Paris la ville de l'amour

Thursday was more or less a travel day for us. It's been quite a big distance that we have covered over the previous days - taking us from Nice through to Paris. We've made a few brief stops both days, the first in Avignon which we talked about in the last post and then yesterday we stopped off to see the Château de Versailles.

Yes that is real gold - well real gold plated lead.

We had a local tour guide named Virgina who took us through some (but definitely not all) of the 700 or so rooms. Originally built by Louis XIV (although not personally I assume), who never considered it big enough - even when he lost the use of his leg's due to gout when he was in his 50's. Each room had amazing artwork adorning the wall and the ceilings - many of which were dome shaped. Many of the sculptures and paintings were inspired by Roman history and Greek Mythology - whose symbolism was often incorporated into each Monarch's own monuments.

The Hall of Mirrors was very impressive too. I think one of the most impressive aspects of this building is most of what you see is the original material as the building was not destroyed during the French Revolution or during the two World Wars. It was interesting to get up close and personal with the King's bed chamber and possibly more significantly the queens - which in fact was last inhabited by Marie Antoinette, who was captured during the revolution trying to escape through a back passage that led from the Kings bedroom.

The Hall of Mirrors

After the tour through the palace we had free time to explore the gardens - which were nice but likely would have been much more impressive were it summer and the colorful flowers out on display.

Yesterday we had a big day in Paris, we hit the road at 7.40 for a bus tour, which Virginia (our tour guide from the previous day took us on). We started down the famous Champs Elysees Avenue through the round about at the Arc de triomphe, passed the Lourve through the historic and cultural areas of town. It was really interesting and was a good way to get oriented with the city so that we could head back later and take photos. Our bus tour finished at the iconic Eiffel Tower. We took the elevator to the second floor and enjoyed the view from above - whilst avoiding pick pockets. The weather was a little overcast but it was still pretty warm, which was good because it meant that Kimilla could have fun taking photos. Rather than taking the elevator down again, Kimilla and I took the path less traveled down the 650 or so stairs.

Ah... young love

From the Second Floor looking North

From the tower we were taken to the Lourve, where we spent some time outside taking pictures and having lunch before taking a guided tour through the highlights of the gallery. The building itself was pretty interesting, having formerly been a fortress (and the setting for the DaVinci Code). We checked out the iconic glass pyramids (including the upside down one). However, the paintings and sculptures were what we were really there to see, our highlights in particular include the famous Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo.

Can you see Robert Langdon?

... I guess you know what this is.

In the evening we got all dressed up and headed to the world most famous cabaret show - the Moulin Rouge. Due to some clever planning on tour guide John's part (months ago), we had access to premium tickets at the dinner show. The food was pretty good - although it was pretty difficult to eat on account the very small seating spaces. During the meal a 5 piece band was performing classic music in a variety of languages from a variety of eras.  The show itself was an assault on the senses, the dancing was impressive and costumes (where there were costumes) were very colorful and vibrant. In between the dancing and musical sets there were a collection of very talented acts which I really enjoyed. The was a juggling guy who performed drum solo's using the balls that he was juggling. A trio of acrobats who performed a bank robbery while hiding the third member of there team in the cash bag. The final one was a ventriloquist who performed his act on the standard puppets, a real dog (who opened its mouth at the right time) and members of the audience (who had to open there mouths when he squeezed there hands) - it was hilarious.

Today was our first day off the tour, its been an amazing trip but boy its not for the feint hearted. We have traveled 5,500 km in 18 days by bus, that's not including the distances traveled by boat or on optional excursions. So today, we slept in and took the morning pretty easy. We had a late breakfast and then took a stroll down to the local mall so I could get some new shoes - I had literally walked the others to death.

After lunch Kimilla and I headed back into Downtown Paris to checkout some of the places that we had driven by in the bus tour yesterday. Our first top was Notre Dame - while there are many Notre Dames in France, this one in particular is the setting for Victor Hugo's the Hunchback of Notre Dame. We were even there on the hour and heard Mr Quasimodo ringing the bells.

Cathedral at Notre Dame

From the Cathedral we walked up the Seine River to the Pont de Arts where we very romantically wrote our names on a padlock, attached it to the bridge and in a symbolic gesture ensured our love would never be unlocked by throwing the keys into the river.  

Ah... young love

From there we continued up the river, Kimilla did her thing with the camera and eventually we ended up somewhere the area between Les Invalides and the Eiffel Tower, where we stopped for a coffee - which was well timed as it rained unexpectedly and rather strongly for about half an hour.

A bridge with Flags

Once the weather picked up a little we headed on toward Mr Eiffel's tower and spent the remainder of the daylight hours just sitting around enjoying the atmosphere of Paris. It really is a amazing city, we both agree that its up there with the best of them. We watched the sun go down behind the Trocadéro and waited as the the Tower was lit up. Then bang on 7pm we enjoyed the light show, which Kimilla managed to capture (somewhat in the picture below). Tomorrow we are leaving Paris, Pam is going back to NZ via Singapore and we will be heading to Athens.

Eiffel Tower - sparkling with lights