Paris: Notre Dame

We got up early again, this time to get into the newly renovated Notre Dame cathedral. The line wasn't horrible!

There was even a mass going on inside:

Church-going trio:

The artwork has been cleaned up stunningly:

Hopefully not sacrilegious:

Trap door in the ceiling:

After an incident of temporarily losing a family member, we stepped outside for some exterior photos:

The only photo I really got from the back of the cathedral:

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Paris: The Eiffel Tower

We walked over to the Eiffel Tower on the same very gray day as the Arc de Triomphe.

Seems like we took photos of every possible combination of people in front of this thing!

We went to have dinner nearby and then came back to see the tower at night for the first time!

At the top of every hour, it even sparkles for five minutes. I have some video of this will be appearing in a compilation at the end of all of these Paris posts.

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Paris: Valentine's interlude

This photo of my sweetheart and me in the romantic city of Paris was obviously not taken on Valentine's Day, but it seems appropriate to post today!

We didn't get out for dinner just the two of us while in Paris, but we did go to a French restaurant, Maison Margaux, in Minneapolis after we got back... on a frigid January night:

R has been sick / in pain (with something still undiagnosed) for the last two weeks, so send her some love, if you have her contact information. We are hoping to get some answers soon!

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Paris: Arc de Triomphe

Some photos while we waited to go up:

View from the top:

The trip down (photo by R):

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Spoken Word 2025

There is still more Paris to come, but I wanted to put this out there in the meantime (sorry about the camera focus issues):

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Paris: holiday lights tour

The previous times I have been to Paris were in the summer, when the sun stays up until quite late, so I had not seen much of the city at night. This time R booked us a holiday lights tour, during which we saw some pretty sights and learned some history.

  

This was our guide:

Just some ambience:

There was this amazing display in Galeries Lafayette, a French department store:

I know that guy!

The window displays outside were also impressive:

Margot Robbie and her huge bottle of Chanel No 5:

Some kind of photo shoot we stumbled upon:

An attraction at the holiday market:

Tartiflette and hot wine:

Back to the Louvre:

Crepe stand:

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Paris: Montemartre

We finally got caught up on some sleep the next morning. Then we got up and walked around Montemartre, which is a hilly neighborhood in Paris known for its artistic community and Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, seen below.

 

It was a very cloudy/foggy day, so the views (and photography) were not the best.

I love the street art around here.

Moulin Rouge is also located nearby!

Veronica was thrilled!

A lot of people wanted their photo taken in front of this wall that has "I love you" written on it in a bunch of different languages:

Stop for fondue and charcuterie:

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