The Louvre

As Aunt Sissy said in her post, we saved the best for last. The Louvre was absolutely amazing! From when you first walk into the courtyard with all the pyramids and throughout the museum, everything was spectacular. The palace itself was incredibly huge!! This was where the kings of France lived before King Louis XIV moved to Versailles. The architecture on the building was VERY detailed. Then when you go inside the muesum the vastness becomes a reality when everywhere you look some fabulous piece of art is there. We first did the Rick Steves tour of the Louvre which took us through the Greek art, Italian Renaissance, and French paintings. The Greek art was really cool. Its so amazing to think that sculptors' work from so long ago has survived to be viewed in the 21st century. The Italian Renaissance was incredible too. This of course included the famous Monna Lisa. It was a lot smaller than Kelly and Morgan thought it was going to be but that could have also been because she had some serious paparazzi. The crowds in front of the Mona Lisa were hysterical. You would have thought King Louis XIV was present the way people were shoving for position to take pictures. It was really quite funny. The French paintings were huge. The biggest painting in the entire Louvre was a painting of Napoleon Bonaparte's coronation, where it shows Napoleon crowning himself instead of letting the Pope (who was in attendance) have the honors. We continued to walk around, admiring all the artwork. We found Venus de Milo, who also had fans surrounding her. All in all, the Louvre was a great way to end our fabulous trip, we all agreed we are glad we saved it til last.

After the Louvre we broke all of Kelly's rules and went to our favorite restaurant we have eaten at in Paris again. It was just as good the second time!

Now, we are back at the apartment, packed and ready for our trip home tomorrow, but still sad to leave France.

Notre Dame, St. Chapelle

So we decided that after several tried and failed attempts to see Notre Dame, today was going to be successful. Once we got there, we immediately went into the cathedral. It is really huge and incredibly tall, 10 stories (which in gothic times was quite a feat). We walked all around seeing the altar and the many sculpted scenes from the Bible. There is a lenghth of the wall that tells the story of Jesus's life including some of the miracles he performed like turning water into wine. After, we went outside. The facade is absolutely beautiful, the detail is really incredible. While we were going through, we were listening to Rick Steves commentary about it. He pointed out that the disciples statues were holding something that would allow us to identify them. Mom thinks we identified Peter with the key and Judus with the money pouch. All in all, the church is really magnificent especially when you think about the fact that the work was done mostly by unpaid peasants over a time period of 200 years and it is still standing beautiful in the heart of Paris.

Next we went to a little cafe to have a fabulous lunch. From there, we tried to continue Rick Steves podcast about Historic Paris (which is what we were listening to about Notre Dame), but couldn't follow the directions as to which street we were on. So we had to bail on that plan. Instead, we went to St. Chappelle, a cathedral famous for its stained glass windows. The windows were really amazing and you could see the Bible stories told on it from Genesis all the way to judgement day. The St. Chappelle was built in order to house the suppossed crown of thorns that Louis IX had purchased from Constantinople in 1239. The Crown of Thorns is now housed in Notre Dame's treaury and only brought out a few times a year for public viewing. The entire chapel's walls were covered in the stained glass windows and the effect of the sun shining in was absolutely stunning!

After that, we got onto the Metro and went back to Champs-Eglise and did some more shopping (window shopping really because all those stores are really fun to look through but Dad would not be too pleased with us wanting to buy anything...) and eating. We had a great dinner and after, we went to Haagen-Daz and had some really good ice cream. Now we are back at the apartment enjoying some reading time before our last day in Paris! Louvre Tomorrow!

Today was a more relaxed day. We have done so much hard late night touring that we decided to take today a little easier. Mom and Dad are in love with a travel guy named Rick Steves. Mom's dad gave us a ton of his books and videos to help plan our trip. It has been a very useful resource. Anyway, the point is on one of Rick Steves' podcast he talked about this lovely area of Paris. It is a old train line that has been converted into a park on top and unque shops and cafes underneath. It is 3 or 4 miles long through a great neighbohood. Well if Rick says go we go. It was a lovely afternoon. We did window shopping and strolling through the lovely garden that was once a train line.

Have we told you we are in a heat wave now? Record heat for this many days in a row but we are from Georgia so we can take it all. This afternoon, Paris had thunderstorm so the evening is cool and we are enjoying our apartment in Paris. We are all reading. Morgan is reading a Jeffery Archer book, Prisonor of Birth. Kelly and Dad are reading the Book Thief. Mom is reading the Hunger Games. If you are not reading a book right now, any of these are great picks.

Our apartment is lovely and bigger than you would think. We miss you all and some fresh green beans might be nice but we are having a grand time. For those of you who know us well, beware.... we are taking a ton of pictures.

Eiffel Tower

Today we began by attending services at the American Church in Paris. It is located near the Eiffel Tower on the Seine River and is the oldest American Church outside the U.S. (founded in 1814). The Sanctuary was awesome and had beautiful stain glasse windows throughout. The program said it was interdenominational but it seemed very Methodist to us.

We then went to the Orsay Museum for the afternoon. It was opened in an old train depot station right on the Seine River. The beautiful structure holds artwork from the time period 1850-1914. We especially enjoyed the collections by Monet and Van Gogh. After the museum, we got on to the Metro and headed to the Eiffel Tower. Looking at it up close, you cannot even begin to describe its vastness. It was so incredible! The Eiffel Tower has three levels. You can choose to walk up the first two and take the elevator up to the top or take the elevator all the way up. Mom and Dad chickened out and took the elevator while Kelly and Morgan walked up the stairs (which Kelly claims to be easy but Morgan says it definately wasn't). Anyway once up on the 2nd level, the view was absolutely incredible. Yesterday we thought the top of the Arc de Triomph was breathtaking, but lets just say, you could barely see the Arc in was so small. After standing in several long lines, we finally took the elevator up to the top. You are so high up compared to all the other buildings in Paris. Everything just looks like little dots. It was so cool though because just as we were getting to the top the lights in the city were turning on so it was beautiful!

Another great day in the city of Lights!

Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees, Seine River boat ride

Best day yet!! They have all been good so maybe we are just caught up in the moment.

So after all the strenuous walking we did yesterday, we decided that this morning was going to be set aside for recovery time. So, we had a late start touring Paris.

We decided to ride the Metro for a tour of Notre Dame and listen to the Rick Steves tour on a podcast of historic Paris. However, to our surprise the stunning cathedral was closed because they had some sort of cermony involving the coronation of priests and had not reopened for tours just yet. So after much deliberation, we decided to get back on the metro and go to the Arc de Triumph. It was so huge and the statues and carvings make places like Mt. Rushmore look small they are so magnificent. We bought the tickets and began to climb straight up the 284 stairs to the top. We were all quite out of breath by the time we got there. But the view from the top made it so worth it. It reminded us of the Empire State Building and how you could see forever in New York. It was the same way in Paris. No large monument, church, or building goes unseen from the Arc. What was really cool is that while we were up top we saw a parade of French army veterans performing a ceremony honoring French soldiers who gave their lives for their country by rekinkling a perpetual flame daily at 6:30 pm. This ceremony has occurered daily since 1923. It was very cool!!

Once we took the elevator back down (yes we realize this is cheating), we headed to the famous Champs-Elysees. The shops were so cool. They have a lot of stores that we have in the US like Gap, H&M, and Nike. We also saw the Louis Vitton store. Unfortunately, it was closed by the time we got there but it was still fun to look in the window. We walked all up and down that street, stopping for dinner (which was so good) and Mom and Morgan insisted on getting a McDonald's Diet Coke for the road. We ended up buying Dad and Kelly new watches from the Swatch store and Mom got her favorite perfume called Oui in a very large perfume store that was quite fun to walk around in.

Eventually we made our way toward the Eiffel Tower as sundown approached. The view was amazing! It was there we found a place that did the Seine River boat rides. We went up and down the Seine seeing the Orsay museum, the Louvre museum, embassys, and a lot of the famous bridges. On the return trip, it was about 11:30 when we passed the Eiffel Tower again and seeing it all lit up was so spectacular. No picture can ever do it justice. What a great day!!

Versailles

Today was the much anticipated visit to the grand palace of Versailles, home to King Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI. We took the RER, which is like Marta all the way to Versailles. It was actually quite easy going there because we got to stroll through a little bit of Paris in order to get to the right train. On the way back however, we were all very tired and the walk was not quite as enjoyable. But anyway, getting to the town and buying our tickets (Morgan and Kelly were free because we are still children under 18) was a breeze and then we made our way to the famously fabulous palace at Verasailles.

You cannot even begin to describe how vast and extravagant the entire castle is. King Louis XIV built Versailles to escape the enclosed life he found in the Louvre in the heart of Paris. But also, interestingly, he invited other nobles to stay in Versailles so he could wine and dine them frequently which would distract them enough so he could run the country the way he wanted to. The vast drive and courtyard leading up to Versailles would definately intimidate anyone coming to visit the king, thus achieving its purpose. Inside, Versailles is even more impressive. Every room has murals on the ceilling, most of them depicting Greek gods in honor of King Louis XIV known as Apollo the sun god. It is interesting that the only part of Versailles that had any proof that the monarchs were catholic was in the chapel and even there, the people bowed down to the king while he was in prayer with God.

Once we finished the tour through the palace, including the famous Great Hall of Mirrors, we headed to the grounds to see the imaculate gardens. Once again, the Greek gods seem to be the main focus of the decoration. We ended up touring a few of the smaller manors that the kings and especially Marie Antonette sought refuge at.

Abbey de Fontenay and drive to Paris

So after almost 6 days of driving around France, today we headed north to the fabulous city of Paris! On the drive, we stopped at a medieval monestary founded in 1118. The construction of the church began about 1139 and was conscrecated in 1147 by Pope Eugene III. The landscaping of the grounds were incredible. The buildings included the church, dormatory, and the forge. Every piece of architecture was unadorned but the style of them was very ornate. It was beautiful. The abbey was surrounded by very sureen lands and it appears that the monks who lived there were very self-sufficient in thier survival.

Following our visit to the Abbey we ate lunch in a local pizzeria in a fairly busy small town. Very French, but one of the waiters spoke a little english. Once again everyone working at the restaurant was very friendly. The food was excellent.

After that, we drove to Paris. The drive was so uneventful until we got to the city. Then the traffic became horrible. It made Atlanta's rush hour seem almost easy and enjoyable. We found out later that the traffic was mostly due to the strike that union workers were having all over France so therefore the metro and trains were not running regular schedules today so more people were driving. It was ZOO!! Anyway, we eventually got to where we are staying which is in an apartment with two bedrooms a kitchen, laundry room, and den. Its so great! we even got to cook and eat in tonight. Kelly and Mom went grocery shopping so we had a salad, french fries, and hamburgers. It was delicious!

This is definately the biggest place we stayed at since we got to France, but all the other hotels have been fabulous too! The place we stayed in Arromanches was very quaint. We had one room with three beds and one bathroom. It was absolutely perfect. Then in Amboise we actually stayed at a Best Western. Yes, we know this was not very adventurous of us but it was good nonetheless. Finally, the last two nights we stayed in an old manor house in Beaune. It was complete with a Courtyard in the middle and everything. It was great!

Tomorrow we are going to Versailles. We are all very excited to be here.

Beaune

Today we took a day off from touring historic France and spent the day in a small city called Beaune. It is so beautiful here with so many old buildings. It is mostly residential so this morning, they had a market set up in the town square. They had everything there from produce to meats to handtowels. We actually bought two tablecloths that we are hoping will work for our table in College Park but since we did not know the measurements in centimeters were are not 100 percent sure. We then proceeded to get lost on the way back to the hotel but after some roaming we found our way back. We decided that today was going to be laundry day, so we found a laundry mat and set to work trying to decifer the instructions and amounts it would cost. We ended up having to go searching for soap because we could not figure out how to get the soap that was there to come out. In hindsight, it was actually rather simple but instead we bought some at the local grocery store. After we finished the laundry, Mom and Kelly rested in the hotel while Dad and Morgan used the computer and read more about Paris. After a while, we went to dinner where Kelly and Morgan tried the famous Boeuf Bourguignon which is actually just beef stew. So dinner was really good. Now, we are back at our hotel getting ready for our drive to Paris tomorrow.

The food here has been! See our other blog about our hotels.....

Chambord, Guedelon, and Basillica of Ste. Madeleine

So today we spent a lot of time in the car traveling from the Loire region to the city of Beaune in the Burgandy region of France. We made three different stops along the way: Chateau de Chambord, Chateau de Guedelon and the Basilica of Ste. Madeleine.
The Chateau de Chambord is considered the granddaddy of all chateaux in the Loire. It was absolutely huge. There are something like 365 fireplaces in over 400 rooms. This castle was built as a hunting lodge for King Francis I in the 16th century. However, he kept adding so many more rooms and apartments to it that it doesnt seem like he got to even use it in all its splendor before he died. However, the archetectural design and plan was so thorough and expansive it is really a sight to behold.
Our next stop was in a very remote area of France called the Chateau de Guedelon, a medieval castle under construction today using medieval tools and techniques. Right now they are about half way through with another 15 years to go until it is completely finished. It was so cool to be able to walk all around the half finished castle and see the work actually being done to finish it. Kelly and Morgan suggested we come back when it is finished to see the final product. This stop reminded us of Williamsburg because the workers were all in dressed in medieval clothing and played the role accordingly.
The final stop of the day was the Basilica of Ste. Madeleine in the city of Vezalay where the local legend says Mary Magdelone's relics are kept. When we arrived mass had just begun so we walked around the church where we saw the most incredible view of French land going for miles. It really looked like a postcard, not something that was actually real. After that, the priests were doing communion so we knew that mass was almost over. We waited through the prayers and the blessing and eventually went down to the crypt where Mary's relics were being kept. The crypt is the foundation of the 9th century church that monks built to escape more pillaging from the Vikings. It is said that the Pope authenticted the relics in 1058 and soon after people came pouring into the town to see them. Although the Cathedral was vandalized during the revolution, most of the relics were saved. The church is still incredible to see.
After we left the Basilica, we drove about an hour to the larger city of Beaune and checking into our hotel which is a very French manor house with very quaint rooms. We then went to eat and had the best dinner we have had yet.

Chateau de Chenonceau

Today we left the Normandy area to travel southeast to the Loire Valley. We are staying in the outskirts of a very quaint town called Amboise. Amboise is located at the widest part of the Loire River...Leonardo da Vinci retired here...another good idea.

We toured a huge Chateau called Chenonceau. It literally was built to cross the Cher river. Amazing tour and great gardens. Dad got a little nuts on the picture taking. The chateau has a rich history filled with stong important women. In 1547, King Henry II gave the chateau to his mistress Diane who set about expanding it and filling it with rare items and incredible works of art. Upon the King's death, the Queen kicked the Mistress out and moved in herself to reign over France until her son was old enough to be crowned king. The story goes on from there.

The drive down here was uneventful. I thing one wrong turn so our GPS (Veronica) is the best friend we have here. We got supplies...bread, cheese, fruit and water for a lovely picnic so our day was great...

Everyone loved dinner again except Morgan. We all tried Escargot. Dad loved it but the rest of us just smiled. As we were leaving the town, the French night life was just starting... we got into the car rocking out to Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'... some things are the same no matter what country you are in:)

The Bayeux Tapestry

This morning we had a little later start going to the city of Bayeux which is about 20 minutes away from our hotel. A medival tapestry embroidered about 1000 years ago is being kept and preserved in a museum in the center of the town. The tapestry tells the legend of William the Conquerer who was a Norman taking the English crown. The tapestry and museum were fantastic! It was so unique and it is absolutely incredible that it has survived for so long with very little damage. Then we walked around the town a bit and came across this beautiful cathedral. It was massive and obviously had a lot of history to it. The sign was in French but we think that it said it was first built in the 7th century and then renovated in the 16th. Then we had a wonderful lunch at a small cafe. After this, we drove to a city called Caen and toured the WWII Museum for a couple of hours. Then we went back to Bayeux and had a fabulous dinner. Now we are packing up for tomorrow's trip to Ambroise. So first leg of the trip...success!!

D-day tour

Today we learned all about the American invasion of D-day at Normandy. We toured with an Englishman named Ellwood. He told the most fascinating stories both good and bad things about the whole operation. We started out in a small town called St. Mere Eglise where there is an Airborne Museum all about the 82nd and 101st airborne paratroopers who dropped into this town and all over the rest of Normandy. After that, we drove to Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc (where the rangers climbed up cliffs to take out a key target, German guns pointing at the Utah and Omaha Beaches), and Omaha Beach. The sights were unbelievable and when we looked at the pictures Ellwood showed us that were actually from D-day, we could not believe how little the places had changed. We then drove to the American cemetary honoring the fallen soldiers from the D-day invasion. This is the cemetarywhere the movie Saving Private Ryan started and ended. The landscape was absolutly beautiful. Then we came back to our little town of Arromanches and had a fantastic dinner and then went and had crepes (which were also amazing!!) for dessert!!

First Day June 18, 2010

Last night and today have definitely been long travel days. The eight hour flight was uneventful. I think everyone but Kelly got at least a few hours of sleep which was good. Once we landed in Paris going through customs retrieving our luggage was a breeze. We then rented a car and drove to a little town called Arromanches which is in the Normandy area. The most adventurous part of the drive was at the beginning when our GPS (lovingly known as Veronica...don't ask) would not pick up any satellites and therefore was not in operation. So as you might expect Dad just started driving because he and Mom knew we were going west to the Normandy area. We just started driving (in the wrong direction by accident...oops!) and eventually Veronica registered where we were and put us on the right track. (THANK GOODNESS!!) While we were driving we observed that the French drive well below the speed limit on the highway...interesting to think that the speed posted it is the absolute maximum any car was going here, while in the ATL the posted speed is the absolute minimum. Anyway, got to our hotel and then went to eat at a little bar and restuarant with really great food (or as the French would say "Delicieux!") So our first meal in France was successful!! yay! We poked around the town a bit (trying to stay up to the alotted bed time!) and got some cool pictures with the town in the background. So even though it is only about 3:00 PM atlanta time, its 9:00 PM our time and we have only gotten about 3 hours of sleep in the past 30 hours so we are wiped out. We are gonna be up early tomorrow to start out our sightseeing of the Normandy region....

Night Before

Oh the night before you travel is always exciting. We got Kelly back from Golf camp and started washing and finishing packing. Tomorrow is a full regular work day for the parents and then we are off to the airport.