We slept in quite late this morning, we didn't get up until almost 10:00. That is crazy in our books, but it sure felt good!! It was a pretty glorious day. It's been rainy and kind of cold until today.
We got up and moving and headed for Trocadero Gardens. There were thousands of people there. We are so glad we went to the Eiffel Tower yesterday, the wait today probably would have been five hours. We got some brunch (?) there. I had a gauffre with apricot jelly and Ted had a cruet, a ham and cheese sandwich. From there, we headed to the subway. We looked very American trying to figure out how to buy tickets, we ended up figuring it out.
We took our first journey to the Arc de Triumph. We kind of wandered around it - never really getting up to it. There were hundreds of people there, too.
Today was an AMAZING day!!!
We then got back on the subway and headed to the Louvre. Our subway station was right outside of it. We could only see the outside wall. We walked through the one end of the building, stopping to look outside this courtyard, where there were beautiful statues and people out there taking photos of them. It was rather beautiful. We walked through to the middle where the glass pyramids are and I was speechless. The Louvre was the castle for Louis XIV. It is such a beautiful, amazing structure. We sat in the courtyard for about 40 minutes and just looked at the building. There were statues, every one different, on the third level. One after the other, hundreds of them. Above them, at the room line, was statues of cherubs, hundreds of them. AMAZING!!
We went inside and only saw a fraction!!! We, of course, went to the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo. They say that Mona is kind of a let down when you see her. I have to agree. I mean, I can say I've seen her, but when you look at the magnitude of some of the lesser known paintings, she is rather disappointing. There are paintings there that are 20 feet by 10 feet, amazing paintings with so much work on them. It is amazing. We went and saw the Greek and the Roman artifacts and statues. Crazy amazing!! Looking at these amazing statues, chinked and chiseled for days and weeks and months and years that have been around since before Christ. It is absolutely glorious and unfathomable to think of. I was near tears the entire time, just being in the same room and building with these amazing works of art. The building itself was amazing to me. I just wanted to touch the walls and know they had been there for centuries. The ceilings were absolutely glorious.
After our time there, we went and had a late lunch at the Louvre Cafe. I had pizza (not your American pizza) and Ted had a chicken sandwich. We also had two fountain coca cola lights - the French don't put ice in their drinks!!
Once done here, we jumped back on the Metro and headed to Cite (one of the islands of France, it's surrounded by the river. This is where Notre Dame Cathedral is. Another amazing experience. What a beautiful, amazing work of art. Outside, there was a Basque festival going on, so there were lots and lots of people, with music and tents and such. We went inside. What a glorious sight!! It's amazing to think this beautiful structure has been around for hundreds of years. Again, I just wanted to touch pillars and walls. Ted and I went around a rope and sat down on one of the chairs. We were looking at beautiful stone work and amazing stained glass windows. Ted seemed to get a little somber at this point, he said he would love for his mother and father to see such a beautiful cathedral. It was at this point that we realized that they were preparing for a special mass. So, Ted and I sat through this beautiful French mass service, with wonderful singing voices accompanied by amazing organ music. I loved sharing this moment with my sweet Catholic boy!! It was an extremely spiritual and emotional experience for both of us.
After leaving there, we found a little souvenir shop on our way to the metro station and bought some more souvenirs. We then found our way on the metro to figure out our way to the train station tomorrow for our train ride to Bordeaux. We came back to the room and ordered room service, roast beef for me, pasta salad for Ted. We decided we needed some yummy French desserts to go along with it. Creme Brulee for me and L'Emotion Chocolat for Ted. His ended up pretty much being a frosted brownie. Oh well!!!
Tomorrow we have a three-hour train ride to the south of France ahead of us. Au' revoir for now!!
We got up and moving and headed for Trocadero Gardens. There were thousands of people there. We are so glad we went to the Eiffel Tower yesterday, the wait today probably would have been five hours. We got some brunch (?) there. I had a gauffre with apricot jelly and Ted had a cruet, a ham and cheese sandwich. From there, we headed to the subway. We looked very American trying to figure out how to buy tickets, we ended up figuring it out.
We took our first journey to the Arc de Triumph. We kind of wandered around it - never really getting up to it. There were hundreds of people there, too.
Today was an AMAZING day!!!
We then got back on the subway and headed to the Louvre. Our subway station was right outside of it. We could only see the outside wall. We walked through the one end of the building, stopping to look outside this courtyard, where there were beautiful statues and people out there taking photos of them. It was rather beautiful. We walked through to the middle where the glass pyramids are and I was speechless. The Louvre was the castle for Louis XIV. It is such a beautiful, amazing structure. We sat in the courtyard for about 40 minutes and just looked at the building. There were statues, every one different, on the third level. One after the other, hundreds of them. Above them, at the room line, was statues of cherubs, hundreds of them. AMAZING!!
We went inside and only saw a fraction!!! We, of course, went to the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo. They say that Mona is kind of a let down when you see her. I have to agree. I mean, I can say I've seen her, but when you look at the magnitude of some of the lesser known paintings, she is rather disappointing. There are paintings there that are 20 feet by 10 feet, amazing paintings with so much work on them. It is amazing. We went and saw the Greek and the Roman artifacts and statues. Crazy amazing!! Looking at these amazing statues, chinked and chiseled for days and weeks and months and years that have been around since before Christ. It is absolutely glorious and unfathomable to think of. I was near tears the entire time, just being in the same room and building with these amazing works of art. The building itself was amazing to me. I just wanted to touch the walls and know they had been there for centuries. The ceilings were absolutely glorious.
After our time there, we went and had a late lunch at the Louvre Cafe. I had pizza (not your American pizza) and Ted had a chicken sandwich. We also had two fountain coca cola lights - the French don't put ice in their drinks!!
Once done here, we jumped back on the Metro and headed to Cite (one of the islands of France, it's surrounded by the river. This is where Notre Dame Cathedral is. Another amazing experience. What a beautiful, amazing work of art. Outside, there was a Basque festival going on, so there were lots and lots of people, with music and tents and such. We went inside. What a glorious sight!! It's amazing to think this beautiful structure has been around for hundreds of years. Again, I just wanted to touch pillars and walls. Ted and I went around a rope and sat down on one of the chairs. We were looking at beautiful stone work and amazing stained glass windows. Ted seemed to get a little somber at this point, he said he would love for his mother and father to see such a beautiful cathedral. It was at this point that we realized that they were preparing for a special mass. So, Ted and I sat through this beautiful French mass service, with wonderful singing voices accompanied by amazing organ music. I loved sharing this moment with my sweet Catholic boy!! It was an extremely spiritual and emotional experience for both of us.
After leaving there, we found a little souvenir shop on our way to the metro station and bought some more souvenirs. We then found our way on the metro to figure out our way to the train station tomorrow for our train ride to Bordeaux. We came back to the room and ordered room service, roast beef for me, pasta salad for Ted. We decided we needed some yummy French desserts to go along with it. Creme Brulee for me and L'Emotion Chocolat for Ted. His ended up pretty much being a frosted brownie. Oh well!!!
Tomorrow we have a three-hour train ride to the south of France ahead of us. Au' revoir for now!!
OMG! I have been computer free for these past few days & I log on & see that u have been a busy little traveler. I'm worn out just reading about your adventure. Glad your having fun. Can't wait to see your pictures. Enjoy & be safe!
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