Paris

I guess you can't miss seeing Paris if you come to Europe, so for Thanksgiving weekend missing seeing Paris is what we didn't do.

The food was outstanding. We had a couple places picked out in advance, but we didn't go wrong at any of the restaurants and bakeries that we tried just because we happened across them. I've always thought French cuisine is a bit overrated, in that plenty of other cultures have equally fine approaches to meals, but there's certainly something to be said for France's claim to its gourmet reputation.

As for the art and architecture aspects of culture, well, Paris is Paris. We loved the Musee d'Orsay and enjoyed the Pompidou. The Louvre was one of the buildings we only admired from the outside, having decided we could save fighting its crowds for a future visit. I also got a kick out of the imposing structure of the US Embassy right off the Place de la Concorde. Our hotel room had the obligatory view of the Eiffel Tower. And so on and on. Four days were exhausting, but nowhere near exhaustive.