Museum Day Two

Greetings,

Day two of our museum tour was great! We finally started seeing more crowds as we worked our way through more of the touristy sites including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. The weather has also improved a bit, as it appears to be above freezing consistently throughout the day. Although the 40mph winds at the top of the Eiffel Tower didnt help the much.

We started the day by tackling the Eiffel Tower. There were lines about 500-700 feet long, but we were able to make it through the lines in about 45 minutes. There were 2 elevators required to get to the very top. The first elevator takes you up one of the legs of the tower at a 45 degree angle. These elevators are two stories high, and hold quite a few people. They are a little strange though as they tilt ever so slightly as you go up the leg of the tower, presumably because the track you're going up is not completely straight. Once we reached 2nd level, we were in another shorter line to get to the top via one of 4 elevators that run vertically up the top section of the tower.

The views at the top were amazing. There is an indoor section where the elevator takes you, and another floor above that is outdoor and very cold and windy. We were able to get another great view of the city from all directions.

After the Eiffel Tower, we briefly stopped at the Tracadero, which is adjacent to the Eiffel Tower, and a great place to take pictures. It was here where Dave took pictures of these Germans who insisted on kissing each other as we took the pictures of them in front of the eiffel tower.

From the Tracadero, we moved along to the Louvre. We were amazed by the scale of the Louve, and the amount of people that were there. After finding the entrance for our museum pass (allowing us to avoid the line to get in), we explored the SULLY wing of the Louve which included some great Greek Sculpture and some Egyptian art. This was the main focus of our visit as we wanted to focus on a single wing. However, we also found time to see the Mona Lisa (no pictures were allowed here).

After the Louvre, we moved on to the Notre Dame. This was a site as well towering above the crowds of people below. There was a single Christmas Tree below the church, and scores of tourists taking pictures from every angle in the plaza in front of the structure. We went into the church, and much like Sacre Couer, were diverted along a loop of the church from the side entrance around the back of the altar and back toward the front. The interior was amazing including the immense height and rose windows. Unlike Sacre Coeur, we were able to take pictures here, but it was pretty dark inside and most of them are hard to see.

Our final stop of the day took us to the Pantheon, which I remembered studying in my architecure class. Its modeled after the Roman version and contains a number of famous people buried in the crypte of the church. We were unaware that there was an installation by Ernesto Neto in the Pantheon, which provided an interesting dichotomus view of interior. The installation was comprised of panyhose material filled with tiny styrofoam balls.

After the Pantheon we hit McDonalds so we could get a Value Meal with a Beer. Brian was tempted to ask if Beer was available for the Happy Meal, but we were challenged enough to try to communicate what we wanted. This was a very interesting experience, but the food is pretty much the same as in the US with the exception that you can order a Beer and Diet Coke is called "Coca-Cola Light".

After that we headed back to the hotel and grabbed dinner. We plan on going to the Chateau de Versailles tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have another update for you soon.

Avoir!

Dave and Brian

Musem Day One

Bonjour mes amis!

We had an exciting day yesterday seeing some of the most popular sites around the city. We got our musem pass which allows us entrance into virtually all of the museums and historic buildings.

We started our day in the historic Musee Rodin, which includes many of the famous Rodin sculptural pieces including the "Gates of Hell" and "The Thinker". This museum was very small compared to others, but definately worth the trip. We were amazed by the quality of the scultputal work and depth of emotion in the facial expressions and body posturing. (This is taken directly from my art history book)

Moving on to the Dome Church which was nearby, we saw one of the great 17th century churches located in the Invalades complex, which was intended to house disabled veterans. The church itself was massive and has a lovely guilded dome structure. The lower level of the church contains Napoleon's tomb.

Next was the Arc de Triomphe located at the center of the rotary near the Ecole de Charles de Gaulle. This was massive and amazing to see decorated very ornately and towering above this area of the city. We climbed to the top which was exausting, as there were about 500 steps or 16 stores involved. However the view from the top was amazing





As a side note, apparently there are either no speedos allowed or sunbathing at the top of the Arc de Triomphe according to the signs. This is good as Dave will know for next time not to wear his speedo... How were we supposed to know?


From there we went to the Moulin Rouge, which was fairly uneventful. there were basically a bunch of tourists taking pictures from across the street. The facade of the building is also much smaller than you would think, but very recognizable.

The Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) Cathedral was nearby in the Momartre district. We were unable to take pictures inside as this is a real functioning church. We were also required to ascend another 500 or so steps to get ot the top, but this was well worth it. The only annoying part was having to avoid these guys on the street that wanted to braid a friendship bracelet around your finger. They were very pushy, and we were not clear what their intent was.

The Musee d'Orsay was next, which is a converted train station that was repurposed about 10 years ago. The interior feels very modern compared to the other places we visited today, and the musem is home to some impressive works by artist that include Degas, Van Gough, and Monet. The Musee d'Orsay is also home to the original "Gates of Hell" by Rodin.

That was the extent of our day, we retired early (at about 6PM), and woke up this morning at about 5AM ready to face the day. I'm sure we will be used to the time difference right when we are ready to come back :).

Special Update: Hotel Relais Bosquet

Bonjour,

Our hotel in Paris is great and we wanted to post a special update regarding our stay here. We have really enjoyed our hotel and were pleasantly impressed with the location, quietness, and the staff here speak much better English than I with French.

We're staying at the Hotel Relais Bosquet location is on the Rue de Cler in the Invaldes quarter. We have access to great bakeries and cafes and enjoy the quietness of the area. There is also a local market nearby where we can buy red wine for less than 2 euros!

We our on the 5th floor of the hotel so we have a view of la Tour Eiffel! It's great to be able to see it at night especially because of the strobe lighting that goes off every hour. The fog has been a bit thick, but we still have an awesome view.

The room is great and very cute. It has a queen bed and a TV that has only two English language channels (CNN and BBC). The bathroom has a vent rather than a fan and the shower is located along the wall of the bathtub, rather than at the end. The room is finished with burnt yellow wall paper with crown molding and a blue and white tiled bathroom.

Fun Facts:

1. The elevator is the size of a small closet with a full length mirror at the end that Dave keeps running into
   
2. The air freshener in the bathroom is menthol flavored
3. We have an electric roller curtain over the window
4. The lights will only work if the hotel key is in the slot by the door

Disneyland Paris

We spent a fun-filled day in Disneyland Paris today, which was "interesting". It was about 20 degrees fahrenheit, and very croweded, although we were able to do everything that we wanted. It took us about an hour to reach the park from our hotel by the Eiffel Tower (la Tour Eiffel). The park is about 30 miles east of the city in the suburb of Marne-la-Vallée.

We were able to do Space Mountain, which was amazing. Although, this was the ride where we figured out that the 'fastpass' service that we've learned to love from the US parks is apparently interpreted differently here. People seem to line up in a big herd in front of the fastpass entrance before they can use the passes apaprently to ensure that they are the first ones in the queue once their earliest arrival time is called. This was very odd to us, as the staff would then tell those of us with 'valid' fastpasses to push our way through the herd. Thankfully we were caught in a stream of people that carried us to the front for space mountain, and figured out to ask the cast member for the Indiana Jones ride.

This leads me to another distinction between the US and Paris parks. Apparently, it is 'customary' to push a lot in line and let your children run amuck. We found a lot of times that people behind us in line would bump, or brush up against us as the line moved forward. There's definately a lack of personal space in this situation that we would say is very different, but we learned to adapt. :)

The decorations were amazing, as they had all the Christmas stuff out. Pere Noel (aka Father Xmas) was there and there was a huge tree near the entrance. The setup of the park in general was strikingly similar to Disneyland in California. The parisens even retained the "Main Street USA" signs in the central plaza.


The other attractions were great, including the Aerosmith indoor dark roller coaster, the Indiana Jones temple of peril, Pirates of the Carribbean which had a very midevial 'castle-ly' theme. The castle for the park (i believe it was belle's) was also very well themed and illuminated in the evening.

The tower of terror was also in the process of being constructed while we were there so it was exciting to see the state it was in. This one is being modeled after the one in Disneyland and is supposed to be completed sometime in 2007.

Other than that, we seem to be adjusting OK to the time difference, and are able to function OK in general. I think that we expected more of the locals to speak english more fluently, but perhaps this is because we are not here during high tourist season. Oh well, At least this gives me an excuse to use my mad french skillz.

Tomorrow we begin our museum tour, so hopefully I will update this blog soon. I am also on g-chat frequently in the evenings between 10-11PM, which is 2-3PM PT.

Avoir!

Brian and Dave