Paris

Friday May 23, 2008

Up at 5:30 am because we set the alarm wrong. Off to Paris. Short stop in a small town for a coffee break. Then onto another autogrill for lunch, again great food! Got into Paris about 4:30 pm. Had a short rest then off on an optional excursion to the Latin Quarter, and a Seine river cruise.

Great place for a coffee break

We saw the inside of Notre Dame, had a quick supper and of course did some shopping before heading off to the river cruise. Just as we were finishing the cruise the lights began coming on. The Pont-Neuf and Eiffel Tower were especially beautiful.

Notre Dame

Construction began in 1163 and finished in 1345

Mom enjoying her wine at supper

Our group on the Seine river cruise

The Louvre

Musee d’Orsay displays art from the period 1848-1914 and is in an old railway station

The National Assembly

The Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame

We thought these boys were being nice waving to us, then they dumped beer onto the boat

Pont-Neuf

We then got back on the bus to see the sights that we couldn't see from the river. Then back to the hotel to get some sleep for another early wake up call.

Saturday May 24, 2008

Up at 6:45 am to go to the Eiffel Tower. As per usual we were the first group in line. As much as I didn't like getting up early we were the first group up to the second level for about 15 minutes before the rest of the tourists made it up. Our bags were searched before getting in the elevator. I was running around taking pictures, taking advantage of being the only group up there. Stunning views. Again, some souvenir shopping.

Arch de Triumphe was completed in 1836

The Eiffel tower in Paris was inaugurated on 31 March 1889. It was the keystone of the Universal Exposition celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution

It was built by Gustave Eiffel. It had 2 million visitors the first year and almost 6 million people a year today. 180 million visitors have come since its construction

Then off to Napoleon's Tomb in the Eglise du Dome. Had a quick tour inside, then off to the Louvre.

Originally built as the private chapel of Louis XIV, the gold-topped Eglise de Dôme rises 330 feet above the surrounding buildings of the Hôtel des Invalides

Louis XIV ordered the Hôtel des Invalides, be built in 1670, as a home and hospital for aged and unwell soldiers

Inside the Dome

Within Les Invalides is the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte. The former emperor's body was returned to France from St Helena in 1840 and, after a state funeral, was laid to rest in St Jerome's Chapel while his tomb was completed in 1861. There was no expense spared for the tomb and Napoleon Bonaparte's body lies within six separate coffins. They are made of iron, mahogany, two of lead, ebony, and the outer one is red porphyry. The tomb sits on a green-granite pedestal surrounded by 12 pillars of victory

Once at the Louvre we had a quick lunch. We had salads and as usual they were very good. The Louvre wasn't as busy as I had expected, through security again. The highlights were the Medieval Moat, The Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, and Mona Lisa. I was quite surprised we were able to take pictures of everything. At the end one of our tour companions got seperated from the group, but thankfuly not for long.

The glass Pyramid built by I. M. Pei was inaugurated on March 30, 1989. Rising from the center of the Cour Napoléon, it is the focal point of the museum's main axes of circulation and also serves as an entrance to the large reception hall beneath

The Louvre, in its successive architectural metamorphoses, has dominated central Paris since the late 12th century. The dark fortress of the early days was transformed into the modernized dwelling of François I and, later, the sumptuous palace of the Sun King, Louis XIV

Remnants of the moats dug by Philip Augustus and Charles V. About the year 1200, fearing an English invasion from Normandy like the Vikings’ raid three hundred years earlier, King Philip Augustus of France ordered a fortress to be built outside the wall around Paris. This fortified castle, which guarded the western entrance to the city, did not become a royal palace until the fourteenth century, during Charles V’s reign, when a second rampart enlarged Paris and thus negated its defensive function

Great Sphinx of Tanis

The Venus de Milo, or Aphrodite of Melos was named after the Greek island on which it was discovered in 1820. Her naked torso enabled her to be identified as Aphrodite, the Roman Venus, goddess of love and beauty, born out of the foam of the sea

The Winged Victory of Samothrace. This exceptional monument was unearthed in 1863 on the small island of Samothrace in the northwest Aegean. The goddess of Victory, Nike in Greek, is shown in the form of a winged woman standing on the prow of a ship, braced against the strong wind blowing through her garments

Leonardo da Vinci began the Mona Lisa in Florence in 1503, continued work on it through 1506, and then kept the painting until his death in 1519. The Mona Lisa's mysterious smile has beguiled generations of viewers, but the true identity of the woman pictured in the portrait remains unknown. Many believe the Mona Lisa to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini Giocondo, the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant, Francesco del Giocondo. Thus the Mona Lisa is known in Italy as La Gioconda

This was my favourite painting. It is a self portrait of Louise-Elizabeth Vigee Le-Brun and her daughter painted in 1789

On our way back to the hotel we were delayed for about 45 minutes by a protest march. Teachers protesting job cuts. Then back to the hotel for a bit more shopping before off to a cabaret at the Nouvelle Eve. The cabaret was interesting! Great food; pate, salmon, a cheese course, ice cream and champagne, and of course endless wine throughout.

The Stage

Left: Me, Jenny

Right: Mom, Erin, Carol

The Moulin Rouge was just up the street

Then back to the hotel. After several glasses of wine, and missing Jesse I found a telephone that accepted credit cards and gave him a call. My first clue should have been that there was no posted rate. So upon returning home I discovered my wine induced decision to call home cost $140 CAN. It was nice to talk to him for the first time on the trip though! An early 5:45 am wake up call to leave for London. Paris was beautiful. I can't believe we saw so much in a day and a half. Must come back!