Monday, June 30, 2014

Chateau de Versailles!

On our second full day in Paris we took a 30 minute train ride to wait in the rain for over an hour before finally making it inside the Versailles palace gates. Woohoo!!

Inside Versailles' gates

Versailles courtyard

It was still raining off and on, so Bill and I (and what seemed like the entire population of Paris) headed inside to tour the castle's state rooms. We always like to look up in famous places as the ceilings are often just as beautiful as the room. Versailles' ceilings did not disappoint!

Ornate Ceiling #1

Ornate Ceiling #2

Ornate Ceiling #3

Ornate Ceiling #4

The last royal inhabitants of Versailles, King Loius XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were not know for their frugal nature. As I'm sure you know, it did not go well for them. The palace has been used after their untimely demise, but was been restored to its glory days. And let's just say they liked things ornate back in the day!

Fancy schmancy

Even a wee door knocker or doodad of some variety was gold.

Ornate doodad

I know I was probably jostled when I took this picture (did I mention there were about a million people that day?), but it could also be the ghost of Marie Antoinette swirling around in this bedchamber! ;-)

The ghost of Marie Antoinette?!?

The hall of mirrors was the fanciest room in a castle full of fancy rooms. More chandalliers and large mirrors (which were hard to make back in the day) that you could shake a stick at. But I wouldn't recommend shaking a stick in this or any other room. Ever. Behold, the hall of mirrors!

The hall of mirrors

If you've never been to Versailles, the photo below gives you an idea as to how large the mirrors (and statues and chandeliers) are in this room. Keep in mind, though, I am only five feet tall on a good day!

Three statues in the hall of mirrors

Bill really liked this statue of Diana, goddess of war, within the hall of mirrors.

Statue of XX in the hall of mirrors

After bumping up against the teeming masses, we decided to have a civilized lunch in the palace's sit-down restaurant. The food was delicious. The drinking chocolate? Out of this world!!!

Lunch at Versailles

After lunch we went back outside to tour the gardens and walk down to Marie Antoinette's private cottages. However, it had started chucking down rain again and our museum passes didn't include the gardens. Therefore, we would have had to pay more euros to see the underside of my umbrella (featured below, the red thingy hanging from my hip). We had already established that we'd have to come back to Paris to give the Lourve a proper visit, so we'll just have to add Versailles' gardens onto our next trip!

Chateau de Versailles!

Friday, June 27, 2014

Laughing through the Louvre

The evening of our first day in Paris, we stopped for a light dinner. We walked just two blocks off the main tourist street and found an amazing little cafe where the staff didn't speak English (much), but were very nice and helpful. We thought we ordered one small glass of red wine (me) and one large glass of white wine (Bill), but we received a small caraf of white and a large caraf of red. Oh, drat! We had to wash all the charcuterie down with something, and all that wine did come in handy! ;-)

Parisian Charcuterie

I had done my research and learned that the Louvre stayed open until 10:00pm on Friday nights. We had decided to visit the Louvre last on Friday (therefore, avoiding the hoards), getting there by 8:00 so we would have two hours in the museum before it closed. Well... After all that wine, we made our way to the Louvre a little after 8:00 and proceeded to take various photos and selfies before making our way inside.

Happiness at the Louvre

Vanna White at the Louvre

Thankfully there was no line to get in to the museum and we made our way through security very quickly, museum passes in hand, after our photo session outside.

Once inside, we got a map and started to figure out the lay of the land. About five minutes later, an automated voice came over the loudspeaker warning us the museum would close at 9:30, which was in 30 minutes.

Oh, drat! We hot-footed it down the hallway, following the signs to the Mona Lisa. Guards helped by pointing us in the right direction as we careened down hallway after hallway, laughing, and then, there she was! Only eight other people were in the whole room, so we got a good look at Mona and took the requisite selfie.

Hangin' with Mona Lisa

"The museum will be closing in 15 minutes" announced the speaker system. Yikes!

"Oú est Venus de Milo?" We asked a guard in the Mona Lisa room, and she pointed farther down the hall and around the corner. Off we ran, priceless works of art flying by, unseen, on the left and right, as we giggled at our poor timing. We turned another corner, and there was the statue we had been trying to find.

Not another soul was in the room, so Bill wasn't sure it was the right statue. I pointed at the statue and said "Um, look at it - it's the Venus de Milo - no arms - see?!?" He laughed and agreed and another photo was taken.

And then the museum had only five minutes until they closed, so we were gently ushered towards the gift shop and exit.

Chillin' with Venus de Milo

Whew! 30 minutes inside the Louvre is definitely not what we had planned. We'll just have to go back to Paris some day!

The Louvre at night

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Choral music inside Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

A children's choir were singing while we were inside the Notre Dame cathedral. Enjoy!

Monday, June 23, 2014

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

Our first morning in Paris was spent touring the Musee d'Orssay, which predominantly features French artists and has an entire wing devoted to the French impressionists. The museum was in a converted train station and was quite beautiful. Alas, no photography was allowed.

We then found ourselves a small cafe for lunch before walking down the street a mile or so to visit Notre Dame, an historic and massive catholic cathedral that was quite impressive.

Notre Dame rose window

Notre Dame front

There was a very large bakery competition taking place on the plaza in front of the cathedral, so there were quite a lot of people milling about. There was also a long line to enter the cathedral, but thankfully the line went quickly. As we stood in line, we got a good look at the Charlemagne statue below.

Statue of Charlemagne

Once inside, I lit a candle for my mom and family. It's something I've done in every church I've visited since we learned she was sick. I plan to continue the ritual for the rest of my life.

A candle for my Mom

The official statue of Joan of Arc inside Notre Dame cathedral.

Joan of Arc statue

Bill spent quite a while absorbed in various works of art and stained glass.

Bill and stained glass

Inside the Notre Dame treasure were many reliquaries. A reliquary, I have learned, is a container that holds a memento of a saint, typically a body part. The reliquary in the photo below held the femur bone of a saint, but I can't remember which one - sorry! And also, ewww! :-)

Relic of a Saint - femur bone!

In every nook and cranny there were statues, art, and stained glass. But then when you stepped back, the cathedral as a whole was also very beautiful and impressive.

Notre Dame nave

Once back outside, we walked around the cathedral to get a look at the famous gargoyles of Notre Dame. If you zoom in you can see them a bit better, but alas, I did not have my telephoto lens with me on this trip.

Gargoyles!

The back of Notre Dame is famous for its flying buttresses. They are also quite famous and beautiful, but the photo doesn't really do them justice. What an amazing cathedral!

Flying buttresses

Monday, June 16, 2014

Romantic Paris (Tourist Style)!

There are a few bridges over the river Seine where you and your sweetie can place a decorated padlock, declare your undying love for each other, and throw the key into the river. Bill and I were having such a great time, we bought an outrageously overpriced lock, borrowed a sharpie, and added our lock to the bridge.

Our lock; key is at the bottom of the Siene

There are thousands upon thousands of locks. It truly is a sight to be seen.

One of many lock bridges

I had heard about the lock ritual before our trip and thought it had been happening for years and years. Since our trip I have learned that it has only been in practice for the last six years and local authorities don't know what to do about the locks and the burden they're placing on the bridges. Oopsies!

It was a lot of fun and rather romantic, though ;-)

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Art, Art is EVERYWHERE in Paris

We did so much on our trip to Paris, I'm going to divide the day into several posts so they're a bit easier for me to write and in turn, you to read. This first post is all about random beautiful things we saw while walking (and walking and walking and walking...) around central Paris.

On our first full day in Paris one of the things Bill kept remarking was how pretty the city was. Granted, we stayed in the heart of the city, but it truly was beautiful. I feel like we could have taken a picture of almost every building as they were all historic, well constructed, and fairly ornate. I kept my camera in its bag that first morning until we rounded a corner and saw Pont Alexander III. It is a bridge over the river Seine with many gilded pillars and statues. Simply stunning! The camera just had to take it's first outing of the day :-)

Pont Alexander III

We made our way down the Seine towards our first museum of the day (d'Orsay), but I had to take one last shot of Pont Alexander III - isn't it gorgeous?

River Seine and Pont Alexander III

At the end of the first day after visiting one cathedral, two museums, and three cafés (all to be featured in future posts), we headed home for the night. Leaving the Louvre, we stumbled upon this giant monument (below) commissioned by Napolean. Even though it was after 10:00pm, it was still dusk and the lighting on the monument was beautiful. I am sure this monument is stunning no matter what time of day you see it.

Arc du Carrousel commissioned by Emperor Napoleon

As we made our circuitous way back to our hotel, we made sure to swing by the Egyptian obelisk, which was a gift to France many years ago. The obelisk was placed in the center of Revelution Square where the guillotine once stood that took care of Louie XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette. I'm glad they have something commemorating the spot, and that it's not a big statue of the late King & Queen or worse, a statue of a guillotine!

Luxor obelisk located where the French Revolution guillotine once stood

Lastly, on our walk home on the night that first full day, we stopped at the top of the hour to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle. After it sparkled for 5 minutes, I captured this shot of the tower beaming its beacon across Paris. What a sight on a day of amazing sights!!!

Eiffel Tower at night

Thursday, June 12, 2014

PARIS!!! Dinner in the Eiffel Tower

OMG - the Eiffel Tower!!!

The one place I absolutely insisted that Bill and I visit while living in Europe was Paris. And the one place Bill really didn't have any desire to visit was Paris. Guess who got her wish! :-)

We spent a long, rainy weekend in Paris and we both (yes, even Bill) had a terrific time. We arrived via train which took about two hours from London. The train spent about 45 minutes in England, and only about 15 minutes going through the chunnel. I was expecting to be underground for a very long time, but when we popped out of a tunnel, a couple of travelers a few rows up popped a bottle of champagne. Bill and I checked our phones, and sure enough, we were in France. Bonjour!

Proof we were both there :-)

I was so happy, I almost burst!

After a short taxi ride to our hotel, we headed off on a 15-minute walk to get up close and personal with the Eiffel Tower. It is pretty amazing how big, sturdy, yet graceful it looks in real life.

As you can tell, the weather was a bit miserable, but we didn't really care. We had fun walking around, practicing our barely-there French. We listened to a Rick Steves podcast on the train over and he said when you walk up to a person in France, say "Bonjour" and wait for their reply of "Bonjour." You may then ask the person "Parlez-vous anglais?" Rick Steves said that even if they don't speak a lick of English, they will be far more inclined to help you. We did this with every single person we spoke to, even if just looking for the toilets or an exit, and by gum, everyone was so friendly and helpful!

Garden view of Eiffel Tower

We spent about an hour walking around the outside of the Tower before locating the restaurant check-in, as we had reservations. We took the elevator up to the first viewing platform and had a wonderful meal of lobster bisque, quail (me) fish (Bill), and a dessert of floating island (me) and creme brulee (Bill). The meal also included a glass of champagne, and two glasses of wine. We were pretty happy when we left the restaurant!

Lobster bisque in Eiffel Tower restaurant

Floating island dessert in Eiffel Tower restaurant

After dinner we were free to check out both the first and second viewing platforms as long as we wanted. Even though it was 9:00PM, we still had great views.