Honeymoon Photos

I promise this will be my last post about France, this is after all supposed to be a blog about life in England. However, I do think my trip to France fits into the scheme of "life in England" because the proximity to the European continent is part of living here. In the US we vacation in places like New York or Florida or California, here the trips are basically the same distance but you need a passport to get where you are going.

I have made several different albums of the different sights in Paris that we visited so it is easier to navigate all of the photos. I will post the albums in kind of a "Top Ten List" fashion starting with my favorite site and working my way down.

Here is an album of general out and about in Paris photos which also includes the river boat cruise we took. Also, here are the photos from Vernon including photos of the beautiful cathedral there.

1. Giverny- no explanation needed!
2. Orangerie- a museum dedicated to Impressionism and the home of Monet's Water Lilies masterpieces!
3. Orsay- the best collection of Impressionest paintings! Also, a beautiful sculpture collection. I think this was the best laid out museum I have ever been to. The museum used to be a train station and has a very open floorplan. Many of the most famous Impressionist paintings by Monet, Manet, Van Gogh and others are on display here.
4. Saint Chappelle- by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I literally gasped when I stepped into the upper sanctuary. Definitely lives up to its reputation as the most beautiful church in Paris!
5. Notre Dame- as beautiful as I had expected. What can't be captured in these photos was the beautiful chorale music that was being played there. The ambiance the music and the flickering candles created was so serene and memorable.
6. Arc de Triomphe- a wonderful view of Paris! The very long winding walk up (284 steps) was definitely worth the view at the top.
7. Eiffel Tower- if I were to do it again I would not have gone to the very top. The view wasn't all that great and the lines were very long at every level. I would have just gone up to the second level (which has a very good view) and then spent more time on the ground where the views of the tower were really amazing. The draw of the tower isn't the view from the tower but the views of the tower itself, especially the light show every hour on the hour.
8. Hotel des Invalides- this is where Napoleon's tomb is located underneath the golden dome of the church inside. This building used to be a military hospital and now houses the military museum. We explored the museum that covers the two world wars which was one of the best war museums I have ever visited. The church with the golden dome that is within was almost sickeningly opulent and Napoleon's tomb was gigantic. Hard to believe such a tiny man was encased in there.
9. St Sulpice- this was a very interesting and beautiful church. We stood on the Meridien Line, known to Dan Brown fans as the "rose line" although as the literature in the church explained this isn't truly the purpose of the Meridien Line.
10. Louvre- I didn't expect to enjoy the Louvre too much, I had heard the Mona Lisa is kind of a let down so I it was exactly what I expected. I am not a huge fan of classical style art so most of the thousands of paintings housed here aren't interesting to me. The one thing I really did love was "Winged Victory". I think it was the most beautiful sculpture I have ever seen and the location it is in at the Louvre definitely suits it.