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Published: July 10th 2006
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What do you do when the country you are staying is knocked out of the world cup? Well if you are in Europe you can always just go to another country that is still involved, so off we went to France. We had since the beginning of the World Cup been saying that if Germany was in the final we would go to Berlin but not really in a serious way. And we always joked that if France got in but not Germany then we would go to Paris. Well as luck would have it France did get in and after the France vs Portugal Semi Final on Wednesday, for the first time we seriously considered it. After a day of deliberating between myself and Anja and ours friends Matt (an Aussie guy form Adelaide) and his girlfriend Kate (A local Tübingen girl) we decided to go while they unfortunately couldnt organise time off work.
So at 4.30am on Saturday we woke up and caught the bus to Stuttgart and took the 1 hour 20 minutes flight to Paris. When we finally arrived in Paris we were both so exhausted that we had to take a little power nap before
The Inverted Pyramid
According to the Da Vinci Code, this is where the holy grail is kept. heading on the metro into the city centre. First Stop: The Louvre. Now, The Louvre has recently become (more) internationally famous due to a book and a movie called the
Da Vinci Code. I was quite interested to find out if the French, who are notoriously protective of their culture and are in particular resistant to what they call the "Coca-colarisation" or "Americanisation" of the world, would embrace or reject this American Jugernaut. As it turns it seems that, quite rightly I suppose, they are more than happy to cash in on the added publicity. The book is available all over the Louvre, and you can even get a Da Vinci Code Audio Tour of the museum. There is definately not an air of disdain for the book, as I suppose it provides the means to the end, which is more people seeing beautiful artwork.
I myself havent seen the Da Vinci Code Movie but have read the book and it certainly helps as you walk around to cast your mind back to the events as they unfold in the book as well as the added information Mr. Brown provides. On more than one occasion I ducked into a
The Book and The Ending
In the background, through the door, is the inverted pyramid. Book Store in the museum to quickly read a passage the book that decribed this or that. We actually arrived there a bit too late to actually have enough time to go in and see the Mona Lisa and other works of art so we strolled around the entrance area which includes the previously famous upright Pyramid and the now famous inverted Pyramid where, according to the book, the Holy Grail is kept.
After the Lourve we walked along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, immeadiately behind that is a park were you can lay on the grass and look up at the tower, so thats what we did for the next hour or so. This definitely counts as one of the highlights of the trip. The sun was shining, we were in Paris directly behind the Eiffel Tower with nothing to do except just enjoy being there. A good day in anyones books. After this we headed off to the Bastille section of Paris for dinner and to watch the Germany vs Portugal play off for 3rd and Deutschland won! I was so happy for them to finish 3rd, they played a great tournament and made their country
proud. After the match we went to a cafe for some French Champagne. As most people who know me would know, I don't often drink Champagne but this stuff was good (and expensive) but well worth it.
The next day began at Sacre Couer and lunch at a nearby cafe. I resisted the temptation to eat snails. A temptation which I must admit is not that hard to resist. After this we walked to the famous Red Light District and saw the Moulin Rouge. After this back to the Lourve to come face to face with the Mona Lisa. People often say that when you see it that it is really not as impressive as what you were expecting. I think that so many people have said this that when I finally saw it I was impressed. I'm no art critic but this painting is absolutely captivating. And yes her eyes do follow you where ever you are in the room, its a strange experience. And her smile, the knowing smirk, prompts you to wonder what is it she knows. Mr. Brown also had some interesting theorys on that too. I was so glad to have had the oppurtunity
to see the painting as well as the Venus de Milo.
We spent a bit more time walking around the gallery and then had a quick look at the Champs-Élysées before heading to the Paris Football stadium to watch the World Cup Final on a big screen. It was free but pretty hard to actually get in and seemed a little bit disorganised. We decided to stay for the first half and then quickly travel back to the city for the 2nd half, knowing the metro would be jammed when that many people tried to leave the ground.
As I am sure you all know, sadly, the Frenchies lost. Beaten by a team that has now knocked out all 3 teams I was going for: Australia, Germany and France. What are the chances! We watched the second half on a street that runs off the Champs-Élysées. The mood after the match was a little sombre but considering France's less than impressive start to the tournament (2 draws and a win over the lowest ranked team in the tournament, Togo), I think they were just happy to have made the final.
So we had a breif but fantastic stay
in France. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.
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Linda, Bandon, Oregon
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Wow...great reading and good photos! Thanks for the trip to Paris.