Trip Report: I Love Paris in the Springtime
 

This is a repost since I realized I failed to post it as a trip report. Or else maybe I haven't gotten many comments due to the fact that it's extremely long and boring?! |-)

Author: amarena
Date: 06/20/2005, 03:48 pm
My past two trips were in the winter, when it drizzles!

My husband (J) and I flew Delta Business Elite out of JFK a week and a half ago (he was flying on business, while I was lucky enough to be upgraded using miles.) I had a slight panic attack before we left, due to leaving our 2 little boys with my parents for the first time. I had flashbacks of my own childhood and just panicked! Once we were at the airport, I calmed down, though -- the margherita probably helped. Our flight left after 10 p.m. so I managed to get about 4 or 5 hours of sleep enroute.

To give you some background, we are in our mid-30’s (Thirty Something!), and have 2 boys (4 & 2 y.o.) and 2 dogs we adopted when we lived in Asia. J was going to Paris on business to attend the Paris Air Show, and I was lucky enough to be tagging along. I came back home on my own, since I didn’t have as much interest in the air show AND I didn’t want to wear out my parent’s welcome with the kids and dogs.

We stayed at Hotel Prince de Galles on George V, right off of Champs Elysees. Initially, we weren’t that excited about the neighborhood -- we really like the St. Germaine area, but since J was on business and we could earn mega starwood points, I only pouted for a minute. Afterall, it is Paris! We had booked a standard room and hoped for an upgrade with J’s platinum status, but no such luck with the air show going on. But actually, the room was larger than any standard room I have stayed in in Europe or in New York. It even had a foyer with an upholstered bench and coat closet. The room had a yellow toile theme; no view, except of the hotel restaurant in the courtyard; nice big marble and white porcelein bathroom; the toile theme was carried into the bathroom on the shower curtain.

I liked the hotel neighborhood fine, but it was sort of a pain to get back to in the evening after the metro closed. One evening we couldn’t get a taxi either (the lines at the stands were over a block long!) so we walked home -- it took over an hour from the St. Michel metro stop!! My feet never did forgive me. In hind sight, it would have made sense to call the hotel and have them send a cab to pick us up. Oh well, live and learn.

Ok, now if you are interested in reading a Paris trip report filled with information on the museums, monuments, concerts or operea, stop right here. Does anyone remember that wonderful Degas thread about the Perfect Left Bank Day? Well, we had several of these, but there weren’t too many museum or monument moments. So many Fodor addicts overplan and have to add-in to their itinerary moments to relax or take it all in -- well, we were quite the opposite. Only because J begged me to take a break from the trip nazi I can sometimes be. We took long walks, spent many hours sipping our cafe au lait(sometimes switching to cafe creme) or wine and basically became reacquainted with each other. It was nice to realize that we are still in love -- in the business of real life (vacation time can’t be real -- it’s too magical!) it’s easy to forget.

Soooo.... after we checked-in, we unpacked. I tried the trick many of you recommend and packed everything in ziplock bags. This really did help with the wrinkles! We freshened up and headed out for lunch. The concierge recommended Bistro l’Oliviers around the corner, so off we went. It’s a cute place -- very provencal in decor. We both had a glass of Sancerre, but every other person there was drinking red wine. I thought we would see more people drinking white wine in the summer, but this was rarely the case. The food was decent -- I had roasted lamb with ratatouille. J had grilled sea bass, but I can’t remember what it came with. In fact, I’m surprised I remember what I had, because I failed to take any notes the entire time in Paris (trying to keep J happy!!) Most of my meals there, I can only remember the appetizer but not the main course. I must have either overdid it on the wine or the first course.

After lunch we headed down Champs Elysees toward Place de la Concorde, and then we turned at Ave. Winston Churchill to head over to the left bank. Unfortunately, J’s blackberry is also a mobile phone which works in Europe. So much of our walk was interrupted by phone calls to him from NY, since it was Friday morning in NY. I managed to entertain myself by playing around with our new digital camera. I took some nice photos of Tour Eiffel from the bridge, as well as some of J working it with his clients.

Now, when I was packing, I managed to pack two pairs of really cute sandals (one was black leather with a short kitten heel -- I’ve never had a problem with it before; the other was a white Born sandal with a 3 inch wedge heel-- it seemed super comfy at home!!) and one pair of black pointy-toed pumps with a short kitten heel (these were to be my evening shoes with jeans or skirts.) I thought the black sandals would be comfortable enough to handle the walks, but after crossing over the bridge, I realized how wrong I had been. By the time we got to St. Germaine, I was beginning to limp slightly. Why hadn’t I packed my sensible comfortable but not so cute sandals? J grumbled about this a bit until I reminded him that he is usually the one with the blisters, not me! So we had to go to the Pharmacy for bandaids or some sort of blister helper. I showed the pharmacist my feet and he pointed out some packages with showed feet with pads. I took one back to him to pay for it, but he seemed upset and said something about “derriere”? I’m not sure, but that is what J heard. So the pharmacist picked something out for me -- they were little pads to put over your blisters. Sorry, I can't remember what they are called. They did help, but the sandal kept pushing them out of place when I walked.

After that disaster, we needed some refreshment. It actually was a bit cool -- high 60’s -- so we stopped for our first cafe creme of the trip. Delicious, and we decided we liked each other again, so we continued on to Cafe Bonaparte where we enjoyed a glass of Sancerre and the wonderful people-watching. There was a mime performing between Cafe Bonaparte and Cafe Flore, but he wasn’t gathering much of an audience, and we certainly weren’t willing to help him out since he wasn’t the robot mime from “EuroTrip” (yes, I know, stupid movie but we liked the mime scene!)

Oh! Nap time for the kids is apparently over, so I will have to resume later...


Author: cigalechanta
Date: 06/20/2005, 08:25 pm
Amarena, WAITING!


Author: BlueSwimmer
Date: 06/20/2005, 09:48 pm
amarena-

Topping this great report. I love the blister scene. My DH is the blister god too, which is why I always have moleskin in my purse.

Author: amarena
Date: 06/20/2005, 11:27 pm
Sorry! I'm alone this week with the kids since J is in Asia for the week, so it's been a busy day. I'm trying to type up the rest during their sleep periods, but it's really turning out to be a long report!

Who'd have thought 4 days of doing nothing in Paris would create a long trip report.


Author: amarena
Date: 06/20/2005, 11:28 pm
We continued on to Rue St. Andre des Arts to visit a vintage jewelry store I liked on our last trip. I buy a pair of earrings for my mother, a charm bracelet with musical instruments for my mother-in-law and a colorful necklace for myself. J waits for me at the Irish pub across the street since the shop is too small for more than 2 or 3 people at a time. We walk to Place St. Andres des Arts, listen to some street musicians, then go down into the metro to get back to the hotel. It takes a couple of minutes to figure out how to use the system, we buy our carnet of tickets, and succesfully navigate back to the hotel.

We had a 9 p.m. reservation at La Regalade, but we are feeling pretty tired by this point. Soooo... we opt for a nap before dinner. BIG mistake! I wake up feeling absolutely horrible. I have never really experienced jet lag before on our travels, other than a bit of fatigue and the usual getting used to a new time change. This was different. I’m also used to getting up in the night with kids. But I was a wreck. J says I’ll feel better once I get some fresh air. We take a cab over to the restaurant which only adds more injury as now I feel nauseous and tired. I also feel bad because J loves La Regalade (as do I) and he made this reservation several weeks prior. But the thought of the sausages and pate’s we enjoyed there on our last trip is making me feel even more nauseous. Poor J -- he walks into the restaurant to cancel our reservation. They didn’t seem to happy about it.

Now we want to get back to the hotel, but we can’t find a taxi stand. We find our way to a metro station and get back to Champs. E. And of course, now I feel fine. Now what? I don’t have any Zagat printouts for our neighborhood, and strangely enough, I’m craving pizza. We walk up Rue Washington to check out some local restaurants and end up at an italian restaurant. We order 2 pizzas and then split a pasta. Now I’m feeling very good, and we walk down George V to a little bar and have a drink before calling it a night.

Saturday
I wake up early, realize I’ve only slept 5 hours but who cares! I’m in Paris. I look over my notes and try to map out a plan for the day. But now I’m feeling sleepy again. Back into bed until J wakes me -- I slept another 5 hours! It’s 1 p.m. I haven’t slept past 8 a.m. in the past 5 years -- it feels WONDERFUL!!

We head down George V towards the river and see Chris Rock get out of a car in front of Hotel George V, going into the hotel. Lots of papparazzi out front. Since we had seen lots of Madagascar billboards coming into the city, we wonder if he is in Paris for the french opening of the film.

After a cafe creme, we walk across the Seine and head towards Tour Eiffel. I wanted to try to have lunch at Au Bon Acceuil, but when we get there it is closed. I look at my information on the restaurant and sure enough, it says that it is closed on Saturdays. Boy, I really am slacking off. But we don’t care -- we walk around the block to go to La Fontaine de Mars, but pass Cafe Constant on the way. Hmmm... I was interested in checking this place out. But it is now 2:30. Chef Christian is in the doorway greeting everyone. I ask him if we can take the open table outside. He frowns, looks at his watch, says ok, but we’ll have to have the plat du jour. I don’t speak French, but this was my interpretation of his words and hand motions. Ok by us! We are in Paris and the sun is shining, and I just slept for 10 hours!!

The plat du jour turns out to be rosemary roasted pork with ratatouille. Ratatouille and roasted meat seems to be my lunch theme so far. It isn’t super hot, but wow!! Is it tasty! Another glass of Sancerre and a bottle of sparkling water completes the meal. I observe a few men across the street taking a photograph of the cafe. The chef comes out of the restaurant and starts shaking his hand at them. I think he is angry with him, but then he makes the international sign for “stop” , straightens his scarf and poses! Then he waves them all over.

After the meal, and seeing how the chef enjoys being photographed, I ask him if we can get a photo with him. He face lights up, and he asks us where we are from. New York. Oh, blah, blah, blah (in French), something, something, Daniel Boulud? Now, I actually worked as a cook for Daniel Boulud 10 years ago while attending culinary school, so it felt so good to tell him this. He calls the english speaking waiter over so that we can discuss this. I don’t think it was quite clear to them that I no longer work for Chef Daniel, but oh well, I tried. It was a lot of fun talking with him, and he also treated us to a couple of glasses of a sweet white wine.

We walk towards the Rodin museum, passing through Rue Cler along the way. I buy my mother another gift here (I know how difficult my boys can be at times!!) I wish now that I had bought the same item for myself. It was a fabric bread or roll holder which was in a blue provencal fabric and it had several little pockets for the bread.

We walk through the sculpture garden which was lovely, but on the other side of the museum, they seemed to be erecting a few structures which diminished any tranquility there. Still, we enjoyed walking through the garden and I just couldn’t get over how blue the sky was. We rarely see that blue in New York.

On to Jardin du Luxembourg. It was hopping since it was Saturday afternoon. All the chess tables were occupied, and basically all chairs or benches everywhere were taken. We needed a refresher and my blistering feet needed a break so we stopped at a cafe outside the park. I should note that I had switched sandals for today, but the white pair was creating blisters in different areas from the black pair, so for the rest of the trip I had to keeping switching them to help relieve the pain. I probably should have just bought a pair of flip flops or sneakers, but I was so mad at myself for not bringing something sensible that I just couldn’t bring myself to give in. I think J didn’t push me to buy something comfortable because he knew I would be less inclined to go to museums or shopping and more inclined to spend time in the cafes.

We walked through the lobby of the Luxembourg Parc which is where I had wanted to stay. It’s nice, and really isn’t that far from the heart of things. There were a couple of cafes on the block, and it is only one block to St. Sulpice, which is where we headed next. Took a walk through; admired it. Then walked through an antiques market which was set up in the square. I love french antiques so I walked through quickly knowing it was too difficult to bring anything home. But we slowed down at the wine tasting booth on the other side. Hmmm... shall we? We are in a wine club at home, and had just had an evening tasting pinot’s, and this producer was from Bourgogne. Fun! We tasted one which was nice. Then asked to taste the producer’s favorite. He gave us a tiny taste, then said he only had one bottle left to sell. Yummy! We bought his last bottle (or so he says), and were told NOT to share it with anyone because it is too special -- only to drink it ourselves with a lovely piece of meat. Yes, that is what he told us in english. I am not trying to decipher his french. In case anyone is interested, the wine is a 1999 Pommard “Les Noizons” and cost us 59 euros which didn’t seem that bad. Who knows, we are novices.

We walked towards St. Germaine on Rue Bonaparte, did some window shopping, stopped for a beer at La Palette which was packed. Suddenly we are starving, so we walk over to Fish on Rue Seine. They are pretty full for the evening so we opt to sit at the bar for dinner. J eats here quite a bit when he is in Paris on business -- he likes that he can eat at the bar and that the servers speak english. I really enjoyed it here. We had some interesting conversations with the bartender and a diner next to me. And the food was delicious.


Author: francophile03
Date: 06/20/2005, 11:33 pm
Amarena, I loved your trip report. I'm glad you had a nice visit to Paris. My own springtime visit was drizzly and cold but that is Parisian weather!


Author: AnthonyGA
Date: 06/21/2005, 12:36 am
You can avoid blisters by wearing good walking shoes. It sounds as though you had a good time despite the blisters, so you were lucky, but I've seen lots of visitors with vacations in Paris pretty much ruined by blisters so serious that they cannot walk. Since you won't get any blisters at all by wearing the right shoes, it seems like a shame to blow a vacation on them. Mild blisters can be treated, but since Paris must be visited on foot, and since every day involves more walking, it's hard to keep mild blisters mild.


Author: Travelnut
Date: 06/21/2005, 07:48 am
Even if you wear good walking shoes you can get blisters if you wear the 'wrong' socks.
I gave up trying to get the right combination. I wear comfortable walking shoes, ie. Aerosoles or Grasshoppers, mixed-blend socks and, most important of all, sports tape over any tender spots that develop after walking the first day.
No worries about sandals or other warm-weather footwear, as we only travel in the shoulder months.

I will definitely go back to bringing a good walking shoe or sandal. I never wear sensible shoes in Manhattan so I thought I would be fine. It certainly did not ruin our vacation, but pretty shoes are not worth the pain incurred by long walks.

I had a list of jazz clubs with me which cigalechanta had posted on a thread (thank you!) We asked the bartender if he could recommend one of them to us, but he didn’t go to jazz clubs. But he passed it along to a manager who loves jazz. He recommended New Morning Club, so we hopped on the metro and headed there. We paid the cover, found some seats and enjoyed one song. This seems like a fantastic club if you are a jazz aficionado, which we are not. The musicians were very good, but we wanted more of a jazz club where there was dancing. I was imagining Audrey Hepburn dancing in the cave in Funny Face. So we got back on the metro to go back to where we started at St. Michele.

Next we tried out Caveau du Huchette. Now, this was more our speed. We had a great time watching the dancers. Luckily we didn’t embarrass ourselves by joining in -- we don’t have much to offer in the dancing department.since we came of age in the 80’s.

We also had a good time talking with the bartender. He seemed to take a liking to us (he must have a sensor for picking out the people who love bars.) He told us about coming to Paris as a teenager from Portugal -- his mother sent him there because she’d already had 2 sons recruited into the army and she didn’t want him to follow suit. He seemed to have a real love of life which is always nice to be around.

So around 2 a.m., we stumble out to go back to the hotel. Metro is closed. Taxi stand is at least a mile deep. Ugh. Do we really have to walk? I just want my pillow. An hour later I get my wish. I won’t even describe the state of my feet.


Sunday

Not feeling so good this morning due to my debauchery the evening before. You would think after yesterday’s wonderful walk through the 7th and 6th arr. we would try another neighborhood. But we thought, maybe we should go to the top of the Eiffel tower. So we head back there.

I drink massive amounts of water and manage to feel almost normal. We grab a quick lunch at a cafe by the tower, and it is the worst croque monsieur of my life. But very friendly service! Sorry, I don’t remember the name of the place -- I think it was on Ave. de la Bourdonnais between Rue de Montessuy and Rue du Gal. Camou. Fries were good, too. The cafe creme perked me up.

We walked over to the tower, snapped some photos, looked at the line, and said “next?” We could take a nice boat ride up the Seine and go see Notre Dame. Sounds good! And we head over to the Batobus. We wait in line, trying to figure out what kind of questions the women at the front of the line could possibly have to warrant over 10 minutes talking to the ticket seller. The hop on, hop off concept seems pretty easy to figure out, but who knows. So after waiting in that line, we get in the other line to wait for the boat. Waiting, waiting, waiting. No, we’re not impatient New Yorkers, really! Yea, right. We get on the boat, start heading up the river. I start feeling really bad again. The boat is going too slow, and the windows stop any breezes which would have been refreshing. We both agree, despite my aching feet, to forgo batobus and we disembark at the 1st stop, by the d’Orsay.

We enjoyed that museum on our last trip, so we pass it by and start walking toward the Notre Dame area. But I need something sweet to eat and another cafe creme to take the edge off. We stop at a cafe across from Laduree which we had frequented on our last trip when we stayed at Hotel Verneuil. I buy a caramel and a pistachio macaroon at Laduree to accompany my coffee. J doesn’t usually have a sweet tooth so he declines -- he doesn’t know what he’s missing!!

We check out some souvenir shops along the river, including one which beatchic had recommended. They have a website (www.parissouvenirs com) and you can email them to receive a discount coupon. I wanted to get the boys some souvenir’s but nothing really interested me.

more later...

amarena: I enjoyed reading your report. I have not yet experienced Paris in the springtime. It sounds like you had a lovely, relaxing vacation. As I can also feel like a trip Nazi it sounds like you overcame it (with the help of your blisters)!!
Tape, as suggested by travelnut, really helps. On my last trip, out of desperation, I used duck tape (brought by TC for other emergencies!) and it saved my feet. Of course I wasn't wearing sandals. That would be quite a footwear fashion faux pas LOL.

Then we strolled along the river, checking out the prints at all the sovenir stands -- nothing catches my eye. We walked through the Jewish Deportation Memorial on Ile. de la Cite -- interesting.

We walked over to Ile. St. Louis to get an ice cream cone, but the lines at EVERY shop were 20-30 people deep! Keep going... Strolled through the Marais which we like very much, and then back to the hotel for siesta!

We wake up and feel wonderful! It must be all the walking, water and macaroons that day!

We take a cab back over by Notre Dame in the 5th arr. to have dinner at Le Reminet. We had the concierge make a reservation there earlier that day which was good because it is a tiny restaurant. All the walk-ins were turned away.

Dinner was very yummy!! I started with a foie gras pate with bread. It was a large portion, so I thought I would only eat 1/3 or 1/2 butI couldn’t control myself and ate it all up, smeared onto the delicious bread. J had a curried mackeral first course. I had a roasted chicken for my main course -- the skin was perfectly brown and crisp. I can’t remember what J had. I do know that we liked our meals, and finished them completely.

We also drank a 73 burgandy with dinner -- I remember the year because we talked about how we were 5 when it was bottled. We skipped dessert since the zipper on my dress seemed to be a bit stressed, probably by the massive amount of foie gras.

We walked back over to Caveau du Huchette to listen to more music and watch the swing dancers. The bartender saw us enter and called us over, treating us to a drink (how much did we end up tipping him last night, anyway??) We headed down to the cave and scored a great seat since it was relatively early (11 maybe?) We stayed for about an hour, then headed back to the hotel via a taxi

As I got into the taxi, my zipper gave way -- OOPS! Luckily it was a black sundress and I had a black slip underneath, so I don’t think anyone noticed as I flew through the hotel lobby. If they did, they were nice and looked away.

Up in our room, we decide to head back out and have one final drink at George V next door. No transportation issues was the main incentive. We have a ball! As we are enjoying our kir royale (or George Fizz as they call it) and gin gimlet, Chris Rock walks by the bar. Then Ben Stiller walks into the bar. Ok, it must be for Madagascar. We end up having a funny encounter with Ben Stiller, but I just don't feel right posting it.

Then back to the hotel because sleep is calling...

Great report! Am really enjoying it! The feet/blister thing can be a killer. Happened to me in Singapore with sandals I wore all the time at home.

Judy

Yeah, I've never had a problem with blisters on previous trips, and I don't think we did any less walking on those trips. But then again, this was the first time I experienced jet lag, too. Maybe it's an age thing.

I like the idea of duck tape, gomiki. Duck tape is about the extent of our tool kit at home. It couldn't have looked any worse then the plethora of bandaids covering my feet.

I tried wearing one of the pairs of sandals today, but they still bothered me in one spot even though I've been home for a week now.

great report but GEEZ you HAVE to tell us with Ben Stiller - it's just not right to keep us hanging like that! And did you get any pix of Rock or Stiller - if so - we want to see them! :)

Charming report, Amarena. Were your kids and your dogs happy to see you or did they switch their allegiance to the grandparents?

I remember dining at Le Reminet in the Latin Quarter a few years back. Good bistro fare at very reasonable prices. That '73 Burgundy must have set you back a few hundred Euros more with your meal. It's tough to find a bottle from that vintage and if one is available it is usually from un-heralded producers and would cost at least $400 anywhere.

BTW, could the '99 Les Noizons that you purchased be a Pommard made by either Vougeraie or Joillet? Good stuff.

billy boy -- it actually cost us 26 euros!!! We thought it was a good deal, but WOW! I'll have to check the Pommard bottle.

Treesa -- it was a close call with my parents!! My mom supplied them with presents and ice cream daily! But I think they were still glad to have me home! I don't know about the dogs, but the house and yard definitely like them better. My dad fixed anything broken, and pruned all the bushes.

26 Euros for a '73 Burgundy in a restaurant in Paris?
Unbelievable.

billy boy -- the Pommard producer is Jean LECELLIER. Do you know anything about it?

I am not making it up about the bottle of burgundy. It may have been a 36 euro bottle, but it couldn't have been any more than that after looking at the cc statement. I wish I had written down the name of it -- you might know something about it.

Monday

Our last day...
Let’s go shopping!!

We start with cafe au lait at Cafe George V on Champs E., then take the metro to St. Placid. I buy the boys a pirate costume for each at a toy store on Rue St. Placide, and then buy some clothes for them at DPAM on the same street. I bought some things for them here on the last trip, and just loved the clothes. They are actually inexpensive, but cute (lots of bright colors) and hold up well.

It seemed that about 75% of the women were wearing those flouncy gypsy skirts; many of them had tulle sticking out from under the hem. J and I both liked them, so he noticed one in the window when I was shopping for the boys and pointed it out to me. I bought it in black with the tulle -- it’s cute and perfect for summer. They wore these in lots of colors but mostly, it seemed, in black, white or tan.

Then it was on to Annick Goutal for perfume. The sales woman managed to talk me into a bottle for myself, my mother and my babysitter. At least she took the tax off, since I had fulfilled some minimum amount to receive this benefit, and she filled out the paperwork for me.

We head to Cafe Flore for a late lunch. The food is just ok, but I really enjoy sitting there. Then I return to Laduree for some gifts to bring home. We stop for a cafe au lait, and are amused by a mother walking with her 5 y.o. son who is pouting -- arms crossed over his chest and lip sticking out. Now the mother has an ice cream cone, but the boy doesn’t so he probably dropped it, but the mother pays no attention to him. 5 minutes they return -- the little boy has an ice cream cone and a huge grin.

On our way to the metro, I notice 2 pirate puppets in the window of a toy store. These will make an excellent addition to the pirate costumes, so I buy them. They are adorable!!

For our last evening, we cab it to the 11 arr. for dinner at Le Villaret. The cab driver got lost on the way, and tried to explain this to us in broken english. I noticed that he had already stopped his meter. He drove around a block and asked some pedestrians for direction -- the restaurant was around the corner, but it was this tiny little street -- no wonder he had trouble! I thought it was so nice of him to turn off the meter before telling us he was lost.

At dinner we chose the tasting menu. The food and service were both very good, but I found the atmosphere a bit stale and the location seemed out of the way.

Before heading back to the hotel, we made a stop at Willie’s Wine Bar and then the Hemingway Bar at the Ritz. I didn’t want the evening or the weekend to end, so we walked back to the hotel from the Ritz along Champs Elysees.

Tuesday

I said a tearful good-bye to J who was staying on for the Air Show and took a cab back to CDG. Flight back was unremarkable except that the man next to me asked about my ipod and then asked if he could listen to it. I didn’t mind explaining how it works but it kind of grossed me out when he put my earphones in his ears. Customs was a bit of a nightmare because at least one other flight of people were ahead of us.

Thanks so much for letting me share with you, and especially thank you all for the information you provided for our fun weekend!

If you are interested in my photos, you can check them out at:
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/181821/

Topping~great photos and great report, amarena!

Thank you, Amarena! What a wonderful report. Your account really took me there, every step of the way.

Your photos are beautiful. You've got a talent for photography. Would you please tell me what camera you used? I am in the market for a new digital camera before my next trip in April.

Thanks again!

Sandykins

Your pictures are fantastic -- makes me very excited about my upcoming trip to Paris next month! I'd like to know as well -- what kind of camera did you use?

topping to save...Thanks for the great report. Can't wait to go in April on our first trip.

Thanks for the kind comments! I like taking photos, but I need a camera which does all the work -- I used a Canon PowerShot A95.