Day 3 - Paris

Alethios

New Zealand2765 Posts

January 11 2010 16:26 GMT

So i've been out for a walk around Brussels, great city. More about it when I reach day 5, perhaps later on tonight.

Onwards!

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We started the next day early. It was cold and snowing outside, but we wanted to see the Louvre and the queues for the Louvre are infamous. I've heard stories of people waiting all day to get a chance to peak at the Mona Lisa.

After a hearty breakfast of a prepackaged belgian waffle each (10 for 1 euro), we set off. We took the ever faithful metro of course, and got off a short walk from the Louvre park.

An excellent band playing in the metro tunnels

Not far from the metro station was a stupendous tower, again unmarked on my map. The park was closed, but we hoped over the short fence to go get a closer look. I told Kelly that if we were caught, not to speak any French (she's virtually fluent) and we'd pretend we didn't see the signs. We didn't get caught, but it would have been well worth it even if we had.

I really like the gargoyles

It was bitterly cold and snowing so we thought we'd warm up and grab a bite to eat before heading for the queue. The cafe was of the usual parisian kind, amazing cheese and a vibrant atmosphere. After eating, I headed to the toilets only to find you had to pay to enter! What is this? As if I needed further evidence that 'customer service' was not in the french vocabulary! Kelly assured me that charging to use the toilets was standard practice throughout Europe, but i'm still a little miffed.

We left the cafe and wandered along the banks of the Seine towards the Louvre, passing through into the quadrangle created by one of it's three wings.

Magnificience is just par for the course at the Louvre

We head around, passing by the famous glass pyramid entrance, all ready to spend hours waiting to find...

Queue on the right is for people with bags (not us), our queue (slightly to the left) had nobody in it

We waited on nobody. Just walked through the revolving door and into the most famous musuem in the world. The feeling of elation I felt on my first walk through Paris returned twice over. "This isn't how it's meant to be", I thought. One is meant to wait for hours outside in the freezing cold, before finally getting in an hour before closing and only getting to see half of what you wanted to. I'm still feeling pretty stoked about it now actually.

Spot the tourists

I suppose what tourists there are in Europe at this time were driven away by the cold and the snow. I can imagine the general sentiment might have been along the lines of not wanting to spend hours waiting in such bitter cold. We thought we'd try our luck and it paid off!

After grabbing my ticket (they told us Kelly didn't have to pay for some reason that escaped me), we decided we'd do the big one first and head straight for the Mona Lisa.

After walking through hallways lined with gold, ornate statues and magnificient paintings, we reached the hallowed room of the most famous painting in the world.

The Mona Lisa

She sits behind about 5 layers of glass, a handrail with a 3 or 4 metre radius and roughly 100 people all trying to take their picture of them with her.

I was distinctly unimpressed. One imagines the reason that the painting is so famous is that one can see the love and devotion with which da Vinci painted her. However, from such a distance and in such a setting, one can barely make out her features, let alone appreciate the brushstrokes. Kind of this it's good to have seen for the sake of having seen it, but there are far greater things to feast your eyes on in that place.

My batteries failed after I took that picture. Luckily Kelly's camera was still fully charged, so we continued taking pictures with hers.

As you'll soon see, Kelly and myself have parted ways for the time being, so i'll upload those pictures then update this post when I can.

The Louvre is immesurably grand. It speaks of power and wealth. It is decorated as richly, I imagine, as any palace. A palace of a King who enjoys flaunting his wealth and is scared of being forgotten. The ceilings and walls are covered in priceless artwork and statues, often inlaid with gold. One feels a sense of awe walking the hallways, but another feeling nagged me while I was there also. When the french civilisation disappears, be it in 100 years or a million, what will people think when they look upon the louvre? It reminded me of a poem called 'Ozymandias' by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

I don't want to carry on about the Louvre too much, but I will talk about 2 particular exibits which I found interesting.

Walking those halls we say many things of interest, the bowls and eating equipment of those gone long before, ancient tablets and magnificient artwork. At one point, in a small unassuming case, we found the signet rings of the Pharaoh Ramses II and Nefertiti. Nobody else even glanced at the rings the entire time we were in that room. Much of the Louvre was like that really. Great peices of history relegated to small corners and rarely looked at.

Another exibit that was really interesting was the Venus de Milo. Perhaps the second most famous piece in the Louvre. The statue depicts Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. It can therefore be infered I suppose that the statue depicts the pinacle of beauty from over 2000 years ago. How times have changed. These days we prefer our women unhealthily thin. Aphrodite on the other hand, has a pronounced stomach and curves aplenty. I think i'm with the ancient greeks on this one to be honest.

We eventually left the Louvre with tired legs and glad for a breath of fresh air. We then took the short walk over the Seine to Notre Dame.

It is certainly a magnificient cathedral, and it is easy to see why it is regarded a national treasure. Unfortunately, I feel it has been allowed to become too much of a tourist trap, which has marred its otherwise breathtaking form. Inside for instance are legions of machines which will take your coins in return for a medalion (save it for the shops outside please?). Oh well.

Due to our luck with the Louvre, we thought we'd push our luck and have another go at the Eiffel tower. After another short trip on the metro, we arrived to find all but the bottom level closed and a much larger queue than the previous day. Can't win them all I suppose.

Similar to previous days, we found ourselves exhausted after a long day of walking about in the cold. We did the obligitory eat out in Paris, which was very nice. The waiter was very funny and kept going on about how the French beat the All Blacks 3 years ago. Damn them!

After dinner, we headed back the hotel thus ending our third and final full day in Paris.

+ Show Spoiler [Lots more images] +

The base of the tower mentioned earlier

Another statue, again unimportant enough to warrant a mention on any map

View across the Seine

An amazing church just across the road from the Louvre

Outside the Louvre

Inside the Louvre

Will tag all photos, or describe a particular photo if requested.

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Click here for day 4!

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So ends another day. These all take longer than I think. I like to be detailed though, both for your sake and mine once i've left and am looking back. Perhaps i'll have caught up by the time I leave for another trip into Brussels tomorrow.

Until then,

Alethios

~chut~

France1317 Posts

January 11 2010 17:40 GMT

The tower you've been to is the Tour St Jacques, it's been in renovation works for so long it probably disappeared from guides and maps... It's been a few months only since we can see it again afters years and years !

It's a shame you were in Paris only for 3 days though. One day more at least, you could have walked along the Seine and old parts of the center of Paris. But i hope you enjoy the rest of your trip, what's your plan ? Brussels is cool but it's much smaller than Paris, from here, where are you heading?

Alethios

New Zealand2765 Posts

January 12 2010 08:10 GMT

Well i'm based here in Brussels. I'll be going out and seeing the musuems today. Probably spend the rest of the week travelling around Brussels actually. On the weekend I plan to go to Brugge and possibly Ghent and Antwerp.

Beyond that, I'm not really entirely sure. My thinking is that i'll take week long trips from here to various other places around Europe. Italy is on my list, along with Germany, England and Holland.

If you have any suggestions about places I must see and things I must do, I'm all ears!

aqui

Germany1023 Posts

January 12 2010 09:40 GMT

I dont think England, Holland and Germany are that interesting. If you go there anyway i think concerning Ger. Hamburg is quite nice. The harbour has a kind of "port to the world feeling"(be sure to make a boat round trip with some of the small boats, not the big ones since they dont go to the canals), but perhabs just form an provincial german perspective.I also liked the maritime museum which is well structured and you get an overview of the worlds(ok, maybe eurocentric) history form a seefarers perpspective if you follow the tables and read them.There is also an huge miniature railway thingy that is nice to look at, i think its called Miniatur Wunderland. If you are in Holland Amsterdam is obv. a no brainer, but other people can tell you more. I have never been to England but i imagine it is of similar unspectacularity as Germany, though i always wanted to go to Scotland, but i guess since you are form N.Z. you have seen enough pretty nature for a lifetime.

If you liked the feeling of Paris, what i do recommend is Budapest and Prague. Both cities are really stunning but the feeling is a bit more grave. These are perhabs my two most favourite cities ,eastern europe is very cheap also.

There are of course the other great cities of the past like Rome, Vienne etc. which are all very rich on atmosphere, but perhabs it gets boring after seeing the 10th cities telling of past glories. They are all distinct of course, but i would lighten the trip by doing some non "cultural" stuff in between, like going skiing in the alps or something like that. If you do, i think France has some of the best resorts in the world like Tignes/Val'disere or le trois vallee, which are also not even that expensive.

There is a lot more to do obviously, im sure other people can make more or better suggestions.

Also if you want to go there and only find expensive ways to do so, you did not look well enough. If you are not content with the price you pay for means of transportation, be sure to ask on TL for cheaper ones. In most cases they exist.

edit:
I would also recommend going to a soccer match even if you are not that interested. Go to a town like Dortmund just for the atmosphere. In Dortmund you have 80k spectators at almost every game and they have got the largest standing tribune in europe (südtribüne).
+ Show Spoiler +

It also just costs about 10€ i think ( try to get a ticket for the südtribüne).

Alethios

New Zealand2765 Posts

January 12 2010 16:05 GMT

Thanks for the advice aqui, always much appreciated from anybody.

The reason i'm probably going to take a trip to Germany is that some friends of ours have very kindly offered to put us up. They live near the Black Forest, which i'd really like to see.

I totally agree that my trip should include some 'non-cultural' activities. Though really, I'd like to do things that I can't do elsewhere. I've been skiing before, in Canada and in New Zealand, so i'd take a lot to convince me to do it here too.

I hadn't really considered going to eastern europe, but come to think of it... I've always liked the look of Prague. I'll definitely look into it!

Disregard

China10252 Posts

January 12 2010 16:41 GMT

The European Winter Storm is still affecting the entire region isnt it?

Black Axe

2 Posts

January 13 2010 04:20 GMT

Hi A, Sounds like you are having a good time already. Will show your blog to N/B. Will be a new experience for them. Arohanui, Black Axe

Cambium

United States16368 Posts

January 13 2010 04:33 GMT

Nice pics!

I am curious, how much money did you allocate (for 2 ppl, I presume) for your eurotrip, and how many days in duration? I might be doing either a eurotrip or a South Asia trip depending on financial limitations.

Alethios

New Zealand2765 Posts

January 13 2010 19:38 GMT

On January 13 2010 13:20 Black Axe wrote:
Hi A, Sounds like you are having a good time already. Will show your blog to N/B. Will be a new experience for them. Arohanui, Black Axe

Cheers! Arohanui indeed. Was just expecting an email, rather than you making an account to be honest! Not sure quite how much the teamliquid scene is your kind of thing

On January 13 2010 13:33 Cambium wrote:
Nice pics!

I am curious, how much money did you allocate (for 2 ppl, I presume) for your eurotrip, and how many days in duration? I might be doing either a eurotrip or a South Asia trip depending on financial limitations.

Not sure how much I can help you to be honest. Kelly has been here 4 months already, and our budgets and probably most of our trips are completely seperate. She's flying back at the end of feb, i'm leaving at the start of March.

Also it's not really entirely a question of budget to me. I should have enough money to last me the trip if I live cheaply, but enough extra for anything unexpected.

Tell you what though, I'll let you know how much it cost me, and how much I think I could have saved at the end of the trip.

Black Axe

2 Posts

February 11 2010 23:57 GMT

#10

Hi Mate
Think you should try to get down to Italy ....Venice.... Florence Sienna, Tuscany... at least if not to the Eternal City.

BA

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