Second Stage: Paris!

Back to my trip, we left Brugges, and took the train to Paris where I managed to fall asleep once again while in the Chunnel. At least I think I saw the beginning this time...lol When we arrived there, it was raining and proceeded to rain the rest of the day. But we were in Paris...so off we went to tour the city with Notre Dame, Sainte Chappelle, Arc de Triomphe, etc. It was really neat to see the special veteran memorial services they were having at the Arc as we went by....

Statue outside Notre Dame that caught my eye. Click on the picture and look at the king; who does he favor to you? My first thought was the King of the Dead in Lord of the Rings #3. Funny the things we notice.....


Notre Dame Cathedral...

Above the entrance...

Rose Window in Notre Dame... then on to the Sainte Chappelle.


Stained glass in Sainte Chappelle - this was absolutely stunning. The stained glass on the second floor was from top to bottom all the way around - just unbelievable. I'd seen it years ago and forgotten how beautiful it was.

No picture of Paris is complete without the Eiffel Tower. Kim and Chris went to visit it the next day with much better weather. I've been there before so I went off to find my Paris-Etoile Harley-Davidson shop - voila - victory! Though I have to say it had one of the rudest shopgirls in it I'd met in a long time. Not much inventory in the little shop downstairs, but luckily I found what I needed. If I'd been anywhere else, I'd have walked out without buying anything, but this was the only HD shop I was going to get to in France and it was for my DH, so I bought it and left, muttering to myself the entire time. Don't bother going there, though. Find one on the outskirts of Paris - you're bound to have better luck and service. :)

This is near the entrance of the Louvre, which was closed, so I had some time before meeting my friends. I set off to find Des Fils et Une Aguille, an LNS that several people had recommended to me. After some trial and error, I found it a few blocks away from the Louvre. I wish I had taken pictures of it; it was wonderful. It had French designers I'd never seen and things to drool over; their band fabrics were beautiful. I could have spent hours in there, and I did pick up a few items. I'm a great fan of Isabelle H-Vautier and Renato Parolin; they have a collaborative book, so after looking inside, it was a must have.


There were many that caught my eye, whether by chart or model, but I bought from designers I hadn't seen here in the US. (Pics are clickable.)


Paris has many beautiful sights to see, and I couldn't possibly put them all on here. But I've always loved Hotel des Invalides which contains Napoleon's Tomb...


and more Paris in the rain....
Their metro system is fantastic - they have unusual signs along the way to point to the subway.

As we left the Paris train station.....Next stop - London. Who knew there'd by a tube strike as we're coming in to Paddington train/tube station???