Paris

 Our flight to Paris was good - completely full - but good.  I thought the flight was going fast when I looked out the window after falling asleep and saw the sun starting to rise.  Wow - that overnight flight went fast.   Until I hit the map button to see where we were...

 ...and the tail end of our plane was barely out of Canada!  That wasn't the sun rising, it was just setting!  I will admit, that did make the flight seem extra long.  (Wende - quit looking at the map!)

 When we arrived in Paris the weather was good for site-seeing.  We had some clouds all day, but not a drop of rain.  Since Patrick has never been to Paris, we decided to take a 2 1/2 hour general tour so he could see some of the highlights of the city.

 Being the political junkie that I am- this building (National Assembly) fascinated me.  It was here hundreds of years ago, that someone noticed that the conservatives sat on the right side of the room and the liberals sat on the left side.  So - this is where "right" and "left" descriptions for political views all started.

Aw, yes - "The Iron Lady" as the locals call her...the Eiffel Tower to the rest of us.  It always amazes me how big this structure is, and how oddly beautiful she looks from many places in the city.













Notice the big screen of the French Open being played under the tower on the photograph below?

The "Under" view

  

This building is the setting for the original "Phantom of the Opera", and yes, it really is an opera house.  It does house different types of theatre plays and musicals besides opera - much like the Kennedy Center in DC.  There is chandelier in the opera house that weighs more than a city bus.  A piece fell on an audience member one year and killed them - that was written in as a scene in the "Phantom of the Opera".

How did we end our day in Paris?  Eating at a cafe, of course...and do you see anyone you know sitting in the window?  Yep - that's Patrick in the blue shirt.  Next on the agenda...SLEEP!