When we woke up (in Lille), Graeme was sleeping between his bed and Catriona's crib. Waiting for the train in Lille. That mound of luggage is our gang's. (reverse angle) The gare. Peter contemplates the concept of having children, with Oliver acting as "demo child". (Little did he know Alexia actually got pregnant this week!) Jenn lifts Catriona up to see Daddy. Oliver does more cute "demo child" things. Graeme really enjoyed Peter pushing him around. Exiting the subway in Paris. We ate at a nice bistro across the street there. Our first view of the Eiffel Tower. As we weren't planning on getting any closer, we took our tourist shots here. Micah is up first. (When in Paris, you are required to have your photo taken with the Eiffel Tower in the background. It's a law or something.) Peter and Alexia are more local than us, so they get to have their photo taken with the (admittedly more attractive) Paris architecture. Our family shot. (This one made the photo wall.) Peter and Alexia do come in for one of the "tourist" shots. Jay, Nissan, and Oliver's turn. We'd have waited for the background people to move, except the weather wasn't condusive to waiting around. ...and Warren, Charlene, and Benjamin's turn. Okay, enough of the tower. I haven't seen one of these in Canada. (It's a Beemer.) A fairly typical intersection in this part of town. Notice all the buildings are the same height (by code). I love the effort (time/money) that gets spent on doors. We should do more of that in Canada. Ah, Paris. It's a hotel, so they've gone the extra step to put out flowers. Alternate angle. Yes, it's done that way as a promo. But it's still cute. I'm getting slightly redundant with this photo, but it's so *typical* that I had to include it. A little modern gothic. A gathering of Canadians. I don't think Graeme would have survived the day without that stroller. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the second most over photographed building in Paris. There's no way you can (realistically expect to) cross the street on the surface. This is a photo of a *sound*. Specifically, that police car screamed "Paris". A good angle on the Arc de Triomphe. This is a super high-res stitched photo (reduced to web-size to show here). Inside the Arch, up top, is the dedication. Obligatory shot of the Eiffel tower from the top of the Arch. The thing to note is that the height of the buildings is so uniform. Graeme reaching for the telescope. Cute. Catriona spent a lot of France just dangling. Micah and the tower. ("it's not so big") Ah, "modern" Paris. Nobody ever talks about it. I think it embarasses them. Graeme's shot. (Typing this up a year later, I'm amazed at how much he's grown since Paris.) Our family photo. A zoomed in view of the Louvre, down the Champs-Elysees from the Arc de Triomphe. Same shot, wider angle, to show the street and the distance. Peter and Alexia mug for the camera. (hand!) Okay, here's the family friendly version. Micah descending into the bowels of the Arc... ...to the gift store. I couldn't bring myself to buy tacky tourist trinkets (arguably I should have for Graeme), but I *could* bring it home in photo form. Descending. From underneath. "Ici repose un soldat Francais mort pour la patrie 1914-1918" ("Here lies a French soldier who died for his fatherland 1914-1918") Oliver and Jay have a daddy moment as they snap a photo towards the Louvre. Jay and Oliver Under the Arc. You can see Catriona's typical view of Paris. I'm guessing she won't remember much. It is, after all, a memorial. Okay, we're off again. It struck me as funny. Micah shooting a photo of a Peugeot dealership. I love these little hallway-alley-driveways. I assume it's a former driveway. Back in the metro. What is Warren thinking? I believe this is/was the town hall... one of the more ornate buildings we saw. The light posts outside the town hall. What struck me as odd was the chain. More detail. (and if you look closely, a security camera or two) Bridges over the Seine River. Notre Dame Cathedral. I've included several photos of it because, well, the detail work is worth it. Approximately 100 million tourists have taken this photo. We should install a window like that. Classic. Caught in the moment. Who comes up with this stuff? The detail is exquisite. The dude, lower (lower!) left doesn't look too happy. Interior shots now. It's beautiful. Stained glass baby. The Southern Rose Window. Almost no surface is unadorned. I was hoping for a cool photo with the candles. Maybe a bit less exporsure next time? I'll have to go back. Looking up from the main apse. I love the sense of awe. I title this one: The burdens of motherhood. Peter showed up with Graeme. I think they walked around the Cathedral to look at Gargoyles. Did somebody say gargoyles? Let's get a quick (because the sky is spitting) shot as we cross the courtyard. I've seen a couple of impressive cathedrals in my time. This is one of them. This tourist sidewalk shop has some nice photos. Graeme and Peter really got along well. I think Peter's going to make a good dad some day.