Paris, France - Take Two

Well, I've finally gotten all the pictures I think I'm going to get, was able to upload all of them, and order them....Time to get this story told! Here we go, Paris, France - Take 2.

I think there was about to be a riot from some of the Heinz's for not getting these up sooner. Honestly, whatcha gonna do about it? Are you gonna come and get me? If that's all it takes to get you over here then that's it, I'm done, no more blogging....











Ok, not really...

We left Zurich right after Kyle got off of work on the 22nd. It's a 4.5 hour train from Zurich to Paris but it actually takes less time then flying because the airports are so far out of both of the cities plus you have to get there super early and wait for your luggage. It's more convenient, cheaper, and generally nicer to take the train.

Our train left as 6 and got to Paris at 10:30 which really isn't bad timing. Since we would be on the train over dinner I went to the store to pick up a few things: chocolate, apples, beverages, chips...oh and some PB&J sandwiches that I made with our wonderful American peanut butter.

I've discovered the wonders of fruit flavored beer recently and as there is no such thing as a bulk discount or open container laws here I thought I would try one of these unicorn flavored beers (with a hint of lemon). I think it was 80 cents at the grocery store which I found fitting because it was .8% alcohol (that's point eight percent)....I think there's more alcohol in the air here! Needless to say I was HAMMERED when we finally arrived at Carol and Bruce's hotel :)

This is a picture of us in the window - I thought it was cool. We were going through a tunnel and it was so dark you could use it as a mirror. Or, maybe I'm actually so tanked I didn't know it was just the window -either way, neat picture! Our train was a little bit late into Paris and then we had to catch the subway to the hotel. It was very smooth and super easy...it just took a little bit of time. I think we finally got to the hotel around 11:20. We basically said hello to everyone and went to bed. We had a big day the next day!

The real reason we met the Keplingers in Paris was because Carol wanted someone to watch her 'girls'; that would be her Visa and American Express. Bruce and Carol had a meeting on Wednesday which left the girls alone in a big city. The girls were fine in a foreign country where they didn't speak the language or know the territory...the credit card, however, needed to be babysat.

It wasn't until after that day did I think it would have been funny to take pictures of the girls around the city: 'Here's Visa with the Eiffel Tower', 'Here's AMEX at the Louvre'...

Instead we picture of the real girls. Here's us and our chocolate chip bread sticks for breakfast. (Kyle had pizza, for breakfast, in France...what a boy!)
Here are the cuties riding the ferris wheel next to the Louvre.
After the ferris wheel we spent about 3 hours trying to figure out how to get tickets to Versailles. For clarification, I thought we needed to go directly to the big subway stop on the C line because it would take us to Versailles the next day. Where did we need to go to get our tickets for Versailles you ask? Well get this! The big subway stop on the C line that would take us to Versailles the next day! Who would have thought? We did eventually get there, we just happened to try every stop before that also.

Since we were pretty much already at Sacre-Coeur we decided to head up there. You can pretty much see this beautiful basilica from any where in the city. And Bruce was a little jealous because one of his favorite movies had scenes in from of it (I can't for the life of me remember the name of the movie).

Once we were able to get all the way up there and look around the inside we came back out and sat on the steps for a while. There were all kinds of street performers but there was one group in particular that caught our attention. We called them 'Barenaked Frenchmen' because they sounded a lot like the Barenaked Ladies (not because they were actually naked). We listened to them for a while then headed back to the hotel to drop off the girls for their dinner date (we weren't invited to their fancy schmacy dinner...) Of course, on the way home we found some crepes and we all had Nutella-YUM!

Since we were left to our own devices for the evening. We took a nap; then about 8 pm headed out to the Eiffel Tower since everyone else had already been there. We were going to try to find a place to have dinner prior to going up but I'm glad we never found anywhere. We couldn't have planned our trip up the tower better if we tried!

We were able to get to the second level of the tower while it was still light out and we could get some decent pictures of the scenery.

But by the time we got to the top it was pitch black and very cool to see all of the lights. Oh, and if you can't tell it was a little windy.
I think this is just about the coolest picture ever.
Again, kinda a cool shot from the bottom.
And of course the whole tower. You gotta take one of these.
The next morning we got up at the crack of dawn. Ok, like 7:15... We took the 30 minute C train out to Versailles and spent the day there. The train ride was very pleasant and I got to take a little nap.Here are the 'kids' - and I still classified as a kid? at the front gate.This is the chapel where Louis (I like to call him Lou) worshiped every day. Tour Guide Bruce did a very nice job of supplying us with some history of this beautiful palace. Apparently Lou would be on the balcony situated right above the top of this picture and worship the alter. This peasants would turn around with their back to the alter to worship Lou. Therefore, Lou = more powerful then God at one point.

Tour Guide Kyle kinda sucked it up a little bit. His story had something to do with 'Ye Olde Royal Keggers' and kitchen wenches...
Here is the Hall of Mirrors. SUPER COOL. They would through huge galas here for all the royalty. It has a beautiful few of the grounds.
Some hot girls I picked up for the day in the Hall of Mirrors - look at that Chandelier!!
Priceless pieces of really old artwork make fantastic camera stands.
Please note that Kristen is like 4 feet shorter then everyone else in the picture but insists on crouching down.
Here we are in the Royal Gardens (with the Royal Port-a-Potties in the background). Ok, they're not really port-a-potties but they sure look like it. I had to think really hard to remember what they were.Our feet on the garden path. My shoes might not be Coach but my Nikes can kick your Coachs butt! (1. Do shoes have butts? 2. Can I please have some coach shoes Kyle?)
Kyle said there was NO WAY that I would run of out memory on my 4GB stick. Carol and I set out to prove him wrong...



We failed miserably...

Here's one of the million fountains in the garden. I'm sure it has some historical significance. (Sorry Bruce, I can't remember it all)Us having lunch at the royal pizzeria. After lunch we rented boat to go out on the man-made lake. Tour Guide Kyle explained to us that the lake was created so that one side of the castle could ship things to the other side of the castle by water.

Bruce and Kyle were in charge of rowing the girls around the lake. Once we all got settled Bruce started singing us this beautiful aria in Italian. Kyle (as he had just finished rocking out in Rock Band) could only think of one song...ROOOOOOOOOX-ANNE YOU DON'T HAVE TO WEAR THAT DRESS TONIGHT. After the initial 'wft?' we all joined in for a good old fashion sing along.

Here are the steps of the 'summer castle' when Lou wanted to get away from his get away (as we all know, the Louvre was still the kings official palace and he just came to Versailles to get away from it all. Well, when things got to crazy at Versailles he came out here. When things were too crazy here he had another house he could go to, and then a farm, shack, shanty, box - or something like that. It reminded us of those Russian nesting dolls.)Here's what my bedroom will look like in our Kansas Palace. Please take note of the fence around the bed. Only my bed fence will be about 7 feet taller with spikes and flame throwers.So after Versailles we were a little pooped. We headed back to the hotel for a nap and then headed back out for dinner and photo ops. We found these black and white stone pillars and thought 'hey, we're American, they probably have some profound historic meaning and are only to be admired from afar. LETS PLAY ON THEM!'Webster Team made it to Paris baby!!

Here are our feet outside of the very American McDonalds that we decided to eat at.
Here are our faces outside of the very American McDonalds that we decided to eat at. (Since there were so many of us occasionally we would have to 'huddle up' to figure out what we were doing.)
Here are our faces inside of the very American McDonalds that we decided to eat at. After dinner we decided we would go take some pictures in front of the Louvre. Apparently 'jumping pictures' are the latest and greatest in photography....well I just suck at it.
The boys got it down pat though!
The pyramid thing is really cool looking.
Yeah Webster Team.The next morning is what everyone was looking forward to...EURO DISNEY!!We rode the Buzz Lightyear ride like 10 times (ok, like 3)...I totally couldn't hit anything but it was fun to watch the clan trash talk each other going in and sulking when Carol beat them coming out :)Buzz Lightyear is my hero. 'To infinity and BEYOND!!' (Right after we got back I made Kyle watch Toy Story with me.)
Courtney and I kicking some alien but. 'Don't worry Buzz, I got your back!'
Of course we had to check out it's a small world.
I guess the ride was a little different then in the US. They had a whole room dedicated to America. Here are a couple pictures of the paintings that were on the wall of the line for the ride. Here's Snow White.
And Pinocchio. The bad guys scared Kyle.
And us 'arg-ing' as pirates.Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine. The Nemo Roller Coaster was very cool. It is the newest ride in the park and was actually smooth and it spun around in circles...super fun!
Ok, story time! So we were waiting in line to get on the Tower of Terror. And the ride operators kinda play a part while getting us into the seats. Our operator came out from behind her door and just stood there staring at Courtney. Kyle said something snarky, you know - like he does, and it caught her attention. So, she started staring at him - you know, from thisclose. And then she opened her mouth. Apparently she had garlic flavored doggie poo for lunch. So, throughout the whole ride she would get thisclose to him and speak. At one point she said something in Spanish and Kyle was even able to respond snarkily back in her language of choice. We all decided to get it to Kyle for having a new girlfriend (and not even trying to keep her from me).

So, fast forward to waiting in line for Thunder Mountain. We are seriously the NEXT people in line to get but in a car and they stop the ride. They guy in the booth comes over the loudspeaker and says something and all of the other workers sprint to the booth (think that crazy cartoon run where there is still dust in the air 20 seconds later). After a few minutes security show up and then the workers decide to tell us whats going on. Apparently some idiot decided to stand up on the ride and was now being evicted from the park, security was there to facilitate that. But they said it would just be a few minutes so everyone was waiting (we decided to play the thumb game and 'Kyle loses' - aka slap hands). Well this guy came back again to tell us that they had to shut down the ride and take the trains back to the station to inspect them. Give it another 20 minutes and the ride should open back up. Fifteen minutes later he comes back to tell us that the ride is probably closed for the night, BUT he can give us fast passes if the ride DOES open back up. So, of course we needed to get a picture with our new best friend Pierre Olivier (or Pear-e Oliver if your American). So we get our fast passes and then head out for another ride. While on the other ride we decide that Pierre is a nice looking piece of man meat. On our way out of the park we we walked back by the ride to see if it has opened back up. Well, it's definitely closed for the night. We know this because Pierre is walking past the ride to go home. We decide to stop him and ask him for his name so that we can find him on Facebook. Of course I have to borrow a pen from Carol to get his info, but we have a great story!

**Good Time Side Note - Carol, please remember that I didn't introduce you children to alcohol, premarital sex, illegal drug, older men, or furry kitties. I merely got them crazy hopped up on sugar and showed them that it's ok to act like an idiot in front of complete strangers that they will never see again as long as it is in the name of fun.

Oh, Here's a picture of my new boy crush (I could definitely be his mom).

And here's the tram that kept us from riding the ride. Look carefully, it looks like a tree branch. And that ended our day at the third happiest place on earth!

Saturday was Kyle birthday and he wanted to spend the day on our own. We spent the day walking up and down the Champs-Elysees. We also went up in the Arc de Triumph to look around the city. The Eifel Tower and Arc de Triumph are said to have the best views in Paris, and I agree!

We met up with the fam for dinner. We just went down the street from the hotel and found a place we could sit outside to eat. We sat and talked and talked and sat. After dinner we pulled out the Apples to Apples and played right there at the table. I think they already thought we were crazy...why not work it!?!

We had snails for appetizers and they were actually very good (but tell me what isn't when it's drenched in garlic and butter). They tasted like chewy chicken...or maybe aligator... Here are some pictures of our snail eating experience.

Look at that girls face!!

Kyle didn't do a very good job taking my picture the first time so I made him do it again.And again...And again...Here are some picture from Apples to Apples. You gotta see this! The adjective was 'playful'. The winning hand SHOULD have been 'handcuffs'....but NOOOOO 'chains' won, bah!!
After dinner we went back to the hotel for a gift exchange. It was Kyle's birthday remember. Here is Carol showing off her beautiful wrapping job (she owns a Hallmark...it's safe to assume that thats a Hallmark brand plastic grocery sack).
The Keplingers gave him this really cool beer stine. It's handpainted.

For Kyle's birthday the Keplingers gave me a handpainted martini glass and a Vera Bradley wallet. That's right, I got twice as many gifts than the birthday boy. Yeah, you know who the favorite is :)

The next morning the family had to be out the door at like 5:30 while we slept in and left the room at the very last second. Kyle and I spent the day at the Louvre, had chocolate crepes, and then headed for the train; where we slept all the way home.