Glass

I got to Paris by way of an overnight coach bus. It sounds as pleasant as it was. I was prepared for the journey however because I have experience riding overnight coach buses (Scotland). Besides, I was so pumped for going to Paris that I was not going to let a cramped, sleepless, stuffy night bring me down. I grabbed a seat that I thought would be pretty quiet. I couldn't have been more wrong. The people who sat behind me were a couple and they talked the whole way from London to Dover where we caught the ferry. It was quite annoying. I listened to music and read a book called The Life of Reilly by Paul Burke. It's a romantic comedy book just like Beginner's Greek. I did not like it as much though. It was ok and parts were funny but overall I felt it was kind of blah. It takes place in London though so it was fun to read about all the places that I recognize. The coach drove to Dover and then we got on a ferry. The coach bus drove onto the ferry and then we all got off the bus and found a spot to lay down or sit in the lounges. I found a nice bench to lay down on. It felt so good to just lay down and with the gentle rocking of the boat, I was fast asleep in no time. I prepared and had my passport and money in front pockets (which I was laying on) and my zune and camera under my head. We got back on the bus at Calais, France and drove to Paris. I slept most of the way but the guy behind me was snoring which was annoying.

I took the Metro to a spot near where I thought my hostel was. As I walked, the sun was rising which was very cool. I walked past my hostel a couple times until I actually noticed it. The Young and Happy Hostel. I left my stuff there until I could check in. I decided to follow a walk from a book called Historic Paris Walks is located there and all the classes used to be in Latin. Thus Latin was spoken in the area all the by Leo Hollis. The book went through the Latin Quarter (where I was staying) and up to the Ile de la Cite (where Notre Dame is). The Latin Quarter is called that because La Sorbonne, the big French University, time. I walked by the Pantheon. Just like the one in Rome, this building contains some famous French people's bones. The dome was based on the dome at St. Paul's in London. I could definitely see the resemblance (picture 1). The sun was rising and it the lighting was magnificent. Next I walked by La Sorbonne. It has a very characteristic little tower sticking out of it. The walk continued on to the Musee Cluny. This is an old mansion that was converted into a museum of the Middle Ages. It has some really nice tapestries. I did not get to see them because it was not open yet (neither was the Pantheon).

I stopped off at a cafe right by the Seine River and Notre Dame and bought a cinnamon bun thing for breakfast. It was fantastically delicious. I ate it while I walked around the outside of Notre Dame. I was so happy to be in Paris and eating a delicious cinnamon bun I almost cried. Notre Dame was super beautiful in the soft morning light. It was constructed over 200 years from 1163 to 1345. It is the most perfect example of Gothic art in the world. Notre Dame is right by the Parvis which was the epicenter for the medieval capital. The church is famous for a couple things. One is the gargoyles which adorn the top of the two towers (and feature in The Hunchback of Notre Dame). The other is for the flying buttresses (picture 2). These are architectural devices used to bear the weight of the 112 feet high nave. Walking the church was so cool because the Seine was on my right and the church on my left with blooming trees all around (picture 3). I walked around the whole outside and then went in. The inside was really amazing. The ceiling is very high up above. There is quite a bit of stained glass which tells the story of the Bible. It was pretty dark inside which I did not like. The stained glass windows were really sweet though (picture 4). There was a little mass going on in the choir that I enjoyed watching as well.

I left Notre Dame and made my way over to the Ste. Chapelle. This is a church built by St. Louis (Louis IX) in 1246 to hold some of the relics he got from the First Crusade. There are two levels to the church. The bottom level has some nice red, blue, and gold paintings (I loved these little circle things picture 5), columns, and ceiling (picture 6). At first I thought that this was all there was to the church. I had never really read about the church other than it was an amazing place to see. I saw someone go up the stairs and followed them. Then I noticed why they say people should come here. The servants used the lower church and the King used the upper and I can see why. There are 15 stained glass windows. Each window is probably 25-30 ft. tall. With the sun shining, it has an absolutely stunning effect. There are over 1000 little pictures through the windows. In between each set of windows is a statue of an apostle (picture 7). These are also really well done. The chandeliers seem to float rather than hang from the ceiling (picture 8). It was jaw-dropping beauty. I just sat and gaped at the splendor of it all for a while. The high altar used to be much more spectacular but it was melted down in the Revolution. This was one of my favorite places of my time abroad so far. After Ste. Chapelle I walked over to La Conciegerie. This was a jail and then a palace and then a jail again. Its most famous resident was Marie Antoinette. I wasn't that impressed by the place (at least not after the place before). There were some wax figures showing what life in the prison was like. I thought it was pretty tacky. Another problem with this place was how tired I was getting. Getting only 3 hours or less of sleep was starting to catch up with me.

On the way to the Louvre (my next stop) I passed by a flower market. There was a store there of orchids (Mom, you would have flipped). The orchids were fantastic. I don't know anything about flowers but I knew that these were beautiful (picture 9). The Louvre used to be a palace but is now the biggest museum in the world. It is only short walk away from Ste. Chapelle. I walked over to the main square where the big pyramid (and little ones) is located. It is so strange seeing them next to these very classical building (picture 10). I sat and rested a bit and then walked a little ways away and bought a baguette sandwich. I ate it by the pyramid and then went inside. The Louvre is almost too big if you ask me. There is so much stuff and so many rooms that when I would stop to look in one room I was still thinking about all the stuff I passed by in the other rooms. I did not like that feeling. It is also so big that it gets REALLY tiring walking around trying to see all the really famous stuff. I did get the energy to see them though. I saw the Mona Lisa (picture 11). The glass protecting it was annoying because there was always a ton of glare. The Venus de Milo was really cool even though it didn't have arms. The Code of Hammurabi was in a special exhibit so I couldn't see it. There were some Parthenon marbles there just like the ones in the British Museum. Speaking of that, I felt like the Lourve was like combining the size and breadth of the British Museum (huge) and the National Gallery (huge) and combining them into some super museum that was just too much. That's just my opinion though. The halls that the paintings were in were amazing in and of themselves (picture 12). Another famous piece that I saw was Winged Victory (picture 13). I liked that one even though it didn't have a head. I was very frustrated because the Dutch and Arab Galleries were closed. The Dutch Gallery has a Vermeer which I wanted to see because Mom likes him and the Arab Gallery supposedly has one of the greatest collections of Arab art in the world. Alas, I couldn't see them. Another problem with my understanding and liking of the Louvre was that all the info things were in French. I don't blame them for that but it did make it tough for someone like me to read them or gain any real understanding.

I was getting too tired to really appreciate what I was seeing so I walked around a little more (I think I walked around 75% of the museum) and then left. I laid down by the pyramid on a bench thing and actually fell asleep for a minute but immediately woke up. I knew when that happened that it was time to get back to the hostel before I passed out in a street or something, haha. I walked back and then checked into my room. It was a 6 bed dorm room. One guy was from Toronto and so was a girl (not together). They both smoked (they went out on the step together to do that). Another woman was from California. Everyone in my room was nice. I laid down in my bed and ended up napping for a couple hours which felt glorious. I ate dinner at a Mediterranean take out place a block from the hostel. All along the street were different ethnic restaurants. I came back to the hostel and finished The Life of Reilly and then went to bed basically. While I was reading, a mariachi band started playing at the bar across the street. I thought it was quite random. It felt so good to sleep and I didn't even notice the noise.