Christmas in Paris

For Christmas this year, Bill and Claudia generously invited us to come to Paris with them to celebrate with Tom and Nikki, Jen and Chris, and Nikki's mom, Danuta. We stayed with Tom and Nikki in their incredible apartment just across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.

After a day and a half of jet lag recovery we finally left the apartment to wander down to the Eiffel Tower. The lines were short because the view from the top was a wall of white, but it is a wonderful structure to explore.

Sophie also enjoyed the two nearby carousels.

Sophie tried out my camera and took these shots, among others:

Relaxing with a cup of holiday mup: 

Visiting and being spoiled by Sophie Veret, Bruno, and Manon:

Sophie, like so many Americans before her fell in love with wandering around Paris.

While walking on the Rue Faubourg St. Honore, a street dedicated to drop-dropping luxury consumption, we found this wonderful modest little local joint where we enjoyed a little refreshment. If I was a different sort of person, I might have been able to get some amazing photos of the local characters hanging out there. There are certain faces only a Frenchman can have. Instead I got Sophie doing her French Grande Dame impersonations.

Here are some more Sophie snapshots:

We rode the Farris Wheel and walked home along the river.

Out and about on Christmas Eve:

Boating on the Seine:

The wonderful bubble man at dusk:

A little copter time:

Christmas morning:

The day after Christmas the sun popped out for a few hours:

I have always been fascinated by the number of poles in Paris.

Tom, Chris, Sophie and I climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe:

Relaxing and the Churchill bar afterward:

On our last day in Paris we spent the afternoon wandering around Montmartre and the sun made another brief appearance: