We'll always have Paris...

Charles and I have been on a trip down memory lane this week and thought you might enjoy too!


Here I am upon arrival at Charles de Gaul -- and after a LONG flight across the pond...
We settled into our room at the Ambassador Hotel.

The next morning we started our tradition of cheesy eggs, croissants and strawberry preserves for breakfast at 16 Haussmann.

We then stared our first full day in Paris with a tour on the double decker bus -- Les Cartes Rouges. We saw most of the must-sees from the bus and hopped off at several stops to see tour the sights.

The Seine...

We hopped off at the Trocadero stop to get perfect views of the Eiffel Tower.

Charles at the Trocadero Metro stop... (notice the little white rabbit on the advertisement sign) Megan and the Eiffel Tower...

Charles and the Eiffel Tower
Then we hopped off to see the Arc de Triomphe.

Everyone stopped for the same photo op...

We climbed to the top and visited the museum...
The views from the top were spectacular...Of course, we had to ask someone to take our picture atop the Arc de Triomphe with the Eiffel Tower in the background...

Here's a picture of me standing under the arch...


We next stopped at Notre Dame...

We had to take a picture of the flying buttresses...
Notre Dame was beautiful - especially the stained glass rose window...
Charles and I enjoyed a little rest in the garden behind Notre Dame...
A picture of me in Notre Dame's garden...This is the park which is right beside the Eiffel Tower. Charles and I returned here one evening and enjoyed people watching and a delicious French pastry while gazing up at the Eiffel Tower which is beautiful lit up at night...

Us by the Seine...
We passed the Place de la Vendome...
We saw a statue of Winston Churchill...

We passed by the Latin Quarter...

And here I am at the Trocadero Metro...
We started our next day off by touring the Louvre. Here is Charles at the entrance...
This picture shows more of the enormity of the museum...
We saw many paintings and statues such as The Coronation...

Of course we waited in line to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa,

Here I am with (3) of my favorites, The Four Seasons. I have all four seasons framed and hanging in our kitchen...
Then we toured the Orsay which we both enjoyed. We saw beautiful impressionist paintings and sculptures. Here Charles and I are in the Orsay...
We also strolled through Les Jardins des Tuilleries...
Here is Charles in the garden...

And here I am in the garden with the Place de la Concorde in the background... This picture of the Place de la Concorde was taken from the tour bus...

And this one was taking as we approached the Place de la Concorde for an up close viewing... Charles got all wet standing by the fountain in the Place de la Concorde...
This marker stands where the King and Marie Antoinette were guillotined...

Charles enjoying a rest and a mille feuille along the Seine...

We started the next day off at the Bastille monument...
Then toured the Hotel des Invalides...
This is the chapel's ceiling - absolutely beautiful...

Here we are in front of Napolean's tomb...
and in front of a statue of Napolean...

We then took a boat tour of the Seine.

We saw many houseboats along the Seine...
This is the Concergie where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned...

The Louvre from the Seine... The Orsay Museum from the Siene...

A pont (bridge) across the Siene and the Eiffel Tower...

Too bad this one is blurry. It is a paddle boat named The Mississippi... I just thought that was too neat!!
We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Altitude 95 in the Eiffel Tower...

Then enjoyed an evening at the Moulin Rouge...
I had to take a picture of the famous windmill...
This mural of can-can dancers lined the entrance of the Moulin Rouge...

The next day, we toured Saint Chapelle...
I was amazed by its stained glass windows...

The lower floor was where the commoners originally worshiped and was much more plain; however, the second floor was breathtaking...
We then toured the Paris Opera House...
and saw the chandelier which inspired Phantom of the Opera...
and viewed the amazing painted ceiling by Chagall surrounding the chandelier...
We then boarded a tour bus for Giverny -- where Claude Monet's home is located.

I love this picture of Charles and me in the poppy field...

Here I am at the entrance to Claude Monet's house... A glimpse of his beautiful gardens...
Another picture of the gardens...
The gardens were extensive. Here Charles and I are in the gardens...
After touring the gardens and house, we crossed the road to view Monet's water garden which was beautiful as well.

Here is Charles and the famous water lilies...

After returning to Paris, we decided it was time to stop just looking at the Eiffel Tower... It was time to go to the top!

Here is Charles waiting in line...
And here were are atop the Eiffel Tower...

Our last day in Paris, we visited Versailles...

Charles and I in the Hall of Mirrors...
After touring the inside of the palace, we enjoyed a quick tour of the gardens. Unfortunately the fountain wasn't running in this picture...
Charles in the gardens of Versailles...

After a long day of touring, I needed a quick pick me up - a Magnum bar, and Charles just had to take my picture eating it...


Of course, I had to take a picture of him enjoying escargo!
We had a wonderful time in Paris and hopefully will be able to return one day!

Totes and Tennis

One of my Earth Day resolutions was to take a tote to the grocery store with me to reduce the amount of plastic bags we bring home. I have not been doing too well with this resolution. I always forget the tote until I am in the grocery store -- then I remember. Well, today I found these cute reusable bags at Kroger -- okay so the picture isn't uploading...once it gets back working properly, I'll insert it so that you can see the cute little totes. I was so excited to find them! I bought two and almost all of my groceries fit in them . I was pretty impressed by how much they held and even more impressed that I got home without any of my fruits, veggies and bread getting damaged or squashed! Only 3 plastic bags today - 1 for the milk and other cold things that would sweat by the time I got home, 1 for the meat (because it just needs to be in a plastic bag that you can throw away) and 1 for a couple of jars that I should have put in the bottom of the reusable bags but didn't -- I'll know next time how to load them better. Not only will these totes help me be more environmentally friendly, but also proceeds from the sale of the totes are going to breast cancer research -- even better!

After getting the groceries put away and a little rest, I gave Molly a call. She mentioned us playing tennis at Dan and Courtney's shower and called earlier today to see if I still wanted to play and told me to give her a call later this evening. We met at the park and had the best time "playing" tennis -- we really just vollied instead of playing actual matches, but that was much more fun! We both had a lot of fun. We decided that if we can walk in the morning, we'll play again one day this week!!

Celebration

Tonight Charles and I celebrated our 6th year anniversary by having a nice dinner at the Mesquite Chophouse. Delicious!!

Unfortunately we did not have any presents to unwrap though. We decided that for our present this year, we would buy each other season tickets to the Orpheum. I had thought that I would wrap one for Charles to unwrap and one for me to unwrap, but the tickets have not come in yet. This season has a great line up of shows: Avenue Q, The Pajama Game, The Drowsy Chaperon, Riverdance, Legally Blonde, the Musical, The Color Purple, Fiddler on the Roof, and Wicked!! We can't wait!! Also, as subscribers, we are given complimentary tickets to the summer movie series. It's always enjoyable watching movies, especially classic movies, on the Orpheum's screen. I've already decided that I want one of the movies we see to be The Sound of Music. Now we just have to decide which other movies to watch as well!

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 6th year anniversary. Although it seems like Charles and I have always been together, it doesn't seem that we have been married for six years! We have enjoyed a nice and relaxing anniversary. Charles told me to pick where we went for lunch, but since it is Sunday, the places were somewhat more limited than they would be otherwise. I chose On the Border, and we had a very delicious lunch of queso and fajitas. We came home just in time to watch the Cubs game -- they won!! Then as we were deciding what to do for dinner, stormy weather headed our way. We decided to stay in tonight and go out tomorrow night, so we had a nice dinner of BBQ chicken, baked beans and squash casserole and for dessert, cut up fresh peaches from the farmer's market - delicious.
All day we have been reminiscing about our wedding. Weddings have been the talk at our office this summer -- one of our assistant's daughters is getting married, one of the partner's daughters is getting married and one of the girls working in our office is getting married. We have talked about the plans for and details of their weddings, we have talked about my wedding, I have answered a few questions and taken the pictures of our wedding to show - which everyone liked. I am so grateful that Mama was on board with all of my ideas and kept letting me order what I wanted and adding a few things here and there to make it the special and meaningful day that it should be. While I know that we are just a little biased, Charles and I were so happy with everything about our wedding. Of course, we have also been thinking about how six years ago tomorrow, we would be on a plane to Paris. How nice it would be to be returning tomorrow!

Saturday Evening Parties...

Charles and I have had a lot going on this weekend. Saturday evening we went to Molly and John's for a Couple's Baby Shower for Dan and Courtney. Everything was nice, and Dan and Courtney got a lot of nice things for Baby Collins Blair. Of course, we forgot to take the camera, so we don't have any pictures to post. But we enjoyed a good cookout of hamburgers, slaw, baked beans, cheese dip and chips and delicious desserts of strawberry trifle, individual cupcakes and a big cupcake cake. We had a really nice time and were able to catch up with friends we haven't seen in a long time. Brady joined the party after a while, so I got to enjoy not only a baby shower but playing with a baby - or rather a little boy - too! Baby Blair is due right around my birthday, but at their last checkup they were told that he might be a 4th of July baby instead. We can't wait to meet him!

After staying at the Baby Shower for a couple of hours, Charles and I headed to Oxford for Matt's 30th birthday party. Happy Birthday Matt!
Even though we arrived rather late, the party was still going in full swing! Unfortunately, arriving as late as we did meant that we missed out on being able to spend a little play time with Nathan. We had a fun time though, and again caught up with a couple of friends we had not seen in a while. Matt's birthday party also made Charles and me realize that we are definitely getting old - we managed to stay until 1:00 -- WAY past our normal bedtime, and we felt the effects this morning; it took quite a bit of cold water to get my eyelids to stay opened this morning!!