12:2003 :: Paris, France —

It's official, I want to open a pit bar-b-que restaurant in the area near our hotel at Saint Michel and Saint Germain Boulevards.

The area surrounding the hotel [1] was lively and pleasant. With several blocks combining traditional retail, restaurants and other "street food" -- gyros and nutella crepes, this is a perfect location for a Bar-b-que joint... nice retirement plan, eh?

On day one we took in sights that were only a few blocks away such as Notre Dame [2], the Bird Market, Sainte Chapelle, the Museum Cluny across the street -- only I didn't tour inside until a few days later.

Later we visited the Louvre [3] where I viewed some of the most breathtaking and massive pieces of art, the adjacent Tuileriers [4], and the Paris Opera House [5].

On Sunday we all hopped on a bus for a 3 hour ride to Belgium to visit Brugge; which is referred to as "Venice of the North" due to its many canals. Brugge is simply beautiful and has that charming European feel I remember as a child [6, 7 & 8]. Paige took a delicious picture of some real "Belgian waffles" [9].

On Monday, a trip through the oldest flee market in Paris [10]. Candace, Paige and Megan each pick up something for themselves

We took a short metro ride to Montmartre and visited Sacre Coeur [11] and the village square which was full of artists selling their art and painting portraits of desiring visitors. It was here, at a small bistro we stopped in for lunch, that upon delivering our food the waiter presented our order of french fries as "freedom fries;" thanks a hell of a lot Mr. Tom Daschle!   :::shaking head:::

Pastries [12] were ever-present, and chocolate eclairs were breakfast food on our trip to jaunt to see the Eiffel Tower up close [13] -- which I did not enter as the lines were super long; maybe next time!

On the morning of our departure back to the states, we walked through the Luxembourg gardens, where I snapped this photo of the main palace located at one end of the property [14].

And as much as we here that Parisians do not care for American things, there were many American things to be seen: the McDonalds next door, Coke in glass bottles, the "Tie Rack" was popular for some reason, Jeeps and PT Cruisers, and many others... but one couldn't miss getting a glimpse of Britney [15] in every metro station [16] we used.

Between Paige and myself we took over 600 pictures on our trip, add to that an untold and not yet developed set of images captured by Candace and Megan... certainly too many to put online, but I may add more later.

Hotel Cluny Square : Ideally located on the Left Bank, where the Boulevards Saint Michel and Saint Germain meet, in front of the Cluny Abbey, right at the heart of Paris's cultural heritage : the Latin Quarter.

The Cluny/La Sorbonne subway station is just a few steps from the hotel, making for a perfect location to base your travels. For more information: http://www.hotelclunysquare.com