Friday, June 5, 2009

Paris is for Lovers….AND

BICYCLES!

Dad and I had a once in a lifetime fun day as we rented bikes and jaunted to a plethora of spectacular historical spots in fabulous Paris!

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The Louver with some creative mind’s rendition of the glass pyramid ala The daVinci Code.  The grounds and gardens are simply incredible!

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Our hotel us very near the Eiffel Tower.  The view from underneath is almost as spectacular as the tower itself!

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Look at this unique steeple in our neighborhood:

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Usually we were weaving in and out people on the sidewalks but sometimes there were actual gorgeous bike paths.

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Everything is artistic! From the amazing statues atop the Muse’ de Orsay

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to the lamp posts:

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(photo by Dad)

Since we had already seen many of the art treasures and amazing architecture of the the Louvre and the Muse de Orsay we decided to see something we had never seen before…namely the Grand Palace which was built for the World’s Fair in 1900.  It is an amazing structure but was sadly closed for renovation:

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Peeking through the windows at the huge iron doors, we could see the stained glass at the entry that made it look as though the building is full of color!

Across the street was the Petit Palace where we had lunch and were filled with more of the unending fine art of Paris:

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A delightfully classy lunch and a tour of this building was a highlight of the day!

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Where’s Waldo? Can you find me in this museum garden?

Look at this amazing art:

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Heart rending enormous rendition of the good Samaritan:

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And this wall-sized picture of the Savior walking to his death:

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Look at the expressions on these faces:

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Sorry I’m not sure how well you can see this…it was amazing!  Wish you could have been there!

There was one Mary Cassatt that may be my favorite of mothers and children:

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Amazingly, every sideway curb in Paris is leveled off at the intersections to accommodate bikes!  You can ride in the street, on the roads, among the crowds! It’s the only way to go!

After turning in the bikes we watched one women’s set of tennis in our hotel room and then headed for Versailles…one of the great wonders of the world!

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It was too late to rent bikes or golf carts which Eli did when he was there (darn) and the Palace was closed but it was still a feast for our eyes!

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The golden gates were backlit so it actually looked like they were lighted:

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Truly this does show the “Glories” of historical France (at the expense of a lot of lot of starving peasants)!

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Funny! On the way back to the train station we saw this.  Cruella wasn’t home.

 

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This is now a government building…with quite a ballroom for the Police’s Banquet!

What a historic day!

4 comments:

Diane... said...

WOW!!!! You guys are so lucky, well blessed really, and darn cute too, enjoying beautiful things in such a fun way....by bike!! I met your Shawni the other day at Crackers in Mesa....she's a cutie too just like her folks!!!

Sees-the-day said...

Have fun is this. WOW Paris.
You look so great. What a way to Seize the DAY. LOVE YOU, Eva

Jonah and Aja said...

dad. i am glad you made ammends with the bike and had a good time anyway. mom the good samaritan painting is amazing! it looks like a photo of a photograph! we are so glad you are having fun and really liked the hotel de ville. you always have had the greatest cations for photos.

Shawni said...

Oh man you guys are the cutest couple ever. I'm so glad you're having so much fun! Love you.