Paris Day 5...A day of Arcs

Tuesday was a pretty laid back day for us.  Jeremy had to go into work at around 4:00 for a meeting, so we knew we weren't going to have a big day of sightseeing.  He had a complicated commute to get to a co-workers hotel all the way across town and then to IBM Paris.  He had no idea where he was going, so he needed to leave early to make sure he got there in time.  So we just tooled around close to our hotel for the day.

One of our main priorities was to go to our favorite pastry shop, Paul.  They had the BEST chocolate eclairs.  I had a coffee viennois which was awesome and Jer had a few plain shots of espresso.  YUM!   After that, we headed to the  Arc de Triomphe to take the tour.  

  

Well, we got there and we found this posted on one of the walls (read the last paragraph): 

   

The civil workers in France decided to strike and that strike had just started that day.  The workers were mad because the government was going to change the retirement age from 60 to 62!  62...must be nice! So, we just walked around it and took some pics and video.  

I took my life in my hands to take this one.  Crazy European drivers!

Jeremy left for his meeting around 3 and I spent some time alone in the room.  This was a great spot:

And this was a great spot too!

This is where Jeremy was when I was in the tub:

La Défense is the prime high-rise office district of Paris.

The district is at the westernmost extremity of Paris' 10 km long historical axis, which starts at the Louvre in the middle of Paris and continues along the Champs-Elysees, well beyond the Arc de Triumphe before ending at La Défense.

If you look through each arc, you can see the other.  Pretty cool!

Paris: Day 4

The Louvre and Notre Dame was on the agenda for day 4 in Paris


Under the famous glass pyramid:

These kids were about Kaden's age.   On a school field trip.  

Wow, lucky kids.

Venus de Milo, an ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture.  Created at some time between 130 and 100 BC, it is believed to depict Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

The line outside to get in the museum.  We were really glad we bought the museum pass and skipped that line.  

At the end of this room holds the crown jewels.  

The crowns

The one I was really looking forward to seeing:

The mob surrounding Mona:

(and you'll see how annoyed my husband looks with all the people!)

Coronation of Napoleon painted by Jacques-Louis David in 1807:

The Slaves by Michelangelo (1513):

Museum nerds:

Inside of the famous glass pyramid:

By about hour three, we had quite enough art culture for awhile.  So, we got out of there and walked to the famous Notre Dame.  I don't know what was more impressive, the outside or the inside.  And knowing the construction of it was started in 1163.  It was completed in 1345.

I remember sitting in one of the chairs and telling Jeremy I could fall asleep there.  It was so quiet, peaceful and dark.  Oh, and I was exhausted!  He had no sympathy and said, "get up!  we have things to see!"  He was channeling Clark Griswold on European Vacation there for awhile, I was a little nervous!

They claim this is the oldest organ in Europe:

The altar:

After this spectacular day, we decided to take one of Rebecca's suggestions and went to Cafe Charlot.  We both had absolutely fantastic food and the atmosphere was just the best.  I met this really neat guy there:

He kept coming up to me (I was eating steak) and putting his head or his paw on my leg.  He had won me over!  I never gave him any food though.  Jeremy threw him a french fry and he wouldn't eat it.  That should have been our first clue because the minute I was done with my steak, he had NOTHING to do with me!  

Paris Day 3

We slept until 10!  I guess it was the combo of jet-lag and the light-blocking curtains...

We headed to our fave pastry shop for some "breakfast" of chocolate croissants and coffee.  We sat outside the shop and ate our breakfast street-side.  It was fabulous.    

I got yelled at (in French) by one of the pastry shop workers for taking this shot.  I wish I would have sneaked it better, because this pastry shop was just a thing of beauty!  I would have loved to get more pics of all of the goodies.  Jeremy said, "babe, it's time to put the camera away".  They take their food seriously in Paris!  

We decided to take the 30 minute train ride outside of town to the "suburbs" to see where the kings and queens lived so many years ago in Versaille.  Jeremy figured out the RER train, which is the train to the 'burbs.

Walking up the street, this was our first glimpse of Versailles:

It was huge and quite breathtaking. 

I think Jeremy may have learned a thing or two during my photo tour the day before.  He took this while waiting for me as I stood in a bathroom line for 30 minutes:

This was taken behind the mansion.  We went to the gardens first, not really knowing where to start.  The fountains, gardens, statues, & lake were all just so beautiful. 

 This makes the White House look tiny:  

Even the tree bark was pretty.  

 Rowboats

I loved these docks & the people relaxing on a beautiful fall day

 The true definition of "lucky ducks":

The swans were actually quite entertaining:

 A lot of the property is open to the locals to bike around, play and relax in the grassy areas.  There were a lot of families with young kids riding their bikes, playing soccer, & having picnics by the lake of Versailles.  

From the lake, we took the long walk to Marie Antoinette's home (only because we couldn't figure out how the little train ran back and forth!!)  It was such a beautiful day for a walk, looking back, I'm glad we walked.  This place is so huge, it was crazy how much we walked that day.  

Once again, we really didn't know where to go or where to start, so we kind of just followed the group of people.  This was part of the entry into the home:

Marie Antoinette:

Her rose garden:

The outside of the mansion (very small compared to the main buildings):

After we left here, we decided to walk back to the main building to do an audio tour of the place.  This was the room of mirrors:

The king's bedroom: 

I liked this sign on our walk back to the train station:

   Once at the train station, it was major chaos with everyone trying to get back to the center of the city.  Pair that with train tickets that wouldn't work, it wasn't a pretty sight.  Eventually a RER worker just opened the gate and we got on board. We were so exhausted on the way back I don't think we said two words to each other!  We got back to the hotel and CRASHED.  

This vacation stuff is hard work.