Paris Day 1: June 23, 2017

The mistake I made on this trip was NOT planning out the days like I've done before.  While we knew some of the things we wanted to see, I didn't know where they were, what they cost, or anything else including the days and hours they are open.  I was trying to be more "spontaneous", but all that happened was that we lost time trying to figure out what to do next. 
Our first agenda item was to get something to eat so we went to eat a a little cafe across from our flat. 

After a wonderful brunch, we decided to get groceries for the next few days. Of course, again, it was an adventure.  Here they have stools to help people reach the shelves!  I think Walmart needs to learn from them.

 
Then it was time to take off into Paris ! Walking into the metro we were welcomed by art exhibits.

Art in the metro station

Our goal was to see Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and then go from there.  We finally found our way to the city center and were amazed at the beauty of the city.  Paris really is beautiful.  It was also very clean.  I noticed street cleaners out keeping the area spic & span.  There were also a lot of army guys keeping the area safe.  Lots of security.

Then we headed towards Notre Dame.  On the way we saw beautiful buildings !

 Finally we made our way to the Cathedral of Notre Dame !  It is very beautiful.  Pictures cannot fully illustrate it.  You could look at it for days and not see all the detail; and that was only the outside !  We were excited to go in, but found that it was closed today for some reason. 😢

We were disappointed, but planned to go back in a few days.  We walked around the city and made our way back to our flat.  We chatted with our host about life in France and really enjoyed our conversation.