Paris is World Class

Ahhhhhh ......Paris. Conjures up in our minds such romantic and beautiful images. And Notre Dame, an icon of one of the most wonderful cities on earth - what a celestial feast for the eyes. 

We never get tired of visiting the historical splendor Paris, no matter how many times we have been there. 

 
You could spend weeks just looking at these great works of architectural art. Our friend Natalie lived just down the street from here. 

Tiffany up front with the blue top is walking down the step with the usual crowd hanging around the church's steps on a typical weekend day. There was a young woman singing the song by Four Non Blondes called "What's Going On!". She was amazing, and at the end of her song the crowd burst out in raucous cheer.

 
This is one rare day we had warm beautiful weather which makes the pictures look spectacular. Unfortunately Paris seemed to plagued by rainy cold days during the beginning of this summer.
 
The "Invalid's Palace" with its gold detailed dome and deep blue sky backdrop was breathtaking. This is where the war heroes, who previously wandered aimlessly in the streets as beggars, went to retire in luxurious peace. Awfully nice of the government - wouldn't you say? 
 
We took one of those tours where you can sit on top of an open-air bus and hear commentary as you drive around all the significant areas of Paris. Beats walking!
 
One of the areas all dressed up for the World Cup festivities was the Hotel de Ville in central Paris. Beautiful flowers adorned the walls and statues. This was one of the locations that had a very large outdoor television were crowds without tickets came to watch the Fut games. 

It is much more fun to watch your soccer team kick their way to glory amongst the ranks of like-minded adoring fans, than to be sitting outside the stadium praying for a miracle ticket, or sitting in the crowded subways scrambling last minute to find a suitable bar television to peer at between fuzzy berets.

 
Hans went around town with his Brazilian soccer jersey. The proud Brazilian native showing his true colors. Those happy-go-lucky Brazilians have some of the world's most fanatic fans who will traverse the globe to it's farthest corners in order to see their beloved Ronaldo breeze past helpless defenders. And, of course wherever they go - they will samba dancing wearing their golden jerseys. 

We chose this lovely spot over-looking the world's most famous church to enjoy nibbling our packed lunch. It was a picture perfect afternoon. We felt truly blessed.

 
Being the hosts of the most popular event on earth has it's share of problems. Traffic were especially bad in parts of the city. Demonstrated here by a frustrated group of cars at the end of the Champs Elyse. Who would have guessed that several weeks later this jam would pale in comparison to the celebrating crowds gathering in this same spot.
 
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photos our Parisian friends enjoying the World Cup at the beginning
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