Paris & Burgundy - France

Above: View of Paris from top of Notre Dame
May 3 - 6: Almost as soon as "Team Croatia" had returned to Zurich, Julie and Shannon set out for a girls-only tour of Paris. We got off to a somewhat rusty start when Shannon mistakenly read the sign for the train....Luzern, Lausanne...who's counting?! A couple of trains and a couple of hours later, we got straightened out and were cruising the TGV to the City of Light.

We arrived just after 4pm and found our way to the Hotel du Amelie right near the Eiffel Tower. It seemed appropriate that we make that our first stop, so we grabbed some cheese, wine (plus our portable camping wine glasses) and spread out on the lawn in front of the tower for a picnic. I had never been to the top, so around 9pm when it was all lit up and glowing bright, we got in line for the Tower. Little did we know it would take us nearly and hour and a half to reach the top!
Above: Eiffel Tower at nightAbove: Best picture we could get of us at the top!
The next day we decided to take the topless red tour bus around the city. It was a great day to really see Paris and since you're able to get off anywhere it stops (the Louvre, Notre Dame etc.) you can easily see the sights and then get back on the bus at any point. We took full advantage and swung through about every major attraction you can imagine (saw the Mona Lisa and the Louvre, Monets at the Musee de Orsay, climed to the top of Notre Dame, saw the famous Paris Opera House and traveled down Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe and rounded out the trip with some shopping). >Above: Riding our red bus...
Above: Top of Notre Dame - long hike up!
Above: A gargoyle on top of the Notre Dame
After our whirlwind sight-seeing, we set off the next day by train to Beaune, France to meet up with Andy. Beaune is in the Burgundy wine region of France and is famous for not only their wine, but their delicious Beouf Burgogne (Burgundy Beef). We spent two days wine tasting, wine touring and enjoying the food. The best part of the trip was probably that Andy had rented a car for us, so we were able to travel around the lesser traveled region of Cote de Beaune and stopped into a few wineries to taste their wine and wound up buying a couple of cases (still not sure if Julie got hers home okay in her suitcase!). On our last night (May 5) it was Andy and my 3rd anniversary. We made reservations and the three of us had a great dinner in a small hole in the wall with great wine, great Coq Au Vin (another beef / wine dish) and great company...Very appropriate given the fact that Julie was with us 3 years prior when we first met on Cinco de Mayo :-)
(Beaune at night)