Paris in a Day with Joann!

Last April I went to Paris for a day with Joann. Joann is a sweet girl from Ohio who was kind enough to come and help Steve and Heather, the medical missionaries, as a nanny for the first month while they settled into their new life and routine here in France. She watched their baby while they began language classes and continued her online studies between babysitting and helping out at our church's youth group and other activities. Joann was such a blessing and I wanted to make sure she was able to see a little more of France. So we decided to take a one day trip to Paris and do a whirlwind tour of the City of Lights!

We took a 5AM TGV (high speed train) from Grenoble to Paris Gare de Lyon. From there, we hopped on the metro and came above ground just in time to see the beautiful Eiffel Tower in the morning sun!


This is Joann

and both of us...

Then we hopped on a hop-on, hop-off boat tour that travels down the Seine River. It's a great way to see the major tourist attractions along the river and skip some walking without battling the traffic or missing everything along the way on the metro.

Plus, on the water you get a different perspective of Paris, like this view of the Pont Alexandre III from the water.

And the Musée d'Orsay.

We got off the boat at Notre Dame so we could go in and see the cathedral.

One of the beautiful stained glass windows, this picture doesn't do it justice!

Side view of the flying buttresses.

View from the back...

and other side.

Then we wandering across the river to the Latin Quarter for a great French meal. This was just the starter... I forgot to take pictures after this, it was so good :)

I like the old metro signs.

Artists booths along the Seine.

Then we caught our boat again, I really do recommend the Batobus!

I love the view of Notre Dame from the Seine River.

Beautiful Joann cruising down the Seine River in Paris...

We hopped back off at the Louvre.

Our one day tour doesn't allow for the 2 or 3 hours it takes to go through the Louvre, so we just enjoyed the exterior on this fine April day.

Then headed for a walk through the Jardin des Tuileries...

past the Place de la Concorde...

and down the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe (you can see all of that if you look closely at the first picture, it's a straight shot from the Louvre).

View back down to the Louvre.

Close up of the Arc de Triomphe.

Then we hopped on the metro up to the Sacré-Coeur Basilica. An afternoon coffee to keep Joann on her feet ;)

And up the stairs...

to an amazing view of Paris. It's the highest point in Paris so it offers a grand view of the city.

You can even sneek a peek at the Eiffel Tower between these trees.

And then we did a little shopping and it was time to head back to the Gare de Lyon to catch our evening TGV train back to Grenoble.

A long but very fun day. Joann was a pleasure to travel with and spend the day in Paris with! Especially since she gave me an incredible back rub on the train ride back which basically put me to sleep. Thanks for a great day, Joann, and especially thanks for giving so readily to help Steve and Heather! You were a blessing to so many of us and I'm sure you are continuing to serve where you are called.