Bouillon to Paris

We woke up in Bouillon and decided that it was a good idea to go for a run. It was cold but a quiet morning in Bouillon. That was probably because it was May Day, which is a holiday in all of Europe. A holiday is not the best time to be in France, but I'll get to that later. Anyway, we ran down from the hotel to the river. It was a nice run but a little tough because Bouillon is a valley...that means we had to come up the hill to the hotel to finish...ugh. Anyway, here I am with the castle in the background after the run. You can see that the weather wasn't the greatest.
After our run, we had breakfast of croissants, bread and coffee at the B&B. We played with one of the two dogs that belong to the owners (the mutt liked us, the Maltese was afraid of us). We then drove 3 hours into Paris (arrived at around 12 or 12:30). The drive was nice except that we had to stop every 50 km to pay tolls (we like the Italian and NY system of a ticket better). It was good that it was a holiday because there was no traffic in town. We drove very close to the Hotel Bonaparte, and we parked in the garage nearby. We were lucky!

The self portrait with the France sign. Ok, so it has the border at 1.5 km away, but it wasn't possible to stop at the actual border for a photo:) Stupid thing about entering France? We had to show our passports and answer some questions. Aren't they a Schengen country with open borders? Maybe they are expecting another invasion from Belgium. Aaron thinks that all the toll booths are there to slow down an invasion force. Ugh!
After we got settled, we walked to the Pantheon to buy our museum pass for the next two days. We soon found out that it was closed (as well as all the museums and churches in Paris). What a pain! Anyway, we passed through the Luxembourg Garden on the way. Here is a self portrait from that stop. The flowers were all in bloom and were really pretty!
Here is Aaron in the garden with the palace in the background.
We had a tour scheduled at 3 pm, so we walked over to the Eiffel Tower to meet up with the group. It took us forever, but we did find a sandwich shop that was open for lunch (stupid holiday...we had baguettes with meat and stuff...yum). This is me with the last of my sandwich in front of the Dome Church (don't ask me the name in French). I do know that this is where Napoleon's tomb is.
Self portrait on the way to the Eiffel Tower.
Aaron with glaces (ice cream) under the Eiffel Tower while waiting for our tour.
Our tour was with Fat Bike Tours, and we relied on our tour guide Carly to safely navigate us around the city. She assured us that since this was her "real adult job," we could trust her to not get us killed. It was fun to ride bikes around...it is a nice way to see the city. This is Aaron and I at the Dome church during the bike ride. Aaron had a spectacular fall off of his bike when dismounting for this photo. I think the lack of clipless pedals confused him.
This the the Infermerie with the Eiffel Tower in the background. It was built as a military hospital by Louis XIV. It had some interesting history during the French Revolution, but you can search for more info if you are interested. I am just lazy. I will tell you that this moat was at one time filled with sewage.
We stopped for a snack in the park near the Louvre. Here is Aaron with the flowers in the park and the Louvre in the background.
Aaron and I at the end of the tour with our cool bikes. The California Cruiser rocks!
We decided to also join the night bike tour, which was great since everything was closed! It hit a completely different set of sights, which was the reason we did it. Here is Aaron with Notre Dame in the background.
Here is the sun setting over the Seine. The crummy weather made for a beautiful sunset.
Aaron and I at the Louvre (again with the cool bikes). Photo taken by our rocking tour guide, Dave...
We ended the tour with a boat ride down the Seine. We saw a Statue of Liberty (replica but they said it was the original model), Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Museum d'Orsay, and all the other sights lit up. We also had some wine that wasn't all that spectacular, but it was fun anyway. We walked back to the hotel and got there after midnight. I guess we should have taken the train. We crashed after a long day!

May 1, 2008, Bouillon, Belgium and Paris, France