Well it's early evening here in Spain and we covered a lot of ground today. We started at 9:00 or so and strolled down the Calle (street) until we found a place to have coffee and breakfast. Zack wandered off to explore on his own. After breakfast we stumbled upon the Barcelona Cathedral. It was spectacular! I think we liked it more than Notre Dame. It's much smaller but a sight for sure. Inside it has an alter to various Saints. Very interesting and beautiful. We were able to go to the roof where we could see nearly the entire city. We were on the roof when the bell sounded, it was nice. Following are 11 photos of the Barcelona Cathedral.

This is a pipe organ over one of the entries.

After going through the Barcelona Cathedral, we strolled more and came upon another church (are you surprised?) but I forgot what it was called. This was a much smaller church but still pretty on it's own.

We went through the Gothic quarters and ate at a nice local restaurant where David and Zack had paella and I had huevos con chorizo, son muy bueno. We also had a brownie and coffee.

Huevos con chorizo.

Brownie with a little fruit.

Tonight we will go to a Flamenco.

Well we're in Barcelona Spain.

It was an adventure taking the Metro to the airport and much cheaper. We caught the subway to the stop where we could catch the train that heads to the airport. There are two trains that go to the airport, an express and one that has a few more stops in between. We were in the express line but it was very crowded and the doors closed before David and I could get on. Zack entered from a different door and got on the train. We quickly realized that we were separated but figured Zack would remember which terminal (terminal  2) and airline (Air France) he needed to go to. David and I caught the next train and enjoyed a much less crowded ride. When we got to terminal 1 and as the train left to go to our stop, terminal 2, I saw Zack outside the train waving with big puppy dog eyes. It was very cute and funny. We finally caught up to each other at terminal 2.

What a cool place. We've walked around since we got here (about 6:00 p.m.) and we ate at a Catalonian restaurant. To say the least, it was awesome.

The house we're renting is like a mansion compared to the first place in Paris. It's located in a residential area with working people. The buildings are mixed use with businesses on the ground floor and residences above them. They are very close together. There are two bathrooms here and we don't have to worry about hitting the wall when we turn around in it. ;) Following are pictures of this apartment.

View of the living area from the balcony.

A view out to the balcony.

The bedroom and bath area.

The kitchen.

Second bathroom (there's more to it but I couldn't get a full shot.)

The outside area from the balcony.

Zack leaving to join the younger crowd.

Zack's room.

It's Wednesday morning, happy 25th anniversary to us, and time to end our first layover in Paris. We'll take the Metro to the airport for a 2:30 flight to Barcelona - which is why we came to Europe in the first place. ;) For now, Zack went for a run, David's finally sleeping, and I'm going to shower in the bathroom that is basically the size of our shower at home! The toilet is to the right.

Well another day in Paris. Wow! It's easy to see why people fall in love with this city. It's very large but very beautiful. We're amazed at the architecture, the museum's, and the ease at which we can get around. Today we went into the cathedral at Notre Dame. There are no words. We went to the Sainte Chapelle, the Palaise de Justice, jardin du Luxembourg, and the Catacombs. To say the least we had another exciting but exhausting day. Following are some images and selfies.

Catacombs 

Palais du Luxembourg

We forgot what this is. 

Notre Dame cathedral.

Notre Dame cathedral.

Notre Dame cathedral.

Notre Dame cathedral.

Sainte Chapelle (doesn't hold a candle to Notre Dame)

Sainte Chapelle.

Palais de Justice

Catacombs (we saw dead people)

Catacombs 

Public toilet. It sanitizes everything automatically after every use. Pretty cool.

Jardin du Luxembourg.

Statue in Jardin du Luxembourg.

Statue in Jardin du Luxembourg.

Observatoire between Jardin Marco Polo and Jardin du Luxembourg

Statue of elk in Jardin du Luxembourg.

Palais du Luxembourg.

Palais du Luxembourg.

Palais de Justice.

Catacombs 

A few pictures from my phone.

Louvre

Front courtyard  of Notre Dame from the observation deck. The line of people are what we could see of the wait to get inside the cathedral. 

The spire of the cathedral from the observation deck.

A view of the southern part of the city.

One of the south bells. 

Same as above.

The north bell tower taken from the south bell tower.

A view of the northern part of the city. By the way, there are 9.9 million people here.

Another view of the spire from a higher vantage point. The Seine river is in the background.