Day 10, Paris, France

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Day 10: Sunday, December 6th, 2009
Paris, France

We start the day off early at the Louvre. Well, that's how I start MY day. Everyone else starts with the free breakfast but I have a plan to keep myself from getting sick- it's called not eating until dinner! Then, whatever magical ingredient that is out there that likes to go thru my body in under 20 minutes can hopefully be avoided. It's a trick I have come to perfect (and yes, it's unhealthy- don't nag at me.) So, we get to the Louvre around 9:15am because on the first Sunday of the month, it is free, so there's going to be a line. And oh boy is there a line. We stand in said line for almost an hour and a half. Gives us even more time to get to know each other. We glare at the other group that seem to have a special line they get to walk thru and wonder why we can't be a special group. Oh well. As we wait, we stand by what was once the base of a castle that the Louvre was built over. Interesting to see the old mix with the even older. As the line moves and rounds a corner, we feel like we are in a mall. They even have a Sephora. So, some folks from our group drift off to browse the stores since the line is moving at a snails pace. We all join up in time to get to the front of the line and enter the Louvre.

Now the race is on! Everyone is frantically trying to find the highlights: The Mona Lisa, Venus, this that and the other. It's like a scavenger hunt with people madly reading their maps and then looking up and pointing and exclaiming "There!" (or words I'm assuming are like "there", many languages going on.) Our group decides it wants to see The Mona Lisa (except Luna since she is a repeat visitor so she goes off to do her own thing). Our scavenger hunt takes us thru some amazing rooms with amazing art but, unfortunately, I don't really look around that much. I stop and take a picture of a hermaphrodite looking statue (cause I'm mature that way) but I didn't even get the name/artist of the statue. I don't deserve to walk in the Louvre!

Anywho, we find the Mona Lisa room and, as we were forewarned, it is much smaller than what one would think. It's maybe 11x14, I always thought it was a big painting. I could have pushed my way to the front of the large crowd to get a closer picture but I settled on one with my camera zoomed in. After that, we debated about going and seeing Napoleon's apartment but we were tired of fighting the crowd and decided to just head outside and look at the architecture and the Pyramid. I still can't make up my mind as to what I think about the pyramid- part of me says "ugly" and the other part says "cool." Why can't all the voices in my head get along?

When we're all together again (awww), we head to Notre Dame Cathedral and also Sainte Chapelle. Dave, tour guide, says that the Chappel Cathedral is one of his all time favorites and it shouldn't be missed. It seems the word of Dave got out though because there was a looooong line to get in. We decided to start with Notre Dame and try Chapelle later. Just around the corner is Notre Dame and I really hate typing this next part, but I was let down. I don't know if it's because of all the stories and movies, but I had made this church out to be much larger in my mind. It was amazing and stunning, but I was expecting something that stretched across many blocks. We went inside and looked around (and I lit a candle for Dad). There was a service going on so all us tourists tried to be discreet as we stared and walked around. I was amused by the plasma tv's they had everywhere- it was weird to see the very old mixed with the very new.

Behind Notre Dame is the Mémorial de la Déportation. It is to honor those that were lost in the holocaust. It was closed for lunch so we went across the street and ate at a little cafe that overlooked the river and Notre Dame. We all had a ham and cheese sandwich but they did it with an interesting twist. They made the sandwich without the cheese inside, they tossed it on top and stuck it under the broiler to melt it. Great touch! "If you have the means, I highly recommend one. It is so choice." (a little Ferris Bueller for ya there.) We then head back to the memorial and then back to Sainte Chapelle but the line is still ridiculous so we skip it once again. I'll be heading back to Paris Dec. 26 - 29th so I'll try again then.

At this point, the group splits up. Myself, Luna and Mana head in one direction and the rest of the gang go back to the hotel to prepare for that night's excursion, Moulin Rouge. I already have tickets booked to see it on the 28th. We head first to the Opera House area where Luna tries to get her traverler's checks cashed. Those things are not as convenient as we are led to believe- hard to find someone to cash them and when they do, they seem to take a pretty good chunk as a charge. After that, another metro ride down to where the Paris Catacombs are. I had heard on the news/read before going that they had been shut down due to vandalism. It seems some lovely person had touched/removed one of the bones and everything starting collapsing. Tour Guide Dave said it had been re-opened but sadly, as we found out when we got there, it was closed. I don't know if it was closed "again" or "still" but either way, no creepy catacombs for me.

Mana says she'd like to see the Basilique du Sacré-Cœu (Sacred Heart Church) and this is one I hadn't even heard of but had seen it on postcards. We take the metro over to the Montmartre area of Paris and start walking up quite a steep hill to the church. A little side note moment: I am out of shape, it's apparent and something that I knew I'd be dealing with for the beginning of this trip. However, I am not gasping for air as much as I thought I would be. Instead, my right knee is reminding me of the unfortunate month I worked at the casino walking the hard cement floor for 8 hours at a time. After work each night I would go home and alternate ice and heating pad for about an hour. I don't know how I screwed it up so bad on that job, and in such a short amount of time, but I did. So, my knee is quite unhappy with me. Surprisingly, the foot with the plate is behaving nicely so things could be worse.

So, whining done, we walk up this hill with its many steps. This church is amazing and is definitely on my recommendation list if you go to Paris. Plus, the little area, Montmartre, is very artistic and charming. We spend about 40 minutes there, taking pictures and poking around and then, since the sun has set, we head to the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. On the metro ride there, some guy sets up a freaky puppet show on our train. I took a quick snapshot and will try to post the video later- my favorite part is the scared expression of the lady sitting next to him.

They (the magical, mysterious "they") say that one "Must do" in Paris is to walk down the Champs Elysees. That "Must do" is multiplied by 10 at Christmas time. Decorations are everywhere, as is music, food, and Christmas Markets. It was really great and surreal to even be a part of it. However, those of us that aren't fluent in French (so everyone but Luna) had a hard time saying the name so Ashton coined the term "Funny Street" and we enjoyed saying that instead. Sorry Parisians, please don't take it personally. Unfortunately, my camera really doesn't like taking pictures at night so all my pictures of this were blurry, I'll have to steal some from Luna or Mana. In the meantime, here are some I found on the net. The Arc de Triomphe is massive- I couldn't really even take pictures when we were right by it- too much to take in.

We start looking for a restaurant and settle on this little one on a side street. I try my first French Onion Soup and I'm sold! I also did duck l'orange and a chocolate mousse and both were wonderful as well. Little did I know, this would be one of the last "try the culture" foods I would eat.

After dinner we hit up the Christmas Market and around 9:30 I'm spent but Mana and Luna are still going strong. Plus, dinner is informing me that it no longer wants to be my friend. I bid Mana and Luna goodnight, and with the knowledge of the metro that Luna has instilled in me, head back to the hotel. I'm asleep when Natasha gets back from Moulin Rouge but wake up long enough to hear her exclaim that it was amazing- so it'll be nice to see that show on the 28th.

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Photos

The gang- we've added 2!
New additions are sisters Lauren & Teryn from South Africa.

Picture across from Mona Lisa
yes, my titles are going to suck 'cause I didnt' write down names for some of these.

Comments

[Chris]

Your gang now controls half the city?
WOW!!! Great shots! Don't let the puppets get you at night.