Europe - Day 4

Okay, so we're back to the Euro pics. This is Day 4, our third day in Paris. By this point in time I was really tired and really sore from all our walking, so for the first part of the day I was completely out of it, which was a little sad since we were at the Louvre. But after a few more miles of walking and some amazing hot chocolate I got my 2nd wind. Oh, and by the way, this post is rife with artistic nudity, so just beware.

This is actually from Day 3, but I forgot to include it. After searching all over Paris, we finally found the Cinematheque Francaise, or the Cinema museum. They apparently moved it completely across town a few years ago, but didn't inform the people who made the maps. Anyway, after so much effort it didn't quite live up to expectations, but there were some neat features. They had the fake head used in the movie "Psycho" (you know, for the scene at the end in the attic...I don't want to ruin it if you haven't seen it), and that was neat. Just don't look too closely at this picture as the front of the museum is decorated with pictures of naked men walking.

Okay, this is at the Louvre - "Liberty Leading the People" by Delcroix.

There were several painters set up throughout the museum. We thought it would be funny if I brought a canvas to make a copy of a painting as well. This is only truly funny if you know what a terrible artist I am. Erik could have painted a comic-style version of a painting...possibly "Homer Leading the People" - an instant classic.

This is "Napoleon's Coronation" by David. I took it mostly just to show the massive scale of some of these works of art. It is truly hard to comprehend painting something so enormous.

So then we had to hit the major 3 works that everyone who visits the Louvre rushes to. Here's "Winged Victory," which was actually pretty neat because you could get up next to it and touch it, unlike other works that are guarded a lot more closely.

So then we followed the throngs of people to the "Mona Lisa." I wish we would have gotten a picture of the crowd pushing it's way to the front to take a picture of this. As if there aren't tons of pictures of it readily available. The Louvre was not my favorite part of the trip, and I think it was because it was so overcrowded and with such an amazing wealth of art people seemed interested only in paying $20 to rush around the museum to see 3 things and then leave. This picture shows how closely guarded and sequestered the "Mona Lisa" is - and also how small.

The ironic thing is that directly opposite the "Mona Lisa" is "The Wedding at Cana" by Veronese. It is HUGE and incredible. And I know that bigger isn't always better, but at one end of the room you have this amazing painting and then you look 10 feet to the other side and there are 100 or so people with their backs to it looking at a tiny picture of a woman. So I think it was at this point that Erik started ignoring me until I could get over my cynicism.

"Venus de Milo"

One thing I did think was great about the Louvre was the architecture...just the building alone is an incredible work of art - both inside and outside.

From the Louvre we walked through the Tuileries Gardens and sat by a little pond for awhile.

The "Place de la Concord," where Marie Antoinette was beheaded.

This is a restaurant called "Angelina" that I had read about. They have amazing sweets (macaroons, eclairs, etc.) and we went for some $10 European hot chocolate, which was worth every penny.

Erik thought this guy was great and uniquely French until he got back to Nashville and was driving down Nolensville Road and saw the same guy standing outside a restaurant there.

Just in case you forgot what it looked like, here's a shot of the tower from one of the bridges.

Modeling pictures...a tradition in the Parks family.

The Pont Neuf - the oldest bridge in Paris - leads to the Notre Dame.

I took this to show all the outdoor seating at the cafes, but also because when I came with a group in high school we ate at this restaurant.

Notre Dame

A good photographer is hard to come by with a language barrier.

They were shooting some kind of movie on the banks of the Seine, so of course Erik had to get quite a few pictures of that. We didn't recognize anyone, so it is probably a French film, but they were in period dress and it was fun to observe for a bit.

Scrollwork on the doors to the cathedral.

Rose Window

There were accordion players all over the city, mostly for the tourists I'm sure. Funny story - a couple of guys playing the violin and accordion kept getting on our metro a couple of the days we were there. They would get on at one stop, play, then ask for money before getting off. Well one day they did this and I had some change I wanted to get rid of before leaving France, so I pulled it out of my pocket and put it in his hand. Well I didn't really know how much I had, but apparently it was like the equivalent of a dime, so a bit of an insult to them. So the guy stands there saying in French what I can only assume was not a "thank you" or any form of compliment. And while he's saying this I look down and apparently when I pulled out the change I also pulled out a large piece of lint and put it in his hand. So while he's complaining and telling me it wasn't enough I have to reach my hand out and take the lint out of his hand and tell him I won't be giving him more money. Erik just laughed at me, of course...as if the guy wasn't insulted enough that I gave him a penny for his playing, I also got rid of some of my pocket lint at his expense.

We found this amazing gelato shop and had bar none the best gelato of our lives - better even than what we had in Italy.

Finally, we were in the room we had originally reserved. Had it not been cold I'm sure we would have enjoyed the balcony more, but it was fun to sit out there a bit and look around the neighborhood. There was a daycare across the street and of course when all the parents came to drop their kids off in the morning I couldn't pry my eyes away and kept missing Sophie. Meanwhile she was with her Gran and had most likely completely forgotten my existence.