Europe 2006: First stop, Paris

I know many of you have been waiting anxiously for these pics. I have been working hard (during Jenna's naps) to get these ready for posting, and here they are! Aren't you excited! First you can browse through our highlights here on our blog and then if you still haven't had enough excitement you can check out our online photo album and watch our highlights videoclip.

We begin our travels at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, AZ. As we were waiting for our airplane I decided to show off our cool new backpacks. We bought 2 identical backpacks for our trip, and can you believe we each packed all we needed for our trip in one backpack? The travel guides all said to "pack light" and I think we succeeded!

We arrived in Paris at 9am and after wandering around the airport for nearly 1 1/2 hours looking for transportation to Paris we finally arrived in Paris at 11am. Our first stop in Paris was the Eiffel Tower. It was bigger than I remembered!

Here we have Robby loaded down with his backpack on his back and our day pack (which had mostly food and our trusty travel guide) on his front. Fortunately, we were able to leave our packs in our hostel rooms for most days of the trip. On this first day we had to carry them till check in time at 3pm. I must say I was thankful we spent the extra money on well-designed backpacks!

Our second day in France we took the train out to Versailles to see the enormous palace that King Louis XIV built there.

After we toured the lavishly decorated rooms of the palace we wandered through the beautiful gardens. Our favorite part about them was the sculpted bushes.

And here I am with my new friend from Versailles.

Of our whole stay in France our favorite part was Marie Antoinette's Hameau on the property of Versailles. She actually had three additional homes built on Versailles, and this one was a collection of "pseudo-peasant" buildings. Here she would come to escape the busy palace life and live the "simple life." I must say, I do see how you could really relax out here. It was beautiful! In addition to the quaint buildings there were gardens like the one seen here and a beautiful pond with water lillies, ducks, and swans.

Our third day in Paris we were very busy! We went to the Louvre, the Deportation Museum, Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, and Musee d'Orsay. Here we are at the entrance to the Louvre. We did see the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory. Also at the Louvre, there is an area that has been excavated to reveal the base of the walls and turrets of a medieval castle that once stood where the Louvre is today.

Here is our last snapshot of Paris on our blog, Robby standing on the edge of the Seine River. He wanted to ask this couple who was sitting nearby to take a picture of both of us, but as we approached they began smooching, so we left them to their private romatic moment. Maybe we should have started smooching too!

Our favorite part of Paris was seeing the magnificent stained glass in Sainte Chapelle. To see our pics (which only give you a glimpse of the beauty there) of this beautiful church go to our photo album.