We begin at the Musee Louvre. Many of you will recognize the very distinctive, centrally located pyramid as one of Paris' most famous landmarks. This shot, taken from within the museum allows you to see the Arch du Carousel which is between the Louvre and the Jardin des Tuileries (a favourite of mine). Off in the distance, you may see the large office buildings in the La Defense area. The modern looking Grand Arche is also visible to those with discerning eyes.
Many of you might be expecting shots of the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, etc...but unfortunately I didn't take pictures of them this time around. They were far too crowded and I've got pics of them already. Instead, you all have the fortune of seeing some other artwork such as this lovely wooden carving from the museum's Oceania collection. This piece of artwork and I share a very special bond. We're both thousands of miles away from Hawaii.
Another Hawaiian artifact. It is a figure of one of the Gods and, in its time, would've been adorned by a bunch of beautiful, multi-colored feathers from long extinct birds. It's a shame the birds were all killed and we can't see their pretty feathers anymore...
Continuing with the Pacific theme, here's one of the famous stone statues from Easter Island. These things have always been cool.
You all must be wondering what's with all this Polynesian art? To quench your desire for other sorts of artwork, here's a beautiful sculpture known as the Marly Horses (there's a similar statue on the other side of this exhibit...both statues used to be displayed proudly, among many other places, along the Champs Elysee.
Another wing of the Louvre contains the restored State Apartments where Napolean III lived during the 19th century. I can't seem to figure out whether there's more gold in this room or on P Diddy's neck?
Alright, Diddy has a lot of "bling" but it would take weeks, maybe even months for MTV cribs to walk through the Louvre so my vote for extravagance will have to go to the French...I mean, c'mon, they have Versailles too!
If you all haven't noticed yet, one of the highlights of this trip was the amazing food that could be had. Here we have a picture of a bowl of french onion soup. What could be better than an onion soup with cheese-smothered bread floating on the surface?
It would've been awesome to have taken a picture of the main course but I forgot, once again, to get one until I was at least halfway through the salmon filet. So, you'll have to settle for a shot of the chocolate mousse that I had for dessert.
The next day, I wasn't able to make it out to Giverny (Monet's estate outside of Paris) b/c it was closed till April. Instead, we walked around Paris for a bit and got some shopping & more sight seeing out of the way. We also didn't make it to the Rodin Museum so instead of getting a picture of "the Thinker," you'll have to settle for a picture of this thinker.
They don't seem to have any shortage of fountains around here. Here's Carie, the lion sculpture and the fountain outside of Saint Sulpice.
Continuing onward, we made our way to the Jardin du Luxembourg.
And here is a pic of the Palais du Luxembourg. It was once the home of Princess Marie de Medici who had the palace built in 1615. Ain't it pretty?!
Here, Carie & I pose in front of the pond & fountain. In the background (between us and at my eye level), you can see the dome of the Pantheon where many French intellectuals were buried (Rousseau, Voltaire, Laplace, the Curies, Dumas, Hugo & Carnot to name a few).
That afternoon, I had to satiate my desire for Amorino's again so we took a long walk over from the hotel. Today's flavors were: Mangue (mango), Fragola (strawberry) and Amaretto.
Dinner on our final evening in Paris was at the famous Bowfinger. An excellent restaurant with exceptional service. I would have pictures of our food (and my creme brulee dessert) if I wouldn't have looked completely out of place and shamed my ancestors in the process of taking those pictures.
Last, but not least, here's a pic of the Place de la Bastille. This large monument, located in the middle of a sizeable roundabout, marks the location where the mighty Bastille once stood (before it was stormed by revolutionaries and demolished). It is beautifully lit in the evening as you can see in the picture.
And there you have it folks. Sorry about the length of the post but I wanted to get in as many pics as I could. I had a wonderful time and I really miss being there already. I am impressed with how comfortable I felt in the city despite my obvious language handicap. That's something I'll have to work on for the next time. On that note, I hope you all enjoyed the pictures. Take care everyone and have a Happy Easter!
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