Across the Pond: 2014 Eid Holiday

Although we had a rough start to our Eid holiday with our car breaking down and such, we were anxious for our travels ahead to France. It was a bit of a rough start in France, as after we took 3 flights (we try to maximize our dollar ;) ), we then took the public transit to our hotel. Unfortunately, we had trouble finding our hotel and found ourselves asking local French women for help. Any stereotype we had prior to this trip about the French immediately changed, as the women we asked not only called our hotel using their phone to see where the hotel was, but one of them also walked us back to her place to get her car to take us there herself. She was extremely sweet, and although there was quite a language barrier, we did our best to communicate how much we appreciated her help.

The weather in Paris was quite cold, but this was our nicest day by far. It truly felt like Fall, as it was sunny and in the 60s with the leaves changing colors. We started our day in Versailles the typical American way, Starbucks Pumpkin Latte with McDonalds English muffin sandwich.

In front of the Palace of Versailles

We enjoyed the audio tour learning about the Palace and all who lived in it before.

The Room of mirrors where the Versailles Treaty was signed at the end of WWI

Water fountain show

After spending a couple of hours inside touring the main palace, we spent several hours in the afternoon walking the grounds (gardens+various other buildings).

Angelina's was recommended to us by several people before coming to Paris, and we quickly discovered why...it was delicious! I wouldn't recommend the hot chocolate, as it was too rich for even me, but the dessert was delicious! Angelina's Cafe was founded in 1903, and have definitely perfected their recipes over the years.

Mongolian BBQ Dinner

Waiting in line to get into the Musee D' Orsay, as it was free Sunday for most of the museums and Paris. Mark and I are not art enthusiasts, but wanted to check out this museum based on a recommendation of a friend. We saw many works from several well known artists.

The original love lock bridge...this has become quite the trend worldwide.

Notre Dame of Paris

Humpback...

Mom, I saw these and it made me think of you. These would be cute at the cabin.

Fat Tire Bike Tour de Paris - beginning 1 of 2 bike tours for the day...yes, we are a bit hardcore. :) We first went on an afternoon bike tour, immediately followed by the night bike tour. 8 hours of biking=great times in Paris.

One cool aspect of the night tour was that it ended with a night cruise alone the Seine River.

It was a chilly night on the bike tour, as we were not as prepared for the cooler temps in Paris.

Went to a local pub recommended by our tour guide with friends from the group, who also went on both the afternoon+night tour.

Love Wall- love was written in numerous languages all over the wall.

Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris

Making dinner in our hotel/apartment...nice way to save some money, but was a bit interesting to make tortellini in a skillet.

Views from the Eiffel Tower - definitely worth going to the top!

less than half way up the Eiffel Tower

Paris Statue of Liberty

A great way to spend our afternoon...drinking some wine, having cheese+crackers, and enjoying the views of the Eiffel Tower.

Indiana Cafe' - had to snag a photo...

I love Mark's face/yawn in this picture...this was a great vacation, but we were on the go most of the time.

Enjoying free glasses of wine, because we snagged a coupon from the bike tour company.

Recommended restaurant...the food was pretty good and reasonably priced, but it wasn't hot.

Mark is enjoying Paris' best ice cream, while I'm trying their macaroon's - - not a huge fan of macaroons, probably wouldn't enjoyed the ice cream more, but it was quite chilly outside.