It was chilly and often overcast on our first day, but we tromped down to the
Opera House (yes, THAT Opera House) and picked up a tour bus for a ride

My folks and I on the open-air upper deck of the bus; gorgeous monuments and statues

Paris immediately reminded me, in a lot of ways, of Washington D.C., where I work

Our bus took us down the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, which
Napoleon ordered built to show the world how covered in Awesome he was

Yes, that really is gold, and yes, Paris really is the most beautiful city you will ever see

Notre Dame Cathedral and the Fashion Museum 

You may have heard of this certain tower they have in Paris,
the one that's about twice as tall as the Washington Monument in D.C.
We didn't go up in it because the lines were too long

You know you're in Paris when your obelisk is capped in gold;
The building housing the National Assembly, France's version of the House of Representatives

This isn't the inside of a cathedral or an opera house: it's a department store,
albeit the Galeries Lafayette, which we visited after our bus tour

The dome inside the Galeries

A hot meal and a walk (passing Sacre Coeur)
to our hotel finished the day. Next, Versailles!

More photos from Paris