Paris

We decided to go to Paris for fall break and of course we had to hit Disneyland first thing.  We couldn't wait to go and hopefully feel at home a bit.  We decided to get annual passes because they were fairly cheap and we pretty much paid for them the two days that we were there.  Now, the Disney here is very small compared to the one on Orlando.  There are only two parks and a village (similar to downtown Disney), and there is one parking lot for all of them.  We liked it because it is doable in a couple days and you don't feel so rushed to do everything, and it's only 3 hours away.  The kids had a blast and didn't complain about the rainy weather too much.  We actually lucked out with the weather I think.

DISNEY

Parade

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show....yummy chili and cornbread, just like home.

Aurora's Castle...not Cinderella here but still as pretty.

Toy Story Land was very cool and something Orlando doesn't have..

MICKEY MOUSE

I had to ride all the spinny rides because Mike gets sick, and most the time I had to argue with the park attendants to let me ride because I was obviously pregnant and couldn't hide it.

Pres finally pushed her way to the front to get an autograph.  Some characters didn't have lines so everyone just pushed until they got their turn, and people here can be very rude!

OHIO license plate on an old limo that was on display at Disney

Paris

We decided to take a tour with a company for our first time downtown.  It was a great decision.  We went to three of the main attractions in Paris and our tour guide told us about everything in English which was a plus. We even got to bypass all the lines to get into the museum and Eiffel tower.

The Louvre

Going to the Louvre-This was my favorite part of the trip.  The louvre is an amazing building that used to be a palace.  So while walking through you can tell you are walking down hallways and into old rooms.  Our guide would tell us what the room was in the past like a dance hall, bedroom, etc.  You can see the Louvre Pyramid in the background, it's very cool.

The Inverted Pyramid-marks the entrance to the Louvre and is the inverted version of the famous Louvre Pyramid that is in front of the Louvre.

The Mona Lisa was very exciting to see in person.  Preslee asked the tour guide  "Why is it so famous?" A pretty good question I think...she told us that it only became famous because it had once been stolen (even though it wasn't famous at the time)  and that caused the whole fiasco about the painting to start.  I'm sure she put it better than that, but that is basically the very short version.

This painting is huge and at first I thought it was The Last Supper, but that is in a different country.  It's The Wedding Feast at Cana....where Jesus turned the water into wine.  The place was packed so I don't know how I managed to just get Mike and the kids in the pic, oh and the little person in the back corner. :) 

Model of the first royal "Castle of the Louvre" which was down in the "basement" of the Louvre.  This part of the museum is the actual walls of the original fortress that was built in the 12 century.  

We got to ride in a boat on the Seine River to get to each destination.  It was a beautiful November day!

      
       Eiffel Tower

            Views from the Eiffel Tower

We had lunch at the tower and then tried to get to the very top but didn't succeed.  You had to buy a ticket at each level and we just didn't get it, and also Kade was a little afraid to go all the way up.

Notre Dame Cathedral

It was just beautiful!

They were even having Mass the day we were visiting...

We had a great couple of days, and I'm sure with all our visitors coming we will get to see Paris a lot!  Next up are the Pilsons!!!  So glad to have my sis and her family here for Christmas!