Monumnets, Museums, and Churches...Oh My!

I'm forgetting the exact number, but I read somewhere that Paris is home to an extraordinary number of museums and monuments. Something like over 180, not including churches. It's really enough to keep someone busy--and walking a ton--for a good period of time!

We didn't make it to everything but did manage to get to a lot of the famous sites. Most will probably be pretty familiar to you....

The Eiffel Tower: What's a trip to Paris without a few trips to the Eiffel Tower? We didn't go to the top, but enjoyed a few strolls around the park and a picnic dinner one evening. The tower was originally built in 1889 for that year's world's fair. Apparently people thought the Eiffel Tower was pretty awful and wanted it removed after the fair...obviously public opinion changed as this is the world's most visited, paid, monument (attracting nearly 7 million visitors in one year).


Hotel des Invalides: Commissioned by King Louis the XIV, the Hotel des Invalides was built as a hospital and retirement community for war veterans. Although it now houses the Musee de L'Armee (the military museum), it still has a wing that continues to serve as a hospital for veterans. The big dome is part of the royal chapel and is now home to vaults and tombs of many French military figures, most notably Napolean Bonaparte.


Arc de Triomphe: Built as a monument to honor those who fought for France. There is a tomb of the unknown soldier underneath the arc, marked by an eternal flame (also apparently the inspiration for the eternal flame on President Kennedy's grave). The Arc de Triomphe is at the end of the Champs Elysees and is in the centre of the convergence of 12 different streets, all forming a massive roundabout (and a reported driving nightmare). Interestingly, the Arc is so big that a French pilot flew his biplane through the arc after WWI.


Place de la Concorde: At the other end of the Champs Elyseses is the Place de la Concorde. Originally, and currently, a pleasant city square, it was used as the location of the guillotine during the French Revolution. Marie Antionette, among many others, was executed on this plaza. Where the guillotine once stood is now the Luxor Obelisk, a 3300 year old Egyptian Obelisk that once stood in front of the Luxor Temple in Egypt and was gifted to France in the 1800s.


Notre Dame: Commissioned in 1160, this amazing Gothic Cathedral was not completed until the mid 1200s. This is truly one of the most awe-inspiring churches I have seen. The architectural design is stunning and made only more impressive to consider that it was entirely built without the assistance of any powerful, modern machinery. The detailing is exquisite and one can just imagine men perched on scaffolding high above the ground chiseling out these magnificent designs.


The Bastille: Although the actual fortress-prison was demolished in 1789, there is a monument here to commemorate the location of the famous "Storming of the Bastille."


In addition to these famous sights, we also enjoyed a few lesser known places as well:

Hotel de Ville (City Hall)
Les Jardin des Plantes (the Botanical Gardens)

Part of the Louvre

Musee de Carnavalet (Museum of the City of Paris)

Musee de Carnavalet

Bust of Victor Hugo, by Rodin
Housed in the Maison Victor Hugo, a great museum and the former home of the renowed Hugo

L'Eglise de la Madeline

Eglise Saint-Augustin de Paris

Just a small taste of some of the beautiful monuments, churches, and museums that cover Paris. Tell me....if you've been to Paris, whats your favorite monument/church/museum? If you haven't been, what's the place you'd most like to see?

Paris: Academia

Our trip to Paris wasn't just about visiting museums and monuments, eating great food, and taking in the sights and sounds of the city, but was also meant to be an opportunity for Joe to further develop his French (via daily, three hour classes). But, with Paris having a long history in academia, including the study of theology, there were several areas that offered a nice juxtoposition of these dual purposes for our visit.


The Latin Quarter, nearby to the Institut Catholique (where Joe was studying), is home to many institutions of higher education. At the heart of this district is the Sorbonne. Originially, this was the heart of the University of Paris argued to have been the first university in the world having been established in the 1100s. In 1970, however, the University of Paris came to an end and 13 separate universities were established (each centred on a particular field of study).


Today, the Sorbonne holds offices of some notable people, including Jean-Luc Marion. While you have likely not heard of Monsieur Marion, he is renowned in our household as Joe has studied him extensively and is a big fan. So, you can imagine his surprise when, as we were walking in front of the Sorbonne one afternoon, Professor Marion happened to also be out strolling. Had you seen Joe, you would have thought Brad Pitt was walking down the street--after debating a few moments, Joe approached him and they spoke briefly. It was truly a highlight of the day, if not the trip (at least for Joe). I, sadly, didn't get a picture (I thought that might be weird) but it's definitely an image I'll have in my head forever.


The Sorbonne is a beautiful building, though you apparently cannot tour inside. We did, however, enjoy several hours walking around visitng bookstores and finding fun little streets. Among Joe's favorite streets were:

Another favorite philosopher

Another common name in our home

We found a great philosophy book store, just at the bottom of the steps of the Sorbonne. The books were in English and French and provided Joe with a prime place to peruse and dream!

Ian and Joe outside the Philosophy Bookstore

We also visited a great English (as in the language) bookshop, just off the Seine, near the Latin Quarter: Shakespeare and Company. This is a fabulous bookshop, if not for their selection for the really unique atmosphere. It's a small shop piled floor to ceiling with new and used books (all mixed together). On the second floor, there are a couple of beds, workspaces and even a piano randomly scattered. Apparently, if you are an aspiring writer working on a piece, you can live here free in exchange for a few hours labor each day. Loved it! There was also a great terrace out front where you could sit and read (and eat, and talk, and smoke, and drink and play music, and listen).

Shakespeare and Company

Paris: Art

Paris is renowned for it's many art museum and fabulous art collections. It would be hard to imagine a trip to Paris without at least a few stops in some of these world famous museums.

First on our list was the Musee D'Orsay which was originally a train station built for the 1900 World's Fair. Now, it is a beautiful museum, showcasing an impressive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces. It was really inspiring to see, up close, some works that we've only ever heard of or seen in books. Really beautiful.

Musee D'Orsay, from the river

Inside the museum

From there, we headed to the Musee de L'Orangerie on the suggestion of a friend who told us this was the museum with the Monets. Since we'd seen so many Monet's at the Musee D'Orsay, we weren't sure what to expect and were absolutely stunned to walk into the two main galleries to see 8 massive water lily murals. Honestly, I never knew these existed, and we were so taken with them. Apparently Monet painted these 8 pieces over the course of 12 years and gifted them to the city of Paris so that his fellow countrymen would be able to escape the desperation left behind from the first world war and find solace and peace amidst these beautiful and serene paintings.

Water Lillies Mural

Up close with the Water Lillies

On Bastille Day, we took advantage of the free admission and made our way to the Louvre, one of the world's most famous and largest (over 650,000 square feet) art museums. The museum was actually a palace built during the Renaissance (and added to by many of the later monarchs) or a site dating back to the middle ages The museum, which opened in 1793, apparently only displays 10% of their collection at one time and we've heard that it could take anywhere from several months to a year (depending on how long you look at each piece) to see every item in the Louvre. We spent about 7 hours there and barely scratched the surface. Although, we actually both liked the other museums a bit better (both in terms of collections and manageability) it was stunning to see some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures: Venus de Milo, Psyche and Cupid, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Mona Lisa, the Wedding Feast of Cana, the Coronation of Napolean, Botticelli's frescoes, and the simply massive collection of Jean Paul Reubens.

The Louvre

Even the interior of the building is breathtaking

Botticelli

The Winged Victory

Psyche and Cupid

Napolean III's apartments, within the Louvre

Our trip to the Louvre was extra special because we got to spend the morning with some Edinburgh friends and randomly met a lovely Swedish girl in the afternoon who walked around the collections with me (while Joe took a break) and visited with us in the gardens afterwards. A fun and unexpected friendship!

Anyone who knows me knows I don't have a well developed appreciation for modern art. There is just something so meaningful and timeless about these classic masterpieces, not to mention the tremendous skill and the stories behind them, that captivates me in a way more modern art typically does not. No doubt we missed some amazing things, especially in the Louvre (and we missed the Musee Rodin entirely--we were just so exhausted by the end), but we truly loved every minute we spent in these iconic museums!

**special note: it is permitted to take non-flash photographs in the Louvre and the Musee de L'Orangerie. I was surprised, and didn't take many, but the pictures I posted were taken within the limits of the posted rules!

Pierre's Montmarte

Shortly after we arrived in Paris, I learned of an organization called Paris Greeters which matches tourists with Parisian volunteers for an afternoon tour. They ask for a minimum 2 weeks notice, but we submitted a request anyway figuring we wouldn't get to do a tour. We were pleasantly surprised when Pierre emailed us to say he'd like to show us around his neighborhood--Montmarte. For anyone familiar with Paris, you'll know Montmarte as the famous district in which the Moulin Rouge, the Sacre Coeur, and many artists are found (you may also know if from the movie Amelie). Pierre promised us a tour of not only the famous tourist sights, but of the lesser known alleys and landmarks that truly make Montmarte Pierre's favorite area (it's also where he has his home).



We met Pierre, an older retired gentleman, at the top of the deepest metro station in Paris (the Abessess); he was accompanied by another gentleman, Olivier who was "in training" to be a volunteer. A Belarussian-American mother-daughter duo rounded out our group. Even without seeing any sights, it was a fun afternoon of getting to know some really interesting people--Pierre and Olivier, true Parisian gentleman who have travelled the world over; the mother who lived in Belarus when it was part of the USSR and moved with her family (including her daughter) in the mid-80's, before the fall of communism; and the daughter who, though born in Belarus, had just taken her first trip back since she was 6 or 7. Very interesting and charming people.


Pierre's love of Montmarte was evident in every minute of this 4 hour walking tour. And, we found Montmarte to be a favorite for us as well, no doubt a result of Pierre's infectious joy for his home.


Montmarte's name means Hill or Mount of the Martyr's. Pierre seemed to enjoy telling us the story of Saint Denis (several times in fact), the Bishop of Paris who was beheaded in 250 A.D. As Pierre likes to tell it, Saint Denis was beheaded, stooped over to pick up his head, walked 6 miles while holding his head in his hands preaching a sermon before returning to his house to die. After the third telling, and while in front of a statue of Saint Denis, Pierre told us he thinks this is actually just a legend.

I didn't get any pictures of Pierre, or Saint Denis, but here's a run down of some other fun sights:

• Le Bateau Lavoir: Named by a French painter (because it was reminiscent of the washing boats on the Siene), this little square was a commune for artists and writers from about 1890 to 1914. Among the residents were Pablo Picasso.

• The Lapin Agile: A famous Paris cabaret. Picasso was apparently a regular here and composed a painting "At the Lapin Agile."
  

• Clos Montmare: Easy to miss, this is Paris' only working vineyard (they produce about 1500 bottles per year)--right on a hill in the middle of Montmarte. Not regularly open for visits, they have an annual festival in October, which is apparently quite the event.

• Basilica Sacre Couer: This Roman Catholic basilica is the highest point in Paris. It is beautiful, if not a bit odd, and has a great view of the city. I say odd because, though it looks ancient, it was completed in 1914 (after about 4o years of construction) and the design of this church incorporates many different architectural styles including random gargoyles. This was on our tour only because it is such a well known site--Pierre was only to happy to tell us he does not like the Sacre Couer!
  

• Place du Terte: In this square, right in the middle of Montmarte, near the Basilica, dozens of artists set up their easel's, painting and selling their art to tourtists (Pierre and Olivier, however, believe much of the art comes from China and that some of the artists merely put on the "finishing touches"!!)

• Moulin Rouge: Probably the most famous cabaret in the world. It was built in 1889 and still runs shows every day.
  

• I Love You Wall: The idea of a French man who asked various people to write "I love you" in their own language and their own handwriting. Those phrases, now totaling 1000 in over 300 languages, are on display on this wall.

With the exception of this one afternoon, we didn't get to spend much time taking in the sights and sounds of this delightful district. But, in many ways, Montmarte is the epitome of the Paris of our imaginations and is certainly a part we'd be happy to visit again.

French Food

There are so many great aspects of Paris, it is hard to know where to start in sharing some of our favorites. One of my favorite parts of the city were the markets and the food shops. Paris is known for having great food and we weren't disappointed.

It seems you can't walk far in Paris without running into a Boulangerie and Patisserie (a bakery and pastry shop).

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Although I have heard that no one can be truly expert as both a baker and a pastry chef, we weren't disappointed by a single thing we tried. Sadly, I didn't take pictures of any of our food, but you'll have to take my word for it that it looked, smelled, and tasted amazing. Some of our favorite sweets were the macaroons and strawberry/chantilly cream eclairs. A-mazing.

Macaroons from the famous Laduree

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We also just loved being able to stop in a a bakery every day (morning and evening, most days) to pick up a fresh, warm baguette for our meal. The boulangerie just down the street from our flat had a line out the door every evening with people doing the same. And, can I please just tell you what a delectable dish a croissant truly is? Forget those nasty things from Costco or on your hotel continental breakfast. A real croissant is unbeatable.

In addition to several boulangeries/patisseries, it seems every neighborhood is blessed with a fromagerie (cheese shop) and boucherie (a butcher) and at least a couple fresh fruit and veg stands (not to mention a flower shop or two). This is not to say there aren't grocery stores in Paris--there are--but there certainly seems to be a preference, or at least availability--of merchant with expertise in one type of food. This is something we've noticed more generally in Europe and something we really love.

A Creperie

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Another option for fruit and veg seems to be markets that spring up throughout the city in various locations and on various days of the week. We only checked out one--the one in our neighborhood--but LOVED it. Such a colorful, lively place. Produce stacked high, aisles crowded with people, and vendors shouting out the deals on their wares. The great deals (1.5 Euro for 30 eggs, 1Euro for 1 kg of cherries) sealed the deal for us and we were loyal customers for our 15 days. The ooh-la-las and free samples from the vendors (plus the one vendor who asked me if I speak English, and when told yes, said, "I have to tell you--I love you") didn't really hurt either!

My favorite market

We didn't eat out a lot (it is very expensive), but we still managed to enjoy some seriously good eats. Besides the croissants, eclairs and macaroons, we enjoyed some crazy good crepes (crazy good), found the joy known as a Croque Monsieur, had this amazing cheesy baguette stuffed with cheese and ham (yum), had great quiche, wine, cheese, falafel (not French, I know, but still really good), salad nicoise, some other incredible salad, and many other wonderful dishes.

Now that we are all sufficiently hungry, tell me....what's your favorite French food or a French dish you'd love to try?

Paris: An Overview

I'm back! I actually got home from Paris last Monday, but have been surprisingly busy (thanks to sweet friends who have been keeping me entertained while Joe is still soaking up the Parisian life!). I finally uploaded the nearly 1000 pictures for the week and am ready to start getting some posts up about our time there.


Paris is a beautiful city, but largely different than what we were expecting. Paris has a bit of everything and is a really big city. I knew it would be big and diverse, but I think my mind was filled with romantic images of quaint alleys, smokey cafes, and couples walking down quiet, rain drenched streets (maybe I watch too many movies) so I was a little surprised when those things didn't dominate the city. And, let's be honest--I didn't see a single quiet street in 15 days. Still, it is a fantastic city and I am thrilled to have had so long to take it all in. Really, I don't know how you could get through Paris in just a few days.



The weather was fantastic and I have returned with a tan, a new appreciation for French cuisine and culture, and lots of wonderful memories of leisurely evenings and days spent drinking in amazing art, stunning architecture, and fascinating history.


I'll get some posts up this week about some of the particular things we really enjoyed--so please do check back!

Bon Voyage

Tomorrow, very early, we are headed to France where we will spend the next few weeks in Paris. We are both really looking forward to this holiday and to really experiencing the French culture. I cannot say what I am most looking forward to seeing, but there are many Parisian landmarks (and food) that I can't wait to take in.

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I know I have been absolutely terrible about blogging the last couple of months. But, I hope to get a few posts in while we are away and to get truly caught up and back on track when we return. Thanks for sticking with us!