Paris

back from paris last night at 8pm....i took a hure amount of photos (800 plus!)..so i'm just gonna post a few here and then post the rest of the edited one on an offsite which i will include a link to. i'm sure some of you may have been here and know the things i'm talking about, they may be general knowledge even if you haven't been here..but i am a virgine de paris so i'm just gonna lay it all on ya. i'm not gonna do a day by day thing either, since we really packed a lot in...just some random observations...

so, what ever you heard about paris..it's not true. it's so much better!! awe inspiring. beautiful. fantastique. the weather was perfect the whole time, it never rained or got much above 80 degrees. the neighborhood we stayed in was perfect, and we chose it only because of the rate we got on the hotel. we stayed at a comfort hotel in montmartre, in the 18th arrondissment, north of the seine and the center of paris. we were on rue abesses, which was also the metro stop, a few blocks from the hotel. our hotel only cost 175€ for 3 nights! the room was tiny, but clean and convenient and we were barely there...so it was fine.
the paris subway, the metro, is a thing of beauty..quick, convenient, clean, quiet...it runs on rubber wheels. it is a large system and you can reach any part of the city on it. cost is about $2.00 a fare. after we arrived to the paris est station, via high speed tgv from karlsruhe germany ( 2 and a half hrs!), we got on the metro for the 10min ride to our hotel. we arrived about 4 or 5 in the afternoon. after checking in, we started to explore the neighborhood.
one of the famous attractions in paris, the cathedral of sacre couer, is only a short walk from the hotel..so we started walking towards it. it is on one of the highest hills in paris, and the views were some of the best in the city. montmarte is a very hilly area, also kind of bohemian, certainly not the chichi paris you may have typically seen or read about. more like a village than a city, but full of apartments...tiny, narrow cobble stone streets..there is no grid in paris, so having a good map at all times is a must. as we walked up higher through the streets, i started to take some photos, soon i realised i'd be doing that a lot. evreything is so picturesque. when we reached the cathedral, we were greeted by great views over the entire city...and a gorgeous cathedral...there were many tourists around. the first impression of paris while taking the view was the general color of the city...physically, as you look over the huge expanse of paris, you notice white..all the buildings, or at least it kind of all melds into a very bright, light hue. very few skyscrapers..all low buildings stretching for miles around. the photos wil really tell the story.

we explored all the famous attractions of paris over the next days. we did not go into any museums as the time was limited and we wanted to get a sense of the city and people. another time, i'm sure, we'll see the great paintings and art work the city contains. meanwhile the architecture, was just phenomonal. everywhere we went..literally everywhere. there wasn't a moment we were not captivated by the sheer beauty and history. again the pictures tell a far better story than i ever could.

here's a blanket statement...you can not eat a bad thing in paris. well i guess you can, but we didn't. we did not go to the epicurian temples, but small places and a lot of boulangeries and food shops. the bread and pasrty is everything you've ever heard..just incredible. it seems there is a bakery every block, and the cafes on every corner. one of the great pleasures was just sitting in a cafe on the street, people watching. the cofee was perfect everywhere...strong and delicious. there is no american coffee, all coffee is espresso or some variation of. every cup had a beautiful cap of crema, and we drank much! i usually got a double, about 4€ cup.
the bread was just awesome..we were lucky enough to have one of the best shops on our block (le grenier a´ pain, http://www.legrenierapain.com/ ), so we read, but i didn't see one mediocre bakery anywhere..and i sampled a lot.
i think i'll list some favorite things and the places we had them seperately.

we ate out at sit down restaurants only 4 times..3 for dinner and one lunch. our first night we went to a restaurant we had read about, severo ( http://www.paris-update.com/restaurants/severo.htm ), that apparently had some of the best steak frites in town. the restaurant only had 30 seats, so we called first at 8pm, and they had a few open, but would not hold them. so we took a chance and went over. it was on the other side of the city, it took about 50 minutes to get there...of course by that time there were no tables. the owner had another place down the block that he directed us to, so we ate there. i had to have the steak frites, so i ordered a steak pave´...a small cut, about three quarters inch thick, with perfect frites...gisi had a cold salmon dish that she loved.. we started with boudin noir, hot and cold with appples and a salad. the steak was perfectly seasoned and prepared rare, very flavorful...but this is not the meat we come to expect in the states. not huge slabs of well marbled beef, different but very good. of course the frites were hand cut, perfectly fried (2x?) and really excellent. dinner for 2, with bottled water was bout 60€...fairly expensive and typical. it's not cheap to eat out in paris, by any means. more on food later.

gonna go for now...some things to do this morning. i will write and post more later.