Beyond the South Bay in LA: Paris, France

After a 2 hour trip on the Eurostar (train) from London and through the Chunnel (the tunnel under the English Channel) traveling up to 186 mph we arrived in Paris...the city of love.

This was my third time to Paris but my 17 year old son's first time so we visited as many local sites as possible. The weather was mostly nice to hot with a couple thunderstorms in between.

Besides the Eiffel Tour the first thing that pops into my mind when I think of Paris is the food. In London there is a pub on every corner and in Paris there is a cafe on every corner. My son soon became a huge fan of the croque monsieur which is a is a hot ham and cheese (typically gruyère) grilled sandwich and everything you eat in Paris tastes good.

We visited the Louvre, Versailles, the Avenue Des Champ Elysees as well as some side trips to the Latin and Greek quarters.

FYI give yourself a couple days to visit Versailles, the garden alone is about 250 acres.

Notre Dame

Jardin Des Tuileries

Arc De Triomphe

Grand Palais and the Seine river

Eiffel Tour (yes tour and not tower)

View from the Eiffel Tour of the Trocadero

Musee' Du Louvre

Versailles (it looks like it is a painting even in person)

Basin of Latona fountain at Versailles


The Rhone fountain by Jean-Baptiste Tuby at Versailles

The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles

We must have walked 5-10 miles a day as well as taking a few metro (subway) and taxi rides. At the end of our trip we were looking forward to the long flights home...so we could just sit, watch some movies and get some much needed rest.