The Journey Begins ... Paris

There is nothing like spending the entire night in an airplane (let's be honest, who can really sleep on a plane?), then hit the road running with a carefully mapped out plan of seeing too much in one day.  I didn't take a pedometer, but if felt like we put in 8 miles a day on foot.  Good thing, because the food was good and we needed to wear it off somehow.

Paris is such a beautiful city, full of well planned streets from the Napolean era, and old sections from Roman times, and of course things stolen from other cultures... like the obelisk? 

 Parks throughout Europe are full of grass... don't walk on it!! Grass and plants are to look at.  Walking is done on hard surfaces of decomposed granite (heavy sand).

Bocce Ball, soccer, etc. all played on the sand.

Europeans love their parks, squares (like a ginormous public courtyard), and fountains.  Me too. 

The Louve: Palace-Turned-Museum during the French Revolution.  One day residence of the king, next day open to the public.  I love architecture, and nothing beats great art in a beautiful setting.

 For the record, the crown jewels (yes, those are real jewels) got to stay put.

I am not sure what you have to do to be allowed to copy the masters right in the museum, but several chosen artists were allowed to do so in several of the museums we visited in Europe.  This woman was particularly talented.

 This hallway was left with the original art:  Portraits of the kings themselves.

 Below:  Winged Victory - hard to believe this is from the times of Alexander the Great (325 BC)

  Check out the size of this painting.  This is Napoleon crowning himself the emperor and his wife the empress (so much for getting rid of a monarchy), while the pope, who has come to do the crowning sits behind him looking ticked off.

 Was David the model for this marble?  Hmmm, I wonder....

Next Stop:  Impressionistic paintings in the Orsay (train station-turned museum) 

 
This is a shot of a hilltop cathedral taken through an Orsay clock.

Over the Seine to the Notre Dame Cathedral, which sits on an island in the middle of Paris

The Rose Window from the inside and outside.

 The buttresses are still flying....

 Back over the Seine to the Latin Quarter (where the college students back in the day spoke Latin).  These locks were attached to the bridge here ... not sure the meaning, but it was a weird sight.

Narrow cobblestone streets, cafes, and shops

David is in heaven - Old Books!!!

 The Paris Opera House... We don't build like this in America.

The end of the Day... no title needed here.

We went to church the morning before we flew out.  This was an act of frustration since we had to bring along our luggage on the metro and we ended up at a huge metro stop with an underground mall and several exits which were long distances apart.  Which exit to take was a mystery and the clock was ticking.  David took a wild guess and we lugged our stuff up the upteenth staircase (metros are NOT designed for the handicapped).  Up in the daylight we looked around and realized we were totally lost.  I said a silent prayer for help, and almost immediately a young woman said in perfect English, "Can I help you find your way?"  When we said yes and pulled out our map, she said, "Are you looking for the Mormon church?"  Then she explained that she was headed to the ward building and thought we looked like Mormons in our Sunday clothes.  She was in Paris as an attorney working for an international firm.  She got us to the right spot, handed us headphones so we could hear the service in English, and we all sat down in time for the opening hymn.  How is that for an answer to prayer?