We started out and went to see the Pantheon – a church-like palace. We didn’t go in, but there is a picture of the outside attached (not yet). This building is literally outside our window (but a building is blocking our view).
Next we headed through the Luxembourg gardens, and what an eye-opener that was. You may have heard or seen luscious clean pristine gardens before, but the Luxembourg was simply that. Reclining chairs are spread out across the garden to allow all the French people to take naps during the day.
Next we went to an art museum call d’Orsay. This museum was housed in a newly renovated train station. The internal was awesome. The high ceilings and marble floor laid out an impressive art-sy feel to the gallery. We were able to see numerous paintings including some of Amanda’s favorites (Monet, Van Gogh, Matisse, and others). Steve loved the Divine Tragedy by Chenvaude (?) (google it – a must see). We had Jim and Dale (Amanda's Uncle and Aunt) sponsor this.
After the spending 2 hours in the museum we headed towards the Eiffel Tower. Along the way we saw a some gov’t buildings and Hotel de Invalides. Not sure if it’s a hotel – it probably is, but in the center is a huge dome lined with gold accents. The thing was massive. We believe that Napoleon is buried there.
The Eiffel tower was an afternoon to remember. Amanda and Steven would agree that it might have been the best 2 hours of the trip so far. We grabbed some bread, more brie (I know I know – that’s 3 straight meals… but when in Paris), salami, and a bottle of French wine and had a picnic on the lawn. We had the perfect day to do so. Again, the Eiffel Tower is monstrous (Amanda’s word) – but it truly is. Simply staring up at the tower was extremely enjoyable, but having appropriate food and your best friend at your side – it was heavenly. We looked forward to when we would have a picnic under the Eiffel Tower for a long time, and it was an amazing. We took funny pictures and relaxed for a bit. It was a great afternoon. The clear skies got the worst of our skin though, resulting in our first sun burn since last summer!
After the tower we made our way towards Concorde (which has a bunch of gov’t buildings). Next we walked down the Champs-Elliese towards the infamous Louvre. The discounted price for Friday evening accelerated our excitement. We had Jim and Dale (Amanda's Uncle and Aunt) sponsor this.
Upon entering, we quickly made our way to the “highly anticipated” and quite frankly, probably the most famous painting in the museum – the Mona Lisa. We saw it, took a picture and moved on. We both agreed it was cool, but we don’t understand all the hype.
We made our way around the gallery for over 3 hours. There were many classical religious themed paintings (Reubens and numerous others) along with ancient Egyptian artifacts.
The part that surprised us the most was seeing Napoleon’s residence. The place was huge, and decked out in crystal chandeliers, large paintings on the walls, statues, and everything was in gold trim. It felt as if we traveled back in time to the Lords of the 1850s. It was incredible.
Following the Louvre we headed back to the B&B and stopped by the market. After seeing tourists with ice cream all day we took a look at the frozen food section and noticed that a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cost about $12 US dollars! Needless to say we didn’t indulge in Ben&Jerrys and enjoyed champagne which was cheaper than their Coca Cola! We had our dinner (no brie this time) and hit the hay. Our feet have been abused to say the least, but we keep on trucking. Paris is a pretty city, filled with decorative architecture and immense art. We enjoyed our time here. Tomorrow with bring a half day in Paris and a half day in Brussels. Moving on… with a smile on our faces.
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