Sunday, October 28, 2007

But We Have to See Everything

I can't even keep track of everything that we saw, let alone on which day. I've been a bit overwhelmed with all the photos and finally decided I had to just grab some and post.

First up is Morey's photo of Janet taking a photo on the Pont Alexandre III:


On 24 October, Morey went to the Louvre to see lots and lots and lots of paintings, sculpture and Egyptian stuff. Janet and I went to the Decorative Arts Museum instead - I'll post about that another day. My husband stayed home and made us delicious Italian Weddding Soup for dinner. Or was that another day? I get all confused.

On 25 October, Janet, my sweetie, and I took a walk down to the Marais for a bit of sightseeing and falafel sandwiches (which were delicious). We came across this holiday store, featuring Santa AND witches:


We then met Morey for a tour of the Crypts of Paris, which was horribly boring. I don't know how "crypt" translates into english, but it's got to be a faux amis. We saw building foundations from the Roman period. Dull, dull, dull.

The Conciergerie was built in the early 1300's. Look at the gorgeous ceiling of the Hall of Men-at-Arms:


Janet and I in one of the four fireplaces. Gives you a sense of the scale:

During the French Revolution the Conciergerie was used as a prison, which is how the building got it's name. (I hadn't realized that a concierge is a keeper.) More than 2,700 people spent their last moments here before going to the guillotine. This is the pitcher that Marie-Antoinette may have used to take her last drink:

On Friday, the skies were very gray and we were all wiped out so we skipped Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. Late in the afternoon Morey was going through a guidebook and realized that he hadn't seen all the Egyptian artifacts at the Louvre. He and I went back for a nighttime visit. It's nice then - far less crowded.

Me and a sphinx:

Morey taking a photo of me:

And the reverse:

The display we were both photographing. I think the statue on the left is Osiris and the black statue is definitely Sekhmet:

Morey and Janet left yesterday morning. I assume they got the Eurostar safely to London because they didn't show back up at our door. I wish they'd stayed here longer AND I'm jealous that they're in London. I'm now in the dregs of a post-holiday letdown.

We had the 6-day museum pass - I don't think I'd go that route again. Too exhausting and you're locked into it once you start - the days have to be consecutive.

8 comments:

Joyce said...

I am totally enjoying your tours of Paris.

ann said...

great pictures, tonya.
hmm... the fireplace picture makes me think you and janet could be related???
san diegans have their days all mixed up too.
we were sitting with a friend at dinner last night trying to put the week's events in order and neither of us could get it right.

Donna said...

too bad the days have to be consecutive on the museum pass -- 6 days spread over 10 would even be OK... The picture of the ceiling in the Hall of Man is simply gorgeous -- I got a real sense of the height and dimensions from the shadowing :-)

Having company is great, but hope you recover from it quickly :-)

Cher said...

well, it sure looked a fabulous visit, despite not being long enough- a very belated happy birthday by the way! I can totally understand the letdown feeling-it's not like they live nearby and can pop over again soon.

dutchcomfort said...

All those photos bring back so many wonderful Parisian memories! Thanks!

Magpie Sue said...

It's always hard after a holiday or vacation like that. But what a great time you had!

Guess I'll do my part to try to cheer you up and find something fun to put on my blog...

sewprimitive karen said...

Always looking forward to the wonderful photos from Paris. I can imagine being overwhelmed by the number of photos. You must have quite a collection on a really big external hard drive :-). So many photogenic things everywhere. Did you take any more pictures of the black statue of Sekhmet?

Clare said...

Gorgeous gorgeous photos comme d'hab. I love the statue on the Pont and that ceiling is wonderful. I think you need to come down here for a visit in the Spring. Ceilings and fireplaces like those abound down here, but no gargoyles. I'm still looking though. On second thoughts - lots of Roman stuff, but the Byzantine and Renaissance architecture makes up for it.

I know what you mean about guests. I always feel lost when they've gone.