This is where we've purchased our morning croissant every day, across from the cafe' where we enjoy it with a coffee (and where I'm sitting as I take this photo).
Here's the bum we've watched set up shop each morning getting chewed out by a local lady,... he, he, he.
Le Metro!
We're off to start our day with Notre Dame,...Or not.
This giant crowd, news cameras, barricades, giant video screen and police everywhere do not bode well for a tourist visit.
Kate asks a policeman what's going on, and he tells her that the President of the French Republic is there for the funeral of a Cardinal. We won't be seeing Notre Dame today.
So on to Saint Chapell, near Notre Dame. Very old cathedral, (sorry, details are getting fuzzy, but the brochures are all in my bag...) with amazing stained glass windows depicting stories from the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.
Stunning.
This photo's for our Emmi, Milo and Baby Blue, tee hee hee...
Waiting for a special bus to take us to Musee d'Orsay.
A train station at least through WWII, (not sure when the trains stopped running there) Orsay has been transformed into a magnificent art museum for 19th Century art.
Among many artists with whom we're familiar, we saw Van Gogh, Manet, Tolouse-Latrec,...
and Monet!
Beautiful girls in a beautiful museum.
Now to the Tour Eiffel!
too big to to fit into one shot...
The tour buses to which we are not obligated! Of course, these folks are all ahead of us in line...
It's been misty and moisty our whole time in Paris, but the view is still amazing.
Pinch me, I'm in Paris with my baby!
An ice cream afterwards hits the spot!
Breakfast next day at our regular spot- pain au chocolate with coffee, oh yeah.
Choosing our picnic for Versailles...
Where the locals shop! How cool is that?!
On the RER on the way out to the Grand Palace.
Oh, my... here we go.
Out of a million photos we must include the hall of mirrors.
wow.
And the gardens too.
our view while picnicking.
Hungry and tired people.
Louis's backyard, oo-la-la.
Marie Antoinette.
So many flowers that I recognize from my own yard- cool!
The most beautiful ones in the palace grounds...
Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette's home away from home.
Versailles mostly seen, all that we could squeeze into our brains anyway, we get back to Paris to catch up with Notre Dame.
Stained glass and sculptures.
One of the three Rose windows.
Up one side of the nave and down the other, we saw it all!
The gargoyles are each unique.
We join a million others in an attempt to see the towers, but the line is so long, moving too slow to get in before they close, and so many around us are smoking we can barely breathe. We decide that we either must take up smoking ourselves to go along with the lung cancer we are surely getting, or leave the line and see the towers on our next trip to Paris...
So we leave the line.
This is what seeing too any statues, windows and magnificence in one day can do to a girl,... don't let it happen to you!
Refilling the water bottle from one of the public fountains!
Finishing up some shopping in our quest for the perfect gifts to take home, we wind along the busy streets with a bazillion other tourists. Crowded but fun and colorful. We're not in Grove City/ Shillington anymore!
Stopping for food. After a full day and we're still speaking- wonderful!
Fed and rested, we walk along the Seine, right bank, left bank, before heading back to the hotel.
Last morning in Paris- sniff- and we savor our coffee before storming the Louvre!
Victory! Winged Victory, that is.
And the Lady herself, Mona Lisa, surrounded by her fans and conspiracy buffs.
Where to now- the Louvre is as confusing to navigate as the back streets of the city!
Four hours later, saturated with fine art and antiquities, it's time to find Montmarte and the Place Du Tertre.
Tiny little avenue of steps, there are more than a few of these in the hilly area of Paris known as Montmartre. Oh and we're just beginning!
Found it! where the artists hang out, paint, draw, and offer their work for sale. How very Paris for us! And the sun makes her first appearance since we've arrived in Paris!
What a day!
We have now made it to Switzerland, learning a lot about the train system in the process. We are exhausted, but reviving in the fresh and quiet air of Lausanne. After London and Paris it's so refreshing! I won't be able to post anymore until I'm home. Tomorrow we are off to L'Abri and the day after Gabby and I will leave for Geneva, flying home on Thursday. When next I post I'll finish the trip photos - I promise, but for now, a nap!
3 comments:
Bon Soir mes amis! Thank you for keeping us "au courant", despite the rigors of constant travel. Sounds like you had a wonderful time in France. Talk to you Mrs. K on the other side of the pond, and Kate, on this side!
Cya,
Anthony
I surely have enjoyed your trip through this blog and all the pictures. This is certainly one great European Adventure for Kate and Gabby. Am looking forward to the pics from Switzerland as well. And I do want to see the pictures that didn't upload this time. Continue to enjoy your trip. Safe travel home!
Aw man, I can't see the pics from this entry. I can't wait to hear more about your trip.
Lorri
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