Too much to describe

19 mai


Today I did more exploring of things that I wanted to see.  The metro makes it so easy to get to any part of Paris in a short amount of time.  Sorry this is a super long post! But I just want to make sure I remember everything I saw and learned!

This is the St. Martin canal that connects to the Seine.  It was cool to watch the boats go through the different gates and locks and watch the water levels go up and down.

This is Place de la Republique.  This monument represents the French republic.

Around the monument are scenes of important days and events in the history of France.  This place was under construction so I didn't get to see it up close.

The cirque d'hiver.  A circus pavilion that was built during the time of Napoleon.

Next I went to Place de la Bastille! This is the location of the Bastille castle/prison that was attacked and torn down by revolutionaries on July 14, 1789.  Bastille Day in France is July 14 and is similar to america's 4th of July.  But obviously the Bastille is not there anymore but there is this awesome monument there.  Here's the whole thing but I'll tell you what is cool about each layer.

The top.  This is called the Genie of Liberty.

Even though this monument is built in a place significant to the 1789 French revolution, France has had several other violent revolutions since then including in 1830 when there were three days at the end of June where there was a great fight in France.  This is the revolution that is featured in the end of Les Miserables.  Anyway, on the tower, there are the names of all the people that died fighting during those three days.  You can see the divisions of each day and then the names written in gold.

The pedestal says "To the glory of French citizens who armed themselves and fought to defend the people's liberties in the memorable days of 27, 28, 29 June 1830.

And the best (or worst) part is that the remains of many who died in that battle are in that larger circle at the bottom.  Creepin, but cool.

The Place de la Republique and the Place de la Bastille are popular spots for protestors and demonstrations.  This guy above is trying to get signatures for a petition.  His shirt says your signatures have power.  

Here is the Opera Bastille where Emily and I saw the Romeo and Juliette ballet

People were getting ready for some sort of parade on Place de la Bastille.  I couldn't figure out what it was...but there bands and dancing groups.  This guy made me laugh...the old man Minnie Mouse.  Kind of makes me never want to go to disneyworld again.

This float was cool.  All these people had strings and pulls to different parts of the puppet's body and were moving it around.  Cool idea.

The pictures above and below are all about the roofs.  It makes me think of Mary Poppins when they are singing step in time on the roofs of london and there are all the smokestacks and a gorgeous view.  I tried to get on the roof of my building, but it's through an attic door...and we couldn't find a ladder.  But I really really want to get up on a roof...and watch the sun set.

This mosaic was in a metro station and represents the friendship between France and Russia.

This is the Madeleine cathedral.  It is a very unique church as the architecture is very classically influenced but also by Christianity.  This church is relatively newer and was built in the early 1800s under Louis XVIII.   Most cathedrals are dedicated to the virgin Mary (Notre dame means our lady and there are lots of notre dames all over France, the one in Paris is just the most famous).  But this church is in honor of Mary Magdalene (translated from latin into french as madeline).  

This huge pipe organ is very famous! I got lucky and heard it played.  The vibration and power of the organ are impossible to convey in this video, but you get a general idea.

At the main altar, you see Mary Magdalene being lifted up by two angels.  A truly stunning church!

Mary (magdalene?), not sure.

I have always wanted to light a candle offering in a catholic church and so I did so here in this beautiful place.  In Vietnam, we lit incense in the Buddhist temple.  That experience and this experience lacked spiritual significance but had more of a traditional significance for me and I felt the reverence of the act and understood more the beliefs of other people and religions.  That tall one in the very center is the one I put there.  It was kind of scary putting it there because I had to reach over all of these other open flames.  But no catastrophe occurred thankfully.

This listed all of the stops and registrations on the organ!

The view looking out from the Madeline.  At the end of the road there is Place de la Concorde.

Next I went to Laduree which is famous for its macarons.  Macarons were invented here at Laduree by Pierre Desfontaines in the early 1900s.  

I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, but here is the window display.  I wish you could see the huge range of colors and flavors that they have inside.  Macarons are unlike anything else.  It consists of two small round cakes with a ganache in the middle.  The cakes are crisp on the outside but smooth and soft in the middle.  The cakes consist of almond flour, egg whites, sugar, and Laduree boasts an additional secret ingredient.  Macarons at these high class cafés are kind of like a fashion line.  There are staple flavors that are famous and always there, but there are also seasonal flavors depending on in season fruits.  Laduree had an official menu with all the flavors and pictures.  Laduree also creates a new "parfume" (flavor) every year.

I got salty caramel, red fruit, ghanian chocolate, and rose.  A cool thing about macarons is that some of the flavors are based off of scents, such as rose or violet.  These taste what they smell like which makes sense because smell is a huge part of the taste we experience.  I love the rose one--truly delightful and unlike anything I've ever had.  

I then went to the Défense area of Paris which is the modern area with the skyscrapers.  There are building height limitations within Paris (with the eiffel tower having special exceptions) so all of the skyscrapers are concentrated in this one area on the far edge of Paris.  I love these height restrictions because it makes a gorgeous skyline with the cathedrals as the tallest, most prominent structures.  I was expecting to hate this area of town just because it is so unlike the rest of  the architecture of Paris that is charmingly ancient

Perhaps it was because I had extremely low expectations, but I ended up liking this are of town even though it was opposite of the Paris I know.  I liked how these picnic benches were built into the terraced steps.

Even through the modernity of the area, the classiness of Paris was maintained through gorgeous greenery and striking art.  This statue made me smile as it is called The Sleepwalker.

This is a mosaic.

This piece of art is just long pipes of different sizes and colors.

Looking up the cylinder.  

The creepin aliens around the trees.  Kind of cool.

This fountain was so cool I had to take a video!  I love all of the colors and the jet streams.  Apparently it is also cued to music that also plays but unfortunately there was no music going when I was there.

On one side of the fountain is the modern la defense arch and directly in line with this arch is the Arc de Triomphe.  Cool mix and alignment of artistic and historical periods.  Sorry the video is focused at the end, I still need to figure out how to focus my camera when it is in video mode.

Faith is like a little seed......

Look at that bird...isn't that crown just the perfect size for a bird's nest? I hope there is one there.

La Defense arch.  It is so big that the entire Notre Dame cathedral could fit under it.  In front of the arch was a huge square where lots of people were hanging out.  Kids were riding bikes and roller blading while others lounged on the steps leading up to the arch.  Cool community feel.

Art?! Makes me think of Holes.

From the top of the arch's steps.

From the arches looking straight forward and there's the Arc de Triomphe! If it was not so cloudy, you could see the Place de la Concorde, the Tuilieries, and then the Louvre in that same continued straight line.

Then the best part of my day was meeting up with Margie and Russ and their adorable kids!  They had been in Switzerland for the week and came back to Paris on their way back home.  Russ and Margie went to the Louvre and I took Lucy and Jay to a zoo that I had found in Jardin des Plantes.  Lucy and Jay loved seeing all the animals!  Jay impressed me with his vocabulary of animals that he recognized.  My favorite part was seeing all the species of owls that they had.  But I always feel bad for the animals in the zoo and they always appear sad to me in their cages...but I know that's just a projection of my feelings onto them.

This ostrich was way cool because it had 4 huge eggs in its nest!

We got caught in a rainstorm with no protective gear while we were at the zoo!  So we quickly went to McDonalds and warmed up with hot chocolate which Lucy loves.  

They liked seeing themselves in my camera screen as I took pictures of them. 

We met back up with Russ and Margie and ate yummy pizza.  Then Russ and I got Nutella and banana crepes which were sooo good!  Tons better than a plain Nutella crepe.  Lucy got some gelato at my favorite gelato place Amorino.  All Jay needs to be happy is warm milk, so I talked to the Amorino people and they graciously put milk in his bottle then warmed it up.  He was a happy boy!