This was Neal's first trip to France. He was a little nervous, not speaking the language, but he did great. Over the course of our week and a half there, he would come to learn quite a bit of french and the locals would come to appreciate his effort to speak their language. While I had both studied french and traveled to France before, it had been fifteen years since I had done either. Yet, it's amazing how quickly things come back, and I not only found the words I needed to converse with the locals, but remembered how much I enjoy speaking another language. We only had a day and a half in Paris, but we made the most of our time and saw quite a bit. Paris est le pays de lumiere (city of light) et le pays d'amour (city of love). C'est magnifique!
View from the balcony of our hotel room
View from Mom and Dad's room
It didn't take long before we found our vice for the trip.
I think we ate gelato all but one day. :-)
In front of Notre Dame Cathedral
The stained glass inside Notre Dame is absolutely beautiful.
The outside of the cathedral is carved in the most
intricate detail.
Standing above the Seine River
We took a boat tour along the river, which allowed us to
see the city from a different angle. Here is Notre Dame
from the water.
Approaching the most ornate bridge in Paris
View of the Eiffel Tower from the Seine
We noticed that the Eiffel Tower looked a bit different
than usual and were told that it is decorated specially
right now to celebrate the French presidency of the
European Union. For several months they are
displaying twelve stars (which mimics the European
flag) on the tower, and lighting it blue at night.
In France, people primarily drive one of two things:
a scooter or a Smart Car.
Voila, les scooters
My parents recommended going up to the Basilica of the
Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart). There is a great view of the
city from up there and the church, itself, is awesome. What
we didn't expect was how popular a spot it would be. There
were people mobbed on the steps out front playing music
(American music, no less), singing, and having a great time.
View of the city from the Basilica
Dinner on the hill near the Sacre Coeur - mmmmm!
As we headed back from dinner around 10:30, there
were still crowds in front of the Basilica singing
(Bob Marley in this video).
One of the things I've always thought makes Europe
magical is the feel you get simply from the atmosphere.
This narrow but charmingly lit street with little
restaurants, live accordion music, and families and
friends out and about laughing and enjoying life, is typical
of what I've experienced in Europe. It feels so different from
anything we have here in the states, and I wished I could
bring it home with me.
Another view of the Eiffel Tower from our hotel
room, only this time in brilliant blue
Another part of the special decoration of the
Eiffel Tower, we found out, is that every hour
on the hour once it gets dark, they turn on a
bazillion strobe lights and it sparkles like
nothing we've ever seen. It was too unbelievable
for a single picture so I took a video instead.
Touring the Louvre in a very short time was tough.
We saw what we could but unfortunately didn't
make it to the section with some of our favorite
art - the French impressionists (Monet, etc.).
What we did see was amazing though, and it's
almost impossible to comprehend how enormous
this place is, and how much history there is here.
The Mona Lisa
The detailing on the ceilings of some of the rooms
was phenomenal.
The Louvre is like a giant "U" shape, with the buildings
in this picture making up two of the sides. Even this
doesn't do justice to its size.
From the museum we could see the Arc de Triumph
at the end of the Champs Elysee
Neal appreciating a painting of one of his favorite artists:
Johannes Vermeer.
Some of the paintings inside the Louvre are so big that
you can't help but wonder two things: how long did it
take the artist to paint this and how did they get it into
the Louvre?
An interesting depiction of Pentecost
"La Pentecote" by Jean Restout
A painting of the Louvre inside the Louvre
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