The Whirlwind Week That Was.

Hello from Paris! I don't even know how to begin describing the past week. First, miraculously, my passport arrived at the Southampton DHL last Wednesday morning at 8.28am (thanks for the prayers). We arrived at the ferry landing just in time to check in -- many thanks to dear Mr. Wall for getting us safely on the boat and Mrs. Wall for packing an excellent lunch on the assumption that we'd make it! The ride across the English Channel was stunning. White cliffs, wind, blue water... oh yes, and a passport in my pocket. We arrived in the little port of Dieppe, hopped on a bus to the train station, took a train to the town of Rouen, and spent two nights with our sweet host, Linda, and her rather aggressive cat, Jules. Rouen is where Joan of Arc was imprisoned and killed, so we learned a lot about her and explored pretty much all of the little city. 

On Friday, we arrived in Paris and once again found ourselves trying to maneuver the maze of a huge city transport system with all our baggage. There really is nothing more fun, and by fun I mean exhausting and stressful. We stored our bags, grabbed some quiche, and scoped out Notre Dame before going to our hosts Flo and Bruno's, a lovely French couple in the suburb of Alesia. Over the weekend we explored le Jardin du Luxembourg, Jardin de Tuileries, the Louvre, Champs D'Elysee, Arc de Triomphe, and probably our favourite thing after all that touristy stuff -- a darling little marche aux puce (flea market) in Port de Vanves. Yesterday after exploring as much as we could of the insides of the Louvre in 3 hours, we found our second Parisien hosts, Sophie and Thomas, in Ourq. Today we explored gorgeous Parc des Buttes Chaumont near their apartment, and hiked to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, where we managed to find the graves of Edith Piaf,Frédéric Chopin, and Oscar Wilde among a bajillion tombstones. A few photos from the wild week..

Saying goodbye to England and the white cliffs of the south. 

At the Jeanne d'Arc wax museum. 

A REAL Monet, at a fine arts museum in Rouen
that we got into free with our student cards!

Is she alive? 

Notre Dame, the Siene, Maren, and the rain. 

Inside. 

We have grown to love this sign very, very much. 

A Louis Vuitton window display on the Champs D'Elysee.
Completment bizarre.. 

Arc de Triomphe at 8 in the morning!

Love locks on the bridge. 

Maren mange une baguette avec les petites ouiseaux. 

A fireworks display at La Defense.

We love flea markets. 

This is about as close as we could get to Miss Mona Lisa. 

About half way through the Louvre, Maren realized her map was in  German.
Didn't help much that mine was in Polish. 

View of the Louvre, from inside the Louvre.