Paris, France (12/5/16 – 12/8/16)

We decided that instead of taking a short flight from Milan to Paris, we’d take the train. It would give Lou time to get some work done and we’d get a chance to see part of the Alps as we traveled through them. It was a long trip, but quite lovely in parts. Quite not so lovely in others. At one point we stopped for a security check, which was uneventful yet another reminder of how lucky we are to live in the United States. The train took us to the central terminal in Paris, then we took the subway the rest of the way to our hotel, which was in La Defense, northwest of Paris. From our hotel we could see the Grande Arche, which is a gigantic office/monument building in the shape of a cube, from which you can see the Arc de Triomph, which is straight down Avenue Charles de Gaulle. Its also possible to walk from the Grande Arche to the Arc via the same route, which I did (almost). I really only had one day to explore my surroundings, so I elected to walk to the Fondation Louis Vuitton, which is inside the Bois de Boulogne. The walk there took about 40 minutes, and that includes stopping to photograph the views and art installations along the way. Unfortunately, I got there late in the day and both the line for tickets and the line to get into the building were backed up so far that I wouldn’t have had time to see much once (if) I got inside. I explored Bois de Boulonge, instead. Its a large park (and I do mean LARGE) just shy of the Arc. The park has something for everyone: a zoo, aviary, amusement park, restaurants, peacocks roaming free, meandering boat ride, theatre, horseback riding school, golf, gardens, and lots and lots of walking paths. I got lost so many times trying to take it all in. My only regret is that I took this walk AFTER I had worked out in the gym for three hours. It was no surprise to Lou that night that I elected to eat at one of the hotel restaurants rather than walk anywhere else that day.