The crepes are just better in Paris

A long weekend in Paris...that sounds good about now.  Ever since we returned from France, I've been itching to go back.  Not something I had originally anticipated, however.  Sure, Paris has the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, funny looking hats, the Louvre (where the famous Mona Lisa painting is) and little breakfast pies made out of eggs, meat and veggies (these are called quiche, and if you like eggs they are probably good - me on the other hand, I won't touch them - blech!).  But beyond all of these stereotypical Frenchy things lies a city full of truly unique and fascinating European treasures.


Speaking of the Eiffel Tower...

The first thing I noticed about Paris that was unexpected for me was how laid back and, for lack of a better word, "real" it was.  Movies and stereotypes would have you believe that the city is constantly flooded with tourists and French artists in black and white striped shirts with long curly mustaches and floppy berets snobbily enjoying fancy wines and an assortment of stinky cheeses.  Well, if there's one thing I've learned about stereotypes is that they are not to be trusted!  Paris is a wonderful city full of really friendly people who are more than willing to share a little bit of their culture to those who are interested.

Well, enough about how awesome Paris is, it's time to...well, I guess I'm just going to talk more about how awesome Paris is.  I hope no one minds!  A very important part of being a tourist involves doing touristy things and going to touristy places.  Since we didn't want to disappoint anyone, we hit some of the major sights and got exposed to some interesting French history.

I'm sure some of you have heard of Notre Dame - perhaps from the Disney move "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".  Did you know that Notre Dame is a real place?  And that it is in Paris!?  Well, now you do!  Notre Dame is a huge gothic-style church complete with a bell tower and gargoyles (like the one below) that was originally built over 800 years ago!

One evening, we walked around Montmartre, which is a district known for being an artists' hangout.  In fact, back in the day, famous artists such as Salvador Dali, Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso had art studios in this area.  We also had an amazing dinner in this area in a small restaurant right next to an artist's studio (where we bought a painting or two).  The food was excellent!  We had real French onion soup, lamb, duck confit and a cheese plate with some soft, creamy French cheeses.  It was probably one of the best meals I had the fortune of stuffing my flat little belly with!  Here is a picture of that little restaurant.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we had to stop by and see the Eiffel Tower (and of course take tons of pictures!).  You can see the Eiffel tower from all over the city if you are up high enough.  At 1,063 feet tall, it's kind of hard to miss!

For those people who aren't afraid of heights, there is an elevator you can ride aaaaaaallllll the way up to the top of the tower.  We went in the evening so we could watch the sun set over the City of Lights.  It was truly a sight to behold!  Once the sun had set all the way and the sky was dark, they turned the lights on and the tower lit up like a pointy Christmas tree.

OK, that's the last picture of the Eiffel Tower, I promise!  We also hit up a couple other very famous Parisian landmarks like the Arc de Triomphe...

...and the Louvre - one of the largest museums in the world!  We didn't go inside though since none of us are particularly fond of miles and miles (literally) of museum art.  We did walk around it though and I just had to get my picture taken by the entrance, which is shaped like a small pyramid.

So many sights to see I almost forgot about the crepes!  Crepes are very thin pancakes (almost as thin as me!) that are stuffed with Nutella, honey, jam, cheese or just about anything else you can think of.  The French invented them and they make the best in the world!  My favorite crepe was the traditional style Nutella crepe.  If you haven't tried Nutella - you should!  It is delicious!  Actually, Nutella is made in Italy and shipped all over the world in round glass containers with a white plastic lid.  You may have seen it in the peanut butter and jelly aisle at Meijer or Polly's.  It is made with chocolate and hazelnuts so it isn't too difficult to understand why it is so good!  I almost ate this entire crepe myself and had to go back for seconds!

I've talked a bit about France's cheeses, meats and sweets, but another very important part of the Parisian life style is the fresh food market.  Typically, these farmers' markets are open in certain locations once or twice a week.  Other more permanent locations have fresh produce available most days of the week.  We stumbled across this market one morning while searching for breakfast.

This market had a little bit of everything: there were fresh fruits and veggies...

...cheeses...

...and seafood.  I bent in to take a closer look at this guy and he tried to pinch me!  Now that's what I call fresh!

I feel like I could go on for days just about the French food we had (and wished we had), but I'm afraid that might get a bit tiresome for some people.  I know it may not look like it but when the food looks this good, I can sure pack it away!


Well, that sure was a tasty trip!  I hate to close already, but I have to brush up on my Spanish because we're going to Madrid, Spain this week!  Until next time, this is Flat Stanley saying "Adios amigos!" (that's Spanish for "Au revoir amis!" which is French for "Ciao amici!" which is Italian for "Bye, friends!").