Day 3 in Paris was jam packed with museums! First off we took the train out to Versailles. While most of the interior has been recreated, it is still an amazing building. It's huge! The whole thing really was designed to impress and intimidate people. A restoration process has been in the works for the last two years and the place is looking good. We spent a couple of hours looking around but passed on wandering the gardens. During the winter the fountains are turned off and it's very cold and brown outside. The best part of Versaille was just imagining how the royal family lived. There's nothing to compare and I can see why the people turned against the King. He really lived to excess!
Once the crowds moved in it was hard to really see or hear anything so we left the palace and went back to town. Lorie wanted to see the impressionist exhibit at the Orsay, so off we went. Since this was the second stop of the day we encountered a larger crowed than at the Louvre and for some reason, security to get in the Orsay was much tighter than the Louvre. Once in it was a quick lunch upstairs and then we power blasted the Impressionists! After the Louvre, the Orsay was almost a disappointment. We should have gone there first. The highlight turned out to be the portrait of Whister's mother and we were satisfied.
Next stop - Napoleon's Tomb. Even in death he lived large, with a tomb that was tall and wide. You peer down from above at this monument to Napoleon and just wonder what he must have been like to meet in person. He's still inspiring people to visit him today. After that we went to the Army museum for an incredibly moving exhibit on the French Army in WWI & WWII. We ended up spending over 2 hours here. The annex to this was more Napoleon, and medieval weapons. We got in there 25 minutes before closing and did a quick run through before getting kicked out. The annex has Napoleon's horse on display, stuffed and intact.
Dinner tonight was all about the French dessert pastries. All along the Champs-E'lysees are bakeries and patisseries with wonderful croissants, tarts, cakes, pies, etc.. on display. There wasn't enough time to eat them all so instead of going out for dinner, we wandered around buying different desserts. We started with crepes (Bernadette - your grandmother's are better) and then moved on to berry & fruit tarts, the cakes, and so on. This was a good dinner.
The previous night we climbed up the Arc de Triomph. It was all lit up and from the top we had the view of the Eiffel Tower, all ablaze in flashing lights. It was just beautiful! When we came down we were able to watch a special and sad event, the memorial service to a war vet who had recently died. The memorial was with full honors, police escort, military band, and very emotional to watch even though we had no idea who this person was.
This morning I woke up in Carlsbad and was very bummed not to still be in Paris. It was a great trip and a fun weekend that I recommend to anyone. On the pictures, I only took a few since Brad has the better camera. When he returns home I'll post some of his photos. That's it for now.
Once the crowds moved in it was hard to really see or hear anything so we left the palace and went back to town. Lorie wanted to see the impressionist exhibit at the Orsay, so off we went. Since this was the second stop of the day we encountered a larger crowed than at the Louvre and for some reason, security to get in the Orsay was much tighter than the Louvre. Once in it was a quick lunch upstairs and then we power blasted the Impressionists! After the Louvre, the Orsay was almost a disappointment. We should have gone there first. The highlight turned out to be the portrait of Whister's mother and we were satisfied.
Next stop - Napoleon's Tomb. Even in death he lived large, with a tomb that was tall and wide. You peer down from above at this monument to Napoleon and just wonder what he must have been like to meet in person. He's still inspiring people to visit him today. After that we went to the Army museum for an incredibly moving exhibit on the French Army in WWI & WWII. We ended up spending over 2 hours here. The annex to this was more Napoleon, and medieval weapons. We got in there 25 minutes before closing and did a quick run through before getting kicked out. The annex has Napoleon's horse on display, stuffed and intact.
Dinner tonight was all about the French dessert pastries. All along the Champs-E'lysees are bakeries and patisseries with wonderful croissants, tarts, cakes, pies, etc.. on display. There wasn't enough time to eat them all so instead of going out for dinner, we wandered around buying different desserts. We started with crepes (Bernadette - your grandmother's are better) and then moved on to berry & fruit tarts, the cakes, and so on. This was a good dinner.
The previous night we climbed up the Arc de Triomph. It was all lit up and from the top we had the view of the Eiffel Tower, all ablaze in flashing lights. It was just beautiful! When we came down we were able to watch a special and sad event, the memorial service to a war vet who had recently died. The memorial was with full honors, police escort, military band, and very emotional to watch even though we had no idea who this person was.
This morning I woke up in Carlsbad and was very bummed not to still be in Paris. It was a great trip and a fun weekend that I recommend to anyone. On the pictures, I only took a few since Brad has the better camera. When he returns home I'll post some of his photos. That's it for now.
Comments
Post a Comment