April 22, 23 Paris - Day 1 &2

Paris,

The city of light.  Ya right...city of Rain is more like it!
You'll never guess what this is....Some big "Temporary Tower" constructed for the 1889 World Fair.

A solitary patch of blue sky fighting against the impending rain.

Sarah holding up the Eiffel tower

The Eglise du Dome, at Les Invalides, and the site of Napoleon's tomb.

Big granite box, with Napoleon inside.

The neighbourhood of Passy, just down the road from our apartment, late in the afternoon, the sun poked through and made for some spectacular light.

The gang, and the apartment, very nice building close to the Eiffel tower and the Passy metro stop.  Perfect for our sorties into Paris.

We ascend the Tour Eiffel, and are rewarded with lovely views of the city.  We time things well, and while windy, the rain is minimal.  This of course, is the Arc de Triomphe.

Sacre Coeur - in the Montmartre district, built in 1875, essentially as penance for bad things done during the Franco-Prussian war.

Trocadero

Thirsty work all that sightseeing.  This is a lovely little bistrot off the Champs de Mars, could you guess?

The Trocadero from much lower elevation.

Standing on the flat spot beween the two wings of the Trocadero, with the omnipresent landmark in the background.

Day 2 starts with a visit to the Pantheon to see the Foucault pendulum, and the tombs of many famous French people, including Voltaire, the Curries, and Lagrange.  We then troop over to the Musee du Moyens Ages (Museum of the middle ages) the highlight of which is a room with 6 tapestries of the Lion, the Lady, and the Unicorn which each represent a sense, the one below represents hearing.

The golden rose, a token of reverence, given by the Pope to those in favour with the Church, the one below is from 1330.

The musee du moyens ages is in a former abbey (1400s) built on top of a former Roman bath complex (1st - 3rd century)  The ceiling of the chapel is amazing.

Still day 2 and off to Notre Dame Cathedral, below is detail of 2 of the 3 entrance arches.

Still Day 2!! off to the Louvre.  Our strategy was to go in the afternoon, thus limiting our stay, if you go in the morning you WILL stay all day, in fact you could stay all week, and only see 1/12 of the place.

The very famous Venus De No Arms.

The not at all famous dragons screaming at a lamp holder (this is not an exibit.  It exists to light the staircase, and is part of the handrail)

One of my favourites: The Winged Victory of Samothrace

Frankly, not sure what all the fuss is about.... And I listened closely, I could hear NO moaning.

The ceiling of the room with the Mona Lisa.  Very Impressive.

One of the many many many many hallways in the Louvre

Detail of the mouldings in the hallway above.  The Louvre is as much about the palace as the exibits.

Ramesses II

The inverted pyramid at the exit to the Louvre.

Next up Versailles!