The Swiss Adventure...: March 2010

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Day 3 - Loving the Louvre

We wish we had allotted more time to view the truly magnificent art in the Louvre, but we had a pending train date, so we made the most of our time.

The Louvre is incredible!

The entire time we walked through the museum, we kept saying to each other,

"Wow...now this is art!"

The scale of some of the paintings and the sheer talent of the artists was mind blowing.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

Art was everywhere...even the ceilings were incredible!

Robert & Noah enjoying the masterpieces!

The textures in this piece were amazing!

Noah & Mom discussing what we saw...

All I can say is WOW!

People admiring the art...

I LOVE the fact that Noah at the age of 1 was able to see the Mona Lisa!

More ceiling art...

The Louvre is truly worth seeing!

Melinda outside the Louvre.

Even the outside is beautiful!

Outside of the Louvre.

Overall, the trip to Paris was amazing!

We are now trying to figure out the next time we can go back!

Forget what you have heard about Paris, it is truly a beautiful city and the French were great to us.

As they say, "no one waits outside in the cold with a baby to get into the Louvre" and they took us right in!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Day #2 in Paris – Walk With Us

We have come to love Rick Steve’s and his quirky, yet time sensitive ways of seeing new places. We printed a walking tour from his web site (many of the facts included in this posting are excerpted from his information…thank you Rick), and easily had our second day planned. The day was cold and windy, but clear skies were overhead.

Stop #1: The War Museum
The entire time we walked through this immense structure we kept thinking of Jacques. Wow, he could have easily spent and entire day if not more in this incredibly impressive museum. We even had the opportunity to see the outside of Napoleon’s tomb.

Stop #2: Notre Dame
Oh, the wonders of European cathedrals! The cathedral was beautiful, grand and stunning. Robert was able to capture some beautiful shots in the cathedral, though you truly cannot appreciate the sheer size of this wonder unless you see it in person.

Stop #3: The Deportation Memorial
This was a sad, but necessary stop. During WWII, over 200,000 French citizens were victims of the holocaust. There is a plaque in the floor that reads, “They went to the end of the earth and did not return.” Memorials like this help us remember our dark past and help us to look forward to a bright future.

Stop #4: Left Bank Booksellers
These booksellers, according to Rick Steves’ have been in existence since Medieval Times. They create their own hours, have virtually no overhead and sell some pretty cool books and trinkets to remember your time in Paris.

Stop #5: Saint – Chapelle – The Stained Glass Wonder
This amazing cathedral was built in 1242 and 1248 for King Louis IX. The cathedral is a sight to behold and the room dances as the sun makes its way across each of the panels of glass.

Stop #6: Shakespeare and Company Bookstore
The bookstore that made its appearance in one of my favorite movies, Before Sunset, is sweet, old and full of people. The bookstore is a reincarnation from the 1920 original. Apparently, emerging writers are offered a free place to stay upstairs and collect inspiration from the thousands of books stacked on the shelves and from the views across the street of Notre Dame. Not a bad place to ponder your next book!

Stop #7: Palais de Justice
According to Rick Steves’ (this guy is a wealth of knowledge) “the cathedral Saint – Chapelle sits inside a massive complex of buildings that has been the home to the local government since ancient Roman Times.”

Notre Dame - View from the side
Stained glass window in Notre Dame

The Deportation Memorial

Family shot in front of Notre Dame

Notre Dame

The size of this cathedral is amazing...

Melinda at sunset at the Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame

Side View of Palais de Justice

Sainte - Chapelle

Melinda in front of the Shakespeare & Company Bookstore

Statues at Notre Dame

Inside Notre Dame

One of my favorite shots that Robert took inside of Notre Dame

Notre Dame

Beautiful Rose Window

Inside Notre Dame

Notre Dame

Melinda & Noah at Notre Dame

The Metro

The War Museum with Napoleon's tomb in the background

The Eiffel Tower at night

The lines at the Eiffel Tower

Sunset in Paris

Looking at from the Eiffel Tower

Side view of the Eiffel

Melinda & Noah looking at the city

The Eiffel

Waiting in line at the Eiffel

Wow...it was cold

Noah enjoying Paris

We know, there are a ton of photos!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Paris - Sweet Paris

We’d been meaning to go.

It was on the proverbial “list,” of places to see, but for one reason or another, we had yet to make it to Paris. And with the thought of one day departing Europe and having never made it to Paris, we thought it was due time.

Our train arrived right on time and we made our way (baby in Ergo, backpacks strapped on tight) into the sites and sounds of a big city. There is something about a big city that immediately energizes you, which adds an extra pep to your step anxious to explore your new location!

Our big excursion for the day was the Eiffel Tower. What a wonder! We made the unfortunate decision not to purchase tickets prior to our arrival and were a bit overwhelmed by the masses of people who wanted their chance to climb “her” towers, and make their way up on the elevator to the top. So we made the decision that we might only do this once and waited in the line to climb to the second tier of the Eiffel Tower. It was well worth the wait!

After climbing the eight hundred stairs (as was claimed by the tourist gal standing next to us) we discovered how massive and expansive Paris truly is. We had the fortunate pleasure of being perched on the top as the sun made her dramatic exit for the day and glistened across buildings and the Seine River. I must say our timing was impeccable!

As we made our way down and meandered back to our hotel, we turned to take in “her” grandeur one more time and realized that the Eiffel was sweetly lit up and her lights twinkled as dusk was upon us. The city dazzled in her glow and we were captivated by Paris’ beauty!