This is the third Europe trip post. It covers the events of
July 12th and July 13th of the year 2008.
-- July 12th 2008 photoset --
The morning of the 12th began very late indeed. We had consumed well more than our share of wine the night before so we didn't exactly rise to meet the sun.
Once we were up and moving we started the day slowly by spending some more time at the Louvre. I was glad I got an opportunity to look at their collection of Mesopotamian artifacts.
Continuing at a leisurely pace we took a walk across the city. We walked between the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais. Which were all set up for the inaugural meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean. As a matter of fact our walk was interrupted when we had to stop and wait on a motorcade from either Jordan or the Palestinian Authority to pass. I didn't get a close enough look at the flag to be sure which it was.
That area along the Seine near Pont Alexandre III has lots of statues and we took some time to examine them. Near the palaces there is a statue of Winston Churchill being awesome with the inscription "We shall never surrender." Not far down the Seine is my second favorite foreign revolutionary the Marquis de Lafayette. A bit further down the way the French stick a well deserved finger in the eye of all those Turkish Nationalists who continue to deny that the Ottoman Empire systematically slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians with a monument to the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
We continued our walk to the base of the Eiffel tower. We strolled around the Champ de Mars and ate crêpes for dinner before taking the Metro back to our apartment to turn in early.
-- July 13th 2008 photoset --
Early to bed and early to rise allowed us to skip the usually long lines to enter Sainte-Chapelle. The sheer density of stained glass is staggering. The nearly 20,000 pieces of brightly colored glass give the light an unearthly quality in the bright morning sun.
Unfortunately by the time we had completed our visit to Sainte-Chapelle it was no longer early in the morning. As a result we had to wait in queue for more than an hour to tour the other great church on the Île de la Cité, The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. We climbed the tiny stairwell to the top and heard the bells toll.
We made a brief stop in the Crypte Archeologique located in the square to the west of the Cathedral. It is a small, underwhelming museum displaying the remains of some Gallo-Roman homes from the 16th century.
We had some lunch and made our way back to the the Louvre once again. This time we focused on the statuary. It might seem absurd to keep returning to the same museum over and over again, but it is difficult to convey how large the place is. We made four half day trips and still failed to see every exhibit.
From there it was back to our apartment to rest for a bit. For dinner we hit Chez Omar for some good Moroccan food on the recommendation of Sara's aunt.
Stuffed with couscous we ventured far to the south in order to find The Panthéon. We knew that the following evening we would be attending a reception for the SSIB conference across the street, but that is another post.
-- July 12th 2008 photoset --
The morning of the 12th began very late indeed. We had consumed well more than our share of wine the night before so we didn't exactly rise to meet the sun.
Once we were up and moving we started the day slowly by spending some more time at the Louvre. I was glad I got an opportunity to look at their collection of Mesopotamian artifacts.
Continuing at a leisurely pace we took a walk across the city. We walked between the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais. Which were all set up for the inaugural meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean. As a matter of fact our walk was interrupted when we had to stop and wait on a motorcade from either Jordan or the Palestinian Authority to pass. I didn't get a close enough look at the flag to be sure which it was.
That area along the Seine near Pont Alexandre III has lots of statues and we took some time to examine them. Near the palaces there is a statue of Winston Churchill being awesome with the inscription "We shall never surrender." Not far down the Seine is my second favorite foreign revolutionary the Marquis de Lafayette. A bit further down the way the French stick a well deserved finger in the eye of all those Turkish Nationalists who continue to deny that the Ottoman Empire systematically slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians with a monument to the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
We continued our walk to the base of the Eiffel tower. We strolled around the Champ de Mars and ate crêpes for dinner before taking the Metro back to our apartment to turn in early.
-- July 13th 2008 photoset --
Early to bed and early to rise allowed us to skip the usually long lines to enter Sainte-Chapelle. The sheer density of stained glass is staggering. The nearly 20,000 pieces of brightly colored glass give the light an unearthly quality in the bright morning sun.
Unfortunately by the time we had completed our visit to Sainte-Chapelle it was no longer early in the morning. As a result we had to wait in queue for more than an hour to tour the other great church on the Île de la Cité, The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. We climbed the tiny stairwell to the top and heard the bells toll.
We made a brief stop in the Crypte Archeologique located in the square to the west of the Cathedral. It is a small, underwhelming museum displaying the remains of some Gallo-Roman homes from the 16th century.
We had some lunch and made our way back to the the Louvre once again. This time we focused on the statuary. It might seem absurd to keep returning to the same museum over and over again, but it is difficult to convey how large the place is. We made four half day trips and still failed to see every exhibit.
From there it was back to our apartment to rest for a bit. For dinner we hit Chez Omar for some good Moroccan food on the recommendation of Sara's aunt.
Stuffed with couscous we ventured far to the south in order to find The Panthéon. We knew that the following evening we would be attending a reception for the SSIB conference across the street, but that is another post.