Karen and Rob's Trip to Paris! (Page1)
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Thursday Feb 3rd

Despite threatening weather we had no trouble leaving Logan. We did, however, have a bit of excitement on the small plane to JFK when Rob accidentally knocked a full cup of icy soda in my lap. All I could do was say "ahh. ahh!" as Rob tried to get out of his Tiny aisle seat and help me. By the time I got extricated it looked like I had had a major accident. Fortunately I had a pair of leggings in my bag... so I was able to fly across the Atlantic with a dry "seat"!

  

Karen on the plane
 

Saint Michel Fountain

Friday February 4

7:30 AM Arrived in Paris. Had a bit of trouble finding the RER (commuter rail) as there was an unaccompianied bit of baggage in the terminal... had to go down in the ascenseur (elevator), across the parking lot, up another, and walk 10 mins. Thank goodness for Baggage carts! Once on the RER we had an express train to St. Michel. We came up the stairs directly on the seine looking across at the Cathedral de Notre Dame. After settling in to our apartment we took a 4 hour nap. Then we checked out the area, found wireless internet access ("wi-fi") at McDonald's, bought a sim card for Rob's cell phone, and had some chinese food for dinner.

 Saturday February 5

Managed to sleep iin : ) and met Karen's college roommate Christina and her husband Oli after they flew in from Germany. The best part of the day was meeting their hotel's chaton (kitten). Her name is Isis (Ees is) and she is WonDerFull!

  
 
This is outside Notre Dame Cathedral.
Look closely at the Saint in the Middle.

Rob makes friends with his favorite French person to date! (who says dogs don't look like their owners!)
After we grabbed "cafe au lait" and "pain du chocolat" at a nearby brioche place we began The March. We started at Notre Dame, walked over to the carousel and skating rink near the Hotel De Ville, and then north to the Pompidou Centre. In back of the Pompidou we took pictures at the fountain in Stravinsky "square". Then we took a 40 minute walk to Montmartre (setting for the movie "Amelie") and climbed the HUGE stairs to the Sacre Coeur cathedral. Sacre Coeur is situated on the highest spot of land in Paris.
 
The hardest part of the walk to Sacre Coeur was the walk back to our area of the city-- but still well worth it. We caught a glimpse of the Folles Bergere, passed by the Moulin Rouge, the Place de l'Opera, the Comedie Francaise, and the Louvre before crossing back over the Seine on the Pont Neuf. We then took a rest before having fondue, pomme frites and raclette at a "traditional" French cuisine place on the Rue St. Severin near our Apartment.

 
KWM with Sacre Coeur behind

Sunday February 6

Got up fairly early and made it to the Louvre by 11 or so. There were Lots and Lots of people heading in to the Pyramid du Louvre-- a gigantic pyramid that covers the courtyard between the threee main buildings. This picture is Oli, Karen and Christina underneath the pyramid looking up...if you look above Christina you can see the outside of the Richelieu section, where the apartments of Napoleon's nephew, Napoleon III are located.


Oli, KWM, and Christina

When we first got in they weren't allowing anyone to go in the wing where the Mona Lisa was (crowd control) so we went to the Islamic art exhibition and then Napoleon III's apartments. The pictures to the left will never do it justice but imagine ceilings taller than a tyrannosaurus rex and that may help a bit. After seeing so many of the sights here one realizes why the French are proud of their country!
By 3pm we were Louvred out...we had managed to see the foundations of the original medeival fortress-- the earliest part of the Louvre, the infinite corridor of Italian paintings, the Mona Lisa (been there , done that again). Karen kept looking at the walls and saying "I've seen that before in a book!" The painting of Napoleon's coronation was Just amazing-- it's at least 1/2 the size of a bus.
In the picture to the left we are looking down a stairway into another infinite corridor. Winged victory is behind us-- but why take a picture of Winged Victory-- everyone does that!

We walked back over the Pont Du Carousel and saw a wonderful view of the sparkling Eiffel Tower. Hope you can see the quicktime movie. Click on the link below (It's very big so it will take a while to download).

Sparkling Eiffel Tower over the Seine Movie (.avi)

Monday, February 7

After walking 40 minutes to get to the Rodin Museum and finding it closed, Christina, Oli and Karen trudged around the Hotel Des Invalides (once a veterans hospital, now a military museum) to the Eiffel Tower. We don't actually have a picture of the tower close up, as Rob and the camera were lagging behind that morning. (See his fabulous pics of a typical cafe above left and the dome of Invalides to the right) However, I can tell you that we looked up both of the famous monuments' skirts. Eiffel has green underwear and Triomphe has a penchant for flowers.
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