Portsmouth and Paris- Day 1

(I just added photos to this post- I was unable to include photos from our Paris hotel.)
We've been in Paris for over 24 hours now, and I'm finally taking a few minutes to write about what's been going on. Today went much better than yesterday- we actually ate a real dinner today!
But I'll back track a little first to talk about our trip to Portsmouth in England.
I'll insert the photos and add commentary...
(fifteen minutes later.)
Okay, I guess I won't be inserting the photos tonight. I must be too far from the wireless signal for the memory-dense photos to upload. So I'll just say what we've been doing, and hopefully I'll be able to add them tomorrow.
View of the Waterloo Train Station in London: When we got to Portsmouth on Sunday morning, we were met at the train station by Joanna and her dad Nigel (I hope I'm spelling his name right.) They took us home, where we were greeted by Joanna's mom, Claudia. After touring the house and garden, we left to drive to the Portsmouth waterfront. There we strolled along the water and saw some of the little town until it was time for our lunch reservation at a historic pub called the Still and West Country House: The Reeds had reserved a table upstairs overlooking the water, and we watched the boats and ferries go by while we ate. Logan had the traditional fish and chips, and I had vegetable skewers with strawberries and cream for dessert. Yum!
After lunch we walked over to a busier shopping center area- it reminded us of Santana Row. In that area is the Spinnaker Tower, which is a tourist attraction that takes people 70 stories above the ground to get a bird's eye view of the area. Joanna took Logan and me up to the top, and it was clear enough for us to see quite far.
Spinnaker Tower: Next we walked around in the shopping area before leaving to take a drive down some country lanes in the Portsmouth area. It was a nice sunny day, and we admired how green everything was.
In the evening we had a wonderful dinner that Claudia cooked for us, and then sat talking and sharing photos of our house renovation until late.
The next morning (Monday) we had breakfast and took a few photos before we needed to go to the train station to go back to London.
Logan, Joanna and me: Joanna and her parents: When we arrived in London we took the tube to the St. Pancras station, where we got on the Eurostar to Paris.
The Eurostar is a fancy train- much nicer than the coach class airplane seating. Logan had enough room for his legs, and we were served a very nice lunch during our voyage.
This is what Logan's lunch looked like. He had beef with potatoes and carrots, a roll with butter, and mixed green salad, and a sort of sweet cheese flan for dessert. We were also offered wine: When we arrived in Paris we waited in line to get our Carte Orange, which allows us unlimited access to the metro and buses for the week we're in Paris.
We managed to find our hotel okay, and then left to see the Eiffel Tower.
Here is the view from our sixth floor hotel window: I needed a snack when we got to the hotel, so I ate the package of tarts I had bought in London. They were called "Naughty Strawberry Tarts"! The owner of our hotel is making improvements to the property, as shown by the partially finished door frame of our room: The teeny tiny bathroom was so small that Logan wasn't able to shut the door with him inside! A self-portrait in front of the Eiffel Tower: A few hours later (about 11pm), the Eiffel Tower in the dark: After a late night with shortbread for dinner (see yesterday's post), we slept very soundly and were happy to get up and shower this morning. We had a nice breakfast in the hotel salon. The owner of the hotel asked Logan to help carry a door from the 3rd floor to the 5th floor (they're doing quite a bit of remodeling here), and as a thank-you he gave us two tickets to ride the Bateaux-Mouches, which are the guided tour riverboats that go up and down the Seine.
After breakfast, we went to the Montmartre neighborhood, and visited the Basilica Sacre-Couer: It's a really lovely church on top of a hill (more stair climbing- of course!), and we were able to hear the nuns singing while we walked around inside. After stopping for some lunch from a crepe and sandwich vendor, we came back to our hotel to take a nap and do some laundry.
This evening we braved the cramped supermarket around the corner for some dinner ingredients, and had a salad with some bread and cheese for dinner at the hotel. Then we took the bus to the riverside and used our tickets for the Bateaux-Mouches. I was really happy not to get sea-sick on this boat like I did on the Thames. This was a very smooth ride, and we took it just as the sun was starting to set. We had such a lovely view of the sunset over Notre Dame, and Logan took lots of pictures.
In this photo, the clock reads 10:05pm, and it's still quite light outside. We were amazed by how much daylight we got every day in Paris! This is what the Bateaux-Mouches boat looked like, with lots of seating for everyone on top of the boat. The recorded commentary would repeat in about 8 different languages: The Bateaux-Mouches sign with the Eiffel Tower glowing in the background: After a stroll along the Seine for a few minutes, we took the bus back to our hotel to get ready for bed. Now that it's after 1am, I need to get some sleep so I can visit the Louvre tomorrow!