Band of Brothers Tour Day 1 & Day 2

Tuesday, July 16th & Wednesday, July 17th

Our journey began around midday on Tuesday with a flight from Columbus to Minneapolis and then took off for Paris, France around 5 PM (est). We landed in Paris around 7:16 AM Paris time. By the time we went through customs, retrieved out luggage it was 8:15. Our driver was waiting to take us from the airport to our hotel for the next 3 days, the Melia. It is a nice boutique hotel and the location is perfect for us. When we finally arrived at the hotel is was after 10:00. We stored our luggage with the hotel and off we went exploring. The Paris Opera House isn’t far from our hotel, so we walked there to catch our hop on/hop off bus. These tour buses give a good overview of the highlights of the city.

We got off the bus for Norte Dame. On our way there we stopped and toured St. Chapelle. It is a royal chapel and it is located within the Palais de la Cité which was the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century. The stain glass panes covering 15 windows are incredible and depict 1,113 scenes from the Old and New Testaments.

When we finished our tour, we walked all around Norte Dame. We could see remnants of the fire and where workers are reinforcing beams. The area is fenced off to visitors and guarded.

We jumped back on the bus to see the Arch de Triumph, the Eiffel Tower among other Paris highlights. When we returned to the stop where we started, we got off and grabbed some lunch/dinner and then walked back to our hotel to “officially” check in. It was nice to finally get a shower after 26 hours! We rested for about 40 minutes then walked to the Eiffel Tower. On our way to the Eiffel Tower we passed the Place de la Concorde. The city was still cleaning up after their big military parade on Bastille Day, July 14th, 2 days ago. We wanted to be at the Eiffel Tower by the time the lights came on! We enjoyed our time waiting for the lights! It was beautiful! We have to say it was also great people watching!