Day 5 - Tour de France - Part One

March 16, 2012

Last full day in Paris, so sad. I initially had three things planned for today: Catacombs, Louvre, and Palace of Versailles. Unfortunately I scrapped Versailles before I even left the apartment this morning. Sad right? I know and I am sorry. I did it for three reasons:

1. I have already been.
2. I really just wanted to see the gardens, and I had a feeling that like the other gardens I have seen in Paris everything was going to be leave-less. (Its winter). 
3. Based on the rate I have been going, I was never going to make it there. You must understand that Versailles is to the rather extreme southwest outside of Paris. It was going to be a good 30 minute Metro ride. 

However, I did see WAY more today than I planned! I saw a lot! I had no intentions on seeing so much, but life is funny that way. I am very thankful! I have a feeling that this might be another 2 part blog post. First I passed by the food market down the street from my apartment. I meant to go here sooner, but never got around to it. Very fresh fruits and vegetables. I would have bought some, but the US is real funny about bringing foreign produce into the country. 

My next stop is the Catacombs. Creepy...I know. I have said time and time again that I do not do death, graves, things like this very well. I have always felt as if I was messing with some serious mojo. Lol! This place had signs up everywhere asking people to not touch the bones out of respect. Well duh! Why on Earth would someone want to touch those bones? Once again, you are messing with some serious mojo. I happily kept my hands to myself! At this point I should mention that flash photography was not allowed. It should go without saying, but the catacombs are a pretty dark place, not well lit. My poor camera had the hardest time focusing without any light. Just a few facts, the Paris Catacombs are home to about 6 million people. It was quite the labyrinth. It spans 1.5 km (1 mile). It was rather cold, and water was seeping from the Earth in various places. A drop of water got on my head...yuck! I had to walk down 114 steps to get to the catacombs, and then walk 83 steps to get back up. Check out the steps, they were no joke!

Cool pics huh? Creepy...but still cool! :)

Outside of the entrance/exit of the catacombs I saw some pretty cool statues and buildings. I do not know the meaning of them, if any, but I thought they would be blog worthy.
Bottom Right: This is a picture of Tour Montparnasse Tower. It is a 689 ft. skyscraper, with arguably the best view of Paris.

At this point I am on the south side of Paris looking for the next Metro station so I can go on to the Louvre. Walking, walking, walking...next thing I know I see Les Invalides. I was not planning on seeing this, but life is real funny like that. It was at this point that I realized that sometimes in life we spend to much time riding the metaphorical Metro and not enough time walking and enjoying life. At this point, being so close, I just decided to walk it out and see the wonder that was placed before me. For those of you wondering, Les Invalides is a large museum, actually several small museums together, of all things French Military. It also doubles as a retirement home for war veterans.

It amazes me how the most beautiful things are the oldest. These places really have a calming effect on me. I really become carefree. Amazing. Okay, I think this wraps up Part One. Look out for Part Two in the next couple of days.

Day 4 - Back in Paris - Part Two

March 15, 2012

Last stop for the day, Montmartre. This Paris district is uniquely located on top of a hill. Montmartre is home to the famous Moulin Rouge, Basilique du Sacre-Coeur (Basilica of the Scared Heart), and Place de Tertre. If you want to get there, here is how:
Hahahahahaha! Yeah right...
This is how I got there:
Once at the top, the Basilique du Sacre Cloeur is in view. This Roman Catholic church is dedicated to the sacred heart of Jesus.

From here you have a beautiful view of Paris!

I decided to wonder around for a bit, and saw some pretty cool things! This part of Paris is the night scene and has a lot of souvenir shops. I actually wonder down into an interesting part of town known as Quartier Pigalle (last picture below). This street was packed with people. Shops were lined up and down both sides of the street. Funny thing is that all of the shops were either sex shops or strip joints. Remember when I used the word "interesting"? Now you know why. Haha. When I first wondered on to the street I thought to myself, "How cool! Crowded shopping street all lit up." Then I saw the first sex shop, and then the next, and next. I thought "Oh boy, I am in trouble. Where in the hell am I?" The street seemed safe, but unsafe at the same time. It was quit strange. It is one of those things you just have to be there to understand.

Day 4 - Back in Paris - Part One

March 15, 2012

Today is my fifth day in Paris, however it is only my second day of exploring Paris. Not too much on the agenda today, just go to the Science Musuem and then off to Montmarte. I only planned to do two things today because I had a feeling I was going to take a while at the Science Musuem. Unfortunately I did not make it out of the apartment today until 11 am. The past two days have left me dog tired. In the last 48 hours I have been on four planes and to three countries. Whose idea was this? No matter, it is definatley worth it.

I got to the Science Musuem about noon. I had no idea it was going to be this big! I wish I had a picture of the building from outside to show you, but they were doing heavy construction everywhere. Let's see if I can find a picture on the internet. Here ya go:
I spent 6 hours in this musuem. I would have stayed longer, but it was closing time and they  kicked me out. :( How dare they! I am just a girl trying to learn. That's all. Sheesh! The main builing was four levels. I was able to do half of the second level and half of the third level. I got to see a show in their planatarium about, you guessed it...the universe. Haha! It just talked about stars, planets, outerspace, and how the universe came to be. It was about 45 minutes long, and was narrated by Whoopi Goldburg. I got to sit in one of those cool reclining chairs. Just gazing at the stars, how beautiful. My last stop in the musuem was to their I-MAX theature which is located inside the big metal globe (picture below). If you have never been to an I-MAX, I strongly suggest you get to one. I watched the movie Hubble. Strong emphasis on the word "watched". The movie was in French. As I have expressed before, I do not know French. The women at the ticket counter told me the show was in English, but what she failed to tell me is that I had to get an audio guide. She could of included that. Nevertheless, I followed along just fine and enjoyed every minute of it. Here are pictures from the Science Musuem:

2nd Row Left: They had these cool touch screens everywhere! Just like the ones on NCIS:LA. Super cool to play with!

3rd Row Right: Demonstrates how a mass can warp space-time.

5th Row Left: Vulcain Engine, used to launch rockets into outer space.

5th Row Middle: An interactive game, where the udders are your joysticks. Haha!

5th Row Right: Demonstrates the Gaussian (Bell) Curve.

Bottom Left: Bullx S6010 Computer Server. A cluster of 4,300 of these servers make up the Tera 100 Supercomputer which has 300 TB of memory.

Bottom Right: Quote on the display case - "Duct tape and velcro are the two most important tools for space crews." (Jean-Francois Clervoy)

Me in the planetarium:

The Globe with IMAX inside:

Next up I went to Montmartre. I think I am going to do a Part Two blog post for Montmartre, as this post has gotten really long. I hope everyone is enjoying these post! :)