Honeymoon 2006

Our Hotel (The Regina) by day. This corner is on the course where the Tour de France makes its final 8 loops on the last day.	As we walked past the Louvre on our adventure, we passed the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. In 1806, Percier and Fontaine built a small triumphal arch aligned with the Pavillon de l’Horloge (in the ground level courtyard of the Louvre) and the central pavilion of the Tuileries (the gardens adjacent to the Louvre). Inaugurated in 1808, it was decorated with reliefs and statues by Denon celebrating French military victories. On the top, Denon installed the four celebrated antique bronze horses from the facade of Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice. The horses were returned to Venice in 1815, so we're guessing those are copies up there now.
We found the local Police (Gendarme) station	Notre Dame - first stone laid in 1163
The interior of Notre Dame, the lovely West Rose Window	We took a few minutes to pause and pray in a beautiful side chapel
The distinctive flying buttresses at the east end are a marvel of Middle Ages engineering and craftsmanship	Walking from Notre Dame along the Left Bank toward the Jardin du Luxembourg we found a genuine Bamboo bicycle!
We also found cars that seemed a little too small for 6'5" drivers. Maybe a shoe horn is standard equipment?	The Palais du Luxembourg has reigned beside the gorgeous gardens since 1631. It is now home to the French Senate.
Wherever we found gardens, we found a game of Bocce.	Our first glimpse of Gustave Eiffel's amazing creation. Finished in 1889, it is still the symbol and focus of the City of Light over a hundred years later. Does it look big? It is - when it's painted (every 5-10 years depending on the section) it takes 25 painters 15 months to apply 60 tons of paint (yep, tons) using only brushes. There are three shades of "Eiffel Brown" used, darkest at the bottom, lightest at the top. Fascinating.
We WALKED up the 360 steps to the first level. Then we WALKED up the 359 steps to the second level. The view was worth it. We think.	Yep, just a little breezy 376 feet off the ground.
No way to walk the remaining 529 feet to the observation deck on the third level, so we settled for the elevator. The text beside the American flag reads: "New York 5849 km"	The Hotel des Invalides, with the Dome Church in the background. This is the resting place of Napoleon.
The posted price is 1.55 EUROS for a LITER of gasoline, 1.35 for diesel. That works out to just over $7.50 for a gallon of unleaded!	No matter where you are in Paris, no matter the time of day, you are drawn back to the Tour Eiffel...