journal de voyage: Musée du Louvre

My dear and unfortunate successor,

              The "highlight" on this day, back in May of 2013, was the Musee du Louvre. However, before we ended up there, we sat on a bus for a while. It was a really good idea from the worldly Rick Steves. Riding it through the city you get a chance to cover a lot of ground and spot places you want to go back and visit..." oh that place is so cute!" "lets get pastries there!" "I want to get pictures there!"(and more of the like).

Anyway, we finally made it to the Louvre. Let me first say that, yes, it was super great and yeah, you "just have to see the Mona Lisa in person!" and most of the art is pretty breath-taking and Napoleon's Apartments were f-ing amazing!! but all in all, if I had to choose between going to the Louvre and just about any other Parisian art museum, I might choose "any other Parisian art museum." Like the Musee d'Orsay....that place was definitely MY DEAL.

Back to the Louvre: it takes a lot of patience to really see all the art in that place. It was really hard to breath! So many people, no air conditioning (or none that you were aware of), the anxiety of pick-pockets, the price of water!!

It turns out that I really just liked the exterior of the museum, but that's just me. I kind of fall in love with the exteriors of any old place.

 Oh the Napoleon Apartments!! I did like them a little too...

journal de voyage: Montmartre to the Eiffel Tower

En passant par des photos de notre voyage à Paris pour notre septième année ensemble.

 Yes, the bees were vicious in Montmartre!

tandis que sur un bateau d'excursion de tourisme

et enfin à la Tour Eiffel

journal de voyage: cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris

I just have to say (write) that, as freaking excited as I was to enjoy all that Paris has to offer on our last trip, shuffling/being herded from one tourist attraction to another is not my idea of a "vacation." I always find it stressful and anxiety inducing, trying to fit in as many sights as possible within a day. Remembering train routes, time tables, foreign languages, street maps, binding blisters and minding pick pockets, while also trying not to get lost in a jungle of other foreigners trying to do the same! 

The whole time I just wanted to get lost in some Parisian time warp a la Owen Wilson in Midnight in Paris. 

Then, every once in a while, you can find yourself really forgetting that you are in a sea of grumbling tourist and lose yourself in pretty awe-worthy architecture.   

Notre Dame came after hours and hours of uneven sidewalk walking and its warm embrace could not have been more welcoming. We also just happened to go in time for mass, which was just beautiful and made my heart super happy.

 and views along the river...

 

and, since I already have video of Big Ben, I thought it would be nice to also capture (somewhat poorly) the magic of hearing Notre Dame. 

 and I'm sure this video will only work with Adobe flash, sorry:( but I've got it:)

journal de voyage: Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise

It is definitely safe to say that we would have been most content to spend our Paris days wondering through graveyards.

 Above is the Oscar Wilde memorial; now double barricaded (!!) so we couldn't give him a proper kiss; but one day...

 Above: Jim Morrison. I couldn't get a front view of it. It was pretty popular with the teens.