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Published: August 23rd 2006
Le Louvre
Outside the Louvre Museum, Inside the Da Vinci CodeFrench bread. French wine. French people. The place where the naked ladies dance. Home to arguably the most recognized tower in the world. The stature of monuments. The once-dominating and overriding force of Napoleon and the opulent King Louis. We have arrived in Paris via the high-speed Thalys train from Brussels. Navigating the intense metro system at first was a bit insane due to the criss-crossing tunnels under the city but we soon mastered the system and we were on our way.
With no help from the Parisians handing out fliers outside the metro, we found our home for five days...Woodstock Hostel located a couple blocks below the beautiful Sacré Coeur Basilica in Montmartre where Van Gogh and Picasso lived.
After a restful first day, our adventures started at the incredible Museé Louvre where we witnessed first-hand the Mona Lisa, along with the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory at Samothrace, and the Raft of Medusa. The Louvre used to be the Royal Palace and still houses some of the furniture and decor that adorned it in the 13th century. We spent five-plus hours there and didn't come close to seeing even half the collection (30,000 pieces).
Our
Statues
Imitation Art...What a beauty next day consisted of stairs...lots of them. We climbed the 670 stairs to the 2nd platform of the Eiffel Tower and then took the elevator to the top. What an amazing structure. It doesn't look so grand from a distance, but it sure is massive standing at it's base. The view was extraordinary...360° view of Paris. From there we saw everything, including our next destination...the Arc de Triomphe, located at the world's most traveled roundabout (12 streets feed into it!...the most famous being the Champs Elysées). We walked this shopping strip to the Place de la Concorde where Marie Antoinette, Louis XIV, and others had their heads lopped off by the guillotine. The day ended with an evening trip to the Sacré Coeur Basilica where I got scolded for attempting to take a picture. The inside was lit by candle light and the outside was iluminated just enough to appear as though it were glowing. We then walked the cobblestone streets, admired art that we couldn't afford, and searched for a creperié.
We then headed to the Red Light District (seems to be a recurring theme) where I was so enthralled to have my picture taken in front of
the iluminated windmill of the Moulin Rouge!!!! We escaped the throng of people by following the cracked-out prostitute meandering through the middle of the intersection, unaware of the 859 cars just inches from mauling her.
By far, the low point of our Paris adventure was the over-priced, over-crowded and under-appealing day trip to the touristy Chateau de Versailles...a huge palace adorned with statues of dead famous people and an extensive garden.
Last night, however, was incredible and definitely the high point. We ventured to the Eiffel Tower for an iluminated version of this structure, and arrived just in time to see her explode in brilliant sparkler-like extravagance. The spectacle lasted 10 minutes...just enough time to get a gazillion pictures from every angle. It was amazing!
The Paris section of our trip concluded with the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris and the Pantheon. Notre Dame is the cathedral where Napoleon crowned himself emperor and the Pantheon, a greek-style church dedicated to the greats of French history (Voltaire, Marie Curie Victor Hugo, etc). Once again, two gorgeous structures, but the sparkling Eiffel Tower takes the cake.
This evening we're off on a 12hr overnight train to Berlin....
Au revoir!
Next up: Berlin, Germany - Aug 24, 2006
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Lynda
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Paris
Awesome Pics!!!! Keep on sending them.............Be Safe