Keith left the sightseeing to me, so I took him up to Montmartre. A lovely, overcast day met us at Sacre Coeur and we lounged while overlooking the Parisian cityscape.
Paris in July
A week of relaxation!
Well, July rolled around and my friend Keith
came to London for a few weeks with his heart set on zooming about Europe, a place he'd
never been. First stop was Paris and I figured that it would be the perfect excuse
for me to go on vacation! 6 days in Paris and I remembered why I loved it so much
there. Crepes avec nutella, le Champs Elysees and Sephora made me quite happy.
Bon voyage!
Keith left the sightseeing to me, so I took him up to Montmartre. A lovely, overcast day
met us at Sacre Coeur and we lounged while overlooking the Parisian cityscape.
The cobblestoned streets of Montmartre
One of the first places we went was down into the Catacombs, which fascinated Keith to no
end. I gotta say, I really liked it down there, despite its gruesome aspects.
An observer of tourists...
One must always go to the Louvre while in Paris... it's one of those unavoidable things
that leaves you visually exhasuted. I even took a brief nap when we left and got a little
tan :)
The pyramid, from both above and below
The Winged Victory.
What was fascinating about this trip to the Louvre for me (my 40th or so time there) was
that I finally was awed by this statue. People had told me over and over how they began
weeping and were stunned into silence upon seeing this work. For the life of me, I
couldn't understand what the hell they were talking about until this trip. I stood in awe
for some minutes before I moved down the stairs to the Michelangelos. A girl was just
turning in the direction of this statue, saw it, gasped loudly, stepped back and began to
cry. It was an exciting moment as I realized that not all this art history education was
in vain.
There actually is meaning and purpose to art. Who knew?
Aaaah, the Venus de Milo and its surrounding floor.
Thousands of tourists line up to get their picture taken with this statue and looking at
it gives you a headache as flashes go off right and left. My professor from Paris couldn't
figure out what all the fuss was about and after looking at Venus for some time, neither
could I. Hmmmmmm.
I was on a sculpture kick when I was in the Louvre and thus most of my photos are of
compelling statues. This particular one always catches my eye, as its the only one I've
ever seen that portrays a veiled woman accurately. Haunting, yet fascinating.
A gift between two friends...
I've always loved this sculpture - the look exchanged between these two gives me major
goose pimples.
This work fascinates me... not only does it maintain a prominent place in the Louvre's
collection, but everything we value in sculpture (facial expression, gesture, stance,
etc.) is almost completely lost in this work and yet there it is, on display.
Fascinating.
The cobblestoned courtyard of the Louvre
A pensive Keith in the Tuileries.
After leaving the Louvre, walking through the Tuileries and down the Champs Elysees, we
finally made it to the Arch de Triumphe (sp?) which was, as usual, spectacular and quite
big :)
This is the view toward La Defense from the Arch. I love that hole-y building down the
way.
Our final destination that day was the Eiffel Tower, which was beautiful and filled with
eager tourists. We didn't spend too much time up there, but it was a nice 9th trip up for
me.
Looking up from the second level
Me and my sweetest Mosher up at the top of the Eiffel. Aren't we cute?
The beautiful sunset
Walking around the Eiffel's neighborhood
One of the islands where me and Keith lounged for some time on Silence Day.
The mind-numbing water of the Seine
Keith by the Seine looking cheeeeesy
Alishya by the Seine
It amazes me what the Queen does in Paris... extracurricular activities, perhaps?
An eternal toothache for the water spout man (or woman?) on the side of Sainte Chapelle
Explain to me how this man's legs work... I can't, for the life of me, figure it out. The
longer you look, the more confusing it gets.
(on the left portal of the main entrance to Notre Dame)
Keith called it... this was the theme of our trip
FUCK EVIL!
And thus ended a wonderful 6 days in Paris. Keith and I did lots of
sightseeing, spent an interesting Silence Day running around Paris and learned a lot about
our friendship. I also found that my love of Paris had not diminished and I would move
back there in a heartbeat if I could. Thank you Keith for showing me parts of myself I
would never have known otherwise.
<:)