We arrived in Paris a couple of days before the last stage of the Tour de France, and we did this for a reason… we thought the city would be consumed by the event. Like any other big event we have been too, usually the city becomes so focused on what is happening everything else takes a back seat….not in Paris…… we did a ton the two days before the TDF!
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| The entrance to our apartment in St Germain |
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| Iconic Paris |
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| our evening walk the first night |
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| View from Pont Des Arts |
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| Love locks on the Pont des Arts… fascinating.. and in Paris very controversial.. |
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| On the Pont Neuf |
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| And no first evening could go by without a stop here.. doing Canadian in Paris.. interesting.. |
Seriously… have you ever seen a espresso machine in a Canadian pub..? It might be a good idea :)
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| The Great Canadian Pub |
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| Time in the gardens.. |
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A little shopping …and a walk through the Louvre…
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These pictures can not go without a little explanation… As you might have guessed Dwight and I like wine, ergo we like wine stores… but Dwight on the other had has learned enough about wine to really understand what he is looking at… I would use the analogy of someone who loves shoes (me!) being in a store that has Jimmy Choo, Stuart Wizman, Fluevog, Channel, Kate Spade, oh yeah and lets not forget….Christian Louboutin! Can you imagine how long it would take me to get of there……..well.. welcome to my world when Dwight finds a wine store like this one…
It was called Lavinia ( www.lavinia.fr ) It had three large.. very large.. levels, mainly French wine. What they called the Sommeliers cellar which you had to be escorted into… and we went in…bottles in there were upwards of $4000 Euro…but outside of that exclusive area you could find a selection of wine that we certainly would never see… I spent most of my time in the Champagne section… which was enormous, can you even fathom Champagne for $25.. good stuff.. we soooo need to change our import taxes!!! Another unique thing they had was a wine tasting enomatic machine set up in ever area..you use a card and sample wines they have for tasting … we even saw a Nuis St Georges… no light weight in the wine world… How civilized! There was even a small cafe where you could get any of the wines they sold at the price there sold it at and a light lunch…. Trust me.. I didn't think I would ever get him out of there…..
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| Seats, tables, Champagne.. in a wine store.. why would I leave! |
And after only being in Paris for three days I have already done so much.. and topped it off today with something that I have dreamed of doing for a long time…..I watched the Tour de France.. and wow what an expereince…..so I mentioned that the city did not shut down for the race.. well more accurately it lets the Tour take place in the city… it does this by making sure its held on a Sunday.. an absolutely do nothing day for the Parisians, it mobilizes more police for the event than I have ever seen in any city I have ever been in … including New York! And finally…..Parisians come out to watch the race…..what a wonderful thought… most events like this force the locals home, not wanting to handle the crowds.. and OMG.. there were crowds! No.. they love this event as much as the world does, they are proud to host it and they embrace the chaos that accompanies it….
it all starts with the most amazing parade I have seen…. they call it the Caravan!
How fun is this………we were set up right under the flame rouge!
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| French soap company…I like french soap…. :-) |
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Have I mentioned I love Thomas Voeckler, our new PD jersey winner!
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Finally the race comes and goes by so quickly you almost miss it… but it was wonder to see what I would call my hero's doing what they are so good at!
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| the yellow jersey! |
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| They move SO fast! |
The rest of the week has us focusing on Paris.. Champagne and Versailles .. I can't even think about going home yet!……………
till next time, happy chatting…….
