Germany & Paris Part 1

I really want to take the time to thank our parents for making this trip possible. There is NO WAY I would have wanted to travel to Germany and Paris while being pregnant and having to tote around 2 wild kids. So, a HUGE THANK YOU to our parents for taking care of our rascals while we toured around Europe!

Arthur had the opportunity to teach a workshop at an animation school near Stuttgart, Germany. So, I joined him at the end of his week there and then we headed over to Paris for a long weekend. Here is a long summary of our trip!

I need to pull some pictures off of my other camera, but here are a couple shots of the Christmas Markets. This was my favorite part of the trip. Being in Germany at Christmas time is truly a special thing. The towns set up little markets where you can buy Christmas decorations, food, and of course, beer. It seems that the entire town congregates frequently at these markets with family and friends.

A strange thing you might see at a German train station:


Our first day in Paris. We had to head to the Eiffel Tower first, of course!

Then, we made our way to the Champs Elysees to view the famous street and the Arc de Triomphe


Views from the Arc


After meandering along the Champs Elysees, we walked back to the Eiffel Tower for our Evening ascent to the top.
At the top of each hour, the Eiffel Tower would sparkle like this:
The next day, we headed to tour the Louvre Museum. Top sites here were, of course, the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo:
Ever since Arthur's education at MIT, he has had a thing for "floating" architecture. We had to get a picture of this "floating" staircase at the Louvre:


Me studying Rick Steves along the Seine River:
Arthur and I standing on the Pont Neuf - the oldest bridge in Paris. If you look closely, you can see the Eiffel Tower next to Arthur's head.


Front and back views of Notre Dame:


This street performer reminded us of our college days and our many visits to Harvard Square


We couldn't resist ourselves on our walk along Ile Saint-Louis:


Cheese Shop:


Chocolate Shop:


And of course, it would not be Christmas in Paris without Bouches de Noel:


Eating our Creme Puff along the Seine:

That is all for now. Check back again because there are so many more pictures to come!