So I officially have one more full day in Paris. Mom, Dad and Tim are leaving tomorrow and I leave on Sunday. So far, the trip has been great. I was in much need for this vacation and it has been nice to get back to Europe. Sorry to Anna about missing her wedding. I only had a limited amount of available time off.
In Paris, we have been very busy with museums. The first day, Tuesday, we hit Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle before walking through the Tuilerie Gardens up through Champ Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. It was a long day for me having been up for more than 24 hours by the time I got in but it was exciting to explore a new city.
Wednesday was the first real day for museums. We started our day at the Louvre and spent a good amount of time seeing the “classics”, Wings of Victory, Madonna of the Rocks, the Mona Lisa, and Venus de Milo. All the art is interesting but I tend to like more modern art since most of the classical is very centered around Christ and the Crucifixion. After a quick snack in the Louvre, we walked over to the the Pompidou for the modern art. I really enjoyed this one and wish I had explored it more but I needed to run to an internet cafe to get signed up for Candlelight Cast Choir. After the Pompidou and internet, we hiked over to Victor Hugo’s house at the recommendation of one of Tim’s professors. It was neat but at this point, I had hit the saturation point in the brain.
Thursday was just as full of a day. Early morning trip to the d’Orsay Museum to see all the art from the late 1800s on till just before the modern. This covers the impressionism movement and has works from Degas, Van Goo, Monet, etc. I personally enjoyed this more than the Louvre but not as much as the Pompidou. From the d’Orsay, we took a bus to the Eiffel Tower and climbed the stairs up. Yes, you can take an elevator but the lines were crazy and it was only 300 something stairs but the view is amazing. A little breezy but we had a nice lunch up there looking out. After lunch, we took a nice boat ride down the Seine and back up to the Louvre for a little more before walking to L’orangerie to see Monet’s famous Water Lilies and some more works by Picasso and more impressionists. I enjoyed this little museum a lot. This brings us to today.
This morning, Mom and I left the hotel early and caught the Metro to the RER and headed off to Disneyland Paris. I could go on and on about it but I will save that for another post as the train ride is almost over. Simple and short, I loved it. So much more to just enjoy and relax. Not as many rides but more details and more places just to just hide and enjoy the sights.
Off now to Sainte Sulpice and the Luxembourg Gardens. More updates later tonight. Train ride is over.
This message was sent from my T-Mobile BlackBerry wireless handheld. Kindly excuse any brevity, abbreviations or typos.