July and August 2016
Paris
Rick Steves Paris
Tour Events:
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Tour Orientation
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Tour of Louvre
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Group Dinner
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Walking Tour of Paris
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Sainte Chappelle
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Notre Dame
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Latin Quarter
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Paris Bus Tour
 Centuries of Architectural Innovations |  Inside Notre Dame |
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 Notre Dame Apse |  Wine barrels at Clos de Langres |
 Clos de Langres |  Burgundy Countryside |
Rick Steves
Tours do a great job highlighting the "must-see" sights of each destination. Paris was certainly no exception. Local guides bestowed their expertise as they guided our group through the Louvre, to the Eiffel Tower, and all over the city. The Paris Bus Tour provided a relaxing overview of the city while resting our legs. Just to name a few, we saw Arc de Triomphe, posh shops along Avenue Montaigne and Avenue des Champs Elysees, and we strolled Luxembourg Gardens. If we had been on our own, we would have missed all of these sights.
Public transportation was used often in this tour. Once acclimated, subways and buses are an easy, inexpensive and effective way to get around European cities. We used the Paris subway system to get to the Louvre and to the start of our Paris Walking Tour. On one of those trips, Michelle had an unexpected conversation with a local whose family lived in Nice. The woman tearfully shared personal testimony in the aftermath of the terror attack on Bastille Day. She also apologized for any Parisians who treated us (Americans) unkindly. This had a profound impact on Michelle, as their philosophies meshed seamlessly. FYI, we did not run into any Parisians who treated us us badly. Everyone
was helpful and polite.
Pei's Pyramid at the Louvre
Venus de Milo
So many people for such a small painting
Statue in the Louvre
Crown jewels in the Louvre
Painted ceiling in the Louvre
Louvre
Sainte Chappelle
Michelle's Paris
What a beautiful city...
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Doug's Paris
I am a morning person. At home, I wake up at 5:30 for work, which starts at 8:00. That habit didn’t change in Europe. I was awake and on the move early every morning. Often I would use this time to walk the neighborhoods near our hotel. I have a fascination with the inner workings of a city. I like to watch garbage men, street cleaners, delivery men..... people who make moves behind the scenes and do the work most people never see. As the city sleeps, these workers perform tasks that are essential in keeping the city running......................Doug
In Paris, I got in an hour walk each morning as Michelle was getting ready for the day. I got a good look at the Hausmann style buildings, I learned to not make eye contact with the business people, and I learned how to cross the street against the light (from those same business people). However, I took few pictures. I guess I wasn’t in the groove yet.
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In Paris, I didn’t see a whole lot of activity, but I did see one interesting thing – how Paris keeps its streets clean. At one point, I noticed a stream of water running down the street. After seeing this a number of times, I concluded that this is the way to remove dirt from the streets. And it works, for the most part, but didn’t seem to have any impact on dog doo-doo, which is very prevalent in Paris.
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Another cool feature we saw that was foreign to us from rural Pennsylvania – electric car charging stations. It was
Tour de France
EV Charging Station in Paris
The Arc de Triomphe from Avenue de Wagram
Medieval fortress foundation, Louvre
200 year old Roman fortification, Notre Dame
Michelle on Pont Saint-Louis
puzzling at first to see many of these in a row with no cars near them. It wasn’t until I saw one with a car docked that I realized what they were.
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And one last thing happened that really affected me. I also have a fascination with antiquity. It really jump starts my imagination. When we were at the Louvre, there is a section of the building where you can touch the foundation, laid in the mid-13th century. I walked through this part of the tour touching those walls and getting a little teary-eyed. Not to be outdone, Notre Dame has an archaeologic museum and in it, there are blocks of a Roman foundation laid 2,000 years ago. Getting in touch with antiquity was a theme for this trip, and it would be put in high gear in Italy.
Michelle and I also had an encounter with the Tour de France. We landed in Paris on the day the race came through town, and had considered watching it as we recover from jet lag. But that first day was a scorcher and by late afternoon, we were worn out and decided to avoid the race, get back to the hotel to eat and sleep. However, the race course had been changed a few days before we left and our path to our hotel turned into the race course as it meandered towards Champs Elysees. It was a total chance encounter, but we got an unobstructed view of the racers, and many good pictures as a result.