Friday, September 14, 2007 - 2:52 PM
...and wednesday, and thursday
So, here is evidence of our jours touristiques... first, Notre Dame, with my intrepid traveling companion getting it on record:
The entire cathedral is amazing, but the Western façade is where all the action is. Here's a tableau of Judgement Day. To the right of Satan you can see all a demon leading people away to eternal torment. And on such a nice day!
The main altar:
One of the three rose windows:
One of my favorite things was the cathedral's guestbook. I took a couple of pictures of places where children had signed it; I think I would like to go back and take some more one of these days.
Then, Thursday, and the Arc de Triomphe!
I told Mieka that I would think more carefully the next time I accused someone of having a Napoleonic complex. The guy really, really loved himself (that's Paris kneeling at his left, with a crown made of the city walls):
The arch is a monument to all the French armies of history, so it has a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and is carved with (among other things) the names of battles in which the army fought. I'm at the bottom, in red and looking a bit bewildered, for scale:
There was a sort of Veteran's League gathering, probably for the changing of the guard?
Rugby!
We walked the three miles of the Champs-Elysées, which is still very nice and impressive despite having a Gap and a McDonald's. We got to the end and saw the Obelisk, stolen ungraciously (like so many things) from Egypt. Mieka is lucky-- she saw the other one, still outside of the Temple of Luxor, when she visited Egypt in spring, so she has a full set.
And finally, the thing you all came to see... la Tour Eiffel herself.
It was my second time, and it was still amazing. We arrived with perfect timing, at sunset, so we got to see the marvelous engineering and graceful metalwork, then got to see it lit up, then when we went up it was dark and we could see all of Paris at night. And that never gets old.
It turns out the Louvre has a "young people night" on Fridays, with free admission to anyone under 26 from 6 to 9:45. But we want to see the Tuileries first. So, off we go! And tomorrow, the Medieval Fair of the Marais.... ¶
The entire cathedral is amazing, but the Western façade is where all the action is. Here's a tableau of Judgement Day. To the right of Satan you can see all a demon leading people away to eternal torment. And on such a nice day!
The main altar:
One of the three rose windows:
One of my favorite things was the cathedral's guestbook. I took a couple of pictures of places where children had signed it; I think I would like to go back and take some more one of these days.
Then, Thursday, and the Arc de Triomphe!
I told Mieka that I would think more carefully the next time I accused someone of having a Napoleonic complex. The guy really, really loved himself (that's Paris kneeling at his left, with a crown made of the city walls):
The arch is a monument to all the French armies of history, so it has a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and is carved with (among other things) the names of battles in which the army fought. I'm at the bottom, in red and looking a bit bewildered, for scale:
There was a sort of Veteran's League gathering, probably for the changing of the guard?
Rugby!
We walked the three miles of the Champs-Elysées, which is still very nice and impressive despite having a Gap and a McDonald's. We got to the end and saw the Obelisk, stolen ungraciously (like so many things) from Egypt. Mieka is lucky-- she saw the other one, still outside of the Temple of Luxor, when she visited Egypt in spring, so she has a full set.
And finally, the thing you all came to see... la Tour Eiffel herself.
It was my second time, and it was still amazing. We arrived with perfect timing, at sunset, so we got to see the marvelous engineering and graceful metalwork, then got to see it lit up, then when we went up it was dark and we could see all of Paris at night. And that never gets old.
It turns out the Louvre has a "young people night" on Fridays, with free admission to anyone under 26 from 6 to 9:45. But we want to see the Tuileries first. So, off we go! And tomorrow, the Medieval Fair of the Marais.... ¶