Paris - Day 2 - Down the Seine from the Louvre

Yup, still on Day 2. What can I say? It was a busy, busy day...

So, once we finished the greatest hits of the Louvre, we exited to walk down the Place de la Concorde (where nothing historically important ever happened...unless you count that time when Louis XVI lost his head but hey who does?) where we saw an awesome view of the Eiffel Tower behind the Fountain of River Commerce and Navigation (above) and the Obelisk (below).

Located dead centre of the Place, this obelisk is the real, authentic deal; made by Egyptians, engraved with Egyptian, from Egypt, and gifted to France by the Egyptians. Allow me to say that in a way that, you know, actually makes sense. This beauty is giant and engraved from tip to base with hieroglyphics exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramesses II, a pharaoh whose fame is probably second only to King Tutankhamen (I would say third, after Akenaten as well, but I don't think anyone besides me and the similarly history obsessed, know who he is). In the nineteenth century, Egypt gave it to the French along with its mate, the pair of which once stood outside the entrance of Luxor temple. What happened to its mate, you asked? Well, I did say this all happened in the nineteenth century - the other was too heavy for the technology of the time to relocate so it was left where it was and eventually given back to the Egyptians. In a show of brilliance, the French opted to engrave the base with engravings depicting how exactly they went about the relocation. Guess they figured it was enough not knowing how the pyramids had come to be...

So, we continued walking down the Champs-Élysées, which was one of those streets lined with shops. Do you know what one of those shops was? The Disneystore! When I went to Florence, I got a Mickey and Minnie pair. In London, I got my Retro Mickey and Minnie pair. I couldn't go to Paris and NOT get a Mickey. So I did. I dragged poor Christa and her mom into the Disney store and got myself a Paris Mickey. To be fair, I did warn them about this...

After this little mission was accomplished, we grabbed supper before poor Christa fainted. We found a pretty good franchise called Hippopotamus where I had the steak and got to break out more of my French.

The Champs-Élysées ends with the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc is, quote, "the centre of a dodecagonal configuration of twelve radiating avenues" - which is a fancy way of saying bunches of roads leads there; it's the Rome of Paris. It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes. In other words, long before he had the bright idea to invade Russia. In winter. Laying the foundations alone took two years and, in 1810, when Napoleon entered Paris from the west with his new bride Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, he had a wooden mock-up of the completed arch constructed. Construction took so long, the original architect actually died and had to be replaced...and then temporarily stopped during the Bourbon Restoration and finally finished in 1836, just in time for Napoleon's corpse to return home for reburial in 1840, his procession passing under it on its journey to his final resting place at the Invalides. And here's me. In front of the Arc. Ha!

After seeing the arc, my poor, poor companions were dragged on yet another of my missions. A ways down from the Eiffel Tower, in the opposite from the Louvre and Arc and such, the Seine River holds a man-made island called Île aux Cygnes. Now, everyone and their uncle knows that France gave the Statue of Liberty to the USA as a "Hey! You threw off the yolk of a monarchy to gain independence. We did that too.  That makes us like siblings, so here - have a statue!" gesture. What not many people know is that almost three years later the American population of Paris gave the city a smaller replica of Lady Liberty (22m high as oppose to the original's 46m) in honour of the centennial of the French Revolution. At first, the statue was turned east, to face the Eiffel Tower, but in 1937, it was rotated to the west, in the direction of its larger sibling in New York City . Its base carries a commemorative plaque, and the tablet in its left hand bears the inscription IV Juillet 1776 = XIV Juillet 1789, recognizing the American Independence Day and Bastille Day, respectively. Thank you, National Treasure 2.

And, naturally, where else would you end a day in Paris but at the Eiffel Tower? Did you know that at night the Eiffel Tower marks the hour with its lights? It goes all blinky and glittery for a full five minutes - it's quite the sight to see.

Paris - Day 2 - The Louvre

Ah, the Louvre. Once a palace, now one of the world's greatest art museums boasting a collection my friend Michelle, an Art History major, would kill for. Not to mention its role in The Da Vinci Code. And I got to see it. Which led to total nerding out. Oh! And guess what? Because of Mr. Hip (the otherwise established bane of my existence), I got free admittance into all of the museums and historical sites in Paris, as did Christa, for living in Europe, and Christa's mom, because little old disabled me might need assistance after all. If it weren't so dirty, I'd love this city.



Right, so geeking out...let's take this one total geek out at a time, shall we?

Way back in the twelfth century, the Palais du Louvre was born as as a fortress intended to aid in the defense of the banks of the Seine river against invaders from the north. Now the Louvre houses art, once it housed kings, but in the beginning, it housed weapons. Needless to say that over the coming centuries, extensive remodeling happened and the fortress became a palace and then, sometime after Louis XIV opted to relocated to Versailles, eventually a museum. Now, all that remains of that original fortress are a series of walls near the building's foundations. Want to take a wild guess what's in the background of the above picture?

Now, the Louvre has an art collection that includes pieces from all over the globe and throughout history. It's like the TARDIS of art museums. Ancient Egyptian sphinx? Check. Ancient Greek gods? Check. Alexander the Great engravings? Check. Ancient Roman busts? Check. You could spend a whole week in there...unless you were limited to forty-eight hours. Then you sort of have to limit yourself to a Greatest Hits tour and cross your fingers you'll get a second chance someday to return and go for more depth.

Which in no way stopped me from indulging in more than one just-for-fun pose. I mean, who doesn't want to let their inner goddess out now and again? And if you're going to mimic a goddess' pose, Athena's the way to go. She doesn't get kidnapped like Persephone or keep a strangle hold on her virginity or serve as little more than a god's prop. Nope, Athena's the goddess of wisdom, she who beats out Poseidon, a god second only to Zeus in power, for patronage of Athens, who showed up Arachne by first proving her wrong and THEN turning her into a spider, who helped guide numerous heroes to glory and fame, including Ulysses and Perseus. Provided you're willing to overlook the whole Medusa incident, Athena just rocks, plain and simple. And look at me, rocking her pose.

Perhaps one of the most famous statues ever, the Venus de Milo is a twenty-one hundred year old marble sculpture of Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love. Why is she called Venus de Milo you ask? Venus is the name of Aphrodite's Roman conterpart. The Milo is taken from where she was discovered - in the ruins of the city of Milos on the island of the same name in the Aegean. Her fame was born for two reasons. One, when she was discovered and claimed by the French, the Spanish had just taken back the Medici Venus that Napoleon Bonaparte had stolen once upon a time. As a result, the French went a bit crazy with the public promotion. Two, you may have noticed her lack of arms. She was discovered with fragments of her left arm and hand, the latter of which was grasping an apple, and an inscribed plith,  but no right arm was in sight. By the time she reached Paris, the plinth and what arm remnants there had been were lost as well, giving her an air of mystery. And here I am; wallowing in the mystery.

In my second...possibly third...semester of CEGEP, I had to take an Art History course. I hated it. For three hours I had to sit in a darkened basement room and look at slide after slide of various ancient sculptures, engravings, mosaics, architecture and so on while my professor - who had the most dreadful Eastern European accent - droned on. Fifty percent of our grade was made up of three exams that I totally flopped because, no, I did not remember the exact year this sculpture was carved or that building was erected or that mosaic was completed and I honestly could not care less. I do know what years Roman was founded and Alexander took the throne and Greece fought the Peloponesian War and Hannibal crossed the Alps. Events interest me, art for its own sake...I can appreciate its beauty, I can be intrigued by its subject matter, and that's where my interest ends.

The other fifty percent of the grade came from an essay. The professor provided a list of paired pieces and we had choose a set on which to write a comparative essay. I chose the Winged Victory of Samothrace and Nike Adjusting Her Sandal. Why? Because I liked Nike, thought the pieces were beautiful, and didn't think many others would choose them. I wrote the essay the night before it was due and, due to extreme indifference at this point, I basically just copied the instructions from the professor's handout and filled in the blanks with the relevant information.

Fast forward two weeks and the professor was handing out the corrected essays and, for the most part, everyone failed. I think the highest grade was 68. Given that until that point, my highest grade had been 63, my hopes weren't high. And then she gave me mine. I got 100. I passed that course with an 82 - the lowest grade of my Liberal Arts degree. I freaking LOVE Nike Adjusting Her Sandal and The Winged Victory of Samothrace.

Want to guess who's that standing behind me?

Oh. And you want to know what else is at the Louvre? This:

Leonardo da Vinci painted this little beauty between 1503 and 1506 and, from the day of her completion until the day da Vinci died, she remained his constant companion. After da Vinci's passing, it passed into the hands of Francis I of France and eventually became the property of the French Republic. She has been on display in the Louvre since 1797 and attracts crowds so dense she merits her own room. Getting to the front of said crowd to snap the photo required shoulders, elbows, and knees playing the offense and certain degree of flexibility to avoid getting the same in turn. I may have had to tear up a little at one point to get a bit of space for photo taking. I would have loved to have joined her in a picture, but I was lucky enough to get her solo as it was!

Twice.

I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to the lady's whose foot I stomped on to get her to move. In my defense, your elbow said hello to my ribs first. Not an excuse, I know, but not unjustified either. If anyone reading this plans to visit the Mona Lisa, think rugby and prepare accordingly. 

Paris - Day 2 - Notre Dame & Pantheon

I admit I may have gotten a bit...planning crazy. So much to do, so little time...you know how it goes.

My first impression of Paris, BTW, is that it's not a city overly concerned with the image it presents. In London, every morning sees street cleaners out with brooms and cleaning carts working to ensure London is as bright and shiny as can be for the day's tourists and travelers. Paris, meanwhile, has a virtual carpet of cigarette butts coating its sidewalks and seems to be totally okay with dogs pooping where they please and the results being left for nature to deal with. London marks their streets for pedestrians with the ever handy dandy "LOOK LEFT" or "LOOK RIGHT" or "LOOK BOTH WAYS" directions. When the crosswalks turn green, the admit loud beeps to warn drivers and, heck, when they say pedestrians get the right of way, they actually MEAN they get the right of way. In Paris, crossing the street is taking your life in your hands. Say a prayer and good luck.

Needless to say, it added a certain spice to the adventure.

Today began with a trip to Notre Dame Cathedral. There was a cafe right outside the metro's exit where we stopped for breakfast. Poor Christa is one of those people who absolutely must eat at regular intervals or her body begins shutdown procedures. Ironically, when she does eat, she fills up quickly so doesn't eat very much per sitting. So, thus, while I'm usually one to skip breakfast snack at lunch and go big for supper, the potential fainting of my friend meant a change of plans. I had a cheese omelet.

Notre Dame was literally across the street from the cafe. I kept flashing to various scenes from Disney's Hunchback...which lead me to worry about molten hot metal pouring out of the gargoyles' mouths and had me humming "God Helps the Outcasts" while walking through the interior. I had wanted to just...slip into the line and go in but Christa (AKA She of the Goody-Goody Shoes) insisted we start at the back of the line. I sigh. It was a pretty beautiful place and more than deserving of the hype. I had promised my mom I'd get her rosary beads from Notre Dame but, of course, the gift shop was closed so we opted to kill time and return later to try again.

Do you know what's around the corner from Notre Dame? The Pantheon. It's basically a really, really big mausoleum where some of the most prominent and famous citizens of Paris are buried. This would include Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Pierre Curie and Marie Curie - the last of whom is the one of only two woman interred at the site and the only one there in her own rights. It was pretty awesome. And mildly creepy.

Went back to Notre Dame. Gift shop still closed so opted to try again the next morning.

We then walked along the Seine, following it deeper into the city. Saw some sites, some bridges, this and that, and then finally happened upon...The Louvre! Which, for obvious reasons, merits its own post so stay tuned!

Paris - Day 1 - Eurostar & the Bastille

It was the longest morning in the history of mornings. It just seemed to stretch on forever. I woke up. I unpacked and repacked my bag. I made myself lunch (because, yup, I slept late). I watched old episodes of Murder, She Wrote and The Middleman. I Skyped with my mom. I waited. Finally, Christa and her mom - a lovely woman named Tina - arrived on my doorstep (their original plan to check out the British Museum was a bust when it turned out their baggage was too big to be checked so they opted to meet up at my place early). And then we waited some more. I thought I would die from all the waiting. 4:22PM could not have come too soon!

Finally, after it turned out that, nope, wasn't going to die after all, it was time to head out for St Pancras train station. We hopped the Piccadilly and thirty minutes later realized we were way too early and went in search of supper. Ended up grabbing burgers at some frou-frou burger place...Burgers Inc or Gourmet Burger or something like that. Ironically, we were almost late snagging our train. We went through security - where lucky me got a pat down - and then had to dash to make it. I didn't get the window seat. This was a travisty of epic proportions, but I opted to be the big girl I appear to be on the outside and downplay my horror. Woman sitting next to me had her husband seated in the window seat on the opposite side...and across the aisle. He was surrounded by this Jewish family's children; a daughter next to him, and two more daughters and a son across from him, all under the age of 7ish. I offered to switch and so did Christa, but he claimed it was fine. Half an hour in, the kids were all out like lights so he may have been on to something.

We took the Eurostar, did I mention that? It was a two and a half hour ride that travelled under the Channel for a leg and gave some pretty nifty views of both the English and the French countrysides. Unfortunately, it also travelled so fast that said views were gone as quickly as they came and photos were impossible.

We reached Paris. Walked out into the station, navigated ourselves out to the street, walked in the wrong direction, corrected our course, and found our hostel. I discovered I am a magnet for strange men - most of the crazy, drunk, or just plain weird variety - wanting either directions or to offer directions. That was fun.

After settling in, we went back out with the intention of checking out Sacre Couer. Unfortunately we went south instead of north and, after getting lost and found, we opted to see the Bastille instead. Anyone who has ever heard of the French Revolution has heard of the Bastille. Once upon a time, it was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. You've heard of the Tower of London? The Bastille was essentially its French counterpart, where kings would put the prisoners too important or influential for the head-chopping part of the program. Like Voltaire. Its Revolution fame came when it was stormed by a crowd on 14 July 1789, thus becoming an important symbol for the French Republican movement. Unlike the Tower of London, however, the Bastille did not survive to today and was eventually demolished. The Place de la Bastille took its place.

Afterward, we grabbed supper at McDonald's. Don't give me that look - after much debating, we just went with what was nearby and it happened to be McDonald's. Don't give me that look - it's true!

We had a small debate on how to best work out ticket purchasing for the next few days (whether to but ticket booklet or multi-day pass) where I got to break out my French - that was fun; Quebec would be so proud - and then it was back to the hostel to rest up before Day 2 - AKA our first full day of Paris exploration!

Term End Break: The Beginning!

Last week was spent entirely at the super-casual school of past fame, with the exception of Friday when I was reshuffled and sent to Slough instead. When Friday came around, Christa slept over and we watched movies online and ordered Chinese take-out.This week GPS was void (term end break is upon me with the first two weeks of April being off and, consequently, a month worth of GOS voidness to look forward to *sigh*) and I only had three days - one at super-casual in year one, two in Slough with Nursery.

Thursday I did nothing more exciting than ordering Chinese take-out for supper. Friday I went out and ran some errands. Had to get euros for my impending Paris excursion and return a shirt that looked more appealing online than in my hands. Finally, I saw G.I. JOE: Retaliation and grabbed some pizza to end out my day. Can I just say that I really, really, REALLY hope they find some plot loop for the third film (which has already been green lit, FYI, by Paramount) to resurrect Duke. I loved his character both in this film and the last and, also? With him dead I worry about poor Baroness sitting in some lab, getting her nanites removed, so she can be with a man who isn't there anymore. On the plus side, however, no matter what the third film is sure to have oodles of Snake Eyes and, really, can you ever have too much of the strong, silent, ninja type?

Saturday I vegged, working on my writing which I swear is just this || close to be finished...or at least the second draft is. Who knows how many drafts it'll need before I'm satisfied? Sunday I went out again - to see Jack the Giant Slayer (I'm a movie buff, okay? I love movies, ergo I see lots of them - don't judge) and Ewan McGregor was pretty darn funny.

Which brings us to today. I didn't sleep much last night - two of my roommates (the third having gone home to Canada) headed off for a Greek cruise this morning and their friends slept over here last night; need more be said? I did manage to grab a few winks eventually and then spent the rest of the day Skyping with my mom, updating my blog (clearly) and making some macaroons (don't laugh - I have photographic proof, thank you very much).

 

Wednesday I head off with Christa and her mom for Paris. So excited I wish I had a TARDIS around to jump ahead and have this wait be over already! Needless to say, my next post is sure to be interesting!

Toodles!

Happy Birthday to ME!

So, after a great week with five days of full day teaching came the hands-down, best day of the entire year: MY BIRTHDAY! As of Friday, I am officially 25 years old, a quarter century, twenty-and-five. Let's all take a moment here to let that sink in.

How did I spend this once-in-a-lifetime milestone? After work, I came back to the house and, with my mom's help via Skype, picked out an outfit. I grabbed the Tube over to Victoria and there I met up with Christa and we walked over to the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Why you ask? Well, because for my birthday Christa had bought us tickets to see...

Yup. Wicked. I saw WICKED (the 7.30PM showing, to be exact) and it was incredible. Well, okay, the first song that Glenda/Galinda sang must've had a mic issue because she sounded like bad opera, but everything else about it was terrific. I loved the acting - it was just the right blend of seriousness, comedy, romance, and fourth-wall skirting. I loved the story - which had a surprising twist ending I did not see coming. I loved the actors, especially the ones play Elphaba, G(a)linda and Fiyero. I loved the stage and watching all the set changes. I mean, hell, check it out:

It was just an all around awesome experience and I can't thank Christa enough for the gift! (Although I can repay, of course, when her birthday comes around in November.) Oh, and also? I ended up buying myself a Wicked hoodie - officially called "Color Block Logo Hoodie" - and it's so soft and warm! Got it oversized, of course, for extra cuddly value.

Afterward, since it was so late, most of the restaurants we tried were either closed or not serving food, so we ended up grabbing Burger King and heading back to my place where Christa slept over after a failed attempt to watch the original Wizard of Oz flick.

Saturday, we grabbed brunch at Giraffe by Big Ben, then headed over to haunt Shepherd's Bush for a spell before catching supper at Nando's and seeing Django Unchained. It was a phenomenal weekend! Definitely set itself as the birthday celebration to beat, LOL.

Oh, and as a final extra special something, I already know that I'll be teaching the full of next week at the super-casual school I mentioned and what can be better than having your whole week booked before it even begins? Let me hear you say BOOYAH! Happy Saint Patty's Day, peeps.

Uneventful Events

So, last week was pretty uneventful; with GPS void, I pretty much had an entire week of TA work (well, four of the five days at any rate). On the weekend, Christa came over and we booked our trip to Paris for the next break coming up in April and then went to the cinema to catch Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. It was a pretty good movie and I loved Jeremy Renner as a diabetic, kickass Hansel.

This week went a heck of a lot more exciting. TA work on Monday, but my consultant agreed to pay me my full teacher's rate. I had a half-day of teaching on Tuesday in south-west London; the commute was brutal but afterward I met up with Christa for supper at Nando's near London Bridge on the Thames. Wednesday's teaching was at a school in Hackney, probably the only school in London that doesn't have uniforms and has students calling their teachers by their first names. There was a new school on Thursday near Wembley stadium and a great good year three class that, according to the TA, could have been even better. I ended my week with a trip to Slough and Nursery.

Today is Jeeves' birthday so yesterday he came to town and we went to the National Portrait Gallery (which has portraits of bunches and bunches of historical figures from the last five hundred years or so, most of them noble). We grabbed a meal at T.G.I.Friday's then walked over to Big Ben and Westminster station where we parted ways. I went on to meet up with Christa and head over to the theatre to see Oz, the Great and Powerful. I was so excited - I am such a huge Oz fangirl - and the movie didn't disappoint. Now it's just five more days until my own birthday...can you say impatient much?

Like I said, not all that much going on - especially when you can't take photos of the museum exhibits and you're trying to completely bore your readers with play-by-plays of the movies you see. Given that next week's my birthday, though, I'm sure I'll have more exciting news then.

Until next time, my dears!