Paris: Day 3

As you can see, we spotted our first bonafide Parisian bakery this day. Unfortunately we were in a rush so we didn't get to stop =(

Our first stop was officially Versailles, but we had some mishaps on the train so we technically had about 5 stops at random train stations before arriving at Versailles. The train line out to Versailles was a little tricky and we hadn't quite figured out the tricks to the system yet. Add to that too many people trying to lead (my big mouth included) and you get a big mess. But we finally arrived at Versailles and it was well worth it. We studied Louis XIV and Versailles quite a bit back in my high school days at Covenant Classical but it was truly unreal the opulence that Louis and Marie Antoinette lived in. There was marble EVERYWHERE! And statues. And fine silk. And ginormous framed art. One gallery they have set up is about 3 rooms completely filled floor to ceiling with nothing but massive paintings of Louis, that he had commissioned himself, of course.

The gardens were beautiful as well. Because France is 10-15 degrees cooler then here on average, their blooming schedules are a couple months behind us. The gardens didn't have much if anything in bloom yet and the fountains were turned off. But the landscaping that is maintained year round is gorgeous. Walking around on the pebbled paths made me feel like I could be in a Jane Austin movie.

After Versailles, we headed back into the city to see the d'Orsay Museum, which houses more modern art than the Louvre. By modern, I mean more recent than thousands of years ago; it was still classic pieces of art. I loved seeing Van Gogh's art in person!

Wall art at Versailles

The fireplace in Louis XIV's bedroom

Looking out at the gardens

The Hall of Mirrors, this is where the Treaty of Versailles was signed that ended WW1

A rather intricate globe once owned by Louis' son, the crown prince

Greg loved this fountain, it's covered with fish and turtle statues

This is how I spent most of my time on the trains

At the d'Orsay Museum - The Bedroom by Van Gogh
(I have to give Kristie credit for all of the d'Orsay pictures, her battery died and I was tired of taking pictures so she used my camera)

by Monet

by Kristie

Back out on the streets

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.

Paris: Day 1

We left Charlotte Saturday and arrived in Paris on Sunday (because of the time zone difference; Paris is 6 hours ahead of us). The 6 of us (Greg and I, Nate and Kristie, Steve and Carol) were pretty chill that first day there; I crashed for a couple hours and the rest of the group toured the resort we stayed at and nearby shopping.

Greg and Nate at the airport . . . (Nate read an entire 1,000+ page book during the week . . .) That's Freedom the dog chilling with them

Greg's "Russian Coke" on the plane

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean

After everyone was rested up, we took a walk to Disneyland France, which was only about 10 minutes from our resort . . . We didn't see any characters, but we did get some authentic french fries from McDonalds.

And, finally, what would a stay in France be without a bidet . . . I'm pretty certain no one used it, but it was there, just in case =)

Bonjour!

We're back in the States! We arrived home by 11:30 last night, after about 20 hours of travel (this includes driving to/from airports, waiting at airports, going through customs, etc) and our bodies were telling us that it was already 5:30am . . . today should be a fun day to try to get back in this time zone fully =)

We had a great time and I did manage to take lots of pictures (I'm sure I'll share more than enough over the next several days). Thanks to all of you who were praying for safe travel for us; with the exception of a delayed flight yesterday in Philly, our travel plans to and from France went exactly as planned (now our travel while IN France was a little messy, but I'll share those stories later).

Can't wait to see all our peeps here in Charlotte and catch up after a whole week away!