April 18 was spent exploring more of Paris. It was another gorgeous day, so first we walked through our neighborhood over to the Eiffel Tower and got in line to go up.
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| We stayed in the Champ de Mars neighborhood |
I don't know what it is about the Tower that I like so much, but it fascinates me.
We passed the rather long wait by chatting with the guy in front of us. Amit, who teaches French and Latin in London, was on holiday. He's also an amateur photographer...I tried to copy some of his shots, but alas I'm afraid his camera and technique were a little beyond mine. We decided to walk up the Tower b/c we thought that line was shorter (than the elevator lines), and were really glad we did. Besides starting our trip's tradition of taking every set of stairs we saw (go legs!), it was a really interesting perspective and nice to be able to stop at our leisure to peak out.
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| View heading up the stairs |
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| Bryan and a closed-eyed Amit |
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| Looking down while climbing |
We stopped at each of the three levels (had to ride to the third) to look and take pictures - very cool, but the camera just doesn't capture it.
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| View from level 1 |
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| View from level 1 |
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| You can see the Sacre Coeur in the distance, where we went later in the day |
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| This shadow shot is one I tried to copy off Amit... |
Back to the stairs for level 2...
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| View from level 2 |
We had to ride the elevator up to the top level which meant waiting in another line, but we finally made it...
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| View from the top |
We took a few more shots when we got down, then found a spot for lunch.
With full bellies, we rode the metro over to the Louvre. The Louvre is huge - housed in yet another King Louis palace. No wonder the people eventually revolted...those kings spent a boatload (or rather, castle-load) of money on themselves.
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| The Louvre is in the shape of a giant "U." This is part of one side of it. |
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| The Arc du Carrousel outside the Louvre was built to celebrate Napolean's victories. |
Once inside we headed straight for the Mona Lisa. As you can imagine, being encased behind super thick glass does not lend oneself to excellent photos, but we were impressed with how much...better...the Mona Lisa looked in real life. Pictures and copies really don't do the mysterious quality justice.
Then we wandered around a while looking at famous paintings and sculptures.
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| I liked how the frames were often works of art in and of themselves. |
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| More cool ceilings |
Our last little while in the Louvre was spent going through the Napoleonic apartments with their rich red velvet draperies, gold accents, and sparkling chandeliers.
To end the day, we rode up to the "top" of Paris - the hilltop area called Montmartre. Filled with cute little streets, shops, restaurants, and a square full of artists catering to tourists, it's also home to the lovely Sacre Coeur church - I love the "marshmallowy" domes! Bryan sampled (and then ate all of) a chocolate banana crepe, then we went in the Sacre Coeur for a while (no photography allowed inside) and admired the ceiling mosaics.
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| Good views from outside the Sacre Coeur |
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| Looking down the hill from the Sacre Coeur |
The Place du Tertre provided lots of entertainment in the form of artists offering to paint you, draw you, cut your profile out of paper...we enjoyed walking around a bit before finding a cafe for dinner. Then we headed back down the hill and caught the Metro "home."
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| Going down |
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| The outside and lobby of the Hotel de la Eiffel looked much nicer than the rooms did...but the clerk was really nice and even googled "hot water" in French so he knew what we were asking for : ) |
Another great day in Paris - a place we wouldn't mind staying for a while.
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