After returning from Paris, I spent my last night in London with Diane and Gabrielle. Diane took over my job at CNET in SF when I moved to NY, so we have a lot of friends in common. She moved to Paris a few years ago, and now lives in London, and this was our first opportunity to actually meet in person!

One of my favorite museums is the Musee D’Orsay. It’s in an old train station, the Gare D’Orsay. The building is gorgeous. It houses mostly French art, including paintings, sculptures, photography, and furniture, and collections by well-known artists such as Cezanne, Gaugin, Degas, Van Gogh, and Monet, among others. I spent my third and final day roaming the museum, then headed over to St. Germain to see the Eglise Saint-Sulpice. I enjoyed a delicious lunch of crepes before heading back to London.

Beautiful Musee D’Orsay

Saint-Sulpice is the second largest church in Paris, next to Notre-Dame. It was mentioned in The Da Vinci Code, which made it a popular destination for tourists.

La creperie des Canettes was charming and cozy. The crepes were amazing!

When I got to Gare du Nord to catch my train to London, it was snowing! What a great way to end an amazing trip to Paris. I can’t wait to go back again!

 My second day in Paris brought me to the Ile de la Cite, home of the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris, the Conciergerie, and Sainte Chapelle, the old site of the Bastille

Lovely Notre Dame was covered in scaffolding when I was last in Paris, so it was nice to see it in all its glory.

Palais de Justice

Sainte Chapelle, known for its amazing stained glass windows

Statue of Louis IX

La Conciergerie is the former royal palace and prison in Paris. Prisoners were kept in tiny, crowded cells at La Conciergerie to await trial and execution during the French Revolution. Two of the most famous prisoners were Queen Marie Antoinette and Robespierre.

Pont Neuf, with the Eiffel Tower in the background

The Place de la Bastille no longer looks like it did during the French Revolution. What was once a fortress, and later a prison, was torn down in the mid-1700s. Today, the area consists of the July Column (a monument to the Revolution of 1830), the Opera Bastille, a marina, the Bassin de l’Arsenal, and the Canal Saint Martin.

What’s a trip to Paris without a hot bowl of French Onion Soup?  The soup at Brasserie Bofinger was pretty tasty.

After lunch, I walked to the Place des Vosges.

In warmer seasons, this park is filled with people. It’s a lovely area to sit and people-watch, read, catch up with friends, or spend time with family.

Bronze statue of Louis XIII (notice the ominous stormy sky!)

I ducked into the Maison de Victor Hugo to escape the storm. It was a hotel in the 1800s, and Victor Hugo lived there for about 16 years. Through the windows, I spotted this lovely rainbow.

Not sure what this is, but it was pretty! I stumbled upon as I wandered around the Marais.

On my way back to meet Bill and Evelyn for an amazing dinner at Le Bistro du Sommelier (Happy Thanksgiving to me!), I stopped by the Louvre for this amazing night shot.

I hadn’t been to Paris since my very first trip to Europe, back in 1997. I could have spent an entire week in London, but I wanted to mix it up a bit, so on Wednesday, I hopped on an early train from Henley to London, took the Tube to St. Pancras station, and continued my journey on Eurostar, bound for Gare du Nord. About three hours later, I was greeted by my friend and Parisian host, Bill, who lives in the 16th arrondisement. Bill, his girlfriend Evelyn and I dined at the Cafe du Trocadero, with a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower. What was supposed to be a snowy day turned out to be brisk, sunny day, so after lunch, we walked over to the Arc de Triomphe and climbed to the top for the most amazing views of Paris. What better way to get reacquainted with this city!

View down the Champs Elysees

And of course, the Eiffel Tower

L’Arc de Triomphe

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Galeries Nationales, Grand Palais

Place de la Concorde

Grand Palais

Just about everyone in London recommended Borough Market, one of many open air markets around the city, but this one is centered around food. Unfortunately it’s only active on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, all days I wouldn’t actually be in London. However there are a lot of restaurants and food shops around it, so I decided to pay a visit anyway. I spent the rest of the daylight hours wandering around the South Bank, along the river, and topped off my day with a visit to the Tate Modern.

Monmouth has excellent coffee

Meat pies

Southwark Bridge

Shakespeare’s Globe

Millennium Bridge

London Bridge (if you find yourself singing that song in your head and wondering “is this it?” you can read about the history of the London Bridge here)

City Hall

The Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe)

Tower of London

Tower Bridge (what most people think of as London Bridge)

View down the Thames

Tower of London has some pretty intense history. I would have liked to have toured it if I had more time. Guess I have to go back!

Trinity House

Tower Hill Sun Dial

Shakespeare’s Globe (view from the Millennium Bridge)

Tate Modern

Sunflower Seeds by Ai Weiwei

100 million hand-crafted, hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds

Tate Modern by night