Paris!

Hello all,

So, there have been some exciting new updates since our last post; primarily that we found a place to live! It is a Mews house, meaning it is a little, townhome-like place on a back alley. But, it has 2 floors (our first!) and no carpet in the bathrooms so we consider it a huge success. Plus, it is quite cute with the character that you want when you are living in London :o)

After finding our place we quickly packed our bags and left London - for Paris. We had a full 3 days of touring since we took an early (5am!!) eurorail trip. We began with Versailles - the palace built by Louis XIV and lived in until Louis XVI was dragged out of it to the guillotine. It is enormous with beautiful gardens around the back and 2 man made lakes! Then we took the Rick Steves historical tour of Paris via our ipod and saw Notre Dame, the pont Neuf, the latin quarter and many other areas that are part of the most historical section of Paris. That night we ate at a great French bistro near our hotel, Cafe du Marche and then walked over to see the Eiffel tower, beautifully lit for the evening.

The next day we got up early and headed to Montmarte where we saw the beautiful Sacre Coeur cathedral and wandered around the artist district. Then we headed to the Arc de Triomphe and wandered down the Champs de Elysees (and checked out the Davis Polk and Wardwell office at #121!). We ended in the Tuileries gardens where we had lunch at a small cafe and then headed over to the Museo de Orsay. Here we met up with an old friend of mine, Flore, and her fiancee, Guillaume and toured the museum. It is an amazing collection of Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism artwork including all the masters; Monet, Manet, Degas, Van Gogh and tons more. It was incredible! After, the 4 of us grabbed some coffees at a cafe and then headed over to the Eiffel tower. Guillaume and Shane had never been to the top of the tower so the 4 of us hopped in line and rode to the very top. The views were amazing but we didn't have much time to enjoy them since we had dinner reservations. Dinner was at a classic French bistro and Flore and Guillaume had to translate the menu for us. The food was delicious and we tried several French classics including charcuterie sausages, pureed aubergines (eggplant) and boudin (it tastes better than it sounds).

The next morning we headed to the Louve. It was the first sunday of the month so it was free, but therefore quite crowded. Regardless, we were still able to see the amazing pieces of art that it holds; Venus de Milo, parts of the parthenon, artwork by Leondardo da Vinci, sculptures by Michelangelo and much more. After a beautiful morning of art we headed to Marais to wander through French shops and have our last delicious French meal.

We are now back in London. Shane is hard at work and I am keeping myself busy getting our lives in order and learning London. We miss you all and love your comments and emails - please keep them coming! You can see our Paris pictures on my facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2171744&id=1308511&ref=nf Let me know if you want me to send them to you. Pictures of the new place are above.
Love you all,
Sarah and Shane