On to Ireland

After two wonderful days in Paris we packed up and headed for the airport. But packing up was no small feat. We were flying RYANAIR, an airline based out of Dublin, Ireland with great prices and availability. Only one problem... each bag could only way 15 kilograms (33 pounds)-- and they were strict about it... AND each person could carry on only one thing. During our last moments in Paris the night before we tried looking for a store that sold backpacks or duffel bags to no avail. Finally we came across the GAP and thanks to Jared got ourselves five large GAP bags. Back at the hotel we packed and weighted (using a scale that was in Doug and Missy's room), rearranged, weighed again and put all of our extra stuff in our GAP carry on's. At the airport we waited with nervous anticipation to see who's bags would be overweight and with each bag weighed we'd shout it out to the group. Chris and I didn't do so bad thanks to one of us being a light packer. Me! (Chris always way overpacks.) Once checked in we all breathed a sigh of relief .

No sooner had we checked in and walked down the hall when Brian's GAP bag ripped and everything fell out. (You can tell from the last picture that it was pretty maxed out.) Now he was carrying his bag from the bottom and ended up handed out jeans and pants for everyone to stuff into their bags. The whole luggage thing was pretty funny.

By the time we got to our hotel downtown Dublin we were tired. After going to bed at 1:00am, we woke up at 5:30 to take the taxi to the bus, the bus to the airport, the plane to Dublin, and the bus to our hotel. I guess some of that time we could have slept but where there are 10 friends together there's always something to talk about, stories to tell, and things to laugh about. Even the travel part of this week was good times.

Some of us, I included, opted for a quick nap on our super soft luxurious Marriott beds. Chris Jared and Brian immediately took off to explore the city and came back to pick everyone up two hours later. "Dublin is awesome"... Chris explained when he got back... and he was right.

We saw colored doors wherever we went. So cute. The downtown streets were really neat. The buildings were old but kept up, flowers hung from baskets and second story windows and the streets were so clean. There was great shopping in Dublin. We walked aimlessly down several streets, popping into stores, walking by small castles and old Churches. It was quaint, yet lively and bustling with people.



(just look at all these flowers!)

(The Christ Church Cathedral of Dublin where we stopped to sit on the grass and relax for a while)
(The guys with a small Dublin castle)

(Brian and Chris being guards)


(Missy introduced us to a fun new store... LUSH. Homemade soaps and cosmetics. The company was started in England in 1994 and now they have stores all over the world and tons in the US but I'd never heard of them before. It was fun to try a few things and pick out some souvenirs.)

At about 4:00 we headed over to the Citi Bar and Venue for some food. We were escorted upstairs where we were served our dinner in a cozy family room with leather couches and coffee tables. Chris and Jared got Bangers and Mash and loved it. We were so comfy we stayed for another hour just chatting. It was so relaxing. Living rooms full of leather couches would never work in the US. People are just in too much of a hurry... but in Dublin it's just what you do. Hang out in the pub and socialize, and to get the full Ireland experience, that's just what we did.

After dinner we wandered around the city some more. Unlike London and Paris, Dublin doesn't have an underground transportation system, and with our hotel right in the heart of downtown we just walked everywhere and it was great.



At 7:30 we headed to the theater for Riverdance. It was the absolute perfect thing to see in Ireland! We were third row and we loved it. My favorite part was when two black 'from the hood' tap dancers came out and had a dance off with some of the male Riverdancers. So funny... especially when they mimicked each others dance style. They all were such amazing dancers. After the show we tried to reenact our favorite dance moves on the cobblestone outside... but it wasn't pretty. It was a great day.

A Perfect Day in Paris... (mostly)

The next morning, after french pastries for breakfast, we took the train out to Versailles, a suburb of Paris, to tour the Château de Versailles... the grand palace of King Louis XIV. It was massive and ostentatious... especially the King's Room which was laced in gold. We spent the morning walking through room after room and looking out over the gardens. Just beautiful. We loved it.

(view of the palace, gardens and countryside)

(is that a golden gate or what?)

(remember the 'Sasha pose'? This is our one and only from this trip. Not bad for their first try!)

(one of MANY hallways)

(the ballroom)

(the King's room)

(the Queen's room)

On our way out we bought Magnun Bars... chocolate ice cream bars, and ate them on the way back to the train.


Once back in the city we headed for the Sewer Tour. Yep, you got it, a tour of the underground sewer system of Paris. Doug was excited to do it and after telling us he didn't think it smelt, we finally decided to join him.What were we thinking? As soon as we went down the first flight of stairs we realized, "of course it smelt. It smelt bad!" We tried hard to not breathe through our noses while we walked through the cave-like tunnels but we couldn't help it since we were busy laughing, gagging, and screaming (when we saw THREE rats). The funniest part is that they had restrooms down there, (yuck) and a gift shop. A GIFT SHOP? So you could buy cute stuffed rats 100 feet from the real rats? After fifteen minutes Terri and I
bolted for the exit. I think once you've smelt one tunnel you've smelt them all. Jared and Geneva were not far behind us. We were so relieved to be above ground smelling fresh air again... until we realized the sewer stench was still in our
hair. Lovely. As awful as it sounds we sure laughed a lot. Definitely something we'll talk about for years.(Doug laughing at Terri as her eyes water and she starts gagging.)

We walked several blocks towards the Eiffel Tower leaving the sewer smell behind us and decided it was time for another snack. The crepes shack across from the Eiffel Tower is suposed to be have some of the best crepes in France and they didn't disappoint. We got a chocolate crepe and more frites and hung out on a stone wall along the river with the Eiffel Tower in front of us. With satisfied appetities (for the time being) we got on the Metro for a few stops and then began the long uphill walk to the Sacred Heart Cathedral. The stairs were many but with each step you could turn around and see more of the city... and it was beautiful. The streets we passed were narrow and curvy with tall buildings on both sides. Once at the top we found ourselves in the middle of a hundred artists sitting by easles ready to do our portrait and painters working on paintings of French landscapes and iconic monuments. It was neat... exactly what I thought Paris would be like. Around them were cafes, vendors with carts and musicians singing at the corner. I got lost in the atmosphere.

(streets of Paris)

(courtyard of artists on the summit of Montmartre butte)

We walked around the corner to find the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur (or Sacred Heart... a huge cathedral sitting on the highest point of Paris. The view was open and wonderful. We took a quick tour of the cathedral and then paid the extra 5 euros to climb the 300 narrow curly stairs to the top for an even more incredible view. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. The city of Paris extended as far as I could see from every direction.

( Basilique du Sacré-Cœur)

(view of the bottom of the cathedral and city of Paris)



Once we hooked up with Geneva, who opted not to climb the stairs since she's pregnant (and who had already climbed enough stairs today) we walked through the upper streets and found another place to eat. Troy ate escargot. Chris had some too. I had French onion soup. Then we walked down the stairs, stopped to listen to a band play and slowly made our way to the Metro.

I had to take a picture of this bus coming through. We got used to moving to the side for cars but even our feet had to be off the cobblestone for this one. We decided to take a picture here... we loved this street. The boys stood in the middle of the road to take the pictures. Cars stopped to wait till we were done. Everyone was so nice. Apparently on these streets cameras have the right of way. We were exhausted on the Metro but we decided to make one more 'quick' stop to see The Arc de Triomphe... a massive Triumphal arch in the middle of Star Square that honors those who fought during the Napoleonic Wars. Our 'museum pass' covered a ride up so we extended our 'quick' stop to enjoy the views from the top. I'm so glad we did!

(the Arc de Triomphe) (view of the Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc de Triomphe)

(From the top of the Arc the streets fan out in all directions. The main street is the Avenue des Champs-Élysées... the most prestigious and broadest avenues in Paris and one of the most famous streets in the world. The Tour de France ends on this street. With rents as high as $1.50 million a year for 1000 square feet of space, it remains the most expensive strip of real estate in Europe.)

REALLY exhausted and unable to find a gelato shop we wandered back to the Metro and made our way home. A perfect day in Paris.

Nous sommes à Paris!

Translation... "We're in Paris!"

We got to the train station at 10:00 ready to take the Chunnel to Paris. We laughed and talked so loud that people sitting around us got up and moved. It was dark for awhile as we went under the English channel but when we came back up we enjoyed the most beautiful views of the French countryside. Green green hills, little towns with perfect little churches. It was amazing.


When we got to Paris we took the Metro close to our hotel and sent the boys the rest of the way by taxi while we sat in a cafe and had a 'much too strong' brie sandwich awaiting their return. Once they were back we headed straight for the Louvre. It was here that I started saying... "We're in Paris!" about every ten minutes. I couldn't get over how amazing it was... here we are standing in front of the Louvre in Paris! With only an hour till it closed we ran in and made our way straight for Mona Lisa. The crowds were especially full around this work of art so we stood to the side for our girl shot. We wandered through a few hallways. More than the actual paintings, I was impressed by the building itself. Beautiful architecture, archways, staircases, intricate ceilings. It really was remarkable. Next we photographed the 'Winged Victory' (one of the most celebrated statues in the world). We are a little blurry here but the statue is crystal clear. After we 'celebrated' for a minute or two they started ushering us out and we enjoyed a few more exhibits as we left.

(downtown Paris building)

(Chris and I in front of the Louvre)

(Inside ceiling of the Louvre)

(Lisa, Terri, Missy, Geneva, Stefani ... and Mona Lisa)

(In front of the Winged Victory Statue)

(view from inside the Louvre)

(view of the courtyard from inside the Louvre)

Out in the courtyard we walked to the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, an archway directly across from the Louvre and aligned perfectly with the Arc de Triomphe a mile or so away.
After clicking our cameras a few more times we headed to Notre Dame... "We're in Paris!" I said again. The 700 year old cathedral was full and Mass had already started but we were still able to walk down the side isle and take pictures of the beautiful gothic details. Even confession was open. We offered to wait for Doug but we were short on time and the line looked long.

(Notre Dame Cathedral)

(pictures of inside Notre Dame)

(outside along the wall of Notre Dame's entrance)


(along the Siene River)

The streets were amazing. The old old buildings, the cobble stone streets, the hanging flowers, the cafe's, the views of the Seine River... "We're in Paris!" We wandered down a narrow street full of cheese shops, quaint little stores, gelato shops (still mad we didn't make it back there!), pastry shops, markets, flower shops and cafes. We jumped to the side when a car came through, but mostly we walked in the middle of the cobblestone road. Aside from looking up to see a man in tight speedo underwear staring out the window, I'd say this little street was perfect.

"Table for ten please" meant that we couldn't eat outside on the tiny round tables outside the cafe. They found room for us in the back and totally thirsty we all ordered Sprites and Cokes -- to the tune of 4 euros each... that's $8.00 for one little bottle of Coke and another $8.00 for my half glass of Sprite. It was funny that later on in the trip if we found a drink for only 2 euros we thought that was a good deal. We ate 'frites'... FRENCH fries of course, and they were delicious. Chris and I shared a Creme brulee... one of our favorite deserts, and it seemed only fitting to eat one here.

(The Siene River at dusk)

We made it to the Eiffel Tower as it was getting dark. It was all lit up in blue lights with the circle of stars to show that France is the current leader of the EU... European Union. "We're in Paris -- and I'm standing by the Eiffel Tower!" I whispered to Chris for the hundredth time. We took pictures and then walked to the base but tours to the top weren't available. We made a pyramid, took group pictures, and enjoyed the sparkling lights and then took the Metro and a crowded bus back to our hotel. Another fabulous Marriott.