St. Chapelle & Notre Dame

First stop was St. Chapelle Cathedral where we also acquired our Paris Museum Pass- this is a must do!  It gets you admission into most of the major Parisian museums as well as line-skipping privileges- this saves so much time and Euro!!!  The outside of the cathedral wasn’t anything special, however the stained glass inside the main sanctuary is amazingly beautiful.  After a quick few in St. Chapelle we headed a block over to Notre Dame, we were there just in time to tour the inside of the cathedral as it opened.  It was HUGE, and so surreal to see such a famous landmark in person. After touring the inside we headed out to get in line to climb the Notre Dame towers (covered by the Museum Pass). We have been climbing a lot of stairs in Europe, Notre Dame was extra special though because there were Gargoyles to greet us atop the towers along with a birdseye view of Paris.  Seeing the Eiffel Tower in the distance is indescribable.  Onward to the Archeologie Crypt (another Museum Pass stop) where we could see the foundations of ancient Paris- cool but skippable- nothing super special, we were in and out in under 10 minutes.

Museums- The Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Musee l’Orangerie

The Louvre was up next (Museum Pass again- long line skipped too with this!), we made a beeline for Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa, we wanted to see these items first before the museum got even busier.  I liked Venus de Milo most, it’s such a beautiful statue.  The Mona Lisa was awesome too, but if it weren’t the most famous painting in the world I probably would not have thought as much of it.  It was also extremely crowded and loud around her.  You have to fight/push through a crowd to get a front row view.  It also surprised me that the Louvre allows photographs everywhere- including the Mona Lisa.  After viewing the ‘must-sees’ we ducked into a low-key African Art room, we had fun taking some goofy pics and enjoyed the quiet and peaceful setting as compared to the busy areas of the Louvre.

Musee l’Orangerie was next up- a museum devoted to Impressionist art- meaning lots of Monet.  Those of you that know me well know my love for Monet!  There are two huge oval shaped rooms that are devoted to Monet, the ceiling is natural sunlight, providing a natural glow for 4 Monet canvasses in each room.  Each oval shaped room is lined on each side with a canvas from about 6 feet tall to 20ish feet long.  For a Monet lover it was heavenly.  To be so immersed in his work left me speechless.  It also provided us with some great ideas for future decorating

Musee d’Orsay was our last stop of the day, and it was a quick one.  We were a bit art-ed out so quickly beelined our way through the Van Gogh section and onto the massive Impressionist Gallery.  Another bit of heaven for this Monet lover.  Dozens upon dozens of Monet’s work.  Love!

Champs-Elysses & Arc de Triomphe

In between l’Orangerie and d’Orsay we took a break from the museums and walked the Champs-Elysses, ending at the Arc de Triomphe.  Champs-Elysses was fun to window shop, people watch, and see cars that cost more than I make in 5 years.  The Arc de Triomphe (another win for the Museum Pass) was pretty sweet (we’re really getting into shape with all of the narrow and winding stairways we’ve been climbing!), it provided another great viewpoint of Paris.  It’s also so much bigger than I expected!  An the way back down the other side of the Champ-Elysses we noticed a very large crowd gathered in a winding, long line outside of a building, the air was also perfumed.  We were immediately curious as to what all of these people were waiting to get into- Abercrombie & Fitch was the answer.  Nathan and I could NOT believe that soooo many people would wait in such a long line just to enter an A&F store!  The line to get into A & F was longer than the line to get into Louis Vuitton’s flagship store- another surprise.  Crazy people.

Dinner

After a few hours respite in our hotel room we ventured out for dinner.  We ended up at a nice little restaurant near the Pantheon.  We shared Cote de Boeuf- beef for two, and our first French Creme Brulee.  It was all amazing delicious, but I have to admit our friend Megan’s creme brulee was right up there with the French stuff.  In fact, I might even prefer hers! It was still pretty amazing to eat Creme Brulee in France though

We left the hotel in pursuit of two things: lunch within view of the Eiffel tower and to spend some time to see the Eiffel tower. And we accomplished both while regaining our trust in Paris. We found a lovely little cafe where we had a hot Ham and Cheese sandwich(cannot remember the French term for this sandwich) and a Pork loin with a nice decanter of Gewürztraminer. This cafe was about a block from the Eiffel tower, although it was still within view. For our first meal and encounter with speaking to the French, it went well. As always Amy did a great job speaking and communicating.

After lunch we headed to the Eiffel tower to look around. Since the weather was so nice we decided it would be a good day to go to the top. We took the stairs for the first two levels and the elevator for final ascent, which can only be done by elevator. The first two levels were a serious amount of stairs. There were many people who had trouble with the stairs. I encouraged Amy by reminding her of the 67 miles we hiked but 3 weeks ago that included many inclines. She laughed. Once at the top we enjoyed a great 360* view of Paris. Despite the clear day there was a smoggy haze that seemed to take the splendor away from any long distant photos not to mention put a few dings on the perception of beauty of Paris.

After spending a decent amount of time atop the Eiffel tower, we headed back to our room. Due to how tired we were we decided dinner in our room would be fun and relaxing. We stopped at a market and picked up a baguette, cheese, tomatoe, and a few other assorted items. They have some very delicious tomatoes in Paris. Combine this with a tasty baguette and you have an amazing light (plus cheap) meal.

A Parisian onboard the train who looked about my age struck up a conversation in broken English about how lucky we were and we need to be on the lookout.  I enjoyed talking with her, but at the same time was watching her like a hawk- I had no idea if she was another pickpocket or not…

Anywho, we’re safely at our hotel now and the internet here is absolutely fantastic in comparison to our London hotel so hopefully we’ll be able to blog a bit more

Business class on the Delta/NWA Boeing 767 was very nice. A little dated, but nice none the less. The staff was fantastic, and the food delicious. Air France and their Airbus 330 was less than impressive. The seat setup was poor compared to the Boeing. You do not even get a controllable air vent. The food on Air France was not that great. The Duck Foie Gras was nasty to say the least, the main course of chicken was dry and overcooked. At this point in my travel life I am done with Air France/Airbus.

I will hopefully post pictures later, the camera does not want to connect to the Macbook and it is about 4a.m. locally so I need to sleep even though I am not even tired.

In previous domestic traveling with the company cost has been king when it comes to flights and accommodations. Apparently when it comes to international, or at least India, cost is not a big concern. In fact higher cost is directly associated with more “safety” and necessary “comfort”. I will be getting to flight Business class, first time, and staying in what I am told is one of the most luxurious hotels in Bangalore, the Leela Palace. Honestly it looks way to rich for my blood, the kind of place where I am at a discomfort with the feeling of I do not belong.

So now it is time to get all my documents in order like a work visa, get inoculations, and all of that other fun stuff. I am hoping to get a decent amount of free time to tour the city and whatnot so we shall see.