Paris

November 19, 2008
We woke up in Paris this morning. We arrived late last night after a 5 hour train ride in the dark. Last night we figured out how to read the maps of Paris. They definitely aren’t as good of maps as the other cities we’ve been in. Also, the distance on the French maps is a lot farther than the distance on the other maps. There aren’t very many things written in English at the places we went today.
We started out the day at the Pantheon just for a look then we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral to catch the bus for our hop on hop off tour that we had previously purchased. We visited the Notre Dame and were able to walk all around in it. I’m not all that impressed with Catholic Cathedrals so even though there are lots of stained glass and statues and amazing beautiful things it didn’t even come close to the beauty of a Temple. I’m glad we don’t have tours of our sacred buildings.
We got on the wrong hop on hop off bus. It was the same idea by a different company and they took our ticket and gave us a ride. On the tour we saw the big Opera house but didn’t get off. The Opera house is now used for ballet not Opera’s.
Our next stop was the Arc de Triumphe and we got off there. We climbed to the top of it (a lot of steps) and stood on the outside walls to see all over Paris. The Arc was built so when the armies of Napoleon came back from war they could enter the city through a triumphant arc.
Next was the Trocadero. It’s across from the Eiffel Tower. In this building was the Marine Museum and we saw a lot of models of ships as they progressed through time. On the grounds around here and all the way to the Eiffel Tower were tons of people selling miniature towers, scarves, hats, purses, and more towers.
We found the line to buy the tickets for the stairs to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Along the way every 10 steps were numbered. The top stair was numbered 668. Then we went up about 20 more stairs to the very top. The stairs don’t actually go all the way to the top, but up to the top of the ledges that go around the tower. Paris is a huge city. Even at that height, we couldn’t see how far the city went in any direction.
The people in Paris drive just like in the movies. It’s scary. There aren’t lines on lots of the streets and they just go where they want to go. People on bikes, scooters, cars, and buses just go along with each other. I don’t know how anyone survives here. The people on bikes just drive down the street like a car and the motorcycles drive in-between the cars so they can go faster and get to the front of the line.
After the tower, we went looking for the Museum Rodin. On the map it looked just across the huge long park. When we got there, we decided it was ¾ of the way back, so we went back. It wasn’t there so we asked directions and they said to go past where we went the first time and then farther. Walking we went and came across the place where Napoleon is buried. Ralph didn’t think our passes worked there, but they did and we went in. It was a really big museum about like a cathedral. A pendulum hangs from the top. We had an audio tour (listening to hand held phone type objects that give you a tour by pushing buttons that go with the signs that are set up for the tour) and it was really interesting to listen and walk around and be told about the displays. It’s amazing what work goes into the buildings that are a tribute to someone.
Now we went to the Museum Rodin. He is the sculptor that did the Thinker. The museum and grounds in the garden were filled with his work through different periods in his life. He definitely had a talent for sculpting faces and the body.
Now we’re so far away from our hop on hop off tour that we walk a bit more and ride the transit system. We made our way back to the Pantheon and went inside this time. Except for the stained glass windows and not as many statues, it was every bit as wonderful as anything we’ve seen. There were huge paintings on the walls, the sculptured items all over the cathedral ceiling, the pillars and grandness of the building was remarkable. On the floor were several people drawing the things they saw and learning their art skills. In the basement was the crypt. That’s where lots of people are buried and they are in little rooms with their names on the wall and their casket usually is part of the wall. These people are from the 1800’s. I need to learn more about all the sites we saw today.
To end the day, we decided to try the transit system to go back to one of the places we saw during the day. Every bus we got on went a few blocks in the direction we wanted to go then turned. We’d get off, walk back to another bus stop, find a new bus and hop on. After a few blocks it would turn. Finally I asked someone where we were on the map. They said we’re way off the map. We soon got off and found the bus to go back to the bus that would take us to our hotel. Oh well, we’ll try again tomorrow.

November 20, 2008
Today we went to the Louvee. It’s a huge museum with all types of art and sculptures. We saw the Mona Lisa, Napoleon’s apartment with all sorts of tables, chairs, china, etc., Venus de Milo which is a statue, sculptures by Michael Angelo, and tons of art and sculptures from the 1300-1800. It was amazing. In some places they even had stuff from before Christ. There were Egyptian and Mesopotamian paintings, papyrus, Sphinx, and the carved casket boxes. There were too many things to list or remember. To really get the most out of a visit to Paris you have to know how to read French and understand it. After 7 hours we were exhausted and left to walk the streets of Paris. We caught a bus to the Champs Elysees and walked the street up and down. It is a very popular business street by the Arc de Triomphe. It is all decorated with white lights on the trees. People were everywhere. We found some French pastries to try. I had heard so much about the French pastries, but we never found any good enough to talk about when we get home. When we were walking to a bus station we saw the tunnel that Princess Diane was in a car accident and died. With the way people drive in Paris it is surprising there isn’t an accident at every intersection. I’ve never seen anything like it. We also saw the Eiffel Tower at night. It had blue lights all over it when all of the sudden it lit up with white lights flashing all over. It was grand.
We caught a bus to go back to the hotel but it turned right after we got on so we got off. When we were walking to the next bus stop we found the Museum D’orsay and it was still open so we went in. There was a special display of Masques’ that we looked at and some sculptures and woodwork. We were so tired that we didn’t stay long.
We took a couple of buses and finally found McDonald’s for dinner. On our way to catch the bus to go home, we found the underground rail and looked at the schedule for the airport. We just happened to be at the right place where the rail goes to the airport. Amazing blessing! We’d figured out how to get there on the bus and had it all planned out. Now we’re going to go on the rail.Our vacation is over except for the flight home. It’s been exciting, tiring, educational and fun. We’ve really enjoyed ourselves. I’m not ever planning on coming back so goodbye Europe.