image day 7

The chapel inside the palace.

The front of the palace.  They are currently in the process of re-doing all of the gold gilding on the building.

k

Day 7 images

The ceiling in one of the palace drawing rooms.

View from the Seine during evening cruise.
The hall of mirrors.
View from the river
Marie Antonette had a little hamlet built for her personal use.  When life at the palace became too much she would sneak away to this place and dress as a peasant.  She would live for a while as a farm girl.

Day 7 in Paris

This morning wake up call wasn't until 8:00.  However I was up much earlier because I have come down with the cold I was hoping I wouldn't get.  On the plane coming here I sat next to a lady that was sick and then Molly was sick as well.  Monday Olivia came down with the cold and now I'm the lucky one.  Yuck!  I am so congested.  

Today we took the big train to Versailles.  It was a double decker which was pretty cool.  Versailles is a nice city just outside Paris.  We spent some time at the open air market.  Again there was a huge variety of fresh produce and other foods.  There were whole roasted rabbits and also raw ones.  They cut off the feet and ears when they skin them but for some reason they leave the heads complete with teeth and eyeballs.  Kind of disturbing.  One guy who spoke very limited English spotted us as American and he was trying to sell us his goods.  "See my beautiful vegetables?  They are very sexy and beautiful."  That is the first time I ever heard artichokes and egg plants described as sexy.  All of the vendors yell - it's fun.  We actually went to a McDonalds because they have a bathroom.  Bathrooms are not easy to find in France, especially free ones.  The food is different from our McDonalds.  The small burgers are on crusty french rolls.  The desserts are apple crumble and chocolate mouse.  You can get big macs on white or whole wheat.

We walked through the palace and guess what?  More gold, more crystals and more classic naked art work on the ceilings!  Very beautiful.  Very sumptuous.  The gardens weren't ready for summer yet but you could still get an idea of what they are like in the peak of season.  Just like you see in the movies.  The hall of mirrors is something to see.  One of the gross by kind of interesting facts is that there are no bathrooms there.  (Unless you count the modern bathroom in the gift shop.)  They used to have 3,000 or 4,000 people at a time there and no bathrooms.  People didn't wash much.  They just layered on more perfume and put little fake moles over their pimples.  The hall of mirrors has lots of little inset windows.  People would go to the bathroom in the corners and the servants went around and cleaned up after them!  Legend has it that when the palace was full you could smell the stench for miles!  Yuck!  Beauty on the the outside, rotten within?  Ooof.

In my stuper this morning I forgot to put the battery in my camera so Lydia is going to share photos with me and I will post them later.  Today I will post some canned photos so you can see where we were.

We took the train back to Paris and went to the Eiffel Tower.  Some people decided to go up the tower but since we were tired and not feeling great we went to a restaurant and had dinner.  I had a lovely glass of Cabernet and the dinner I ordered was Beef Bourgenoin which is basically a heart beef roast or stew.  It was a generous portion of roast beef with brown gravy (contained wine of course) along with carrots and potatoes.  Very nice way to warm up.  Olivia had yummy french onion soup with bread.  at 8:00PM we took a river cruise down the Seine.  There was commentary from the guide that was interesting and the city was beautiful because it is all lit up.  The eiffel lights sparkle at the top of every hour.  Very beautiful.  We returned to the hotel at about 10:30 - long day!  Tomorrow we head back home.  I will not want to eat bread or cheese for quite a while.  I have a lot to reflect on and I know that I want to read more about the history of France.  This was just enough to wet my appetite.  

Day 6

Olivia being awesomely French.

Sculpture of Pan feeding two bear cubs honey combs.
The grand clock at the Orsay.  The Orsay was a train station at the turn of the last century.
I loved this sculpture.  It is a guardian angel looking over a young child.
Kala's favorite Renoir.  

day 6

Renoir's dancers.

Vincent Van Gogh's very famous self portrait.  It was small - about 11 x 14".  It was amazing.
The Little Dancer by Edgar Degas, 1881.
"Whistler's Mother"
"The Picnic" by Manet.

more from day 6

While out strolling the side streets we spied some local people out exercising their dogs.  It was cute to watch them play.

Painters Square.
Sacre-Couer.
Looking over the city from in front of the church.
Another street musician.  This is the only one we've seen playing a harp.  They usually have accordians or saxaphones.

Pictures from day 6

A mime outside the cathedral.

Sacre-Coeur church was built on the place where Saint Dennis performed his 3rd miracle.  He was a martyr that was executed during the religious war.  After being beheaded he picked up his own head and walked a few steps before collapsing.  This is also called Martyrs Hill.
Typical foot traffic on the streets.
In the subway.
The famous Moulin Rouge.  Their least expensive show is at 11PM and the tickets cost 113 Euros for that one!

Momma told me it was my turn to make a post, and so I will. We procrastinated a bit, so I'm actually typing this the morning of Day 7.

Madame Gerber checked the weather forecast and decided it would be in our best interests to do all of our outdoor sightseeing before the rain hit. We took the Metro to the red light district of Paris to see the Moulin Rouge, but we saw quite a bit more than that. Let's just say that particular section of the city is,um.... a bit seedy. Anyway, I got to take the picture of that famous red windmill, and then it was on to the Montmartre neighborhood. 

Montmartre is situated on the only hill in Paris, and Sacre-Coeur church is at the very top. It's quite a climb up all those steps- in fact, the Parisians call them the "breakneck stairs". The church itself is very beautiful. It was made in the Byzantine style, and practically all of the inside surfaces are covered in either stained glass or mosaic. We sadly were not allowed to take pictures, so I can't share the inside of it with you :(

After Sacre-Coeur we walked around the neighborhood.  There were lots of Jamaican guys that stand on the steps of the church that you have to dodge by.  They have strings that they try to get around your wrist.  Then when they "catch you" they braid a bracelet on your wrist and won't let go until you pay them for it. They get pushy and it is pretty annoying.  This was a new thing for us to deal with.  

The neighborhood is older.  It has narrow cobble stone streets.  The buildings are charming.  A block from the church is Painter's square.  Every day artists set up shop and sell the pictures they paint and draw.  Some of them are very good.  It's a shame that it is hard to pack a painting for the way home.  The weather was cold and wet so there weren't as many artists as there usually are.  We did some shopping before we met with the rest of the group.  We got to watch some type of movie or TV show shoot that was taking place near the carousel that is in the square below the church.

After painters square we were off to the Orsay Museum of Art.  This museum contains art predominately from the 19th Century.  There is a lot of art from the "impressionist" period.  We got to see sculptures from Rodin, paintings from Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet and Manet (to name a few).  When we stood in front of Whistler's Mother there was another American there chuckling to himself because the painting reminded him of that silly Mr. Bean movie. 

By the time we left we all agreed that this week we had all seen everything there is to see of the nude body form.  They all start to look a like once in a while and it is actually more interesting when you see clothing on the forms because it adds color and interest.  We weren't allowed to take pictures in all of the areas and many didn't turn out very well because flash isn't allowed at all, but we did our best.

After a long day on our feet we returned to the hotel and changed for dinner.  We reserved seats at a lovely local restaurant that Madame Gerber loves to go to every time she visits Paris.  It is called La Biche au bois (the doe in the woods).  Our group of 28 filled the entire restaurant.  The service was wonderful - they were extremely patient with us illiterate, loud Americans who can't read menus and talk too much.  We were served a 4 course meal.  The food was excellent.  We returned to the hotel with more wonderful memories and guess what?  we get to sleep until 8 am tomorrow! 

even more of day 5

The grand chandelier in Napoleon III's apartments.

Taken from the top of Arc de Triumphe.
The requested picture of the old gypsy lady.
Spring time in Paris.   I almost forgot what flowers look like.
"The Gang" outside the Louve.

k

This one is from Olivia to Chloe.  It is a sculpture of the soldier who ran to Marathon delivering news of victory only to collapse and die upon completing the journey.

Venus De Milo
Mona Lisa
The coronation of Napoleon.
Our little laplander sidekick Lydia.  She dresses brightly so we use her as a marker in the crowd enabling us to not get lost.

k

Pictures from day 5

Standing by the glass pyramid outside the Louve.  The wing you see behind me is one of three and it is the very short wing.

This is  my personal favorite sculpture.  If you zoom in you might be able to see the detail of the piece.  It is not very big but it amazed me how the veil seems to be sheer.  It lightly sparkles and you can see her features through the veil.  And this is made from marble!
Winged Victory.
Cupid and Psyche.  This is Olivia's favorite because you can see the expressions so clearly on their faces.
Olivia next to the famous inverted pyramid.

Day 5 in Paris

Hi everybody!

Today was an art day for us.  We got to spend 3 hours at the Louve, which wasn't nearly enough.  You wouldn't believe the size of this place.  It is a HUGE palace of past kings and emperors.  It is the Smithsonian of art.  The facility itself is a piece of art.  It has so much built in to its architecture.  Mosaic floors, murals on the ceilings...   We made sure that we saw the "must sees" first.  Olivia and I spent most of our time viewing sculpture.  Winged Victory and Venus de Milo are the most famous but there are many many master pieces housed at the Louve.  There are entire wings dedicated to different eras and styles.  We viewed the Mona Lisa, of course as well as The Virgin of the Rocks.  Pieces by Renoir, one of my favorite artists.  

Another thing that I didn't know before is that they still have intact the apartments of Napoleon III.  The extravagance of the place was somewhat disturbing after considering the fact that years before the monarchy was overthrown because of the fact that there was so much waste by the government living extravagantly while the poor people suffered.  The dining room table seated 44, each piece of furniture was a treasure.

After the Louve we visited a much smaller art museum called L'Orangerie which is across the Tuileries Gardens.  It houses more modern works, mainly impressionist pieces.  I have always liked the work of Monet but once you see the huge works on display there you truly understand the genius of him.  The building has a large area build specially to display Les Nympheas.  I only wish that we had been allowed to photograph them.  The way the paintings changed with the changing of the natural light as clouds passed overhead...amazing.

Next we walked to the Arc de Triumphe.  This is a huge arch that was built by Napoleon as a war memorial.  They have a tomb of the unknown soldier there with an eternal flame much like our own.  We climbed 284 steps to the top of the Arc and were able to look out over Paris.  The memorial is in the center with streets coming out from the square like the spokes of a wheel.  I almost didn't climb all the way up but Olivia made me.  We were all very sore today from walking so much.  It was worth it.  

Tomorrow we continue our adventure.  Au revoir!

day 4 pictures

I forgot to mention.  We also visited Pere la Chaise cemetary in Paris.  As many of you know, famous actors, musicians and other historical figures are buried there.  This includes.....

Jim Morrison of The Doors.  Yes, Kristine -- Jim got your note.  Olivia made sure we found him for you.
This is the statue of Charlemagne that is located in the square in front of Notre Dame.  Madame Gerber says that the French children hate him.  He is the one that decided that children of France should be educated and therefore they need to go to school.
This is one of the great rose windows in Notre Dame.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It is breath taking.
The front of Notre Dame - taken from the square.

kk

Day 4 in France

Today we got to sleep until 8:00AM!  Woohoo!  I actually woke up at 7:45 but I slept very well last night after all the walking we did.

Today the weather site lied.  It was supposed to be high 40's and mostly sunny.  It was cloudy and windy and Cold!   Tomorrow I am going to wear everything I packed.  

We started the day by purchasing our Metro (subway) passes and museum passes.  The Metro is an awesome way to travel the city.  You don't have to know where you are.  You just need to be able to remember your starting place and you can always find your way back.  We had a scary moment when Emily didn't get on the train before the doors closed.  She had a look of terror on her face but she quickly made the "telephone" sign to her dad (Reggie) before we were out of sight.  She was very cool headed.  He got off at the next stop and she got on the next train, got off at the next stop and they found each other and rejoined us within about 20 minutes.  I think it was harder on Reggie than on her.  As a parent it is your worst fear to lose your kid someplace, even if they are 16 or 17 years old.  

We first went to the Conciergerie.  In the 6th Century Clovis, the first French king established this architectural beauty as his royal residence.  5 centuries later it became a government council building.  It became the home of the royal Parlement de Paris.  When I see the decadence I can understand why the general population eventually rose up against the monarchy.  So many kings built so many palaces, it was certainly wasteful when the common people where the ones who were financing these projects. 

The Conciergerie became a prison during the revolution.  We visited the cell where Marie Antoinette lived her last days.  The place was cold, the cells were so small and being there you could feel so much history that to be honest with you it was actually overwhelming.  I could imagine the suffering that took place with people packed 3 or more to an 8x10 cell with nothing but straw on the floor.   Although the building was a wonder I didn't mind leaving it because for me it held such sadness.

We then walked to Notre Dame Cathedral.  It is amazing to stand in the square before it next to the statue of Charlemagne and look up at it's magnificence.  The windows are so beyond beautiful.  When you enter it the inner sanctuary is somewhat fenced off from visitors.  They still hold mass there.  Around its perimeter are many little confessionals and there are many little "Chapels" dedicated to different saints.  People come here to light intention candles and pray.  The place is very holy.  Notre Dame took 200 years to build.  The feeling you get when you look up at the ceiling and see the stains from the smoke from so many candles and when you look down at your feet and realize that these stones have been traversed by so many generations.....indescribable.

Yes, there are many gypsies who still make their living by begging in the square in front of the cathedral.  None look like Esmerelda.

Olivia and I were planning to clime to the top of the tower today but the wind was so cold and the line was so long that we opted to sit in a small cafe sipping chocolate.  It was pretty cool to look out the window at the flying buttresses of Notre Dame.  

Olivia is doing very well at communicating with the French.  I am very proud of her.  

Good night everybody.  

Days 1 - 3

When you order a salad in France you get a SALAD.  What you see in the middle is a square of goat cheese (which is delicious) that is wrapped in a parchment like wrap and lightly fried, making it soft and warm.  The salad had a wine dressing with olives...wonderful dinner for my little vegetarian.

Nice expression on my face, huh?  I was trying to make out a sculpture on the top of the Chateau in Blois.

Charlie, Katherine and Olivia were feeling very "super model".

Olivia spied out an adorable French couple sitting in the sun on the step of one of the castles.  Isn't this what you imagine when you think of Paris?
Look, Scott!  Pamplemousse!

jj