Paris

We left lovely Leiden and arrived in Paris, France, birthplace of my husband, on Tuesday, July 14 (Bastille Day). Wednesday was a work day, so in the morning, we ate Parisian breakfast at a nearby cafe (Cappuccino, baguettes, and croissants with butter and jam...mmmmmm). Scott then headed off to measure skulls and I went shopping! I found some great deals and bought a couple shirts, and then headed to the Musee d'Orsay to feed my art addiction (no I didn't go to the Louvre; it's too big and overwhelming and I saw the highlights almost 10 years ago). I would also like to point out that the Muse d'Orsay actually has a discounted ticket for people under 30! I just made it! Anyway, I spent a lovely afternoon here gazing at art. I included a couple good pics here. Below is one of the sides of the main hallways of the museum -- very beautiful with lots of natural light for the statues. I love sculpture. The picture below that is my favorite sculpture in the museum. The girls "clothes" are sculpted from two different colors of marble while she is sculpted in the usual white marble. How did they do that?!



That evening Scott and I headed to the Eiffel Tower. We were not so keen on the massive crowds, or going to the top, so we got some dinner to go and ate on a park bench next to the river where we could still see the tower and take some good pics. The one just below, is me wearing one of my new shirts. The one under that is the pic I took of the two of us. Thus ended our first full day in Paris. Good times!



Thursday was beautiful. A perfect day to see churches. I started with Notre Dame (pictured immediately below). It was just as impressive as when I saw it almost ten years ago when I traveled here while I was studying a semester in college in Florence, Italy. This time I hadn't been there long before they announced they would soon start mass, so I took a respectful seat in the back and attended the service even though I am not Catholic. It found it beautiful and educational. I wanted to climb to the top of the towers to see the gargoyles, but the line was just WAY too long. Instead I walked over to see Sainte-Chapelle.


Like Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, is one of the oldest cathedrals in Paris. It's quite a bit smaller than Notre Dame, but surpasses it in interior decoration. The upper chapel is lined on every wall with impressive stained glass windows such as the one pictured below. Decorating the entrance are many relief carvings of different scenes from the Bible. At the bottom I have included a pic of one of these carvings that I find rather humorous. It is the scene after Adam and Eve have eaten from the forbidden tree and are confronted by God. Adam is covering himself with a leaf and pointing to Eve as if to say "she made me."



Once I was done with these two sites I was very tired and out of spending money, so I headed over to the Luxembourg Garden for a couple of hours and did some reading. Unfortunately, this was all the site seeing Scott and I were able to do. Due to some unforeseen train scheduling problems we had to leave early Friday morning in order for us to be in Italy when we were supposed to be. All in all, that's not a bad problem. "I'm sorry, you'll have to leave Paris a day early in order to go to Italy and meet up with your former college roommate and her husband." "Oh no, not an extra day in Italy, my favorite European country, with one of my best friends!" (please insert the appropriate amount of sarcasm.)

We LOVED Paris, but duty, a dear friend, and awesome seafood called in Italy...OFF TO GENOVA!