It Really is That Beautiful

Wow... what a whirlwind of a couple days I've had.

Yesterday I got up around 830 and was out by ten, as usual. I took the subway to the approximate center of Paris, and didn't get back on until I left for the day. I got out of the subway at Hotel DeVille, and was in immediate awe of where I was. There definitely isn't another city like Paris. The buildings are beautiful, and sometimes in France you seem somehow closer to the sky than normal. Anyway, it's lovely. The first place I went to was the Cathedral of Notre Dame, just because I could see it from where I started. I couldn't figure out why it was so crowded until I remembered that it was Sunday. Oops. So I was in and out of there pretty quickly. Luckily, I think I got there between services or something, so I actually got to see it. After that, I walked along the Isle de la Cite, which was of course beautiful.

Next I went to the Louvre. I got there a little before noon, walking the long way around it so that I'd see the whole thing from the outside. It's... well it's big. You here all of these stories about it being three miles long, etc, etc, but you don't really get it until you're there (as with so many other things). I wasn't feeling particularly artsy yesterday, and I knew that no matter how long I spent there it would still be an interesting experience, so I decided not to make myself go to the areas I didn't really want to just because I was at the Louvre. So I skipped about half of it - all of the French sculptures and all of the Objects d'Art (furniture and weapons and stuff that are artsy). Instead, I focused my time on the Roman and Greek sculptures, and the paintings. Unfortunately, I didn't get Uncle Tim's message on here about the lack of Impressionism at Louvre (they only go to 1848) until just now, so I was very disappointed about that. Still, I spent the better part of four hours perusing the vast array of art. It was very cool. I did see the Mona Lisa, but it was so stinking crowded there that I couldn't get close.

By the time I was done there, my legs were already tired and I was starving, so I grabbed a bite to eat. I just stopped at a McDonald's (don't worry I plan on treating myself to a nice French meal with some wine or chamagne while in Arles tomorrow night) before heading over to the Arc de Triomphe. THAT was cool; and I walked up the Champs de Elysee from Place de la Concorde to get there, so that was fun too. By this time (around (5ish) the sun was starting to set, and I headed over to the Eiffel Tower. After waiting for half an hour, I was on my way up. I took the stairs as far as you were allowed to, the second level (why not??), and then took the elevator to the top. By the time I had started climbing, the sun was almost completely gone, so that it was dark when I got to the second level. The moon was out, you can see for miles, and the lights stretch out forever. It was so beautiful; the perfect end for the day. After I was done, I went out in front to get some night pics. I got a few, and when I started to walk away a whole bunch of strobe lights set all over the Tower started flashing, making the whole tower look like a sparkling diamond in the night. I tried to get a pic, but my CAMERA DIED!!! I was so pissed. I'm gonna go back when I'm done here, so that it doesn't just exist in memory.

Today I was out by ten again, and I went straight to the Palace of Versailles. Unfortunately, it's closed on Mondays... oops. So I got some shots of the outside, and spent quite awhile wandering the gardens. They were lovely, not to mention huge. Next I went to the Hotel de les Invalides (just a cool looking building, basically), Juliper (?) Gardens, the Parthenon, Latin Quarter, and Place de la Bastille. It was a whole lot of walking. I rounded out the day with the Musee l'Orangerie, which (get jealous Mom) housed huge, panoramic, room-length Water Lillies series by Monet, among other Impressionist works. I found another four artists that I like (particularly Renoit and Derain). Although it was a pretty small museum, I spent over an hour there. It was really nice.

I could spend another day here in Paris (easily) but I've decided to go ahead and move on after two full days of being here. It's fabulous, but I know I'll be back so it gives me something to look forward to. Tomorrow I'm headed to Arles. If I don't get there early enough, I'll stay two nights, but hopefully I'll just stay one. Then it's Barcelona, for at least a day of nothing to do (can't wait for that) before heading to Italy!! I'll definitely go to Florence and to Rome, and maybe somewhere else if I have time. I'll blog again from Barcelona, on either Wednesday or Thursday.

OH and I KEEP forgetting to say that I'm growing a beard!! I haven't shaved since I got to Europe, and it's coming in nicely :).

See ya later!

-Swag