The World of Williams

*My book for all the flights, to and from Paris, was "City of Bones" - easy, fast, entertaining read. Thanks Ruth.

After six months- skipping on Christmas presents, birthday presents, and an anniversary weekend, having garage sales and taking bits out of every paycheck- saving started to become routine and I began to forget what I was doing it for. Arriving at the airport, I started to get really excited. That's when it hit me that we were ACTUALLY going to Paris! I was even looking forward to 12 hours (sans 2 year old) on a plane! It might sound crazy, or lazy, but I have a bladder of steel and LOVE to read, so being forced to sit next to a window with a great view and a good book is a real treat for me. There's absolutely no guilt that I'm not doing anything productive, because I can't. I'm stuck in this seat without any interruptions. I love it. (As long as there are no children with me.)My A.D.D. husband with the world's smallest bladder, on the other hand, doesn't so much share this love I have for flying.

q.w

When we landed in Paris, my aunt Heather's husband, Pierre (how appropriate) picked us up from the airport and drove us back to their gorgeous apartment, 5 floors up in a beautiful 1800's Parisian building, in the heart of Paris. I was in love with this place! I remember thinking "Paris is exactly everything you imagine it would be!" From the balcony, I could look down on people dining outside a cafe, see cats scaling the roof tops of the buildings across the street, smell fresh bread cooking in the bakery on the bottom floor. There were even guys on the side walks playing accordions and artists outside with their canvases up on easel's, painting in the little neighborhood streets.

*from the Louvre... through the Tuilerie Gardens... to the Arc du Triomphe.

We didn't waste one minute of our vacation time. The first thing we did, after dropping off our luggage, was walk from the Louvre to the Arc du Triomphe down the famous avenue called Champ Elysees. The Louvre was gorgeous (it used the be the Palace before being turned into a museum) but my favorite part of this walk was definitely the Tuileries Gardens! It reminded me of Central Park in New York, but waaay better. There were fountains, life sized marble statues, children on pony rides, a man who rented out toy sail boats for the kids to play with around the fountain, outdoor cafe's, a carousel, crepe stands, and tons of beautiful places to just sit and relax under the trees. The beautifully manicured lawns, with rows of identical trees and perfectly shaped bushes felt like something out of a Tim Burton fairy tale. I think it was my favorite place in all of Paris.

After walking down the Champs Elysees, we came to the Arc du Triomphe. We climbed a spiral stair case to the top. The view was amazing. My aunt said the view from the Arc du Triomphe is the best view in Paris. Even better than the view from the Eiffel Tower, because from the top of the Eiffel Tower you're looking down on the city of Paris, but it just looks like any other city because what you're really looking for is... the Eiffel Tower (which you can't see because you're on top of it). Plus it's a lot more crowded. But from the top of the Arc du Triomphe, you can see everything, including the Eiffel Tower (as seen in the far left photo above).

At the end of the day, I was TIRED. For dinner, we ate at a wonderful little cafe, "Alexanders" (it's my aunts favorite, and she would know the best places to go, she lives there). We happily plopped into bed as soon as the sun went down, at 10:30pm, and slept like babies. Or better yet, like parents without babies.