Europa Part II: Paris

Phew, life is cruising by!  I've been eager to post more pictures of our trip to Europe.  As you may (or may not) remember from my previous post, we flew to Barcelona on Mother's Day (May 13th) and had a few days there.  We loved Barcelona and were excited to spend a few more days there at the end of our trip.


Wednesday May 16 - Day 3
We took an early flight to Paris from Barcelona.  After checking into the hotel, we set out exploring.

Fortunately, Dominic was pretty good about sleeping on the go

The Arc de Triomphe (Triumphal Arch) honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.   The names of all French victories and generals are inscribed its surfaces.  Beneath its vault lies a Tomb from WW I.

It was colder in Paris then in Barcelona, so we bundled Dominic up as we made our trek to....

The Eiffel Tower!

Dominic's hair sometimes lays flat (for a few minutes) after wearing his hood! :)

The clouds were quite lovely

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and Dominic from the trip

If you are already scanning through the pictures so fast that you didn't really look at this picture, slow down and take a peek

The sunset just got prettier and prettier until the sun settled softly below the horizon

We left the Eiffel tower and continued walking around the city and saw lots of beautiful buildings.

The Military school (a vast complex of buildings housing various military training facilities)

The Musee de l'Armee (Army Museum) is a national military museum of France.  Originally built as a hospital and home for disabled soldiers by louis XIV, it now houses the Tomb of Napoleon and the museum of the Army of France. 

This building wasn't even cool enough to make it on our map...still pretty amazing if you ask me.

We walked over to the Tour (Tower) Montparnasse, an office skyscraper, where we enjoyed a gorgeous 360 degree panoramic view of Paris at dusk.

The view was not too shabby :)

At 10pm the Eiffel tower lit up and was very sparkly for about 15 seconds.  It was a beautiful sight (sadly, we had put the camera away because we were just about to leave).

On our way back to the hotel, we enjoyed some lovely French cuisine before calling it a day.  It was a great first day in Paris!

Thursday May 17 - Day 4

The St. Jacques Tower-built during the early 1500's.  Flamboyant Gothic Architecture (a name given to a florid style of vogue architecture in France from about 1350 until the Renaissance during the early 16th century)

Spring in Paris

Headed to Notre Dame...the anticipation was building as we crossed this beautiful bridge

The great Notre Dame Cathedral!

One of the most exquisite buildings I have ever been in

Beautiful stained glass windows

The archways were very colorful

The detailing of the sculptures was very captivating

Dominic seemed to enjoy the cathedral

Amazing!

We loved the archways

Back outside, admiring the detailed architecture

Everywhere we went, people were drawn to Dominic-largely I think because of his crazy hair

Needless to say, he loved all the extra attention!

Does this get anyone else in the mood for "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"?

Look at all those statues! The longer I stared at the cathedral, the more amazing detail I noticed.

Some cool points of interest:

• Notre Dame is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic Architecture in Europe.
• The construction began in 1163 and was completed by 1345.
• Most of the exterior was originally painted (gargoyles and all) although it has now mostly worn off.
• N.D. was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports)
• Some cool info about the famous bells: There are 5 bells.  The heaviest bell (therefore producing the lowest tone) is located in the South Tower and weighs an amazing 13 tons and rings at E♭. This bell is always rung first.  When it was discovered that the ringing bells caused the entire building to vibrate (threatening its structural integrity) there were taken out of use.

Leaving Notre Dame.  I found the river quite beautiful

Fancy that.
(For those of you who don't know-my maiden name is Harper so I liked this sign)

After leaving Notre Dame, we walked to the University of Paris.  We passed this pianist playing on the corner. 3 words: A   MAZ   ING.

University of Paris

...Today it houses several higher education and research institutions

Next we walked to the Pantheon.

Originally built as a church-today it contains the tombs of distinguished French citizens

I love the little sheep ear poking up

From the Pantheon, we walked to the Luxembourg Gardens.

Jardin du Luxembourg-the second largest public park in Paris

I have to say, this is the prettiest public park I have ever seen!

You just don't see parks like this in Utah, or the Northeast for that matter

Luxembourg Palace-Not to shabby for a public park!

We rested here and enjoyed the view of the fountain, palace, and Eiffel Tower while Dominic had a little snack.  (The large tower in the background is the Montparnasse tower)

There were lots of children playing with the sailboats in the fountain

Can you see the little sheep?

awwww, so cute

Nothing in Paris is plain

Love this picture

This picture slays me

Dominic was a HUGE fan of the chocolate croissants.  Okay, okay, he didn't really eat them.  But Michael and I had our fair share!

This photo doesn't do it justice, but the "small" Nutella jars on bottom are about 32 ounces...which is like the giant jars you can find at Costco.  The one on top is ginormous!  There were crepe stands on just about every corner with plenty of Nutella to go around!

Next we headed to Musee d'Orsay.  This museum holds art dating from 1848 to 1915.  It is best know for its extensive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces (the largest collection in the world) by such painters as Money, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, and Van Gogh.  I studied Art History my first year of under graduate studies and came to LOVE this era of painting.  

Beautiful clock tower: Musee d'Orsay

Musee d'Orsay--just about there! So excited!

Dominic was almost as excited as me!

Inside the clock tower at Musee d'Orsay

We were grateful to the museum for loaning us a stroller!

Sadly, they wouldn't allow photographs in the museum so I don't have any pictures of my favorite paintings.  By the time we got out of the museum, it was dark out.  It was a beautiful night.  We walked the streets of Paris for hours taking pictures.

The Louvre!

The Louvre was lit up so pretty at night! I can't wait to visit 

We returned to our hotel having walked miles and miles and seen lots of beautiful history and architecture.  We were excited to continue our exploration tomorrow.

Friday May 18 - Day 5

We took a 40 minute train ride outside of Paris to visit the Palace at Versailles today.

He really enjoyed the trains in Europe

Versailles was the center of political power in France from about 1682 until 1789 when the royal family was forced to return to the capital following the start of the French Revolution.  Versailles is therefore famous as a symbol of absolute monarchy.

We hoped the lines would die down to tour the palace itself, so we started by exploring the gardens.

In the "backyard"

The Gardens were soooo impressive!

(gratefully we got to enjoy beautiful storm clouds without actually being rained on)

It took us several hours to walk around the elaborate gardens

Oh, you know, something every garden needs, beautiful white statues.

...and oversized fountains

...and rows of enormous trees with fields of daisy's

...if that's not enough, throw in a private lake

Do I look classy enough to live in a place like this?

The Grand Trianon Castle (a retreat for the King and his mistress) was built in the corner of the garden.  The rose marble was beautiful.  I had never seen marble that color

Having spent hours and even days collecting and laying stone pathways in Peru, I had a real appreciation for the stone work.

Our happy little sheep!

He got so excited to see some of his own kind (there are sheep in the distance)

View of the Palace (from the back)

Overlooking the gardens

The line to tour the palace wasn't getting any shorter (sadly), so after a few hours of exploring the gardens we decided head inside.

View of the front

Inside the gates

Something every dwelling should have

Fine detailing and craftsmanship

Wait a minute, I thought the Sistine Chapel was in Rome? 

The walls were lined with huge elaborate paintings.  Not to mention all the gold trim around the walls and ceilings.

Dominic just waking up from his nap while Michael gets the information on a piece of art

The Hall of Mirrors is the central gallery of the Palace as is renowned as being one of the most famous rooms in the world.  The principle feature of this famous hall is the 17 mirror-clad arches that reflect the 17 arcaded windows that overlook the gardens.  Each arch contains 21 mirrors.  The arches themselves are fixed between marble pilasters whose capitals depict the symbols of France.

The Hall of Mirrors

Enormous chandeliers hung in every room beneath elaborate ceiling paintings

The Queen's bedchamber.  There is a hidden door in the corner of the room where the Queen (Marie Antoinette) escaped October 6 1789 when the Paris mob stormed Versailles.

This Palace was unbelievable.  I believe this was a "guest" room.

The marble work was amazing.  I wished I had taken a picture of the marble floors, but this marble banister gives you an idea of how ornate the marble work is.

After a long day and lots of walking, we took the train back to Paris.

That night, we indulged in cheese fondue for dinner.

Strange decor, but the food was great!

Dominic and Papa eagerly awaiting our cheesy dinner

Aren't they adorable?

After dinner, we walked around the city some more.  I love Paris at night.  With the lights reflecting off the river, fully surrounded by elaborate architecture, it created the most beautiful ambiance.

He loves his papa

Musee d'Orsay

Hotel de Ville

He loved walking the streets of Paris at night

Taking the subway back to our hotel after another long day of walking

Saturday May 19 - Day 6

We got to go to the Louvre Museum today!  The Louvre is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument.  Nearly 35,000 objects (dated from prehistoric to the 19th century) are displayed over an area of 652,300 square feet!!

Eagerly awaiting entrance to the museum

The largest painting displayed in the Louvre

I made it a point to see the Mona Lisa although I am one of those people that find the painting overrated.   There was a pretty massive throng of people surrounding the painting as you can imagine.

I rented a commentary device that told me all about the different paintings.  Yes, I love art history.

We were grateful that the Louvre loaned us a stroller.  Our shoulders needed a break.

View of the courtyard

The egyptian collection was amazing! --the artifacts were so old.

Again, grateful that Dominic could sleep on the go

After a full day, we covered only a fraction of the pieces on display.  

Maybe we'll get to go back some day...

We were sad to say goodbye to Paris but feel like we got to see a lot of the city (Notre Dame in the background)

Notre Dame

Sunday May 20 - Day 7

We woke up early this morning to head to the train station for Switzerland!  However, once we arrived at the subway we were devastated to learn that the line we needed to take was not operating due to some last minute construction.  With frustration and panic, we ran the couple of miles to the train station:  Michael with a large backpack on his back and wearing Dominic on his chest; me with a large backpack on my back and a large camera bag on my chest.  

Just for a refresher-this is what Michael looked like (except the smaller black backpack-which I was carrying on my chest).  Try running with a 40 lb pack on your bag and a 5 month old on your chest.  It was pretty brutal.

It was a long run to say the least, but we made it just in the nick of time.  What a relief we were off to Switzerland.