DAY 31 – Paris
We can’t have a Facebook travel journal and not have the cliche picture of us at the Eiffel Tower. So here is our contribution.
The weather forecast called for rain during the entire time of our stay but we woke up on Friday to find a bit of blue sky so we dashed out of our hotel and walked 3 minutes (yes, we’re that close) to the Tower. I got to the second platform and that was as far as I could go. I am terrified of heights and started getting wobbly knees even on the first elevator trip. Twenty years ago I was a bit bolder and went to the top of the tower and I remembered I was terrified then as well. So I stayed put since I’ve been to the top before while Joseph and Padma went to the top as this is their first trip to Paris.
I love watching other people take pictures of iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower. Some can get pretty creative. This gal even went so far as to get the Tower tattooed on her hip and then showed it off so I guess she could compare her tattoo to the real thing in the background.
Every time we asked friends what to do in Paris they would say ‘you must have some hot chocolate’. And so we did. We stopped in for lunch at a Parisian favourite called Carette and ordered hot chocolate with our brunch. This is like no other hot chocolate. It’s more like melted pure chocolate in a cup. Very rich yet very delicious.
DAY 33
Neither Padma, Joe nor I are real art aficionados but we figured we still should visit the Lourve as that’s just something you must do while in Paris. We figured we’d be in and out in a couple of hours. How wrong we were. We were totally overwhelmed by the collections and ended up spending the better part of the day there until they had to chase us out. I visited the Lourve in 1992 and can recall I wandered aimlessly and really didn’t get much out of the visit. The difference this time lie with technology. For 5 euros we each rented a 3D Nintendo DDS audio tour gadget and suddenly the art collections came to life. We had no idea where to start so we selected a Masterpieces Tour which guided us the the labyrinth of halls in the Lourve and ensured we saw all of the ‘can’t miss’ pieces.
It was funny when we got to the commentary about the Mona Lisa as it said to be patient and work your way through the crowds. The ‘crowd’ in January really only is four or five people deep and we had a very intimate time with good ole Mona.
Anyone recognise this famous statue? It’s the seldom seen backside of Venus de Milo. Our Nintendo 3D audio tour had us view the statue from every angle and gave us interesting insights into what the sculptor was trying to achieve.
We visited the famed Notre Dame cathedral during Sunday Mass. No matter what your spiritual beliefs you can’t help but be moved as you enter the cathedral. The priest was dwarfed in the cathedral yet the voices of the boys’ choir filled the entire chamber.