Paris - Day 4 - 6
So on Day 4 of my stay in Paris, I toured the Louvre. It was very impressive. The works of art didn't impress me as much as the place itself. It used to be a palace, so it's very ornate and HUGE. In one wing, I got to see parts of the old palace wall which was awesome. That's not to say the art wasn't great though. I saw the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Mona Lisa, the Coronation of Napoléon, and a bunch more. I also went and saw all the ancient Egyptian stuff they had on display.
Afterward, I went to the Arc de Triomphe. Very cool. Got to go to the top for some nice views of the city. Then I sauntered back down the Champs-Elysees To Place de la Concorde where I saw the Obelisk, and then the Tuileries garden.
On Day 5, I went to a bunch of museums. The Orsay Museum which was one of my favorites, houses lots of impressionist art. The Rodin Museum is full of sculptures and has some really cool gardens. The Orangerie Museum was a bit of a disappointment. True, they had the large set of Monet's Water Lillies there which was neat; I had no idea that the originals were that big. (An interesting phenomenon with me and art; stuff is always either way bigger (Water Lillies, Winged Victory, Michaelangelo's David) or way smaller (Mona Lisa, Leaning Tower of Pisa) than I imagine it from just seeing pictures) But the Orangerie supposedly has the largest collection of works by Rousseau. But they didn't have *ANY* of his jungle scenes, and those are my favorites!
Then I went to Invalides and saw Napoleon's tomb. Another thing that was *WAY WAY WAY* bigger than I thought it would be. When you see pictures of it, there's rarely anything to scale it to. It's HUGE. Then I did a whirlwind tour of the Army Museum. Lots of stuff from WW I & II there. History and war buffs would *LOVE* it. As I am neither, I looked at the nifty uniforms and pretty much just moved on. Dennis could probably spend all day in there.
Then I did a bit of meandering down some side streets. It was a Sunday though, so lots of stuff was closed, alas. Got slightly lost, but then managed to re-orient myself, and it was off to Montmartre!
Wow. Montmartre is *SO*.... I dunno the word I'm looking for. But you get off the Metro, and you're assaulted with souvenir shops and places selling knock-offs of handbags n such. It's a total tourist trap, and it's the worst I've ever seen. It's like Clifton Hill near Niagara Falls. Craziness. Got a crepe and headed up to the top of the hill to see the Sacre Cœur Basilica. All the way up, people were sitting around, enjoying the view. There were different street performers doing their acts, people trying hard as possible to make a buck off of you. I kept clutching my bag closer and closer to me, even though the only thing of "value" in it really was my knitting and my water bottle. I finally get all the way up to the church. It's a Sunday, so there was a mass going on inside, even while tourists filtered in and around the church. It felt incredibly sacreligious. It's a really neat church though, built to look ancient, even though it's only 100 years old.
Wandered around Montmartre for a bit longer, saw the Moulin Rouge (didn't go inside though) and headed on back.
Yesterday was a super laid-back, short day.
Went to Centre Georges Pompidou to see the modern art. I thought I would be bored, cause I really don't "get" modern art, but I really enjoyed it. Some of the stuff just sucked (to me), but some of it was really neat. They were having this big to-do about women artists. A sign from the Gorilla Girls stated the fact that in the New York Metropolitan Museum, only 3% of the modern art is by women, even though women comprise 94% of all the nudes in the place. There were some installations of women artists trying to be all "edgy". Tons of vaginas. At first, I was somewhat impressed, but then I was quite annoyed by it. I am more than just a pair of tits and a pussy, thankyouverymuch. But I suppose that's what modern art is supposed to do or something. Get you to think and to react. I prefer my art to just be pretty.
I had lunch at a cafe where I enjoyed my first croc-monseiur. It was really yummy. Then Markus came and met up with me! We went over to the Pere Lachaise cemetary to check out the famous graves like Oscar Wilde, Frederic Chopin and Jim Morrison. It was really neat. If you go, take a guide book or buy a map. It's ridiculously easy to get lost in there.
That was pretty much it for that day. That evening Laura and I went to this super-cute shopping area in Bercy to get some supplies for her puppy.
My last day in France! I'm rather sad to be leaving! But at the same time, I'm so worn out, I don't really want to do anything today! LOL. Gonna take it easy for the most part; I have to get up really early for my flight home tomorrow!
Afterward, I went to the Arc de Triomphe. Very cool. Got to go to the top for some nice views of the city. Then I sauntered back down the Champs-Elysees To Place de la Concorde where I saw the Obelisk, and then the Tuileries garden.
On Day 5, I went to a bunch of museums. The Orsay Museum which was one of my favorites, houses lots of impressionist art. The Rodin Museum is full of sculptures and has some really cool gardens. The Orangerie Museum was a bit of a disappointment. True, they had the large set of Monet's Water Lillies there which was neat; I had no idea that the originals were that big. (An interesting phenomenon with me and art; stuff is always either way bigger (Water Lillies, Winged Victory, Michaelangelo's David) or way smaller (Mona Lisa, Leaning Tower of Pisa) than I imagine it from just seeing pictures) But the Orangerie supposedly has the largest collection of works by Rousseau. But they didn't have *ANY* of his jungle scenes, and those are my favorites!
Then I went to Invalides and saw Napoleon's tomb. Another thing that was *WAY WAY WAY* bigger than I thought it would be. When you see pictures of it, there's rarely anything to scale it to. It's HUGE. Then I did a whirlwind tour of the Army Museum. Lots of stuff from WW I & II there. History and war buffs would *LOVE* it. As I am neither, I looked at the nifty uniforms and pretty much just moved on. Dennis could probably spend all day in there.
Then I did a bit of meandering down some side streets. It was a Sunday though, so lots of stuff was closed, alas. Got slightly lost, but then managed to re-orient myself, and it was off to Montmartre!
Wow. Montmartre is *SO*.... I dunno the word I'm looking for. But you get off the Metro, and you're assaulted with souvenir shops and places selling knock-offs of handbags n such. It's a total tourist trap, and it's the worst I've ever seen. It's like Clifton Hill near Niagara Falls. Craziness. Got a crepe and headed up to the top of the hill to see the Sacre Cœur Basilica. All the way up, people were sitting around, enjoying the view. There were different street performers doing their acts, people trying hard as possible to make a buck off of you. I kept clutching my bag closer and closer to me, even though the only thing of "value" in it really was my knitting and my water bottle. I finally get all the way up to the church. It's a Sunday, so there was a mass going on inside, even while tourists filtered in and around the church. It felt incredibly sacreligious. It's a really neat church though, built to look ancient, even though it's only 100 years old.
Wandered around Montmartre for a bit longer, saw the Moulin Rouge (didn't go inside though) and headed on back.
Yesterday was a super laid-back, short day.
Went to Centre Georges Pompidou to see the modern art. I thought I would be bored, cause I really don't "get" modern art, but I really enjoyed it. Some of the stuff just sucked (to me), but some of it was really neat. They were having this big to-do about women artists. A sign from the Gorilla Girls stated the fact that in the New York Metropolitan Museum, only 3% of the modern art is by women, even though women comprise 94% of all the nudes in the place. There were some installations of women artists trying to be all "edgy". Tons of vaginas. At first, I was somewhat impressed, but then I was quite annoyed by it. I am more than just a pair of tits and a pussy, thankyouverymuch. But I suppose that's what modern art is supposed to do or something. Get you to think and to react. I prefer my art to just be pretty.
I had lunch at a cafe where I enjoyed my first croc-monseiur. It was really yummy. Then Markus came and met up with me! We went over to the Pere Lachaise cemetary to check out the famous graves like Oscar Wilde, Frederic Chopin and Jim Morrison. It was really neat. If you go, take a guide book or buy a map. It's ridiculously easy to get lost in there.
That was pretty much it for that day. That evening Laura and I went to this super-cute shopping area in Bercy to get some supplies for her puppy.
My last day in France! I'm rather sad to be leaving! But at the same time, I'm so worn out, I don't really want to do anything today! LOL. Gonna take it easy for the most part; I have to get up really early for my flight home tomorrow!