Day Six- Train Ride back to Paris, Paris by Bike

Thursday, we woke in Nice, France, which was nice :). We got our typical pastries, enjoyed a pleasant stroll around the previously mentioned Nice city center with it's art, statues and entertaining people watching exhibits. *I need to note that I do have some fabulous pictures of the center but have misplaced them surprisingly! Will add them later.*

We drove back to Aux En Provence and caught the train which returned us to Paris by mid afternoon. Back in Paris, Dave figured out the bike system for Judah (who might I say had been mentioning how fun it would be to tour Paris by bike every day since we had been there). We also found some locks to purchase and decided it would be fun to make a race out of getting back to the bridge with the locks on the Seine. Keslie and I via metro, Judah and Dave via bike. Keslie and I took headed down below and put our heads together, found the quickest route, and RAN. Keslie kept saying how competitive Judah is and how he wins at every competition they do. I typically win between Dave and myself :), me being the more competitive. Must be a family trait. Unfortunately, we exited the Metro at the wrong stop, which put us near to Notre Dame, not so close to the bridge. So, we ran! It was quite a run and we were thinking the whole time that the boys would definitely beat us there, but we still ran hard. We made it to the bridge with no sight of the boys! We had beaten them and by a good ten minutes too! It was fun to rub it in! 

Here they are on the losing bikes :). 

We marked our locks and attached them to the bridge, throwing the keys into the river as is tradition. The bridge was full of people having picnics and gatherings. It was quite a busy evening there. 

The two lovebirds.

Judah and Keslie adding their lock to the thousands already adorning the bridge.

Dave and I doing the same. 

Dropping one of our two keys into the river. The other may someday return and open the lock...maybe not. 

Dave and our little lock. 

After hanging out on the bridge, we all got bikes and decided to take turns choosing a place in Paris to ride to. Judah chose first since he was the most excited to be on two wheels. He picked this green wall which is located close by the Eiffel Tower.

I choose next and we rode along the Seine towards the small replica Statue of Liberty that sits on the river. I think that we were the only tourists there :). Not a hot spot in Paris. 

Looking from the Statue of Liberty at the Eiffel Tower. We continued our ride back through Champe Elysees and down to the Concorde past the Louvre. We ended back near Notre Dame. We were on the bikes almost 4 hours. Judah was right, Paris was fabulous by bike! We ended the night with some yummy Italian food (pretty much the only restaurant still serving food after 11pm) on a street corner. The weather must have been near to perfect because the windows were open and the atmosphere was jovial. If I remember right, Judah REALLY enjoyed his calzone. We literally had to drag ourselves back to the hotel. Another perfect day in a beautifully fabulous city.