France - Paris Tour Day 1

The next morning we met for breakfast and an informative meeting with Dave. He gave us a crash course on how to use public transportation then handed us tickets for the Metro. After a short walk to the train station we traveled on the number 4 train to Cité ( the small island that we sailed around the night before).

We walked to the church of Sainte-Chapelle learning about it's history and its gorgeous stained glass windows. This church was initially built by King Louis in 1226 to house the "Crown of Thorns".

From St. Chapelle it was on to Notre Dame - the archetectural details on the outside of this church were incredible.

Our tour officially began at 4:00pm in the hotel dining room with an orientation from our tour guide Dave and the meeting of our new tour buddies who we would be with us for the next 2 weeks. We all headed to dinner for our first time as a group - we could tell from the start that this was going to be a great group of people.

Time for lunch and a stroll through the Latin Quarter. The area gets its name from the Latin language which was the international language of learning during the Middle Ages. It's full of bookshops and literary cafés. Surprisingly to us it was also full of Greek restaurants, but being in the mood for "French" we stopped for a taste of crepes for lunch.

The view of Paris from behind the clock and through the window at the upper level of the Osray, was an added enjoyment.

After dinner it was off for a fun-filled walk in the beautiful streets of Paris after dark. We headed to the River Seine for a boat tour. Not only was the river lined with beautifully illuminated historical structures, it was lined with life and people enjoying the moment.

Karen (with Middy), a happy lady from LA who added an extra dimension of fun for everyone on our tour.

After our tour of the Orsay Museum we crossed over the Seine River to join locals and tourists alike as they let the world go by while strolling and relaxing in the Tuileries Gardens. Beautiful flowers surrounded us.

The Place de la Concorde once a center of executions during the French Revolution is now so full of life.

At the other end of the park we came across a spectacular view of both the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe and the 3300 year old Obelisk of Luxor.

Dinner at the end of another great day. Tomorrow we're off to the French countryside of Burgandy.

This incredible Rick Steves tour officially kicked off on the day after we arrived in Paris. We would spend our first two days of our tour together learning about art and of how the Renaissance influenced the artists over the centuries to come.

Dave prepared us before we entered the museum. He helped us to understand about impressionist art, who these artists were and the impact they were having at the time.

After lunch, we were off to the Musee d'Orsay to experience impressionist art.

Karen and Middy took time to sit and join the locals around the fountain in the center of the park. The gardens had ergonomic chairs where you could sit and lay back. So comfortable and relaxing.