Our Daytrip Into Paris!

We don't have much time before we need to head to the airport to fly back to Kazakhstan, so here's our day trip into Paris in photos. We had so much fun!  This week we've been pretty much going from sun up to sun down trying to make the most of this unexpected visa trip. We are exhausted, but had an amazing time with good friends and saw some pretty amazing sights, both in Belgium and Paris!

Our faithful navigators, Peggy & Jan.  The trip into Paris was about 4 hours by car, but went so quickly when in good company of dear friends.

We're in France and Paris is on the radar! Thanks to Jan for getting us to and from Paris safely.

We lucked out and found some free parking and the outskirts of Paris. We took the subway into the center to meet our other adoptive friends (more on them below).

Walking to the Eiffel Tower we never seemed to get any closer!  As we walked to the Eiffel Tower there was a beautiful building behind us, the Le Ecole Militaire (the military school).

We all know what this is! The line just to buy tickets was about 2 hours long, so since we only had about 6 hours, we just enjoyed from ground zero.

The whole group! Peggy, Jan, Mikael, Katy, Olivia, Kari & James. Katy & Mikael are from a smaller town in France; we met them in Kazkhstan when they were in the process of adopting Olivia.

Olivia is another beautiful Kaz kid, now about 18 months old. She's been with her forever family for about 6 months now. Congratulations Katy & Mikael and thank you so much for making the journey over to Paris. It was so great to see you!

Can you go to the Eiffel Tower without taking this photo?

From the Eiffel Tower we walked past the Hotel des Invalides and the Musee de l'Armee. Under this golden dome is Napoleon's Tomb.

The whole group discussing where to go next.

We took a bridge over the Seine River, heading to Champs Elysees. The view from the bridge was beautiful. On the banks below us we saw a bride getting her photos taken. We saw another wedding party a little later in the day.

A great shot of the Eiffel Tower and the Seine River.

We arrived at the Champs Elysees. This is a well populated street with many shops and restaurants. The Champs Elysees is one of the 12 streets branching off the Arc de Triomphe.

The photo doesn't do it justice, but spring time is coming in Paris and these trees are proof.

The Arc de Triomphe. From here we hopped on a Subway and were headed to The Louvre.

Inside one of the courtyards at the Louvre. I spent a lot of time taking many photos to make a panoramic photo of this courtyard, but little did I know that the next courtyard would be even more magnificent.  We would have loved to go inside the Louvre but just didn't have the time.  Even looking at it from the outside was the highlight of the trip for most of us.  

We were so lucky that it didn't rain in any of the cities that we saw this week. It did however rain while we were in the car, so we lucked out.  Peggy was determined to stay dry all day and that included spray from the fountain.

The pyramid is the entrance to the Louvre Museum. I loved this panoramic shot that showcased just how big the museum is. We heard you can buy a 475 page guide book for exploring the Louvre, but that must take many weeks to get through!

Another great shot in the Louvre's courtyard.

The boys: Mikael, Jan & James

We parted ways with Katy, Mikael & Olivia as Olivia was pretty tired and we were starting to head back towards the car. Olivia is such a happy girl and we were happy that the whole family could meet us in Paris. I know it was a long drive for them, but this is a memory we will never forget. 

Looking through this arch near the Louvre you look down Champs Elysees and see the Arc de Triomphe in the background.

The final stop before heading home was Montmarte. We had to climb many stairs to get to the top.

Almost there. What a great shot of Peggy & Kari.

Almost to the top. Beautiful panoramic views of Paris. From here we could make-out some of the landmarks that we weren't able to see in our one day trip.

Paris.

This is the Basilique du Sacre Coeur, a famous basilica in the Montmarte district, and the top of the hill with great views of Paris.

There were some street dancers working the crowd. We stopped to enjoy the show.

Besides lunch, the first time we sat down was to enjoy this dancing show!  Next, we hopped back on the subway and headed back to the car.  This ended a long, successful day in Paris!

I'm sure we left plenty of stuff out, but we are about to load into the car to head to the airport. We'll make updates to this post when we have a little more time to add more photos and/or provide better descriptions. 

Ava D. here we come! We miss you baby girl. We'll arrive in Pavlodar at 5:45pm Monday, then pick up Ava from the orphanage on Tuesday morning! Praise the Lord this day has finally come. Join us in saying goodbye to our dear friends in Belgium (and France). We are so thankful for opening their home to us!