Paris!

Bonjout, tout le Monde! Hello, everyone! In case you were wondering, yes! We did manage to arrive in Paris, around 1:00pm Paris time (that's around 4:00am Moscow time) on Wednesday where we hopped a bus from the airport to...ta da! L'Arch de Triumph! Oh mon dieu! What a way to enter Paris:) From there, bleary eyed and dazzled, we somehow managed to find out way to the unbelievably welcoming apartment of Amy and Eric.  We were greeted by many "bonjour"s and big hugs and from there, honestly, it has been a delightful, breathtaking and jaw-dropping few days.  Yes, there has been Le Tour Eiffel--300 meters tall! And provides an amazing panorama view of Paris--, and Le Louve--literally the biggest and most confusing building I've been in, but oh the art! and architecture!--, and Le Seine--Chantel and I walked arm-in-arm down the blonde gravel path that runs along it (how French are we??)--, and Le Jardin de Luxembourg--where we sat with Amy on reclining chairs and napped in the windy, dusty sun--, and Notre Dame--kiddos! This is the ACTUAL place where Quasimodo lived! Contrary to popular belief, he did not reside in the Administration Building on the UofI campus:)--and yes, oh yes there has been an inexcusable amount of bread, wine, cheese, cheese and more cheese.  I don't think I should try to describe them...I do not know any words in my native English tongue, nor in my linited French tongue, that could begin to do them justice.  If you would like to know about the five different cheeses we had before dinner tonight, hop a plane! The French are happy to share:) To grossly understate it, we adore it here.  So much of this is due to our WONDERFUL hosts...ils sont merveilleux completement. Merci BEAUCOUP a thousand times to both of them.  I must sign off so I can get some rest for tomorrow's adventures...perhaps another run through the park or along the Seine? Or maybe we simply begin with the French breakfast of champs: a baguette with butter and honey to dip into a bowl of hot chocolate, interrupted only by the occasional sip of freshly squeezed orange juice.  Can you tell how much we are suffering here?;);) 

We love you. We miss you. We think of you.

A bientot!

P.S. the picture is from our stop at Le Jardin de Luxembourg this afternoon...can you guess who's shoes are whose?