Ooh La La, Paris

After getting settled in our small boutique hotel and getting a good night's sleep, the four of us ( Rob, Christy, Dave and I) headed out to explore the city of Paris.  What an amazing city it is!  So spread out with buildings, statues, fountains, and gardens that are very old and massive.  We headed over to the Marais area since Rob had been to Paris three years ago and wanted to see things that he had not seen before.  Prior to that, though, we made a stop so the rest of us could see Notre Dame and to take a look at the Shakespeare  and Company Bookstore-a landmark here in Paris!  It is very old, quaint bookstore with tons of books, both new and old!  Onto the Marais area where the Revolution and the storming of the Bastille took place in 1779!  This area has some of the oldest homes in Paris and is probably the most ethnic.  There is a distinct Jewish section as well as Middle Eastern influence.  In fact for lunch, we enjoyed tabouli, stuffed grape leaves, a brick filled with meat ( actually a piece of bread!), roasted eggplant in tomato sauce and falafel.  The highlight was visiting the free Carnavalet Museum where the history of the revolution plus the rise and eventual beheading of Louis XVI was described.  On to a view of the Louvre and the pyramid within as described in The DaVinci Code, then the Tuileries Gardens.  We have been amazed at the amount of green space within Paris.  The kids treated us to dinner and then Dave and I called it a night.  Upon laying down on the bed, we saw that we had walked 26,000 steps that day!  That made up for sitting on the plane the day before!