Day 17: Paris Day 3

Friday, our last day in Paris, started out with checking out of our hotel and heading to the Louvre.  We went inside this time to see all of the worlds most amazing pieces of art.  Even though I don't know "how to appreciate" art, I still appreciated what I saw.  

My favorite piece was Winged Victory.  It is stunning.  You walk down this long hallway, turn and at the top of a large set of stairs you see this amazing statue that looks like it's ready to take flight into the wind.  It was lovely!

Next, we booked it to the Mona Lisa.  I knew that there would be crowds there an so we wanted to see it as early as possible.  Luckily we didn't have to fight anyone to get up close to see it.  I do think it is beautiful but it is quite small and nothing that left me in awe.  We saw several other amazing pieces while we were there:

Law Code of Hammurabi

Venus di Milo

Michelangelo's Slaves

We saw SO much at this museum including Liberty Leading the People, The Coronation of Napoleon, and Napoleon's Apartments!  It's a place you could literally spend days in if you wanted to see everything.  We got lost several times because it is so huge.  We were all still so tired from the day before that we sat as much as possible.  I feel like I would've appreciated the pieces we saw and the museum itself more if we had more energy.  If I were to do everything all over again, I would probably do the Louvre the first day so that I could enjoy it more.  So this is how we felt during the Louvre...

And this is how we felt after the Louvre when we got ice cream!  We went to the island Saint Michael (the smaller island in the Seine, not the one Notre Dame is on).  I got Hazelnut and white chocolate ice cream and it was delicious.

Next we went to the Orangerie (pronounced or-on-ger-e) where Monet's Waterlilies are displayed.  I was impressed with their beauty and the clearly impressionist style but I really just enjoyed sitting and looking at them in a quiet room.  We couldn't take pictures in the museum so we took a picture in the gift shop instead.  We found a book that I almost bought for Katherine since she is getting married called "100 Best Places to Kiss in Paris."

Our final museum stop was the Hotel de les Invalides (don't even try to pronounce) where Napoleon is buried.  I think that they really admire Napoleon as a great war hero over here... or at least that is the impression I got, which is strange to me because the rest of the world hates him.  We were too tired to try to take a jumping picture... so this is our non-jumping picture.

This is Napoleon's tomb.  His actual body is inside of something like 8 different coffins and is displayed under this huge rotunda.  I think they really like this guy... 

For dinner we decided to spend a little bit more money because it was our last meal in Paris.  I felt like I hadn't had any AMAZING food in Paris which is one of the things it's known for.  So I ordered the most Parisian things on the menu and hoped for the best.  I got duck for dinner and creme caramel for dessert.  I was sorely disappointed with both, unfortunately.  It wasn't bad but it wasn't all that great either.  If I ever go back to Paris, I think I need to research great places to eat before I go.

Before heading back to the Chunnel, we went to a place called Pere Lachaise.  It's a very old cemetery and it's AWESOME!  The headstones are all above ground and beautifully decorated.  The newer headstones are still made to look like they're old.  There are huge trees and the tombs have moss all over them... it sounds kind of weird but it was beautiful and peaceful.  Some of the graves are heavily decorated and some look like they have not been kept up in years.  I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but the trees have little pink flowers on them.  The petals have fallen from the trees onto the tombs which made me smile because even though no one comes to the tombs to remember the people buried there, flowers are still placed upon the graves by the trees.  We went to this site specifically at the end because it was a peaceful walk and we got the see the graves of Rossini, Chopin, and Oscar Wilde.

The trip to Paris was so wonderful!  It was magical and I got to do so many things that I've learned and dreamt about but never thought I'd get to actually do.  The language barrier wasn't even a problem for the most part (unless I wanted to read about pieces of art in any of the museums).  I would recommend it as a vacation to anyone, however, I would never want to live there.  It is dirty and smelly.  The public transportation system is not well organized and quite slow.  There are no public restrooms anywhere which can make things very inconvenient.  Some men are creepy (we stayed clear of them as often as possible, don't worry) and people don't really like to talk to us for the most part.  The entire atmosphere of Paris is romantic and charming but I don't think I ever really need to go back there.  The time we spent in that city was just enough.  

We were all so excited to get back home to London.  London truly feels like my home now!  I have never been so happy to ride the Tube before.  It is so clean and nice and well organized so that I know where I'm going.  The atmosphere of London is so much more my pace and my style.  I love this city.  I feel like I really could live here some day and I almost really want to.  The more time I spend here, the more I don't want to leave.  

Paris was a great little vacation but I'll saw au revoir to that city and give a nice big 'ello to good ol' London town!