The one where my legs almost fell off (Paris)

Paris Day 2 was pretty much as full as it possibly could have been.  Ok, I’m lying, if we had gone back out to see more sites after dinner, it could have been fuller, but we did our best.  We started the day in the same manner as Saturday, with our croissants and nutella, coffee, and orange juice, once again smuggling our bread into our bags.  We headed straight over to Notre Dame to get in line for the towers before they even opened around 9:45AM.  We wanted to make sure that we got to the top with as little wait as possible.  We climbed the nearly 450 steps and saw some of the best views Paris has to offer.  One of the great things about city center is how nearly all the buildings stay true to Paris’s architectural style.  It really gives the place a definite feeling of “Paris,” rather than the placelessness that seems to permeate so many cities today.  After we went up to the bell towers, we went inside, which was really fascinating, as a church service in French was going on.  The perimeter inside was separated so that people could walk around and see all the various altars and stained glass.  If you happen to be reading this, Memere, I lit a candle and said a prayer especially for you and Pepere J 

Next we headed off to the Pantheon, which I am pretty sure is the old government building.  Whatever it used to be, it is quite impressive with classical architecture, all columns, domes and such.  The crypt was really neat as well, with the tombs of well-known French people, like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Madame Curie.  That would be awesome to be so important as to warrant a special tomb that people from all over the world come to visit you at.  After we tried to go to Pompidou center, which is another art museum, and currently has a large Salvador Dali exhibit going on (one of my favorite artists), but there was like an hour wait to get into the museum and another 90 minutes for the Dali exhibit, so we moved on.  The outside of Pompidou was cool too though, it looked like it had one of those hamster tunnels attached to the side ;)

Next on the list was the Arc du Triomphe.  Marissa had kept saying how small it was, but her memory obviously deceived her because it was extremely tall and had excellent views.  By this point, my legs can attest to its height because they burned more and more with each passing step.  It was windy and worth it J 

We made our way over to the Louvre, taking our time to enjoy our light lunch along with way.  Masha had plans to go out salsa-dancing that night, so we took the obligatory outside pictures and she headed back to the hotel to rest her worn-out legs while Marissa and I tackled the Louvre.  When people say that you could spend days, weeks, months even in the Louvre, they aren’t kidding, but we managed to see the biggest things for us in less than 90 minutes.  We made our way through the French statues, the Renaissance tapestries, and the Egyptian art to see Hammurabi’s code, which was pretty cool and definitely steeped in history.  Next we rushed over to Venus de Milo, followed by the Wedding Feast and the Mona Lisa.  We didn’t stay any one place very long, but I was impressed by the ancient greek sculptures the most.  My favorite was probably the Wedding Feast; I just love the style of painting from that period (Renaissance I think).  We tripped the light fantastic toe (supposedly our Spanish/English dictionary thinks this is a suitable translation for saltar, which is really to dance or leap) through the Spanish paintings and headed out. 

The Wedding Feast

Our day was finally winding down as we headed to L’Orangerie, the home of Monet’s water lilies.  Our Museum pass let us bypass the long line, and we were in within minutes.  As expected, they were breathtaking.  Monet always makes me think of this painting Mom & Dad had hanging above their bed when I was little, pretty sure it was Monet and some variation of water lilies.  Anyways, I digress. I could have sat in there listening to classical music and reading one of the classics for hours, but on we continued. Last official stop of the day, and pretty much the trip, was Musee Rodin home of the ‘The Kiss,’ ‘The Thinker,’ and ‘Gates of Hell.’ I am glad we went, but honestly I was so tired that I would have sat down on a bench and fallen asleep if it wasn’t so gosh darn cold.  We contemplated one more stop, but we were sooooo done, so back to the hotel we went. 

It is amazing how an hour of lying down can rejuvenate you, as was the case with us.  We interneted it up and then decided to seek out some more of those mouth-watering crepes.  On the way, we made a detour down the street to take a gander at the infamous Moulin Rouge.  As we walked the street, I couldn’t help but think of another trip not too long ago to Las Vegas and to a certain friend (Alyssa) who would have thought this the best place on earth.  Sometimes you go so far away to realize what you have right there at home…We got our crepes, the exact same as Saturday (what can I say, I am a creature of habit), and returned to the warmth of our hotel room. 

And what was the best part of our trip?  I never feel like I can pick just one part, but the highlights.  Laughs and jokes with friends, French crepes straight out of the pan, going to bed and waking up warm, FaceTiming with Katie and Chelsea, and experiencing a place that is different from anywhere I have ever been before.  All in all, it was worth every penny.