Versailles
Versailles Gardens
Versailles
Eiffel tower
Versailles
Bridges
Eiffel Tower
Sainte-Chapelle
The Louvre
Sacre Coeur
A ceiling in the Louvre
The Louvre
The Pantheon
Paris was amazing!! We got there on Tuesday 20th. Our hotel was nice. Like all hotel rooms in Europe the room was small but comfortable. We started to walk to the Eiffel tower at like 5:30 and didn't get there till like 9:30. No we didn't get lost and it wasn't that long of a walk, we and I mean we not I, did some souvenir shopping. We walked down Rue de Louvre which has lots of little souvenir shops on it. Then we got to the Plaza de Concord and stopped and took some pictures. On one side is Champs-Elysees, a huge street with the Arc de Triomphe and a 6 lane roundabout. On the other side of the Plaza de Concord is the Museum of L'Orangerie where some of Monte's water lilies are. We finally made it to the Eiffel tower a little after dark. We went up to the 3rd floor which is about 200 meters high. From there you could see the whole city, it was beautiful. Below the windows looking out on the city were maps that showed you what part of the city you were looking at. On Wednesday we did the L'Open Tour which is a Hop-on-Hop-off bus tour. We also got the Museum and Monument Pass so we got into everything for free. First we went to the Arc de Triomphe where the grave of the unknown solider is and the eternal flame. We went up to the top of that too and looked at the city. Then we went to the Museum of L'Armee and then to the Hotel de Invalides and saw Napoleon’s tomb. Then we went to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The inside of it was gorgeous and the architecture amazing. The cathedral was built in 1345. Then we got to go up into the bell towers where Quasimodo the hunchback of Notre Dame lived!! Going up there was really cool, we got to see the bell and walk around out side of the towers on a balcony type thing. We got to be face to face with the gargoyles! Then we went to the Pantheon which has the tombs of Voltaire, Rousseau and Victor Hugo. Then we ate at a little cafe. I got a panini and Bryant got wine and a hot dog covered in cheese thing. Then it was time to go to the Louvre. I couldn't believe how big it was and to think that used to be a palace where some family lived! The inside of the Louvre is not like any other museum with white walls but with elaborately decorated walls and ceilings. The walls and ceiling were art themselves. They were still decorated like they would have been when The Louvre was still a Palace. We saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo and many, many, many more paintings. We also walked through Napoleon III's rooms he had when he lived at The Louvre. It was hard to imagine someone actually living there. On Thursday we went to the Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur. Sacre Coeur has an 83 m dome and an 84 m bell-tower with an 18.5 ton bell! The inside of the church has mosaics pictures covering entire walls and marble sculptures and beautiful stained-glass windows. Sacre Coeur is in part of Paris called Montmartre. It is a place where artists go and set up shop in the square and draw people’s portraits. Bryant and I got our portrait done there. We also got crepes to eat...they were soooo good. At Montmartre there were these people trying to get you to hold your finger out so they could make you a bracelet. But we were warned before we went not to let them because once they are done with the bracelet they would charge you like 20 euros for a braded bracelet. Then we went to Sainte-Chapelle which was commissioned in 1242 by St. Louis to be the Royal Chapel and a shrine for the relics of Christ's Passion including the crown of thorns. There are about 20 stain glass windows placed right next to each other. That day we also saw the Opera house and the Place de la Madeleine. On Friday we went to Versailles. I didn't realize it was right next to the edge of Paris. We had to take a 1/2 hour train ride to get there and of course if was raining and of course I had already lost the umbrella. The staterooms and bedrooms inside of Versailles was, I know I keep saying this but, beautiful. They were so elaborately decorated and detailed. I always find it funny looking at the beds they used to have because they were so short. They look like they were made for me but I guess people back then were not as tall as they are now….so that means I would have fit in perfectly! I wish we could have gone to Versailles in the summer when the gardens are in full bloom but it was still fun to walk around them. They felt like they went on forever!! Saturday we did some last minute souvenir shopping and then left to go back to London.
