World Quest

This is our last full day in Paris and we have a couple of more places to take in. Actually there are some things I wanted to do that we just did not have the time to get to like the Catacombs, going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night and taking in a French jazz club. Maybe on the next trip...

Thursday morning our day begins with a subway ride to Notre Dame. We also get some entertainment in the subway tunnel from this group who were performing chamber orchestra style music.

Although musical performers in the subway tunnels and in the subway cars is pretty typical (we endured/enjoyed an accordion player, saxophone player, guitar player and cello player at various times), this group was far from typical. In fact, their playing was fantastic and they even had CD's of their performances to sell. We donated a few euros since there were so many of them.

I have the feeling that most of the performers we encountered (at least the ones who were any good) probably have gigs at night and supplement those (as well as getting extra practice) with these performances in or on the subway. That's my thought, if you have definite information that is otherwise, please feel free to comment.

So, in answer to Mary D's question in the last post's comments, yes we did go to Notre Dame. Personally, it is not a big draw for me except from an historical, architectural and artistic standpoint. But you can't go to Paris without at least stopping in to see it, right? Here's some pictures from the front on the outside:

And a couple from the inside:

They also had a very nice model of the church:

And here is a shot of the bell tower that the nuns were trying to get me to be the bell ringer in. No way! You could only get up there by walking 422 steps up a circular stairway. What is it with the French and circular stairways?

Afterward, Cindy and her mom bought some souvenirs at a shop across the street, and then we walked back to the subway station to head to our next destination: Laduree!!

Leaving the Louvre, we walked down Quai Francois Mitterrand along the Right Bank of the Seine, then continued to follow it as it became Voie Georges Pompidou, still hugging the Seine, and found a nice restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious and leisurely meal served by a friendly and helpful waiter.

I should mention here that thus far, we have not seen hide nor hair of the legendary "rude Frenchman" that all Americans are warned about. In fact, we have met several friendly, helpful and courteous French citizens. When we step onto a subway car and there are no empty seats, someone will invariably stand up and offer Cindy's mom their seat (and yes, I know there are instructions to do so on the subway car maps, but that doesn't mean people will do so). In dealing with businesses, our experience has been that if we make the effort to try to speak French, they will almost always then speak English to you, probably just to stop you from mangling their native tongue like I do when I say "Bone Jore", lol.

One day we were standing at a busy subway tunnel crossroad and I was looking at the route map in my hand trying to make sure we were heading to the right platform when a woman just sort of materialized out of the mass of humanity streaming past us and asked if she could help us find our way. She looked at where we were going and pointed out that we wanted the opposite platform. We thanked her and she wished us a good day and melted back into the herd of people stampeding through the tunnel crossroad. Viva la France!

After enjoying our meal (and some tasty sorbet for dessert) we walked on down to Pont Neuf Bridge to cross over for our Night Cruise on the Seine to see the lights of the city and the Eiffel Tower. However, we had to stop midway across the bridge to admire the sunset on the Seine:

And we couldn't stop there. So I took this picture of Cindy and her mom:

And Cindy's mom took this photo of Cindy and I:

Then it was time to board the boat for our Night Cruise. I bought a bottle of white wine and some plastic cups at the dock so we could sip wine and enjoy the lights of the City of Lights on our one hour cruise, which started at 9:30pm.

Here's some of the video Cindy took while we cruised through the darkness up the Seine:

Here is one of about 400 shots I took of the Eiffel Tower lit up:

And a picture of Cindy and her mom on the boat. Yes, it was cold!

Ok, ok you twisted my arm, here's one more of about 400 shots I took of the Eiffel Tower lit up:

I have to tell you that this was something I really wanted to do while in Paris, but during the day I kept thinking it was selfish of me to keep Cindy and her mom out late in the cold. However, every time I broached the idea of skipping this boat ride they both insisted we go on it. I'm so glad they did as it was a beautiful sight and they both assured me that they too enjoyed the ride and the lights.

Well, I'm getting pretty good at figuring out the subway routes here in Paris. Of course it helps that the system is well planned and sensible. The owner of the apartment we were renting for the week told us that you can get anywhere in Paris by subway with no more than 2 route changes, and we found that to be true in our experiences.

So, we jumped back on the subway following our tour of the Rodin Museum and Garden to make our way over to the Louvre for a second day in that great museum.

Cindy has had a long fascination with Egyptian history and artifacts, so we spent quite a bit of time walking through the Pharaoh's wing checking out sphinxes, sarcophagi and mummies galore.

After shaking the sand out of our shoes, we trekked over to the Mesopotamia wing. Or I should say we tried to get to the Mesopotamia wing. Even with a map, I was having difficulty navigating the vast expanse of the Louvre. The various wings, rooms and exhibits are not only spread out across the Louvre, they are also on different floors so you might find yourself going down one level, through an exhibit and then up another level to cross buildings and try to find the exhibit you are searching for...only to discover you should have gone down another level. So, as we walked through wings, rooms and exhibits with our feet growing more and more tired, Cindy declared we were "Lost in The Louvre".

I finally relented (men never stop and ask for directions, you know) and asked a blazer-jacketed Louvre attendant how to get to the Mesopotamia wing. Following her excellent directions we finally found the wing and then went about searching for this:

The Code of Hammurabi is one of the earliest (1795-1750 BC) codifications of law and regulation of human behavior, carved into an 8 foot tall piece of black basalt rock. It really is quite amazing to stand so close to this early documentation of not only Babylonian laws, but basic laws of mankind.

Obviously, I have taken many, many more photos than I can ever post here, so I typically pick the few that I think are the best and get across the story of our trip. Here are 3 from that afternoon in The Louvre that I really liked.

This is just one of the smaller halls within The Louvre.

Statues like this could easily keep me in The Louvre for a very long time, if only I had the time.

Next post: Night Boat Ride on the Seine

NOTE: And...we're back!

We lost Internet access here a few days ago when the modem went "Pffft!!" (that's a technical French word meaning FUBAR) but hopefully it is back up permanently now, or at least through the end of our trip Friday night. What this means is that I'll be trying to catch up the posts and upload videos and photos even after we return home Saturday night. Thanks for staying with us during our technical difficulties.

Wednesday morning we got a relatively late start because we planned to be out late that night on a boat ride up the Seine to see the city lights and Eiffel Tower at night. Since it doesn't get dark here until about 9:30, we knew we'd be out and about until midnight or so. Because of that we didn't leave the apartment until 10am to take the subway to what is the world's foremost collection of works by sculptor Auguste Rodin, the Musée Rodin.

The building and grounds that make up the Musée Rodin have quite a background. The main building is a mansion that was built by Abraham Peyrenc in the seventeenth century when Paris' Left Bank was still uninhabited. Peyrenc had come to Paris to seek his fortune and upon striking it rich ordered the most superb house Paris had ever seen to be built in the Faubourg Saint-Germain area. The house was completed in 1731, but Peyrenc died just one year later. His widow gave the house to the Duchess of Maine. Upon the death of the duchess, the mansion became the property of the Duke and Duchess of Biron where it received its current name, the Hotel Biron.

The beautiful surroundings attracted artists including Auguste Rodin, who rented several rooms in which to store his art. The rooms became his studio where he worked and entertained friends among the gardens. Beginning in 1909, Rodin pleaded with the French government not to destroy the house but to make it a museum of his work. He donated all his property, correspondence, and pieces of art to the state, and finally, in 1916, the government agreed to convert the Hotel Biron into a museum for him. Rodin passed away on November 17, 1917.

Without a doubt the most famous sculpture that Rodin is known for is his "The Thinker", the contemplative individual that began as a representation of Dante in the relief work of art he created known as "The Gates of Hell". He later re-worked it to symbolize not Dante, but an anonymous male figure representing all poets or creators in that same relief work. Interestingly, Rodin himself never sculpted the full-sized work that stands alone, but rather supervised the larger recasting of his work by professional reducteurs Henri Lebosse and Alexis Rudier, who between them produced approximately 20 larger versions, all commissioned and overseen by Rodin.

After walking through the first portion of the garden, we came upon a small cafe. This was fortuitous as we were hungry, having had just a small breakfast due to our later start that morning. We sat outdoors at the edge of the gardens and were joined by pigeons and sparrows, who were glad for our company...and our bread. Here's a picture of a sparrow that landed on my table and allowed me to take his photo while he ate a piece of bread from my sandwich.

Our stomachs full and our spirits lifted by our feathered friends, we continued through the garden portion of the estate, specifically the sculpture section of the gardens. Below is a picture of the famous Rodin relief work of art, "The Gates of Hell" with Cindy and her mom in the photo to show the size of the piece.

And of course, me storming... uh, I mean struggling to open, the Gates of Hell.

We enjoyed many of Rodin's works in the gardens, including "The Burghers of Calais", "Monument to Victor Hugo" and "Balzac" among others, and then made our way into the inside museum where we saw another one of Rodin's most famous works (and again one which was originally a part of "The Gates of Hell") the sculpture known as "The Kiss".

Too soon, it was time for us to take our leave of the museum dedicated to Auguste Rodin, but we enjoyed the beauty of the gardens and the works of art.

Next post: The Louvre - Day 2

NOTE: We're now in our cottage in Mouzay outside of Loches in the Loire Valley and WE HAVE INTERNET ACCESS!! LOL

We enjoyed our time in Giverny so much, but of course I will pick up with where I left off previously with our time in Paris and tell you all about Giverny and Monet's Garden when we come to that point in the timeline of our visit.

And thank you to all who let me know they are reading. I wasn't trying to increase comments or get folks to register (hence the request to e-mail me if you did not want to comment on the site itself), or being grouchy (as some thought, though we all know I NEVER get grouchy) but just wanted to be sure the blog was being read by the intended audience. Thanks again for letting me know and thanks for reading.

After our walk along the Left Bank, we took an underground train to the icon of Paris, the Eiffel Tower. The tower, which was completed in 1889, is 1,063 feet in height, draws more than 6 million visitors to her each year and has seen more than 200 million visitors since her opening. There are three (3) observation levels on the Eiffel Tower; the first level is 189 feet high, the second level is 380 feet high and the third and highest observation level is 896 feet high.

I found it interesting to learn that the tower is constructed so efficiently that, counting only the structure itself (not the elevator cars, cables, pulleys, etc.) the total weight is 7,300 tons. What this means is that if you placed a cylinder around the tower from its base to its top, the air occupying that cylinder would weigh more than the tower structure itself. The tower structure is actually lighter than the air in the space it occupies. Good thing its foundation extends 53 feet into the ground. To maintain the integrity of the tower, it must be repainted every 5 years with 50 tons of paint by hand with brushes!

We arrived at the tower by way of a beautiful small park at its base. Below is a video of our approach and some shots from the base of the tower. You can see Cindy and her mom walking away from the camera about 5 seconds before the video ends.

Here's a picture I took from the ground at the base of the tower looking up.

While we were getting our bearings, I caught sight of these young men who were advertising that they would give free hugs, as they were being interviewed by a French TV camera crew. I passed on the free hug.

We finally got in line to get our tickets. Cindy and her mom were only going to go to the first level, so I was going to ascend to the third level by myself. You can see how far back we are from the ticket window in this picture.

As you can see from the picture below, "Disney Queues" are they rage all the world over. Only another 45 minutes from this point to when we finally got our tickets.

The wait is over...well almost. I take an elevator from the base to the second level, then have to transfer to a different elevator in order to get up to the third level. The video clip below makes it look fast, but it's actually about another 30 minutes total. However, as you can see, the wait is worth it as the view is spectacular! When I reached the top, the first thing I did was take out my cell phone and call my daughter (who has always wanted to visit Paris and the Eiffel Tower) to tell her I was calling her from the top of the Eiffel Tower. I wish we could have brought you with us, Princess.

If you look at the end of the video clip, you'll see the Arc de Triomphe, where I had been the day before taping the Eiffel Tower.

Here's a picture to prove I was at the top.

And even though Cindy and her mom did not accompany me to the top, this will show that I definitely was not alone.

And one of my favorite still shots from the top.

So ended a long day in Paris for us. Next post: Rodin