| PARIS, FRANCE |
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We arrived in Paris in the early morning, about 7am I think. Krista and Graham had visited Paris before which was good because they knew their way around. We hoped to stay at Friends Hostel so we went directly there. Once accomodations were figured out we started our sightseeing with the Sacre Coeur. We again hit all the tourist spots, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triumph and the Louvre.
We walked the Champs d'Elysee from the Arc to the Louvre. Quite a hike. We spent a day at the Louvre and in that time couldn't even see half of it. Pilks and I decided our favorite piece was this one to the right, called Cupid and Pysche by A.Canova.
Graham's favorite is a series of two by Michelangelo. They are sculptures called the Dying Slave and the Rebellious Slave. The Louvre is so big that they can't staff it all so they don't even open every section each day. I think we managed to see 1/8 th of the artwork in a span of about 6 hours. We saw the Mona Lisa of course. There was a huge cue and you basically shoved your way to the front, took a picture, then backed away. |
The sites in Paris live up to every expectation you have ever had. They are beautiful and the history is abundant. The French people however are the worst. It is a stereotype that they don't try hard to defeat. They are rude and don't have time for anyone that doesn't speak French. Our weak attempts to speak French were looked down upon.
We seem to be just missing national holidays wherever we go. They were preparing the Champs for their big parade on the 14th while we were there. The tour de France was also going on but no where near us.
Some other notables about Paris were the fresh warm bagguettes and the cheese. We also visited the Moulin Rouge and walked up both the Eiffel Tower and the Arc d'Triumph. Lots of stairs! We were hoping this trip would be a weight loss plan but no such luck so far, even with all the walking. |
We enjoyed our visit to the Notre Dame. It was huge and the architecture was very impressive. A lot of street people and pick pockets around Paris. London as well I guess.