Paris was a full day of rapid touring. It was really overwhelming to want to see so much yet knowing that we only had a short time. It is definately not a place that one wants to have only a short time to visit. There is just too much
I don't even remember the order in which things were done, just that we did them and put aside time for a few things that day that we would spend plenty of time doing.
Beautiful is what best describes what we were seeing that day. Breathtaking in some instances. The arcitecture was awe inspiring, feeling the history around us as we drove here and there. I couldn't wait to park the car and walk. There was more to see than I imagined in one city.
I remember being surprised at how big the city was, spotting the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. The gold statues on one of the bridges over the Seine river, driving past Notre Dame. The Louvre. There was just so much there that I know that I missed.
And cars? Man were there a lot of cars there! Busy and bustling. And it is most definately the city of love/romance. There was just something about the aura there that melted you into this euphoric state. Perhaps it was just the excitment of being there, I don't know but never before nor ever again have I felt that.
We left pretty early in the morning to get started. I remember driving around and feeling so overwhelmed because no matter what window I looked out, there were beautiful things to see. Even the apartment buildings were gorgeous. I had even asked our friends what they were thinking they were something of interest only to find out they were just apartments. Hmm, shows just how much I knew.
Of course he spoke in mostly French and I never did catch on enough to understand, so it was frustrating for me when he would speak. And there wasn't much time in between explanations of this place or that place that I could ask a question because we were in such a rush. It was like a whirlwind tour really.
Our places of interest though were visited in a more relaxed manner and well worth the short answers to all of our other questions.
Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and Pere Lachaise cemetery. I will go into more detail of these and throw in a few other tidbits about this place or that. But until those posts, I will talk a little about the Louvre.
The Louvre, home of the Mona Lisa, no way did we have time to even walk the first floor of this place. Our 'tour guides' as I will call them told us it would take at least 7 days to go through that entire place. I can only imagine what it must be like in there and so badly wanted to just take a peek...but we couldn't. We did however walk around the outside of it. That place is absolutely huge! I have photos of the carvings that were around this entire building. Man, I cannot imagine how long it took to carve out all of those intricate things. And there is a story behind each and every one of them. I was in shock to say the least that I was actually in a country that I only dreamed about as a kid. Never would I have thought that I would be walking through Paris in my entire life!
I have many pictures of various carvings. But there was one thing about the Louvre that really marred the beauty of it, that really upset me. They had recently erected an art piece in front of it, I am not one who has knowledge of art terms but to me, it looked like a big glass paneled pyramid and I HATED it. It just looked so out of place in this historical city. So out of place in fact that it stuck out like a sore thumb! To this day I will never forget the oddity of that piece in Paris. I'm sure now it's like part of this city to most but to me, it was ugly as all sin!
Anyway, I will post photos of things eventually. I do have them, really. I only wish that I had the camera that I currently have. Point and shoots are great in a pinch but for a place like Paris, a good 35mm SLR, well, I could have some spectacular photos.
So, here is the beginning of the end of our European journey. For that one particular reader I will be writing more frequently of this as it has dragged on long enough!!!!!!
Forgive me? :)
Until next time.......
No comments:
Post a Comment