So much has happened since I last blogged! Let me play catch up; first, with Paris.

Our week away from the Netherlands began with Paris. Everywhere I turned my jaw dropped. I thought I'd make a quick list of things I saw and learned while roaming the streets of Paris.

1. Paris is home to some of the most (quite literally) awesome sights in the world. Here are a few that took my breath away . . .

The Eiffel Tower:

We went to the tippy top - scary, but beautiful!

Back on solid ground.

Chad and the tower at night.

The Louvre-the building itself is stunning, even without art it is a sight to see:

Miss Mona herself

Venus

It seemed like the thing to do.

Notre Dame:

The Last Five Kilometers of the Tour de France:

Palace of Luxembourg gardens:

Look at the sailboats in the pond behind me. The children laughed so sweetly as they played with their "ships".

Isn't this grand?

Yes, we ate macaroons in the park. :)

2. I do not like French food, except for: coffee (cafe au lait), croissants, beignets, crepes, fries (Belgium actually owns the rights to those yummies), baguettes, macaroons and... I think that's it. Breakfast and lunch is great. Dinners, on the other hand, not so great. Following a series of dry, poor tasting evening meals, we caved and ate Italian; something I vowed to wait to do until in Italy, but desperate times call for desperate measures. :)

3. The cigarette industry will never die as long as the French still live.

4. French women are beautiful. On the same street in the same moment you will see a woman who looks as if she's just stepped off a runway; tall, slender, sleek hair, elegant heels, long legs, and a great dress, and also one who looks as though she just rolled out of bed, threw on a dress, tied her hair up, and splattered some lipstick on. They are both gorgeous.

5. I would not survive in Paris on my current salary. Everything is just too tempting to buy, and, for the most part, comparatively too expensive.

6. Paris has a way of romancing her visitors. I want to come back and fall in love with Paris again.