Birthdays, Bikes, & A Tower

30Jul08

Now before you begin questioning the relevance of Sarah Jessica Parker, I will ease your mental anguish quickly and explain the meaning of the adjacent photo…

For those in the know, you are already aware that the 28th was Natalie’s birthday (for those less popular individuals, the 28th was Natalie’s birthday). What no one knows however, is that during our first week in Paris, I was held against my will and forced to watch the final two episodes of Sex and the City – which, interestingly enough, take place in Paris.

In a segment of the second episode, Carrie meets an acquaintance for lunch in a particularly interesting Parisan restaurant that features, among other things, a fantastic view of Paris and Japanese faces on chairs. Unbeknownst to Natalie, I was able to locate this unique restaurant using only my good looks, intellect, and of course, Google. So much to her surprise, this same restaurant was where we dined for lunch on her birthday….and much to our surprise, a bottle of Evian Water is €5. Thankfully, Kong has extremely decent prices for lunch, so we did not entirely regret our mistake….though today we did question our French instructor how to politely request “tap” water in order to prevent any further H2O mishaps.

Nonetheless, the birthday lunch was great: the delicious food, the fantastic view, and the vibrant atmosphere made for a completely memorable day – all we were missing was Carrie Bradshaw (and according to Natalie, a pair of Manolo Blahnik’s). Following our lunch, we proceeded to burn calories and trek up to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, where we once again enjoyed the incredible view, as well as the extremely hot weather. We were also able to catch a great Vivaldi concert the night before at La Sainte-Chapelle to kick off the celebrations (gotta love student pricing).

Click here to see a video of the restaurant scene from “Sex and the City”.

Click here for more pictures of lunch at the restaurant, the concert, and Montmartre.

 

Tower of Terror

This past Saturday, we decided to test our endurance (and patience) and climb the Eiffel Tower. As you can tell, I was so exhausted that I decided to strike my fiercest pose upon arrival at the top.

Despite their daunting appearance, the stairs were much easier than expected (although a baguette a day makes the climb to our apartment a daily challenge). Luckily for us, the tower is comprised of three viewing decks, two of which allowed us to take a much needed rest during our ascent. Unlike the CN Tower, the Eiffel Tower is open-air, which makes for a much more exhilarating experience when at the top. The view is utterly incredible, with the entire city stretching across the horizon.

Click here for more photos of our climb.

 

Bicycles

The Tour de France sure has come a long way since this photo – teamwork at its best. If only athletes nowadays cared for their competitors as much as these gentlemen. Talk about skill…

This past Sunday, the Tour de France wrapped up with its final stage: a 140 km ride into Paris, featuring eight laps on the Champs-Élysées. The cyclists were led by an hour long procession of sponsorship vehicles – all of which were decorated in pure European fashion. For example, I can honestly say that I have now seen a giant Lion driving down Champs-Élysées. I guess I can cross that off my Bucket List…

Check out the photos to see more of the craziness.

Also uploaded are some new photo albums, including The Pantheon, The Sewers of Paris, and Our Apartment.

Filed under: Birthday, Eiffel Tower, Tour de France   |  1 Comment

Firefighters, Bones, & Jim Morrison

17Jul08

For those of you that didn’t know, Monday, July 14th was Bastille Day – a national celebration of the formation of the modern French nation and the reconciliation of the constitutional monarchy. It can be better described however, as a quite large, alcohol-fueled, naked, techno party. For immediate evidence of this fact, please refer to the adjacent photograph. For further evidence, check out the photo album.

Now before delving deeper into details, I would like to announce the end of my teaching career: I will now be pursuing Parisian firefighting…

Though Bastille Day was officially Monday, the major (and most popular) celebrations began on Sunday night with the Bal des Pompiers – Firemen’s Ball. Across the city, firehalls opened their doors and became the location of massive parties, in which firefighters acted as bartenders, security guards, and most importantly, objects of desire. After an incredible wait in line, we finally entered and found paradise. For me, endless Champagne and Heineken; for Natalie, naked firefighters. Greeting us at the door for example, were several women and firefighters dancing on a bar, who moments later were locked in a quite large public display of affection. These were also the same men who were later serving us beer, as they rotated through the various occupations. Obviously, the spontaneous stripping was a crowd favourite.

Needless to say, the night was one that will not be soon forgotten – I’m quite certain all firefighters join simply for these two nights (the same parties happened again on Monday night). What makes it even better, is the fact that these firefighters marched proudly (and perhaps slightly hungover) the next morning in the military parade – a display of French military resources, which made its way down Champs-Élysées early Monday morning. Click here to check out some photos of the parade, along with Eiffel Tower Fireworks and here to see more of the Bal des Pompiers.

“Anyone Caught Stealing Bones Will Be Taken Directly to The Police” (viewer discretion)

On Tuesday afternoon, we made a somewhat morbid (though incredibly unique) trip to The Catacombs of Paris – an 18th Century underground ossuary that was created to help solve both a public health & over-population problem. Prior to its construction, most of Paris’ largest churches had their own cemeteries, but city growth and generations of dead soon began to overwhelm them – so much so that neighbouring populations began to suffer from disease due to improper burials and mass graves. After much deliberation, a decision was made to condemn most of these cemeteries and relocate their remains to a vast network of subterranean tunnels and caverns located directly beneath the city. Now a tourist destination, the Catacombs are indescribable – millions upon millions of now anonymous skeletal remains, arranged in an artistic fashion throughout kilometers of underground tunnels – only two of which are open to the public.

Click here if you would like to see more pictures of our adventure to The Catacombs.

“Come on Baby Light My Fire”

Over the weekend, we also made a visit to the largest cemetery in Paris: Pere Lachaise Cemetery. One of the most visited cemeteries in the world, Pere Lachaise is home to over 300,000 residents, which are housed within incredible Sepultures and family tombs. Throughout the cemetery lay many of the world’s most influencial people including Oscar Wilde, Sarah Bernhardt, Frederic Chopin, and of course, James Douglas Morrison. Luckily, we were armed with a map to guide us through the 120 acre labyrinth.

Click here to see photos of our journey to Pere Lachaise.

Filed under: Bastille Day, Pere Lachaise Cemetery, The Catacombs of Paris   |  1 Comment

The Louvre and More

12Jul08

I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is “No, Natalie & I did not dress as Charles V and Jeanne de Bourbon and pose at The Louvre last night”. But I don’t blame you for confusing King Charles’ rugged masculinity with mine. What we did do, however, is manage to cover 2 of the 4 floors at The Louvre in just under four hours. Luckily for us, Friday nights are free for visitors under 26, so we will undoubtedly return to visit the final two floors.

What you first notice about The Louvre is its size: insanely large. As noted above, we were only able to see about half of the museum in just under four hours. I can’t imagine how people would attempt to visit the entire collection in just one day. For ourselves, we stuck just to the sculptures, so unfortunately you will have to wait until later in the month for pictures of us with Mona.

In two words, the sculptures are utterly incredible. Check out the photos for evidence of this fact. The sculptures are arranged first by country/region, and subsequently by year. Obviously, the French sculptures comprise the majority of the collection, occupying over forty different rooms. Northern European work, for instance, requires a mere six. One cannot, however, use this fact as a basis for significance, as I was generally more impressed with the non-French pieces – one can only see so many muscular men before they start looking the same. Besides, I could just look in the mirror…

Now that you’ve finished laughing, I will continue with our visit to The Louvre. We primarily followed tours provided by the audio guide, which turned out to be extremely helpful as the descriptions on the pieces themselves were offered only in French (not surprising). Thus, we were able to learn details about the most significant pieces, which we otherwise would not have known. The Venus de Milo, for instance, is in pretty rough shape and is actually not a completed work – it seems the anonymous sculptor abandoned the project midway through. She did, however, have arms at one point.

Thanks to the free Friday nights, it felt great to actually move through the museum at our own pace and take our time admiring work. Last Sunday for instance, when my parents were in town, it was free admission for everybody, so the museum was completely chaotic. At that time, we entered the museum with the strict plan of maneuvering our way to the Mona Lisa and then maneuvering our way out. Needless to say the under-26 Friday nights is a completely different atmosphere, and we plan on returning to cover the remaining two floors – that is, until Natalie ruins the fun and turns 26 at the end of the month…

Click here to see our photos from Visit 1 to The Louvre. We have also added many more individual albums, such as our trips to Montmartre, Sainte Chapelle, The Conciergerie, Jardin du Luxembourg, and miscellaneous photos added to Paris on Foot.

Filed under: The Louvre, Uncategorized   |  2 Comments

Chateau de Versailles

06Jul08

Yesterday we took a trip to Chateau de Versailles, which is about 25 km south-west of Paris. Primarily built as a hunting lodge, it eventually became the home of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI, as well as Marie Antoinette.

The Chateau itself cannot be described in words and even photographs do not do it justice. On our 2-hour tour for instance, we saw only 18 of 1500 rooms. After the tour of the Chateau, we ventured into the gardens where we grabbed a sandwich and split a bottle of wine with some friends from LA, and strolled through the grounds watching the fountain shows. The gardens are beautiful, as are the fountain sculptures, but the fountain shows left a little to be desired – I guess we are used to the North American Spectacle. The spectacle, however, cannot replicate the historical significance of the entire grounds and Chateau.

Click here for more pictures of our visit – see if you can spot the “resume” of Louis XIV. It’s painted on the entire ceiling of the Hall of Mirrors. Clearly he didn’t think much of himself…

Filed under: Versailles   |  2 Comments

The First Days

03Jul08

What can I say? The first couple of days in Paris have been incredible (incroyable). If you haven’t noticed yet, that is me in front of Notre Dame on my first day.

Despite a few troubles coming in on the train – one rail line went on strike the morning I arrived – I arrived safely. Needless to say it was a little chaotic trying to navigate Paris’ largest metro station during rush hour along with my luggage in tow. I’m pretty sure I upset some people when I ran over their toes with my suitcase.

Since then however, we have done some amazing things such as a guided tour of the Ile de la Cite and a boat ride on the Seine. Not to mention a lot of walking….I actually iced my knee this evening. I think I may need a cane.

The food has been fantastic, even though we are trying to keep within a tiny budget. The cheese and bread are unbelievable – and they go perfectly with the $2.30 bottle of wine we bought this evening. That is not a typo.

Tomorrow we plan to visit the Chateau Vincennes, which is about a five minute walk from our apartment, and then we’re off to a guided tour of Le Jardin du Luxemburg, where we will bring along some wine and relax with some people from Natalie’s school.

Edit: All photos can be found here. Navigate through the albums on the left. New photos/albums will be added as we upload.

Aurevoir!

Filed under: The First Days   |  2 Comments

Our Apartment

21Jun08

After much searching and many “too good to be true’s”, we have finally secured our place in Paris. Although it is actually located in Vincennes, the apartment is only a 15 second walk from the metro, which can take us to central Paris in 15 minutes.

Unlike some of the shoe boxes we found, our place is 47m2 (approx 505 square ft.), with 1 bedroom, a separate living room, full kitchen, and bathroom. Both the bedroom and living area have juliette balconies, while the bedroom has the added bonus of a fireplace – though we’re not entirely sure how handy that will be in the middle of July. Maybe I will bring some marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers – I’ve heard that’s a Parisian delicacy…

The apartment is also steps from the Bois de Vincennes and extremely close to the Château de Vincennes.

For more pictures of the apartment, click here.

Filed under: Apartment   |  1 Comment