Nice Years Later: Recalling One Of Our Best Trips!

Brigitte Bardot. Maurice Chevalier. Charles deGalulle. Jean-Paul Belmondo. Edith Piaf. Charles Aznavour. Juliette Binoche. Napoleon. Capucine. Gerard Depardieu. Jeanne Moreau. Jacques Cousteau. Louis XIV. Yves St. Laurent. Jean Genet. Isabelle Huppert. Renoir. Degas. Matisse. Gauguin. Rodin. Cezanne. Fanny Ardant. Charles Boyer. Louis Jourdan. Leslie Caron. Catherine Deneuve.

Shall we go on?
Surely you understand where we're going here.
Yes, before we ever step foot on French soil each and every one of us brings our own set of built-in notions, perceptions and images to all things French.
And no place is more French than Paris.
It's the heart and soul of Gaul.
From an early age we are inundated with the very idea of Paris: opulent, romantic, stylish, trend-setting, life-affirming, beautiful, extravagant, intoxicating, charming, irresistible, even decadent but never dull, never ordinary and light years beyond the everyday and common place.
From the Eiffel Tower to the banks of the Seine to the Paris Opera House to Notre Dame, The Louvre, The Champs Elysées and The Arch de Triomphe, we see it, we think we know it, we absorb it all. Through so many movies photos, songs, ads, paintings and vivid enumerations and depictions Paris is imbedded in us way before we ever actually experience it live and in person -- if we're lucky enough.
But can it really be as we imagine it?
Is the real Paris anything like what we and so many others have come to expect?
Does it live up to its lofty expectations?
Does it even come close? Oui, oui, et OUI!

If you've ever dreamed of going to Paris, we have two words of advice for you: "Do it!"

And do it as soon as you can.
Our trip to Paris was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
So, why did it take us so long to make that dream come true? We're not quite sure. We'd been to London, Florence, Venice, Rome and every major city in the USA. But for one reason or another, Paris remained a "someday" adventure.
Until two weeks ago when that day came. And yes, we loved Paris right from the getgo. But we didn't stop there. We ventured beyond to Versailles, the French countryside, the champagne region and the Normandy beaches gobbling up huge portions of French life, food, customs and history along the way.
We've shown you some of the pictures.
But we've saved the very best for last.
So now -- take a look at the Very Best of Paris and Beyond and start planning your very own trip today:

The Seine.

Chagall ceiling, Paris Opera House.

Gilded ballroom, Paris Opera House.

The Grand Hotel.

Multi-flavored macaroons.

Sacre Coeur.

The Montmarte.

Arc de Triomphe. 

Steps, Napoleon's Tomb.

Napoleon's Tomb.

Always, ornamentation/

Eiffel.

From the Eiffel.

Eiffel, straight up.

Le Louvre.

Venus di Milo. 

Light show. Every night, every hour.

Sorbonne. 

Indoor shopping arcade.

Quintessential Paris.

Where Mumm stores its champagne.

Omaha Beach.

American cemetery, Normandy.

Oh, those details . . . .

Pointe du Hoc.

Pointe du Hoc.

Hall of Mirrors, Versailles. 

At a Paris street market.

Notre Dame, buttressed.

Luxembourg Gardens.

Pompidou Center.

Street scene, Chartres.

The vineyards, champagne region.

Mont Saint-Michel.

Versailles Gardens.