It's a wrap!

We've made our last trip to the Eiffel Tower:



Traveled on our last metro:


Seen the last item on our "must see" list - Chartres Cathedral:



And packed our bags:


It's a wrap! Time to come home ...

A Blog Post by Ella

I love everyone a lot, and I miss you. But luckily we're going home soon. Here's what we did in Paris. We did lots of fun stuff.

So this is the Eiffel Tower.
And every positive time I rhyme,
It's only Paris in my mind.

This is a building, so don't be wrong.
I'm in Paris having fun.
Then I'm done,
Because I'm running out of time

This is a park. All of done. It's fun and green, so I'm having fun there.

Mona Lisa is the specialist one in the world. I don't know why she frowns.

I just don't know, but if you've traveled all the world you can tell me
as quick as you can when I'm home.

Note: Ella drew these pictures a few weeks ago (with some help on the Eiffel Tower drawing). They are for a scrapbook she is making for school. Each one says "Paris," but the camera shows it in reverse. Don't ask me what she's trying to say in the descriptions. Just thought I'd share 2-months in Paris through the eyes of a 5-year-old.

Tour de France

This is cyclist Lance Armstrong:

They drink champagne shortly before they get into Paris.
(Not my photo)

Here's cyclist Lance Armstrong approaching my Paris apartment:

He's one of the blue and yellow guys out front.
(This clearly is my photo - no telephoto lens)

Here' is the rest of the pack under my window.
Can you believe how close they ride?

So people stood in my neighborhood for hours to watch them go by in a split second. We were really lucky to be able to watch the race on TV and just duck our heads out the window when the time came.

But about an hour before they arrived, we did get some bonus entertainment. The sponsors have a parade as they make their way down to the finish line at the Champs Elysees. I really enjoyed it. Ella watched for a few minutes before saying, "Call me when the bicycles come." Eric enjoyed it a few more minutes before heading back to his computer.

Here are some parade highlights:

Lots of bicycle-themed floats. Go figure ...

Party truck with girls dancing to Lady GaGa.
There were a lot more of these in the AIDS/Gay Pride parade,
and the girls were dressed better. Only a couple in this parade.


A little slice of Chocolate City USA with
a cup of Nestles Hot Cocoa


Water babe squirting the crowd