Another beautiful day in Paris...

Well, it's late (here) and I'm throwing a few words and pictures together for sweet family and friends who've been so kind to at least appear interested in the tiny details of this wonderful trip!

 (Thanks for that. Sincerely.) 

Today's agenda included finally getting up close and personal with that little tower we've been admiring from our apartment this week. The Eiffel Tower is so huge, it appears to be pretty close, but we just kept walking…

…and walking…

…and walking...

and walking…(you get the idea!)

…till we were finally there! We got to the Tour Eiffel (as it's called here) early, and the lines moved quickly and before we could think too much about it, we were on an elevator headed to the tippy-top on the clearest day we've had in Paris. Beautiful views!

(You can always tell when Jesse frames the selfie -- he crops himself almost out of the picture)

Hey, y'all!

And, as we were walking away, I couldn't resist one last shot. What an amazing feat of engineering!

After all of this, naturally it was time for espresso! (And, thanks to a recommendation from our friend Kevin, a chocolate croissant! (It's amazing how many of our friends' recommendations are food-related. We are doing our best to eat our way through Paris!)

Then it was off to Musee D'Orsay, based in a gorgeous old train station and home to fabulous impressionist masterpieces. I didn't take many pictures here, although we loved seeing paintings we've admired by Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, Manet and more.

This mama and chubby baby made me miss my Abram.

This lovely girl reading made me miss my Maranda!

The train station clock -- with a view of Paris!

The gorgeous gallery...

Just a couple of tortured artists...

Okay, this is a crazy bit of serendipity. My dad had a picture one of my first cousins sent him of a store in Paris named Florence Martin (the name of his mother -- our grandmother). I would not have been able to find it if I searched the city, so I didn't try…we just happened to run into it! 

We next headed to the artsy neighborhood on a Paris hilltop -- Montmartre! We enjoyed a delicious lunch -- I had roast chicken and Jesse had a chopped steak topped with an egg. And what is it about the French and those fries? 

I'm so happy to be walking all over ancient streets in Europe with this guy!

I finally heard a street musician play "La Vie En Rose" in Montmartre! *sigh*

Another espresso? Why not! Make mine en creme!

Crowds thronged the stairs and grounds of Sacre Coeur high on Butte Montmartre to enjoy gorgeous views of Paris and street performances by a variety of entertainers...

Selfie - Jesse-style. 

Sidenote: My parents were married in a church called Sacre Coeur (well, it's called Sacred Heart)…almost 53 years ago!

Crazy performer with an amazing backdrop...

A beautiful walk in Montmartre...

Fantastic musicians…(made me miss my Mikey!)

Another reminder of family -- Hi, Madeleine!

We ended the evening in the beautiful Cafe du Commerce -- another recommendation from the source of all things Paris -- Elisabeth Grant-Gibson! Our anniversary is tomorrow, but we started the celebration early with a beautiful meal a l'etage. (that means on the upper level -- another great suggestion from Elisabeth!)

Semi-subtle selfie in the mirror at Cafe du Commerce!

Entree (what we could call an appetizer) -- crumble d’aubergines au chèvre frais (eggplant and goat cheese crumble -- too. good.)

And the main course, a house specialty recommended by our waiter Gregory, was the L’exceptionnelle de notre boucher Pascal (an exceptional creation by the restaurant butcher, Pascal, featuring limousine beef, four beautiful sauces, and French fries (again) served with bone marrow. After Gregory rolled us down the stairs, we limped back to the apartment! What a lovely meal!

So tomorrow, we're going to road trip outside of Paris and we're pretty excited about seeing some countryside. (You know us farm-types -- we've got to get to the country!) We're taking a train to Rouen and renting a car and we plan to tour Normandy a bit. We want to see some D-Day sites (Wig Hatton has told Jesse a story or two and we want to soak in some important history). We also plan to visit the gorgeous Mont St. Michel and wherever else the road takes us! I'll be sure to post from the road! Thanks for following along!