La Vie en Rose

 Today was an absolutely glorious day in Paris.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the air was cool and crisp, and leaves are just beginning to change from green to red, gold, and yellow.  I joined up with a free walking tour in the morning and met some really lovely people from all over the globe {South Africa, Canada, Germany, and Taiwan} whom I decided to spend the afternoon with.  The tour was about a five kilometer jaunt through the center of Paris, most of which I had already seen on my last trip, but it was great to get some of the history behind the beautiful buildings.

Interesting Tid-Bit: Paris was occupied by the Nazi's for about four years during World War II.  When the Allied Troops invaded Normandy and Hitler began to realize the Germans would soon loose the war he decided that if the Allies were to take back Paris, he wanted it to be a city in ruin.  He told his commanding general to destroy the entire city--however the general had fallen in love with Paris during his stay and just couldn't bare to see its destruction.  As the Allied Troops were nearing Paris, Hitler called the general and asked the infamous question "IS PARIS BURNING?"  The general divised a plan to bomb the Grand Palais to make Hitler {and the Allied Troops} believe the Paris was destroyed.  The Palais was so close to the Eiffel Tower that when the Allied Troops were about to enter Paris they saw a huge black cloud of smoke surrounding the Eiffel Tower, thus leading them to believe the Nazi's had blown up the Eiffel Tower and the rest of Paris.  They rushed into the city and were overjoyed to find virtually the entire city intact--even the Grand Palais was still standing except for it's beautiful glass roof which had been blown into the sky {however this has since been rebuilt}.

 But enough history, here are some more photos of some of my favorite sites of the day:

{River Seine}

 {La Louvre}

 {Musee Rodin}

 {Gorgeous sights around the streets of Paris}

{Lovely little dinner spot}

 {Quirky Paris: A ballet dancer in front of Hotel de Ville, a small image of Jim Morrison along the Seine, and love locks on the Pont des Arts}

{Paris at Night}

Until next time, bonne nuit!