We came. We saw. We sweat.

Phew! Well, we are here. And we've had a jam-packed first day. After traveling through Cleveland and Newark airports, we finally arrived in Paris about 8am this morning. We got through passport control, got our suitcases and made it through customs without a hiccup. We did end up waiting a little while for Mario and the bus to come from the other terminal but we finally joined up with the others and we were on our way. After dropping our suitcases at our hotel, we had our first metro experience and made it in time to our reservation the tour Sainte-Chapelle, the beautiful gothic chapel of Louis IX.  Then we had a quick lunch and then tested our jet-lagged stamina by climbing the stairs of Notre-Dame. Coming down with shaky legs and sweaty brows, everyone admitted that the stairs were definitely worth the view of the city (and our first official glimpse of the Eiffel Tower!) Then we got back on the metro to the Montmartre neighborhood to explore Sacré-Cœur and do a little souvenir shopping. Back down the hill for dinner which just happened to be out on the restaurant's terrace looking across the river to Notre-Dame. And to top it all off? Crème brûlée for dessert!

So we made it back to the hotel eager to wash airport and city grime off of us and hit the hay.

Sainte-Chapelle:

Sacré-Cœur: