A Minnesotan In Paris

We spent three nights and two full days in Paris. We ate, drank, jumped over the metro turn-style and tried to stay dry and fashionable under our umbrellas.

We did a little exploring of the city and happened upon some pretty awesome places.

Notre Dame

The Louvre

L'Hôtel National des Invalides

The Eiffel Tower

Arc of Triumph

Avenue des Champs-Élysées

Generally I think travel stories are best in person, so I'll save those for when I see you.

But, I will write that I thought Parisians were very friendly, much more than I had heard they would be to an American traveler who doesn't speak a sentence of French. We thought that people were really nice and helpful, understanding when we were lost or confused and not at all rude when we were reduced to pointing to the menu. I think they were nice because we were traveling in January. January is the rainy, cold season in Paris and pretty much the down time for tourists. And I don't know if people were nice to us the way you don't kill the first mosquito you see in the spring, or if they were nice to us because they respected our winter traveling. Either way, Paris in January doesn't make for the best photo opportunities, but made for sites that were not nearly as crowded as they would be in the summer, open cafes and good prices. We loved it!