Paris France: day 2!
So the wifi is so bizarre in this hotel and will not let me post from an app that I've been using...of course it could just be the app but I'm blaming the hotel, haha.
Today? It was spectacular. We began at one of the most famous places in Paris, Place de la Concorde. It is a large plaza at the end of the Champs Élysées with the National Assembly building at one end and a huge Egyptian obelisk in the middle. Its so wonderful and significant, as it was instrumental in the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI and countless other people, enough to make the Parisians literally wade through ankle deep blood. Such a fascinating time in their history and seeing and standing in the place where it all happens makes it so much more real. I've studied so much about that time period, read so many accounts and so much research, but until you stand there and look around, imagining what it would have been like in 1794, staring at a guillotine with a real person marching towards their fate....it's just unreal. So unreal, I mean its unbelievably hard to imagine something like that happening anyways, let alone being in the place that it did.
This is the plaque commemorating Marie Antoinette and LouisXVI dying
After leaving there, we made our way to see the outside of Moulin Rouge in the...red light district, lol. Yes, that one. And finally wound our way to the top of Montmartre to see Sacre Coeur (sacred heart) a church that was finished in 1914 in order to atone for the sins of the country during the 1870 revolution. The journey to get to the church was wonderful, though. We passed through the streets that Picasso and Monet frequented, as well as the plaza the loved to paint in. That was another sobering thought, the idea that these incredible painters were in the same place as me...I just can't imagine that. That's mostly what this city is though, streets filled with the ghosts of great men and women. Everywhere you turn, you see something or someone else that has influenced the world in a revolutionary way. Paris is truly an extraordinary place.
We made our way back to the St. Michel district to have dinner, which was three courses for 14.70 euros and some of the best food I've ver eaten. Certainly the best mussels I've ever had. Bob, you would have loved this place! Mark, Dr. Propes husband, grilled his food at the table, hahaha and he didn't expect it so when the waiter brought over an extension cord and little George Foreman no one knew what to think. It was so fantastic, lol. But my entree? Or plat as it is called here, was Rabbit in this white wine/mustard sauce and was absolutely divine! (So ironic since me and dad were just talking a few days ago about how we'd never had rabbit.) and dessert was very french, a pastrie filled with ice cream, covered in chocolate sauce, with toffee ice cream on the side. So wonderful. Delectable. Delicious.
We left there at 11PM...yeah unbelievable. And it is currently. 1:15 AM so Morning will come quite early tomorrow. As for the lack of pictures towards the end, I'm sorry but my camera died! But I'll be going back to all those places so I'll definitely get some! Love you so much and dearly sorry for the delay in information :)
One bonus picture of a bar we saw called Tennessee!!!!!!!!!!!
Today? It was spectacular. We began at one of the most famous places in Paris, Place de la Concorde. It is a large plaza at the end of the Champs Élysées with the National Assembly building at one end and a huge Egyptian obelisk in the middle. Its so wonderful and significant, as it was instrumental in the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI and countless other people, enough to make the Parisians literally wade through ankle deep blood. Such a fascinating time in their history and seeing and standing in the place where it all happens makes it so much more real. I've studied so much about that time period, read so many accounts and so much research, but until you stand there and look around, imagining what it would have been like in 1794, staring at a guillotine with a real person marching towards their fate....it's just unreal. So unreal, I mean its unbelievably hard to imagine something like that happening anyways, let alone being in the place that it did.
Simply crossing the street took us to our next destination, the Tuileries which originally was the site if large gardens in front of the Tuileries Palace, an addition to the Louvre. Its now a large park, popular with the locals, but of course for the torusits as it is where Louis XVI and his family was brought back to in the Revolution by their people from versailles in 1789. So they were the last royal family to live there and truly the reason the palace became famous. A death like that could make anyone and anywhere famous I suppose.
After learning about the Arche de Carousel in front of the a louvre and taking loads of pictures, we made our way via the Metro to one of my favorite stops today, Saint Sulpice Church. Oh my...such an incredible display of glory. My breath was literally taken away when I walked in (the first time of several today) and I was just overwhelmed by the beauty and time that went into this church. It was so special sa well, because it was Sunday and we managed to catch a little bit of mass with the choir singing, oh the acoustics, and the organ playing. It was such a moving place and I think for the first time I understand why the Catholic people build such ornate churches. They truly do glorify God despite other goings on behind the curtain. I'm not sure I believe that anything corrupt or wrong in any way could happen somewhere like St. Sulpice.
We walked to the Universite de Paris as well, simply to see where it was and then got lunch, which was a simple chicken sandwich on some thick bread and an eclair which was quite good, if I do say so. Although, nothing on this trip so far compares to the next place we went after finishing lunch.
Place de St. Michel was the most spectacular place to me....I'm not entirely certain why but it was the first time I realized that I am in FRANCE. Sometimes, when you're in another place, it takes a while to register that in your mind, and for me the click happened as soon as the small street we were on opened onto this incredible view of the St. Michel bridge crossing the Seine with the little stores set up alongside that sold such an array of perfect objects (from maps to old books to paintings) with the other side being full of people sitting at cafés, enjoying their lives while seeing a long, never ending facade of old buildings. It was magical, especialy with Notre Dame standing tall above it all, watching over the city. Truly, that was my favorite place and somewhere I am going back to on our free day.
We crossed the Seine and stood on the island that Paris was originally founded upon in order to see the great Lady, Notre Dame. Breathtaking, beautiful, extravagant, magnificent, fantastique...i don't think any word can capture her majesty but there she stands in all her glory. Truly, she may be a symbol of this city, but she is worthy of it. The inside was incredibly huge. I really can't describe the size. But we were able to witness something exciting there as well. Currently, France is pro Ukraine in their stance regarding Russia, and the Ukrainian national Bishop was their to hold mass with the French, tocommemorate their honor and friendship with each other. It was something I'd never seen before in any form, so it moved me as well. The church absolutely blew me away and Friday we are going back to see the view from the top. I can't wait.
We then made our way to see the Arche de Triomphe from Napoleon, which is at one end of the Champs Élysées, erected so that his soldiers would have an arch of triumph to pass under as they came home from war. It's stunning as well, with the tomb of the unknown soldier resting beneath an eternal flame and plaques on the ground commemorating french military battles and wars since WWI.
This is a plaque in memory of the now famous speech that Charles de Gaulle made on BBC radio the day the Nazis signed an armistice with France. Despite not being heard by many at the time, it is a symbol of resistance as he called on the French people to fight their oppressors.
After learning about the Arche de Carousel in front of the a louvre and taking loads of pictures, we made our way via the Metro to one of my favorite stops today, Saint Sulpice Church. Oh my...such an incredible display of glory. My breath was literally taken away when I walked in (the first time of several today) and I was just overwhelmed by the beauty and time that went into this church. It was so special sa well, because it was Sunday and we managed to catch a little bit of mass with the choir singing, oh the acoustics, and the organ playing. It was such a moving place and I think for the first time I understand why the Catholic people build such ornate churches. They truly do glorify God despite other goings on behind the curtain. I'm not sure I believe that anything corrupt or wrong in any way could happen somewhere like St. Sulpice.
We walked to the Universite de Paris as well, simply to see where it was and then got lunch, which was a simple chicken sandwich on some thick bread and an eclair which was quite good, if I do say so. Although, nothing on this trip so far compares to the next place we went after finishing lunch.
Place de St. Michel was the most spectacular place to me....I'm not entirely certain why but it was the first time I realized that I am in FRANCE. Sometimes, when you're in another place, it takes a while to register that in your mind, and for me the click happened as soon as the small street we were on opened onto this incredible view of the St. Michel bridge crossing the Seine with the little stores set up alongside that sold such an array of perfect objects (from maps to old books to paintings) with the other side being full of people sitting at cafés, enjoying their lives while seeing a long, never ending facade of old buildings. It was magical, especialy with Notre Dame standing tall above it all, watching over the city. Truly, that was my favorite place and somewhere I am going back to on our free day.
We crossed the Seine and stood on the island that Paris was originally founded upon in order to see the great Lady, Notre Dame. Breathtaking, beautiful, extravagant, magnificent, fantastique...i don't think any word can capture her majesty but there she stands in all her glory. Truly, she may be a symbol of this city, but she is worthy of it. The inside was incredibly huge. I really can't describe the size. But we were able to witness something exciting there as well. Currently, France is pro Ukraine in their stance regarding Russia, and the Ukrainian national Bishop was their to hold mass with the French, tocommemorate their honor and friendship with each other. It was something I'd never seen before in any form, so it moved me as well. The church absolutely blew me away and Friday we are going back to see the view from the top. I can't wait.
We then made our way to see the Arche de Triomphe from Napoleon, which is at one end of the Champs Élysées, erected so that his soldiers would have an arch of triumph to pass under as they came home from war. It's stunning as well, with the tomb of the unknown soldier resting beneath an eternal flame and plaques on the ground commemorating french military battles and wars since WWI.
After leaving there, we made our way to see the outside of Moulin Rouge in the...red light district, lol. Yes, that one. And finally wound our way to the top of Montmartre to see Sacre Coeur (sacred heart) a church that was finished in 1914 in order to atone for the sins of the country during the 1870 revolution. The journey to get to the church was wonderful, though. We passed through the streets that Picasso and Monet frequented, as well as the plaza the loved to paint in. That was another sobering thought, the idea that these incredible painters were in the same place as me...I just can't imagine that. That's mostly what this city is though, streets filled with the ghosts of great men and women. Everywhere you turn, you see something or someone else that has influenced the world in a revolutionary way. Paris is truly an extraordinary place.
We made our way back to the St. Michel district to have dinner, which was three courses for 14.70 euros and some of the best food I've ver eaten. Certainly the best mussels I've ever had. Bob, you would have loved this place! Mark, Dr. Propes husband, grilled his food at the table, hahaha and he didn't expect it so when the waiter brought over an extension cord and little George Foreman no one knew what to think. It was so fantastic, lol. But my entree? Or plat as it is called here, was Rabbit in this white wine/mustard sauce and was absolutely divine! (So ironic since me and dad were just talking a few days ago about how we'd never had rabbit.) and dessert was very french, a pastrie filled with ice cream, covered in chocolate sauce, with toffee ice cream on the side. So wonderful. Delectable. Delicious.
We left there at 11PM...yeah unbelievable. And it is currently. 1:15 AM so Morning will come quite early tomorrow. As for the lack of pictures towards the end, I'm sorry but my camera died! But I'll be going back to all those places so I'll definitely get some! Love you so much and dearly sorry for the delay in information :)
One bonus picture of a bar we saw called Tennessee!!!!!!!!!!!
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