Friday, November 11, 2011

Pressure in Paris!

Today was our final full day in Paris, and I have to say that I am NOT excited to leave this amazing city. We had big plans for today, lots to see and do before we left this romantic city. All through this trip we’ve had wonderful weather and have agreed that we’ve chosen wisely what to do each day. Today proved to be a good day for the events we chose. It was overcast and a tad windy with a nice fall chill in the air.


We got up at around 7 AM to start our day. I had crazy dreams last night, one that ended in me yelling “Noooooooo!” several times really loud. It was not a fun dream. But I digress. We got up and were out of the hotel and in the Courcelles Metro station at 8 AM on our way to the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise. It was slated to open at 8 AM, but we were lucky that we got there around 9, after stopping for a pastry, because it didn’t open until a little after 9. We made our way through this haunting, yet amazing tribute to souls who have lived and passed on. Mike wanted to see the graves of Frederic Chopin and the painter David. I took some great pictures throughout the Cemetiere, and we even had a few ravens that were leading the way. It was also sad to see how some of the monuments and mausoleums had fallen in disrepair. The one grave I wanted to see was Oscar Wilde’s, however…like many other things this trip, it was closed for repair! Sheesh!




Mary, holding Jesus.

Jacques-Louie David's head stone


Love this picture

Chopin's mausoleum

The disrepair is sad.

I will be in THIS pose on top of my tomb!


After our walk around the Cemetiere du Pere Lachaise, we made our way back down to the Muse du Louvre. I’m not going to lie…I thought the glass pyramid at the entrance was going to be MUCH bigger. None-the-less, we made our way into the line and headed down into the museum. We wanted to hit just some of the highlights; The Mona Lisa, The Winged Victory of Samothrace, The Concecration of the Emperor Napoleon I, (J.L. David), Aphrodite, Captive (the dying Slave, Michelangelo), and I spent some time marveling at the grandeur of the museum itself. Amazing! Here are some of the pictures from Musee du Louvre.



The Winged Victory of Samothrace with the skylight above it



Aphrodite

A statue of me stretching in the morning...kidding! it's Captive (the dying slave by Michelangelo)



After the Louvre, we made our way up to Place de la Madeleine to walk around. We looked around for a while, found a small place to eat and rest from our morning of walking. After eating we decided to scrap the Musee Rodin, it would leave us one thing for the next trip ;-), and made a stop at Opera Garnier. And let me tell you, this was a MUST SEE! Mike and I both looked around as we walked in…the Grand Staircase was gorgeous, and everywhere I looked I just couldn’t stop staring. I tried as hard as I could to get pictures of things without other people in them, but in some cases it was impossible. As I said, this stop proved to be a great one! Mike did not stop here on his other trip to Paris, so it was nice to share in this with him. Enjoy the pictures!
Grand Staircase at the Opera Garnier









Now as if the day wasn’t filled with enough pressure to fit all these things in, I was also shopping for something for Alyssa, since her birthday is next month. So we searched all over and I just couldn’t find what I wanted. I am NOT a big shopper, I always wind up feeling like a failure and that the whole trip was a bust. However, after texting her I got a better idea of what she wanted and knew exactly where I needed to go. So we walked all the way from the Louvre back up to the Arc de Triomphe and back to the hotel to rest for a spell. I showered and then we headed out to get Alyssa’s gift, and headed down to Avenue Bosquet for drinks and our final dinner in Paris.

On our way there, coming out from the Metro tunnel, we saw the Tour Eiffel was sparkling with what seemed like thousands of lights! Sadly, after getting off at Depleix and walking over to Parc du Champ de Mars, the lights had stopped. So we headed to Avenue Bosquet to find a place to eat. We ended up having the best meal of our time in Paris here. There were no tourists in this place, which is what you want! We enjoyed a great Bordeaux, entrees, main course and dessert. My steak was the best one I’ve had on this trip! It was an ACTUAL steak!!! We even had this cute little old French woman sitting next to us. I wish I spoke French so I could have talked to her! J This was SUCH a great way to round out our trip to Paris, what a great dinner.

Baby it's cold outside!!!!




Au revoir, Paris!

After dinner we hurried back to Parc du Champ de Mars to watch the Tour Eiffel light up again. And I got some good pictures of us! Sadly, the top of the Tour was hidden by the clouds, but it still was a great night and some great pictures.

It’s hard to believe that this whirlwind trip is coming to an end. Tomorrow morning we have to leave our hotel no later than 9 AM to make it to the Aeroport de Paris-Charles de Gaulle for our 1 PM flight. We’ve already packed, and we are enjoying a rather cheap bottle of wine while watching some TV before bed. I almost don’t want to go to sleep, hoping that this trip won’t end. I know this isn’t the first and only time I’ll be in Paris, but it’s always sad to leave a place that you’ve fallen in love with. Even though this day was full of pressure to get everything done, and find a perfect gift…it was another GREAT day filled with laughs, smiles, walking and wonderful…amazing…Paris!

1 comment:

  1. I'm sure Alyssa will love whatever you got her...you know she is sweet like that! I bet she would even be happy with one of those priceless "rubber band holders" you rave about! You're such a great brother for thinking of her.

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