The coastline of France at sunrise as we arrive in Europe direct from Toronto.
We landed in Paris from Toronto on a bright sunny and warm autumn day. Seeing the sunrise as we flew over the shoreline of France was a beautiful sight passing over pastures and farmlands and winding sea seeking rivers before spotting the stretched city life skyline and then the undeniable piercing outline of the Eiffel Tower as we drew into Charles de Gaulle airport. Even from the air you can see this city is iconic eye candy for both the romantic and fashionista Historian! 
One backpack with rollers and a cross-arm hand bag and we are ready to roll from the Bir-Hakeim metro rail station right across from our little Hotel Eiffel Seine. This cute art deco hotel was a mere 6 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower. The reception and staff were so friendly and very good. The hotel had great ambience, charming clean rooms, and a very good continental breakfast with great café and croissants and assorted meats and cheeses. It also had the smallest and scariest vintage elevator lift you can imagine. Bert and I could barely fit in together and I nervously giggled each time we rode it to the 4th floor.
The view from our quaint little hotel room
.
Practicing the pose! Sucking it in, smiling and standing tall.
inside the Notre Dame
sipping a café latte at the artisans market square in Montmartre
vintage open air neighbourhood Sunday market at Montmartre
the view of Paris from the Sacre Coeur
parking in Paris is an art within itself
yep another shot of that iconic view! we walked 15k this day and passed the Eiffel more than 20 times, I'M kind of an Eiffel groupie!
Autumn Sunshine and no summer crowds or stifling heat. Perfect weather for walking in Paris
The lights actively sparkle at the top of each hour at night on the Eiffel tower. You just don't get tired of seeing that.
the view from underneath the Eiffel tower looking directly skyward
The lawn cutting crew in the gardens in front of the Louvre; a goat on a tethered leash!
Bert 'holding court' at the gardens along the grand promenade leading to the Louvre.
The view from an outdoor cafe to a small neighbourhood park and a Victorian water fountain.
We howled at this sign down by the barges along the River Seine, mostly because an hour earlier we were sitting having a drink at an outdoor cafe when a very drunk man stood in the park with the beautiful fountain and did just what that sign is saying NOT to do in full view of all us patrons.
The cafe with a view to the park and a damn nice view of my wine too. tthe maple leaf on our cafe table reminded me of Canada and home as locals Parisians visit and chat on the street corner. 
Notre Dame from the view of the adjacent community garden of lavender and tall grassses.
lovers hang their locks on a walking bridge 
I stand corrected...parking in Paris a mastered art!
A tavern beckons us on a Sunday morn in ear shot of the ringing bells of the cathedral.
the steps of the Sacre Coeur
One backpack with rollers and a cross-arm hand bag and we are ready to roll from the Bir-Hakeim metro rail station right across from our little Hotel Eiffel Seine. This cute art deco hotel was a mere 6 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower. The reception and staff were so friendly and very good. The hotel had great ambience, charming clean rooms, and a very good continental breakfast with great café and croissants and assorted meats and cheeses. It also had the smallest and scariest vintage elevator lift you can imagine. Bert and I could barely fit in together and I nervously giggled each time we rode it to the 4th floor. 
.
Practicing the pose! Sucking it in, smiling and standing tall. inside the Notre Dame sipping a café latte at the artisans market square in Montmartre vintage open air neighbourhood Sunday market at Montmartre the view of Paris from the Sacre Coeur parking in Paris is an art within itself yep another shot of that iconic view! we walked 15k this day and passed the Eiffel more than 20 times, I'M kind of an Eiffel groupie! Autumn Sunshine and no summer crowds or stifling heat. Perfect weather for walking in Paris The lights actively sparkle at the top of each hour at night on the Eiffel tower. You just don't get tired of seeing that.the view from underneath the Eiffel tower looking directly skyward The lawn cutting crew in the gardens in front of the Louvre; a goat on a tethered leash! Bert 'holding court' at the gardens along the grand promenade leading to the Louvre. The view from an outdoor cafe to a small neighbourhood park and a Victorian water fountain. We howled at this sign down by the barges along the River Seine, mostly because an hour earlier we were sitting having a drink at an outdoor cafe when a very drunk man stood in the park with the beautiful fountain and did just what that sign is saying NOT to do in full view of all us patrons. The cafe with a view to the park and a damn nice view of my wine too. tthe maple leaf on our cafe table reminded me of Canada and home as locals Parisians visit and chat on the street corner. Notre Dame from the view of the adjacent community garden of lavender and tall grassses. lovers hang their locks on a walking bridge I stand corrected...parking in Paris a mastered art! A tavern beckons us on a Sunday morn in ear shot of the ringing bells of the cathedral. the steps of the Sacre Coeur
We had amazing sunshine our 5 days in Paris and walked and metroed are way from landmark to food and wine. The city was in the throws of fashion week and seeing the Christian Dior show set up behind the Louvre main access all adorned with purple delphinium flowers was a cool sighting. Complete with limos and dark suited security surrounding the venue, the blue jean and sneaker tourists like us looked just opposed as we gawked and stared in.
(The backside of the mass of purple delphinium flowers for the Christian Dior Haute Couture Show on the grounds of the Louvre. More than 400,000 flowers were used to create the entrance)
As celebs attending go, Rihanna was there for the October 2nd show, front row with aviators and a coral coat from the 2016 collection. Not that we saw her... we did see a lot of security guys wearing aviators though. They definitely were not wearing coral coats from the collection lol!)
As celebs attending go, Rihanna was there for the October 2nd show, front row with aviators and a coral coat from the 2016 collection. Not that we saw her... we did see a lot of security guys wearing aviators though. They definitely were not wearing coral coats from the collection lol!)
Paris dazzled; and I never got tired of seeing the silhouette of the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the night as we wandered back to our quaint Art Deco hotel. J'aime Paris. Non, j'adore Paris! I even get the standoffish straight forward style of Parisians. They live in the worlds most visited city, and it's been like that for 500 plus years! I can tire of Albertan tourists after a short summer season in the Okanagan. So I can kind of understand their reservations at us pilgrimage minded tourists coming endlessly season after season to see the city of lights!
