A Few Paris Photos

Paris Highlights

The Whole Gang: L-R Vicki, me, Kathy, Leighanna, Kris, and Pam

This was taken from the sidewalk in front of our hotel. That's how close we were to the Eiffel Tower.

We walked over to the Ile St-Louis for ice cream, and found this couple who had apparently just gotten married. The spire in the background is Notre-Dame.

Statue of John the Baptist on the facade of Notre-Dame.

This is inside Sainte-Chappelle. Not that I've seen that many, but of all the cathedrals I have seen, this was by-far the most beautiful.



This is Versailles. I had heard about it in History class in school, and it is grand. But they had this modern art exhibit - Jeff Koons. http://www.jeffkoonsversailles.com/fr/ They had some of this CRAP in every room. It has a place, but Versailles is NOT it. It really spoiled the whole experience for me.
They have these cool blue lights that they shine up into the Eiffel Tower at night. It's very pretty. It still twinkles every hour for 10 minutes at the top of the hour, but I wasn't able to get any good photos of that.


Pere Lachaise cemetery. Very cool statuary and mausoleums. We couldn't understand the meaning behind this one. Is he going in or coming out?

I thought this was hilarious! Someone had a sense of humor... It's saying that these are the remains of the Romilly Family.

The Sacre-Coeur at Montmatre. Our tour guide took us on an excellent walk through the district. He was very good. We wound up here. It has an excellent overlook of Paris and the Eiffel Tower.

Rodin's The Thinker. When we got there, the Gendarmere was assembling outside. When we left, there was some sort of demonstration going on. We had to walk all the way around the block to get back on the Metro. Not a terrible thing except we were exhausted.
View from the top floor of the Musee D'Orsay.

The dome of Galeries Lafayette. The French version of Macy's. This is at the center of the store.

One of Michelangelo's Slaves at the Louvre.

Winged Victory, also at the Louvre. This is one of my favorite pieces. There is mystery surrounding it. They don't know what it's original purpose was, but the detail on it is magnificent.

Me! At the Louvre.

This is in the garden just outside the Louvre. Not sure if it is considered part of the Tuleries.

The obligatory photo-with-a-cop. He doesn't look too thrilled. I'm sure he's thinking, "Silly Americans!"
This is one of the side panels of the Arc de Triomphe...
...and Vicki and Pam and the view from the top. That's the Eiffel Tower sticking out of the top of Pam's head.
One cannot take too many pictures of the Eiffel Tower!

And the catacombs. It wasn't too morbid or spooky. You go down 180-something steps, then walk a mile under the city. Half of which is lined with piles like this. It's kind of awe-inspiring and moving. They say that after Marie Antoinette was beheaded, her body was dumped down here, but later moved.

And Leighanna eyeing the condom machine in the Metro station. She looks like she is thinking, "Hmmm..." Unfortunately, we single gals did not find the need to make a purchase, darn it.