Paris: Day 2

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Monday was our first day to experience the train/metro system in Paris. Our resort was about an hour outside of Paris, so we spent a good portion of the week getting to know the A line =) We were all moving a little slower than normal as our bodies were still adjusting to the time change, so I don't think we even made it into town until after lunch time. We started off at the Louvre. Most of the art was pretty foreign to Greg and I (no math, what??) but it was amazing to see the Mona Lisa in person. It's a lot smaller than I had imagined it being.

They did have an interesting display with artifacts from when Napoleon lived there; it made history seem so much more real to stand in his dining room.

After the Louvre, we had just enough time to hop on the Metro and go over to Notre Dame Cathedral. Our group got split up on the metro and we lost Greg and Carol for over and hour (long story short, the Notre Dame was mis-identified by not-Greg and they walked completely around the island that Notre Dame sits on only to discover that the rather large building with flying buttresses was indeed Notre Dame). We finally reconnected and were able to tour the cathedral before touring hours were over. There was a mass in progress when we were inside and it was very beautiful to see that ceremony being performed in such a gorgeous church. A lady was singing for the majority of the time we were inside and I'm so glad we were able to hear what beautiful acoustics such an old building has.

We ended up having dinner at a small restaurant near the cathedral then made our way home. (side note: restaurants there are SO DIFFERENT! All of the places we ate at while there were no bigger than our living room and had on average 10 tables and 1 person that served as host/waiter/bartender. It was a much different experience from our large and noisy restaurants here.)

The train station closest to our resort

The entrance to the Louvre

Inside the glass pyramid

See the family resemblance? There must be some Roman blood somewhere along the Ross line, the nose doesn't lie . . .

Anyone else watch Bones? Doesn't this guy remind you of Sweets??

This is a video of the portrait The Combat of David and Goliath. The artist painted the portrait from both the back and front views. (You will probably want to turn the volume all the way down, it's just loud amounts of background noise)

With the itty-bitty Mona Lisa

Nathan smelled a little somethin'-somethin' . . .

In Napoleon's sitting room . . . I'm thinking a chandelier like that could really transform our living room?

Napoleon's dining room

A vanity that, I believe, belonged to Marie Antionette

Our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower from a window in the Louvre

This just shows you that art is subjective . . .

This little guy was made completely out of thumbtacks . . . not sure why it's hanging in the Louvre . . . Leah, Evan this is why we're friends with you . . . you get to explain these things to us . . .

Notre Dame Cathedral

It was a cloudy and rainy day, I can only imagine how beautiful the stained glass must be on a sunny day.

Our indoor pictures here are fairly dark and grainy because our flash was off due to Mass that was going on at the same time.

This is the street our restaurant was on, I love the aesthetics of the buildings and streets there.

If you enlarge this picture (right click and open in a new window) you can see all the plant life on the balconies. Geraniums were very popular all over the city.