Paris (April 4-16) : City of Lights

Arriving & Making it to the Apartment
I met a New Zealander (originally) who has lived in Paris for 7 years on the plane trip here, poor guy dislocated his shoulder in a snowboarding accident in Italy. He and his girlfriend were kind enough to lead me in the right direction on the train and then the metro. I made it to the apartment with no problems and it is in a great area near the Eiffel Tower. In fact my first photo was taken of me with the Eiffel Tower on the Pont D'Alma by some American girls.

It was wonderful to arrive at my friend's home, thanks so much to Pedro, Rebecca, Alexandra, and Eduardo for having me as their guest for almost two weeks (with a side trip to Germany). Just like when I arrived in Israel to stay with Johnette and Pete it felt so comfortable to be with friends in Paris. So, Pedro was working during the days and Rebecca has Alexandra to watch so mostly I was on my own to explore the city. I think my favorite thing about Paris is just walking around the streets and seeing the history, culture, and people.

I've seen a number of great sites and art during my visit so here are the highlights:

Walking Paris
One day I took a walk to Arc de Triomphe at Place Charles de Gaulle Etoile and then strolled down Champs Elyssee where I stopped at a cafe for a tea and chocolate croissant. Although it has mostly been cold it didn't rain for me until my last day in Paris. So, on my way to Hotel des Invalides I passed by the Grand and Petit Palais and crossed a beutiful bridge called Pont des Invalides. The Hotel des Invalides was used by Napolean as a hospital for his troops and his crypt is in the fancy church there (I didn't make it in there, too late in the day & tired from walking). I was impressed by the size of this place and walking through the entrance to the inner courtyard I could picture troops filling the space.

Day of Art
So, today I put on my walking shoes and my art lover hat and headed to the Louvre. Out of the metro I came to Place de la Concorde and walked through the Jardin des Tuileries. Too bad it's not further along in spring for me to experience things in bloom. When I walked through the arch to see the full view of the Louvre I was struck by the fact that this was an incredible place and, that this was gong to be a long day! How the heck was I going to see anything in this place? But, my feet didn't fail me and I saw so many things including Napolean's apartments, Mona Lisa by Van Gogh, and Venus by Michelangelo. I spent five hours walking around and 1/2 hour at lunch.

Ile de la Cite
This was a day spent on one of the islands (Ile de la Cite) in Paris to see Notre Dame, Pont Neuf, Square du Vert-Galant, St. Chappelle, and the Conciergerie (prison). The weather was cold but sunny for most of the day. Notre Dame from the outside was an amazing sight, the inside was nice, and the walk up and around the towers was the best! When I saw the bell tower that Victor Hugo used in his story Hunchback of Notre Dame it was almost magical. At the top of the tower I had a close look at the gargoyle statues, pretty cool - especially one that had a chicken in its grip. Yeah, sounds strange but I swear it is true! St. Chappelle has a beautiful chapel that surrounds you in stained glass, what makes it more compelling is the smaller size then many of the cathedrals. As I exited I came directly in front of the Palais de Justice with the famous words, Liberte-Egalite-Fraternite. This is currently being used as a court. As I walked down to Pont Neuf (oldest bridge) I came to a beautiful little place called Square du Vert-Galant, right on the tip of the island with a beautiful green garden. From this place of beauty I headed straight to the Conciergerie, the home for both the innocent and guilty in French history. They had a great photo exhibit focused on the River Seine which included a variety of photo artists from different times in history. Once again, I arrived home tired out from walking all over the city.

Pere Lachaise Cemetary
So, today we went to the cemetary! Pedro packed up little Alexandra and we headed out on Saturday to see the place where many famous people are buried including Chopin, Moliere, Isadora Duncan (dancer), and Jim Morrison, just to name a few. It was incredible how many graves are packed together with such a variety of headstones, family crypts, etc. I feel like there is a lot of beauty among the graves, the care that was taken for each loved one makes me think of those who care about me and also makes me appreciate every day of my life. It wasn't exactly sunny for us although Pedro was optimistic when he put on not only his sunglasses but Alex's special glasses too (no cheapy ones for this baby of outdoor adventure parents). Instead of going out tonight we had dinner and drinks at the house and just chilled out. Pedro shared a particularly non-masculine "karate" move with us as the martini's took hold. Don't worry Pedro, I know you are really a manly man. I mean you wouldn't climb mountains of ice and rock if you were wimpy right? :)

Montmartre & Sacre Coeur
Today, Rebecca and Alexandra came with me to explore the artist community of Montmartre and climb many stairs to reach Sacre Coeur. There is a great view of the city from Sacre Coeur although I never really had any clear days for views of the city anywhere. We walked through the square with artists showing their work, I had to keep my hands in my pockets so I wouldn't buy anything but their was beautiful work. After we saw the church we had some crepes and hot chocolate before heading back home. We also came upon a park at the bottom of Sacre Coeur that had an incredible view of the church. On our way to the metro we found the Moulin Rouge (yes it really exists, not just in the movie!) which also happens to be in a "red light district" with lots of peep shows and specialty stores. It looked fairly innocent in the light of day but I'm sure its different at night.

Visit to Pedro's Office
I decided against going to Versailles and instead I took the metro to meet Pedro for lunch at his office near Pont de Sevres. His building complex is an old estate that was given to Louis the ?'s(hmm, not sure which one) brother. It is a beautiful area with a gorgeous garden, they had the most incredible smelling hyacinth blooming as I entered. Pedro gave me a tour and some history of the complex and then we went to have some traditional food...sushi! Mmmm, mmm, good! Instead of trying to visit someplace else I came back and hung out with Rebecca and Alex and got ready to head to Germany for a short side-trip.

More on Germany and then my last night in France!
P.S. I will add photos later on.