22 05 Paris, France
We decided to get an early start on Sunday morning with a nice European breakfast at McDonalds. The group decided to do some morning touring all together, and then split up in the afternoon. First on the docket was Notre Dame. It was an amazing structure with all of the intricate details in the architecture. We were able to go inside of the chapel area and see the stained glass windows and ceiling designs and hear a mass taking place in French. Then the group strolled alongside the Seine River to the Louvre Museum. This building is larger than life and would probably take an entire lifetime to make it all the way through and see all that is in there. Here are some of the highlights: We saw the famous Mona Lisa by Da Vinci, the Crown Jewels, more Egyptian artifacts (at which we are now experts), more Greek artifacts, paintings, sculptures, Napoleon Bonaparte's apartment, etc. After we had all had our fill of the Louvre, we decided that we would split up and do our own things. We had a museum pass that got us into 70 museums in Paris for free. Please note that at many of these places we couldn't take pictures. So here are what some of the groups did:
Dane and Baret: Walked through the Tuileries Garden, and then did the museum circuit-visited the Museum of Modern Art along with the Picasso Museum (they gave this place a two thumbs up) followed by the d'Orsay.
Kevin and Lindsey: Also walked through the Tuileries Garden where Lindsey proceeded to get sworn at. Then they made their way to the d'Orsay (Monet was the favorite here, along with Van Gogh and some other more recognizable art).
Lindsay and Angie: Went to the Picasso Museum and then strolled through the streets to do some sightseeing.
Jen: Walked through the Tuileries and then made her way to the Aquarium. She especially liked the clown fish (just like Nemo!).
Sandra: Walked down through the Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe.
Aaron, Lauren, Matt, Katie, Kristen, Abbey: Also did the walk down through the Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. Then made the way through to the Picasso Museum, Kristen and Lauren went back to the Louvre and visited some of the tourist shops, Aaron and Matt went back to the hotel for a nap, and Abbey and Katie headed up to Montmartre to the Basilica de Sacre Coeur and got to see a view of Paris from its highest point and a walk through the Basilica as a mass was beginning.
Megan and Sarah: These girls blazed a trail to Versailles where they visited the palace.
Dr. Anderson: d'Orsay, Sacre Coeur, Museum of Arts and Crafts which he said was much like the science museum in Florence, and the Picasso Museum.
As you can see we were all very busy, but still couldn't get enough of the Eiffel Tower so we returned to the base of the tower for the light show again. Some of the group went up into the tower and saw the cityscape at night. Then it began to rain.
The class gathers in front of the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris.
The group is all excited to see the thousands of pieces in the Louvre Museum!
This pyramid by I. M. Pei is the entrance to the Louvre Museum.
These jewels belonged to some of the kings and queens of England.
The Tuileries Garden was beautiful with all of the blooming flowers!
It looks like we are enjoying a beautiful day at the Tuileries Garden!
Place de la Concorde: This area looks pretty much the same as it did in the 1700's, except for the huge obelisk in the middle!
Arc di Triomphe: This was built as a commemoration of all of Napoleon's victories in battle
We were resting our tired feet after walking down the Champs-Elysees!
The crepes in Paris were delicious...we will miss them when we come home.
This is one of the pieces in the Picasso Museum by Pablo Picasso, The exhibit was very interesting and captured our attention with the odd shapes and colors.
Sacre Coeur: This beautiful basilica rests on the top of a hill, overlooking the city of Paris. No cameras were allowed inside, but the beauty of the basilica was breathtaking.
The Hotel Deville promotes Paris' bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
The Eiffel Tower commands attention as the focal point of the skyline.
This picture was taken at the base of the tower at night. It is an amazing structure!
Some of us ventured up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and saw some amazing scenery, as well as got rained on a lot!
It was super windy and rainy on the top of the tower, so this picture isn't the greatest. However, it shows just how high we were!