Sunday Arrival in Paris and Monday Bus Ride

Arrived in Paris at 8:30 am. After bus ride to hotel and greeting by our tour director, the group went by bus to the Mont Martre area of Paris. There were many of these covered walkways built in the early 19th century; an early idea for malls. There are only seven left. (By the way, after very little sleep on the plane, we didn't stop 'moving' until bed time at 8:30 last night!)

 This is earliest, continuously operating bookstore in Paris.

 Our walking tour ended at the Louvre. We didn't tour the inside; we did that on our last trip to Paris.

 

On the bus ride back to the hotel, a view on the Champs-Elysees of the Arc de Triomphe.

Today is Bastille Day in France. However, the French just call it July 14th, or French National Day. There is a long story about that! Above is the coffee cup at the hotel this morning, The coffee machine dispensed only about 4 oz. of coffee in this 12 oz cup!

 We headed west today, by bus, stopping at the city of Chartres, with a visit at another Notre Dame Cathedral.

 This building houses the Tourist Office in the city of Chartres.

 The Cathedral is undergoing a restoration. You can see the clean area in the lower portion of the picture, and the dirty area in the upper portion. It was built in the 12th and 13th centuries. I think our tour guide said this is only the 3rd restoration in the Cathedral's history.

 The is believed to be a cloth (veil) of the Virgin Mary from before she gave birth to Jesus.

 Look at the difference in the architecture of the two spires.

We had French Onion Soup at lunch today. A bit different than at home!

The welcome at the Grand Hotel Courtoisville in the city of St Malo. We will be here for three nights,

 A view of the Atlantic Ocean which is only 1 1/2 blocks from our hotel. In the far, left distance is the walled part of the city of St Malo. We will be touring it tomorrow.

Unlike Italy (where the pizza is not usually cut in half, or cut at all for that matter), our dinner pizza was cut in half for us. I've already cut a piece on the top portion. Notice that the black olives are whole!