Day 2 - Paris

Today we started the morning with a bus tour of Paris.  Our first stop was a terrace that gave us a great view of the Eiffel Tower.

 

Laura and I with the Eiffel Tower

We crossed several of the bridges over the Seine throughout the tour.  It seemed as if there was a bridge every half mile.  I will need to ask about the total number of bridges in Paris.  Some of them were built to commemorate wars, peaces, and individuals that greatly impacted the city.

We were able to visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame.  This year happens to be the 850th anniversary of its completion after 18 generations of artisans working on it from the foundation to the spires.  Our guide, Vincent, explained that the cathedral was nearly left incomplete due to lack of funds, but that after the publication of the novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, they were able to raise the necessary funds.  Some of the stain glass is original to the construction while some windows were placed by Napoleon for his coronation, and still more had to be replaced after World War II when the resistance fought the German occupation.  

 

 

We were also able to see the Paris Opera House that inspired The Phantom of the Opera, the National Assembly building, we cruised along the Champs Elysses but did not stop - the shops were way out of out price range.  You name a design, they probably had a shop there.  July 14th is their independence day  and we were able to see the preparations for the massive parade and fireworks that are planning.  For about two miles on either side of the street, they have erected bleacher seating for the invited spectators with flags on the streets and lights in the trees.  The parade will start on the square where many nobles lost their heads (including Marie Antionette) during the revolution.  It will also pass the Arc de Triomphe which commemorates the many victories of Napoleon.

In the afternoon, we visited the Louvre Museum - and Laura actually enjoyed it!!  Of course, we saw the Mona Lisa, but we also saw the final painting of DiVinci.  One of our favorite paintings was the Sacre de emperur Napoleon that depicts the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte.  In it, you can see the pope standing behind him as Napoleon crowned himself king of France.  All of his many sisters and brothers are also standing around him and they are the only people, besides his mother, that look happy to be there in the picture. :)

We also saw a section of the Parthenon relief sculpture from the top of the entrance that was given as in gratitude to the French for their assistance in repairing and renovating the Parthenon after the ammunition stored there exploded and destroyed much of the structure. 

The Louvre was once a royal castle that was converted into a museum.  The bus parking was underground and when we emerged into the museum, we discovered that we were in what was once the moat.  Some of the base of the towers was visible.

We were fortunate to see a new exhibit that is not even on the regular tours.  It contained artifacts of Islamic art from such places as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, and Iraq.  We were not able to see all of the artifacts, but I did manage to find a booklet that gives additional information.