Let's see, we started at Notre Dame. It was free to walk through but most displays were in French which didn't help us much. Beautiful church, the stained glass was incredible, especially the rose windows. Very different from Westminster, particularly because there aren't statutes, monuments, and people buried all over the place. Ate lunch at a cafe next door, overlooking the church.
From there we walked along the Seine to the Louvre. That place is crazy huge. Enormous. And the amount of art they have is crazy. We saw all the famous stuff: Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo in particular. It was crazy crowded around the Mona Lisa. Got lost multiple times, even with a map. Some of the rooms were still decorated as Napoleon had them (crazy opulent) and other rooms had gorgeous ceilings and walls. Ended up spending quite a bit of time there because of getting lost. Oops.
Took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower (thanks to my $1 iPhone app we were able to navigate with no problems$. Seeing the tower up close was amazing. Walked through gardens on both sides. Ate our snack (oranges from our breakfast basket) looking at it and then got chocolate crepes too (best I've ever had).
Kept walking (my feet are never going to recover from these last few days) to the Arc de Triumph. Saw more of real Paris along this, not just the tourist side. The circle around the monument is crazy, made all the little turnabouts we went through seem like nothing. Apparent France drives on the same side of the road and car as the US. I though all of Europe was backwards. Walked under the Arc and then down the Champs-Élysées. Took the Metro back to our station, went through security, immigration, customs, and that was the end of our day in Paris. Crazy busy but we saw all the major sites and most of what we wanted.
What surprised me was how different London and Paris are. Even the architecture is very different. It's hard to explain the different feelings the cities had. Being back in London felt like coming home. We kinda know our way around and we speak the language!!
Last day in London today and then we head to Scotland tomorrow. I've really enjoyed London.
Again, much better pictures on real cameras. Here's the Mona Lisa (I was surprised we could take pictures of it) Louvre pyramid, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower from a distance, and Eiffel Tower up close.
4 comments:
Driving on the Continent...that was the nice part about Switzerland/Germany...the driving was "normal". Much easier.
Yeah, that would be so much easier!!! Not in Paris though. Do you remember how many roads went into the circle around the Arc de Triumph? I think at least 8! Plus we were there about rush hour. Crazy!!
now that you mention it, I think that when I was in France and Spain we drove on the right side of the road. I didn't drive, so I didn't pay much attention
Yeah, I was really surprised. It would be so much easier!
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