Our hotel was within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower.

PARIS PART 1

A towering good time

PARIS HIGHLIGHTS * A smooth-as-silk ride on the Eurostar under the Channel * Discovering that our hotel, the Prince de Galle on King George V Avenue, is next to the Four Seasons -- one of the swankiest addresses in the city * Getting our rooms despite a computer mix-up * Eating Chinese food in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower * Searching for fast food on the Champs Elysee * Trying to find the elusive laundry that David remembered from his last visit * Donald frying his new travel noise machine * Riding the escalators at the Pompidou * Waiting in line for 45 minutes to climb to the top of Notre Dame and then deciding we had better things to do * The gorgeous Sainte Chapelle * Trying to find the food court at the Louvre * Seeing Gericault's "The Raft of the Medusa" * Walking past the line at Versailles with our museum pass * Touring the Queen's Apartments * Eating Magnum ice-cream bars * Our journey on foot to the Petite Trianon and Marie Antoinette's wonderful Hamlet * Dinner at David's favorite crepe restaurant * Climbing to the top of the Arch de Triomphe and watching the crazy traffic below * Eating the most delicious chocolate-chip croissants ever made * The unsurpassed collection at the Musee d'Orsay * Donald taking a French-only tour of the Opera while Mom, Dad and David shop at the swanky stores on the Champs Elysee * A very smelly Sewer Tour * Trying to find a Rick Steves-recommended restaurant that was actually open * Eating a fancy full-course dinner at Bofinger's, complete with wine, pate and dessert * Taking the Metro to Montmartre and the Sacre d'Coeur just in time to see a glorious sunset

Above, Sacked out in the hotel room, David drinks his only beer on the entire trip. Not. Right and below, views of the Eiffel Tower.

Above left, the exterior of the Prince de Galle hotel, and left, the distinctive "book-lined" elevator. Above, Dad checks out David's massive "The Coronation of Napoleon" at the Louvre. Left, all signs in the Louvre lead the way. Below, the controversial Louvre pyramid entrance and Gericault's "The Raft of the Medusa."

Above right, David checks out a Kandinsky at the Pompidou. Above, our museum pass got us into just about everything. Right, Saint Chapelle and Notre Dame. Below, David does laundry; Modigliani at the Pompidou; and Mom and Donald audition for the role of weary travelers.

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