Our Last Day in Paris

We came upon this hotel named for Tim while walking in Paris!
Our metro stop!
Trace television station - the girls always had this French music video station on whenever we were in the apartment!
Rachel and Lindsay relaxing in the apartment playing Sims on Lindsay's computer before we headed out for the Eiffel Tower on New Year's Eve.
Les Deux Magots (the namesake of the famed cafe)
One of the streets in "our" neighborhood with its holiday decorations
Rachel and Tim enjoying sandwiches from the Croissanterie.

Needs no introduction!

We decided to spend our last day in Paris by going to the Eiffel Tower and doing a little more shopping! We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower during our last visit, and didn't feel a need to stand in line to go up again, but we did want to go and see the monument (in daylight) once again.

After leaving the Eiffel Tower we returned to the Saint Germain des Pres area for our last shopping opportunity. I mentioned to Tim before we left how much I'd love to buy a new handbag in Paris, but once we got there and saw how expensive everything was (Paris is expensive anyway, but the value of the dollar vs. the euro makes it worse) I decided it would be a bit more extravagant than would be prudent. Tim, however, really wanted to buy one for me (he has been indulging my handbag problem for years now!) so he took me shopping on Saturday while the girls went off to do some shopping of their own. We ended up purchasing a beautiful bag from Longchamp, which will be a daily reminder of our wonderful trip to Paris!

After shopping we met Kim for dinner at a great little restaurant called Chez Janou. It was a charming place, and I wish that I had taken a picture during dinner, but I forgot! After dinner Kim, Lindsay and Rachel left to go and meet some of Kim's friends, and Tim and I took the metro back to the apartment to pack. I have to admit that I was a little nervous leaving the girls at 9:30 p.m. to go off by themselves and navigate the metro back to the apartment after midnight, but Kim and her friend Sophie walked them to the metro station and they got home just fine. The girls had a great time meeting several of Kim's friends, and wished that they had had more time to spend with them!

On Sunday morning (Jan. 4th) Marc Gallice very kindly picked us up at the apartment and drove us to the airport. We had 8 pieces of luggage and 4 carry-on bags, and thought for sure that we wouldn't be able to get it all in Marc's car, but thankfully it fit, and so did we, and off we went! We had a WONDERFUL two weeks in Paris, and we can't wait to go back!

Along with the pictures from the Eiffel Tower I am posting some random pictures from our trip...