

A funny french moment occurred just as we finally got to the front of the line. Stuart was carrying our backpack. At the front of the line, the French museum "bouncer" (for lack of a better word) announces that we cannot get into the museum today because we have a backpack and the cloak room workers are on strike. I look at him flabbergasted. We stood in line, in the rain, for over an hour, and you tell us NOW? I was frustrated, to say the least.

Feeling rushed by all the other anxious and soaking wet tourists behind us, I quickly ran into the museum without Stuart. Once I got in, I see women walking around with shoulder bags bigger than Stu's backpack. You've got to be kidding me.

So, I run outside, grab a reusable bag I had packed in the backpack, and threw the backpack in the shoulder bag. I put the bag on my shoulder, went back to the guard and said, "we got rid of our backpack, can we go in now?" He let us in. Same bag, different orientation.

Makes absolutely no sense, but we got in none-the-less. France is weird like that.

Stuart sitting on the steps of the Musee d'Orsay. Tired, but loving it (don't be fooled by the look on his face...okay, maybe I loved it a bit more than him).

Also, this picture documents the shear exhaustion of running around Europe for a week . It's

amazing, but sometimes, you just got to sit on some stairs. Let's just say that Stu was a good sport to keep up with my insane tourist pace - I realize I'm a bit of an "energizer bunny" tourist. I am my father's daughter.

We walked across the street for a snack at the Louvre of course.

Louvre in the Paris grey.

Eating some cheese in the Louvre.

After the Louvre, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe. The view was awesome. You can really see the circular organization to the city. Every street forking out from the arc like a bicycle spoke. I thank the grey skies for these beautiful shots.

On the Arc.

Paris.

Stay tuned for Paris Day 2 - my favorite day of the entire trip. For reals.