Europe Trip-Paris Part 1

After taking the train through the chunnel to Paris and getting off at Disneyland Paris, we took another train 45 minutes into the city (a regional train-RER)  The hotel was close to the Madeline church and 3-4 block walk from the RER.  Most everyone speaks English, which is a good thing because although I can read French, my pronounciation is terrible.  We dropped our bags off andhad a quick rest before checking out the St. Madeline church on the next block and enjoying some of a choral concert (they have them often there and free).  Beyond the church was the Champs de Llese and we walked up to the Arc de Triumph with great views of Paris since few buildings are very tall. The Eiffel tower is beyond the Arc & the Louvre in the opposite direction from our hotel.

St. Madeline church:

 

Walking up Champs  to Arc du Triumph:

 

 

 

Past the Oblisk:

 

 

Stairs to top of the Arc:

 

View of military memorial from above:

 

 

View of the hill-we just didn't have time to go! St. Pierre & Sacre Coeur.

View of the Eiffel Tower:

 

 

We then got Crepes on our way back to the hotel.

First we checked out the Louvre.  It's huge, has tons of religious art and a few famous pieces but honestly I enjoyed Musee Orsay much more.  Still-we were in Paris, so we checked it out.  France was much more generous with allowing photographs in the sights than England was.

Dining room in Napolean III apartment section-Louvre was the main Royal Palace before becoming a Museum

Many people complain that the Mona Lisa is smaller than they expected.  I think she's a "normal" sized painting.  However, she's pretty much the only painting in a huge room and it may make her look much smaller. Esp when you get a huge room full of people pushing to get close to see it and take a picture with her (the French allow photos in museums, but are not too big on lines or order-or maybe it's the large number of tourists-either way, the museum coordinators weren't pushing for any order of a line to be adhered to. The English would have had you all in a very orderly queue, I'm sure!

 

Venus De Milo

 

 

That's me... taking a selfie in front of the first statue of a selfie

 

 

 

After the Louvre:
We just happened to walk across the bridge with all the locks and keys Pont de l’Archevêché where there are so many locks the bridge is actually starting to sink.  Last month the police posted stickers trying to encourage tourists to take Selfies instead of attaching more locks to the bridge.  While we were there, a wedding couple was attaching their lock to the bridge.  One puts their lock on the bridge, then throws the key into the river to bring true, everlasting love.

 

We then went to the island in the Seine and visited the Concierge (where Marie Antoinette was held before her death) and Ste Chappelle (beautiful stained glass windows). 

 

This is the upper chapel where the royal family worshiped. Servants, etc. worshiped in a smaller, less ornate chapel underneath this one at ground level.

 

Each tall window tells a book of the bible, each scene a scene from the bible.

 

 

View from the outside:

 

 

 

 

 

Then we walked to Notre Dame. The crypt was closed and the line to go to the top of it was long and was "done" for the day. The line to go into the church was also long, but moved along quickly so we went inside.

 

 

Rose Window in Notre Dame-

 

 We also did take a quick peak in Harrod's department store.  If I knew what an amazing food area they had I'd have saved myself and eaten lunch there!  Next time, I guess!