Our first official day in Paris was busy. We started at the bakery across the street with some warm apple turnovers - so flaky and tasty. Then we hunted around until we found some coffee, not as easy as we expected. We didn't want to sit for a large breakfast so it was a matter of finding a patisserie with coffee. We eventually found one near an ecole (school). The children are still in school, and it was fun to watch them walking with their parents.

After le petit dejeuner (breakfast), we headed off to Notre Dame Cathedral. It was absolutely stunning. I couldn't get over the stone work. The demons were my favorite, as was the statue of St. Denis holding his head. We went inside, and we were early so it wasn't too crowded and viewed the beautiful rose windows and gothic architecture. We listened to Rick Steve's tour on our ipod, so it was pretty slick. Griffin's battery died on her shuffle, so were a bit of a circus act, walking connected at the hip!

When we were finished touring the inside, we ascended the 400 steps to be eye to eye with the gargoyles. It was a spectacular view of the city and helped us get our bearings (well, it helped Todd, I still don't know where we are in relation to anything else - except the bakery across the street). We saw Quasimodo's bell and it was fun to imagine the fictional tale. It was a great backdrop.

When we exited Notre Dame, we continued on an historic walk of the city. We crossed the Seine onto the left bank into the Latin Quarter. We had crepes, nutella and banana, for lunch and walked the winding roads of this artistic area. We wandered by St. Chapelle and the Concierge, but didn't enter because we didn't have our museum passes yet and decided to return later. We sat at a lovely little park by Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris). The weather was steamy, but a pleasant breezed took off the edge.

An afternoon nap was in order, after all that walking. We woke up at about 6:00 and decided to pack a picnic and take a bus to the Eiffel Tower. We sat about 30 yards from the base of the tower and ate baguettes, cheese, and a "hot dog". Dusk came and the tower was lit up. It was beautiful. We walked under it and took a great picture from beneath. It is an awesome structure. We will be returning to go up it, but today we were satisified with a relaxing evening (our feet were tired from all the stairs and walking). We got home at about 11:00. It was a full day. The city doesn't sleep until about midnight, so we are becoming locals already!