We stayed at a hotel near the Place de la Bastille, the site of the prison which was destroyed at the start of the French Revolution in 1789. This is a monument to that historic event.
Just down the street from the Bastille, I shake hands with my new best friend, Jonathan Missy. He's the manager of the encher expert le depot-vente eBay trading post store on Boulevard Beaumarchais in Paris. He was kind enough to show me his impressive operation.
It was still daylight at 10PM in early June.
Street scene on Rue St. Michel
This guy had a stripped down piano that he drove around in his little van and plopped it down on street corners to entertain for tips. He was really good.
Our restaurant in the Latin Quarter had delicious 3 course meals for 15 Euros.
A child's lost shoe in the middle of a busy square in the Marais District. Dozens of people walked past it as we sipped Cafe Au Laits at a sidewalk cafe. Only little kids in school groups noticed it.
The Gendarmerie Nationale perform some sort of review of the troops in the Place des Vosges near our hotel. Those officers are holding serious assault rifles with bayonets. We talked to a lovely lady from Provence in the south of France. She told us the Gendarmerie were a national police force and that they were more polite than the local cops.
They sure know how to put on a good show for themselves. The playing of the La Marseillaise, the French national anthem was very stirring. We don't speak French, but one word of the Chief's speech stood out, Afganistan.
There are more churches in Paris than you can shake a stick at (if that's your idea of a good time.)
The Grand Palais near the intersection of Avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Avenue du General Eisenhower.
The Petit Palais, across the street had an exhibit on the life of Yves St. Laurent. We sometimes sell YSL, so we waved when we walked past.
They were lined up to get into Louis Vuitton on the Champs-Elysees. Shoppers were admitted 10 at a time.
She wasn't really getting married, the town is crawling with models in wedding dresses doing photo shoots for brides magazines, particularly Asian ones. Notice the motorcycles. There are lots and lots and lots of motorcycles, motor scooters, 3 wheelers, even a few Harleys in traffic clogged Paris.
L'Arc de Triomphe
Grande Arche de La Defense is further up the street and is meant to be a modern interpretation of the Arc de Triomphe. It's a modernistic office complex.
The view back down the Champs
Thumb art
Back in the tourist district, the Eiffel Tower.
Tourist having his photo taken with the Tower in the background.
I'm not sure, but I think this is an early French version of "The Jersey Shore" TV show. That must be Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino on the left center.
Janet marvels at the sights of Paris.
We traveled by train to Normandy. This is Omaha Beach, site of the D-Day invasion of France in 1944.
Graves of fallen American Soldiers.
Rouen, the largest city in Normandy.
The view from our room of the Hotel Sisley in Rouen, the Gaugin Room
Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on this spot at the age of 19 in 1431. She is the national hero of France for her fight against England.
The impressionist artists are big in Normandy, even in this chocolate shop.
This Clock in Rouen has only an hour hand. When this clock was installed in the 1600s, knowing the hour was good enough. The semi-circle near the bottom tells of the phases of the moon, which was far more important to the farming economy of the era.
On our way back to Paris, we stopped at Giverny, where Monet had a studio.
Johnny and Janet in Monet's poppy field
Flowers in Giverny
The most beautiful lady in Paris descends a staircase at a hotel near the Gare du Nord (North Side Train Station) in Paris
The traffic outside Gare du Nord. Notice the dozens of parked motorcycles.
On final approach to O'Hare after a 9 hour Air France flight from Charles DeGaulle Airport in Paris.
Paris is great. It's the most beautiful city in the world (sorry, Venice). The French are very hospitable if you try to speak the language. Carry a phrase book with you. Even if you butcher the pronunciation, you'll get points for trying.
Au Revoir, Johnny
