Paris, Part 3

After our insane museum schedule, we decided to chill out. We aimed to go up the Eiffel the first thing in the morning (try to get there before it opened to beat the insane crowd). The tower was well worth the wait, and coming before it opened made the entire visit from start to finish last 2 hours. On the first deck they made an elaborate ice bar and you could put snowshoes on to walk the outer ring. It was not worth it since most of the snow they made had melted. We walked down from the second to the first level. We were lucky to get a clear day.

We hit the open markets of Rue Cler after the tower to buy some awesome breakfast. We even got some cheese at a fromagerie. After we ate the cheese, we left it in our hotel room. That was a mistake when we returned hours later. Our room smelled like the Fromagerie! We visited Les Invalides where the war museum and Napoleon's tomb are located. Man did Napoleon have Napoleon syndrome! It made Grant's tomb look spartan. The war museum was really great, and they had a amazing exhibit on WWI and WWII. I need to learn more about the wars.

We jumped on the subway to meet up with my friend, Mike. He is really my brother's really good friend, but we used to hang out when I lived in Ann Arbor. He lives right outside of Paris in Vincennes. We toured Chateau de Vincennes which is cool castle dating back from the 12th century. It was closed when we got there, but Mike sweet talked our way in (ticket sales were done, but they were still open for a half hour). We then joined his family for dinner. It was fun to meet his wife, try local foods, and meet his kids. His little ones speak English to him and French to their mom. We kicked ourselves out and made it back to the city.

http://en.chateau-vincennes.fr/

Now see if you can find what belongs to Napoleon in this group of pictures!

Eiffel redux

When we loaded up the digital frame for Mike's tanta, we scanned this picture of his Dad walking down the Eiffel tower. We decided to take similar shot!

Paris, Part Duex

By the way, our room in the city had a tiny balcony over a typically Parisian street (and the Eiffel tower looming nearby). The elevator was funny, and it could fit one person (barely). Our shower was the same, and I could not climb in without a body part touching something (despite my best efforts).

The next day, we hit many museums. We went Museum Crazy! We visited the following:
Musee Orsay
Musee Orangerie
Sainte Chapelle
Paris Archiological Crypt
Centre Pompidou

The Orsay is one of my favorites. It is housed in an old train station and features more contemporary works than the Louve. It has an incredible collection of Impressionist art. The building was amazing and it was great just to hang out in there. There was amazing art by the greats. A must see!

Orangerie is another museum that features Impressionist Art. It has some amazing Monet as you could see on the video. When I uploaded onto the blog, the sidebar on Youtube had a ton of other people doing the same thing that I did.

Sainte Chapelle is a 13th century Gothic chapel with some mind-boggling stained glass. I wanted to see it when our tour book described it this way, "floor is slippery with the drool of the awestruck tourist".

The crypt is below Notre Dame, and it unearths the Roman ruins from the city's beginning and explains how Paris came to be.

Centre Pompidou looks like an industrial habitrail for people. The view from the escalator was great. It was a modern art museum with other stuff inside too. It felt a little like a mall.

We followed that all up with a dinner in the Marais. It was a small place, and the food was amazing. I was too lazy to consult my phrasebook, and I ordered the crayfish salad by mistake there. The waiters ended up teasing me about it non-stop. It was funny. When we rolled back home, all we could do is stare at a show in French about some showgirls (I assume on the Moulin Rouge). The show went on forever, and I can now do their toy soldier routine as a result. I have no idea what these girls could have possibly been talking non-stop about, but there were a lot of boobs in the special. At one point, one of the salty men who run the show was measuring some show-girl's butt crack and writing diagrams on the chalkboard. I wonder if my arse would measure up?
Now just to blow your mind, my pictures in in reverse order!

360 Degrees of Monet

Checking out Monet at the Orangerie in Paris.

Strolling though Paris

So we got up the next day, and set out to wander about. We walked out of our hotel, and past the Eiffel tower. There was a massive crowd there. The entire base of the tower was full of people. The thing that suprised me the most about the tower is its immense size. It is HUGE. The feet of the tower spread out really far (Mom's estimate was a couple of football fields). So there were hundreds of people gathered there for a ride. We walked along the river and appreciated the views.

Many people say they have always dreamed of going to Paris. I thought it would be fun, but it was not a passion of mine. Now that I have been there, I think everyone should visit someday. It is now in my top 5 list of favorite cities. It is old and beautiful. Those who appreciate art must go there, and their museums are fabulous (high praise from somebody who lives near NYC).

Anywhooo, we walked about and finally found where to buy a museum pass. You pay for a pass, and you get to forgo many lines and it is cheaper in the long run. It was a Godsend when we were there since the whole world seemed to be vacationing in Paris between Christmas and New Year's. We headed to the Louve first. The Louve is at the end of this massive garden. It was so big I really could not take a picture of it at all. The sculptures were amazing in there, and the building is a work of art too. Of course we saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo. it was comical to see the massive crowds around these works. I figured I would look at them since I was there. The Louve is world class and amazing to see.

We then headed to the Ile de la Cite. We checked out the Conciergerie which is an old prison where many people were excuted and imprisoned during the French revolution. We then wandered towards the mob scene at Notre Dame. We had dinner, and then returned to the church for a concert of Gregorian Chants. That was really amazing and beautiful. it is incredible how one voice can fill a huge cathedral.

Off to Paris

We got in the car the day after the party, and we heard the "other jeans" song. We spent pretty much the entire day driving, and then a frustrating hour returning the car to the airport. We took ill advice from the bitchy navigation system (a womanly voice we started to call "Victoria"). She must have had a boyfriend in the German countryside, because after perfect steering she sent us on a ridiculous route. Oh well, it was cool to see what it looked like in the area (Happy Accident-from my Ireland trip friends!) We ate lunch at a town called, "Kirchheimbolanden". I was excited to stop in a town with a name that long.

Car return ended up being a lot more work than I expected. Usually around the world, there are obvious universal symbols on airport signs. I furiously thumbed through the phrase book, but could not find the French term for "car rental" on any signs. We stopped at an airport map twice, asked for directions, and finally when about to give up, Mike spotted the little symbol we were searching for at another terminal. The stupid maps at there info stations had the rental locations mapped incorrectly. It was pretty maddening. I even spotted billboards advertising the car rental firm we used before finding out where to turn it in. By the way, we were upgraded to a Mercedes in Germany, but it was hilariously small. I will see if I have a picture to post. Of course the people working the car drop were aware of the poor signage.

We stopped in a town on the way to Paris called Rheims. There is a HUGE cathedral there (bigger than Notre Dame) called the Catherdral of Notre Dame, Rheimes. It was built in the 1200's, burned down, rebuilt, and really destroyed in WWII.

http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/orion/eng/hst/gothic/reims.html

It was worth a look, and it was really huge inside. It was also dark and candle-lit which made it more imposing. Holy Buttresses!


We took the train in, stumbled around for a few blocks with our bags, and we made it to our hotel. We had a little bite to eat, and took a short stroll. We immediatly became aware how close we were staying to the Eiffel Tower. As we marvelled at the sight of it lit up, the lights went out for the night.

David Dundas - Jeans On

We heard this on the radio in Germany, and it ended up in our heads the rest of the week. We misheard the lyrics a little though. We thought he put his other jeans on, so that lead to a fair amount of fodder.

Chrismas Day (Weinachten)

We got up on Christmas and attended mass again. This time it was in the church that Mike's Dad went to growing up. It has been rebuilt since the war and it is more contemporary. While we were in Germany, we constantly would hear church bells (I suppose for Christmas). We all decided to go on a drive since it was really cold and see the surrounding areas.

The area is mostly farms and rolling hills with vineyards. As I mentioned before, the area is also known for having a certain shape to the bottle. It was very cold, and everything was closed. People were out for brisk walks in the middle of fields.

The next day was a party for Mike's Tanta and a mini-reunion. Mike was able to see cousins that he has not seen for about 30 years. His cousin's kids were there, and everyone was really friendly.

Scofflaw

A few months ago while waiting for a flight in Laguardia, Mike whipped out a can of Coke. I asked him where is was from, and he said, "home". We soon realized that he got it though security. Flash forward to 10 minutes ago. Mike was emptying his carry-on bag from our flight yesterday, and he pullled out a bottle of wine. The hotel owner in Germany had given us a little (about 12 oz) bottle of wine from the region (they come in a bottle in a special shape only used in the area). When we went through security in Paris, Mike noticed that he brought a huge container of juice with him by mistake. He told the security officers, and they told him it would be taken on the other side. Everyone kept telling him he could drink some if he wanted. The screeners spotted the bottle, and Mike gave them the juice. He did not know the wine was in his bag. So let's see where Mike is able to sneak in more drinks in the future by mistake!

Autobahn Wonderland

Driving from Frankfurt with the scene ready for Christmas!

mystery solved

Have you ever wondered how Santa could afford to keep his toy factory running for the children of the world?
He apparently has taken a life of crime in Europe.

Happy New Year! or Bon Annee!

We made it back in one piece today, and we are chilling out now and trying to remember what we were doing before vacation. It was an amazing trip for many different reasons.
I suppose I will start from the beginning.

We landed in Frankfurt after flying all night on Sat. I did not sleep very much, but what can you do? So Mike and I in our jet lagged state headed out to see his family. His father is from a town called Schweinfurt which is about 2 hours east of Frankfurt. We hit the Autobahn in our car upgrade which was the world's smallest Mercedes. His aunt still lives there, so that is where we were headed. When we landed and looked out the window, all of the trees were white with snow. It is the effect that all of those fake white Christmas trees are trying to get. We headed to Wurzburg which is nearby to check out the Christkindelmarkt. There are many of these markets leading up to the holiday. I split a Gluwine with Mike (traditional hot spiced Christmas wine) since it was so cold, but we did not want to drink much due to our jet lag. Wurzburg is a cool little town with forts, old churches, and old world ambiance. We ate dinner with his family after checking into our little hotel, and crashed for about 13 hours by mistake. We slept a solid 5, both woke up and puttered for 2 hours and crashed until 11 AM.

We missed breakfast, so we had to hustle in order to get something before all of the stores closed (it was Dec 24). We constantly were hearing different church bells sounding throughout the city. My father in law showed us the city wall and other sights in town. We hung out with Mike's Tanta, and then we attended midnight mass. The church was old and cavernous, and it was totally dark when we entered (and silent). The music was really beautiful, but the church was really cold. Mike said the pastor referred to the cold by saying that "you are not meant to sweat here". The people doing readings and the choir were all in ski jackets. They are into saving energy there for sure. I liked hearing the Christmas hymns in German too, and there are slight variations on the notes for the verses. Here are some pics. The random shots are 1. My favorite TV program in Deutchland. 2. Nice street sign with a huge compound word. 3. Schweinfurt at night.