Paris!

Let me start this post by saying Happy Easter! I dragged my body from my bed at 7:30 AM this morning to navigate the half-closed Tube system to get to Westminster Abbey for their Easter service. My plans to beat the crowds worked out--I ended up snatching a seat in the first row of one of the three wings of the church that faces the altar, giving me easy view of the entire service. I went to Westminster Abbey a month ago with Caitlin M. and Stephanie, but we were further back in one of the side wings, so today's view was much better. While the service was more formal than that in my home parish, it made me happy when the organ started playing the opening music to the hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Allelulia." We always sing that at church back home at Easter, so it was comforting to hear that during my first Easter away from my family.

Now I'm back in my flat looking disapprovingly at the dismal weather we're having (my first Easter spent in a turtleneck) and enjoying the Mars Easter eggs I picked up from the local store (imagine a Milky Way in the shape of an egg)-- sadly my Easter candy has yet to arrive from home (I have such a good mother). Having wrapped up watching Easter Parade, it's time to catch up on my blog.

When last I left you, I was heading for Paris. We left bright and early Friday morning and arrived at our hostel around 2 PM. After taking a few hours to catch up on our sleep, we spent some time getting our bearings in the City of Lights. We mostly hung around the Eiffel Tower, eating at a sidewalk cafe and getting some night time shots of the monument.


On Saturday, Vanessa had plans to meet a friend in Brussels in Belgium (only an hour away by train), so Hilary and I went to Versailles. The palace of Louis the Sun King is gorgeous and enormous. I don't know how many miles I walked that day, but legs felt every step by the end of the day. While the rooms inside the palace were very pretty, I was much more interested in the fountains and statues in the gardens outside (if you haven't caught on by this point, I'll reiterate again how much I love statues and fountains). A few of my favorites (remember, you can click on the photo to enlarge it):



But my favorite part of Versailles was just on the outskirts of the estate, in a place called the Queen's Hamlets. Constructed for Marie Antoinette to play in with her children, its a very small village of life-size houses that look like they stepped out of a fairy tale.



Sunday morning was spent at the Louvre. As it was the first Sunday of the month, entry was free of charge (unlike England, France charges for their museums). We made a bee line to the Mona Lisa, where we encountered this mob scene:

Instead of the nice, orderly line I expected to find, it was literally a pushing-shoving contest to get to the front to snap blurry pictures of the famous artwork. I was thoroughly disgusted by the state of affairs, as it A) was dangerous--I nearly fell on top of a small child when someone tried to shove past and B) allowed no chance to just look at the painting. The only reason people (including, I admit, myself) were in this crowd was to take a picture of something famous so they could show all their friends. No attempt to appreciate the art at all, just snap a picture and shove your way out.

The rest of the museum was quite enjoyable, however, so I'm glad we did the Mona Lisa first. I probably only saw 1/3 of what was on display, but I got to enjoy a floor of statues and the Egyptian section, so I have little to complain about. I took dozens and dozens of photos, but I've only put a handful onto Facebook, as the task of putting them all up was a little daunting.

After the Louvre, we enjoyed some time walking along the Seine, where I decided to pull a Gene Kelly and be an American in Paris:


Sadly, I missed the famous fountain from the movie; I'll just have to catch that on another trip.

We made our way to Notre Dame, where we toured the ground floor, again free of charge. It was too late to go the top, so we decided to come back the next day. Instead, we walked to the Luxembourg Gardens and rested there for a while, enjoying the setting sun--which doesn't actually set completely until nearly 9 PM, a very disorientating fact. It was then back to the hostel to collapse from exahustion.

Monday was the day that nearly killed us. We began at Sainte-Chapelle, where the second floor has huge stain-glass windows, each of which tells the story of one of the books of the Bible in picture form. Then it was to the Arc de Triomphe for photos and lunch.



Then back to Notre Dame, where we waited in line for an hour to climb the 400+ steps to get to the top. It was amazing to get up close and personal with the gargoyles, however, not to mention the view, so it was very much worth it.

Then we had to literally run across Paris to get to the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart Cathedral) before it closed. This included up and down multiple flights of stairs in the Metro walkways--and let me tell you, when you transfer lines in the metro, you have to walk somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 a mile to get to the next platform. And then once we got to Sacre Coeur, we had to run up several flights of stairs. Needless to say, once we got inside we were plum exhausted, but we made it. After a quick look around the Cathedral, we went back out to the steps, where we promptly found a large stone railing next to the stairs and collapsed on it. It was a very nice view; there were dozens and dozens of people sitting on all the steps and landings just taking it all in. Did I mention how gorgeous the weather was in Paris? We're talking nearly 70 degrees here. I was wearing T-shirts with no jacket, something I haven't been able to do in months. Quite a feat for a girl from Southern California.

After Sacre Coeur, it was time for the most difficult challenge I faced on the entire trip:



We then hightailed it to the Eiffel Tower, where we went up for night time shots of the city, then went back to the hostel and collapsed.

On Tuesday, Vanessa left early to meet friends who were visiting her in London. Hilary and I went to the Museum D'orsay, home to Modern and Impressionist art. Our legs, however, were so shot from the previous day's experiences that we only stayed an hour and a half before we realized we could barely stand. Instead, we went to the airport early and managed to move up our flight to six o'clock, which had us back at Queen Mary by 8 PM local time, instead of well past midnight, which was our original plan.

And that, in a nutshell, was our trip in Paris! It was exhausting, but quite a bit of fun.

I know you are all looking for the albums, so here they are:

First Night
Versailles Part One
Versailles Part Two
The Lourve and More
Lots and Lots of Walking

That only encompasses a fraction of the 600+ photos I took, but it will have to suffice, as I will never have the energy to load an label all those photos onto Facebook.

Enjoy!