Day 13: Paris, cont'd

Summary: we were another day in Paris. We saw the Eiffel tower, Arch du Triumph, detail of the interior of the cathedral Notre Dame, with guided tour, and then took the rest of the day to explore Paris on our own before we met up with the rest of the group for our farewell dinner.

Arc du Triumphe

Inside of Notre Dame

Palace du Luxembourg (hey, we were in that country last week!)
We sat in this park and relaxed for a while this afternoon.

The Opera House (we´re singing opera style).

Paris´ Pantheon (In 1744, King Louis XV wanted to dedicate a prestigious building to Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. The crypts of Victor Hugo (who wrote the Hunchback of Notre Dame, among other works), Voltaire, Moulin, and Marie Curie (the first woman to be entombed in such a prestigious monument) can be found here.

Where the Tour d´France ended yesterday.
They´re just taking all the seats and everything down these days. 

Awesome moment: The Eiffel Tower. What else is there to say?

Also, we tried escargot and frog legs at our farewell dinner (even Lara, the vegetarian. When in Paris!). The dinner was awesome due to lively music, dance, and merry (and frequent!) toasting courtesy of the Russian family with whom we sat at our table.

Our farewell dinner with part of our group in the picture
(Susan and I are down at the far end in the corner with the Russians, having a fab time.)

Eating frog legs.

Blooper: Susan crossed the road during a don't walk sign, when it was flashing red. And the driver gave her a nasty look. She nearly got run over by Parisian driver!

Cheapest pleasure: our group is great at giving applause. For our driver, for fellow passengers, for waiters and musicians, etc. On our way back from dinner, our driver, Francesco, and tour director, Truus, even danced in the aisle of the bus at a red light, and later pulled over just to dance!

Also, the Parc du Luxembourg was pretty relaxing. Sunbathing, writing postcards, people watching, etc. Lastly, rocking out on the bus after our farewell dinner was pretty sweet!

Sunbathing and writing postcards at the Jardines du Luxumbourg.

Mailing postcards from every stop in every city and town...

...as always! :)