La Vie en Rose

We actually escaped to Paris for 5 wonderful days...2 weeks ago! C'est la vie! We haven't been very faithful in updating this blog lately, but we had an absolutely beautiful summer week here in Amsterdam and frankly, we couldn't be bothered with blogging when there was boating weather!

So, though this is a little late we hope you enjoy reading about a few of our Paris highlights.

Eiffel Tower- It's the focal point of the city, and it's impossible to visit Paris without strolling through its shadow. On our first evening in the city we walked the length of the Eiffel park just taking in the beautiful surroundings. We also ended our trip with a picnic lunch on the lawn before catching our train. The history and scale of something so grand colors the experiences of tourists and native Parisians alike.

Our first evening we wasted no time diving into the French cuisine by visiting a tiny bistro in the lovely Rue Cler neighborhood. Brent had brushed up on his French enough to make sure we didn't order anything we'd regret. He had a fun using his language skills the whole week and he did wonderful! People seemed genuinely glad someone was making an effort to speak their language.



Versailles- We both really enjoyed the splendor of Versailles, the palace of French kings and cultural center of Europe in the 1700s. It's over the top in every imaginable way, every surface covered in marble or gilt. All other palaces in Europe are Versailles wannabes!

With 700 rooms it is definitely overwhelming and it's easy to imagine how all that extravagance kept the Monarchy immune to the real world that was crumbling at their feet.



The grounds were equally impressive and this is us at one of 50 fountains throughout the gardens. Louis had his engineers re-route a river to fuel them. It took over an hour to walk across the length of the grounds, but it was so relaxing pausing next to statues and fountains while listening to classical music.








Notre Dame in the background-
We went on a walking tour of the city starting at Notre Dame. The oldest part of Paris is actually on a tiny island in the center, called Ile de la Cite (or Isle of the City). This was where the city was actually founded and houses some fantastic historic buildings from the early formations of the French monarchy.

The walking tour criss-crossed back and forth between the old parts of the Ile and the newer sections of the city like the Latin Quarter. We could not have asked for better weather and its easy to lose oneself while meandering along centuries old passageways and the beautiful river.






Musee de l'Orangerie- We took in a lot of famous art, especially as we also managed to squeeze in the Louvre Museum and Musee d'Orsay. Brent's favorite though was the Orangerie Museum. Inside a pair of oval rooms host eight water lily murals by Claude Monet.

Before you enter the oval rooms you go through a small white room that is completely empty. The effect was to remove the memory of the outdoor colors of the day and reset our eyes to allow for the full-color impact of what was to come in the following rooms. The murals show different reflections of his garden throughout the day, from sunrise to sunset. While Monet created more than 250 paintings with water lilies as the subject, these murals are HUGE.

Sainte Chapelle- This Gothic church was built in 1242 by Louis IX to house the supposed Crown of Thorns worn by Christ. We actually gasped when we stepped into this room, it was like the inside of a jewelry box. Our picture hardly does this relatively tiny Cathedral justice- 6,500 square feet of stain glass composing over 1,100 different scenes from the Bible. Amazingly, the supposed Crown of Thorns cost King Louis three times as much as it did to build this entire church. This was Ruth's favorite visit as she had just finished reading a book about Louis IX's wife, Marguerite. Throughout Europe when you spoke of "the King" everyone knew you were referring to the King of France. He ruled the largest and most wealthy kingdom of Europe, the center of culture. This Cathedral was obviously meant to be the triumphant jewel for the greatest country during that age and we couldn't help but be struck with awe.


Bridge along the Seine River- one of the most beautiful aspects of the City of Light is the river slicing a path through its center. If there is a bad view from one of it's many bridges we didn't see it. Each bridge has its own style and unique view of Paris. We really enjoyed crossing the different bridges during our walks and taking an evening cruise along the Seine.







Notre Dame de Paris- we got up close and personal with the famous gargoyles. We jokingly called Notre Dame the 'Tower of Terror' as the crowds were terrible and it took forever to actually get to the top. You have to climb lots and lots of dizzying spiral stairs to get there, but this incredible view of Paris is the reward.

Paris is not a place you can visit once, so we plan on going again soon to continue exploring.



In other news- our shipment with all our furniture and worldly possessions arrives this week. It's been 3 months since we've last seen it so we have no idea what we actually brought. With each passing week we feel more adjusted and are finding a new, more relaxed daily rhythm. Ciao from this side of the pond!