Paris, France, 2004

Paris, France

We visited Paris on our first anniversary. When I proposed to Sara, I did it at the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas, and I promised that someday I was going to take her to the top of the real Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Paris: Ernest Hemingway called the many splendors of Paris a "moveable feast" and wrote, "There is never any ending to Paris, and the memory of each person who has lived in it differs from that of any other." France has been called le deuxième pays de tout le monde (everybody's second country).
A warm welcome at the Hotel Lotti. The Jolly Hotel Lotti is centrally located on a prestigious Right Bank shopping street between the Place Vendôme and Tuileries Gardens; the Louvre is a 15-minute walk away.
Parc du Champs-de-Mars: The vast green esplanade beneath the Eiffel Tower is the Parc du Champs-de-Mars, extending all the way to the 18th-century Ecole Militaire (Military Academy), at its southeast end. This formal lawn was once a parade ground for French troops.
The Palais de Chaillot was built in 1937 by architects Carlu, Boileau and Azema as one of the highlights of the 1937 French last colonial exhibition. It houses the Navy museum, the Mankind museum and the 1200 seats TNP theater.
View of Paris from the Eiffel Tower.
The Seine River not only divides Paris into the Right Bank and the Left Bank but seems to split the city into two vastly different sections and ways of life.
Third level at the Eiffel Tower: 276.13 meters (905 feet, 11 inches). Exceptional panoramic views, day or night, of Paris and its surroundings.
View of the Arc de Triomphe from the third level of theEiffel Tower.
From its platforms - especially the topmost - the view upon Paris is superb. It is generally agreed that one hour before sunset, the panorama is at its best.
The Eiffel Tower as erected for the Paris Exposition of 1889. The controversial tower elicited some strong reactions, and it was almost torn down in 1909 at the expiration of its 20-year lease, but was saved because of its antenna — used for telegraphy at that time.
Arc de Triomphe: In 1806, Napoleon decided to build a very big arch of triumph which stands at the top of the Champs Elysées. His victorious troops would march on through the arch cheered by the population of Paris. This never happened thanks to General Wellington who defeated Napoléon at Waterloo in 1815. The design of the arch by Jean Chalgrin is based on the Arch of Titus in Rome.
Winding stairs that take you to the top of the Arc de Triomphe(46m/160ft).
The Champs-Elysées, also named "La plus belle avenue du monde" (the most beautiful avenue in the world), stretch from the Concorde square to the Arc de Triomphe.
Shakespeare and Company: Set in the heart of Paris on the Left Bank opposite Notre-Dame, Shakespeare and Company has grown from a bookstore into an institution. It is situated in the Latin Quarter. Shakespeare and Company first opened its doors in 1951.
Moulin Rouge: Immortalized by French artist, Toulouse-Lautrec, and the birthplace of the dance, the cancan, the Moulin Rouge (The Red Windmill) took its name from one of the windmills of Montmartre. On October 5, 1889, the Moulin Rouge opened as the "rendez-vous du high life" at the foot of Montmartre.
Pont Alex III: Most people consider the Pont Alexandre III the most beautiful bridge in Paris. It is lavishly decorated with lampposts and sculptures
Taking a stroll down the Champs-Elysees the night before our return to the USA.
Place Vendôme: In 1685, this architectural jewel was commissioned by King Louis XIV and designed by Jules-Hardouin Mansart. The Column - 44 m/145ft high- is comprised of a stone core, encased in the bronze of 1250 cannons captured by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerliz.
Jardin des Tuileries: The Tuileries is a most splendid, formal expanse of greenery just adjacent to the magnificent Louvre. the Tuileries is a "people’s" meeting place amidst all the pomp and glory of France’s monarchical and imperial past. Basilique du Sacré-Coeur: A Romano-Byzantine church completed in 1914. At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, two Catholic businessmen, Alexandre Legentil and Rohault de Fleury, made a private religious vow-that should France be spared the Prussian onslaught, they’d build a church and dedicate it to the Sacred Heart of Christ.
Notre-Dame: The Gothic loftiness of Notre-Dame dominates the Seine and the Ile-de-la-Cité as well as the history of Paris. On the spot where this majestic cathedral now stands, the Romans had built a temple to Jupiter, which was followed by a Christian basilica and then a Romanesque church (the Cathedral of St. Etienne, founded by Childebert in 528).
The Notre-Dame Cathedral has been around since 1163 and its construction took over 200 years to complete. Monument inside Notre-Dame.
Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Europe. Centre stage is the pink granite Luxor obelisk, 3,300 years old and brought from Egypt as a gift in 1831.
The Eiffel Tower at night is one of the great sights of Paris and shouldn't be missed. The gold lighting highlights the delicacy of the steelwork in a way that is missed in daylight.
Mona Lisa: Leonardo da Vinci began the Mona Lisa in 1503 and completed it three or four years later. On August 21, 1911, one of the most famous paintings in the world, was stolen right off the wall of the Louvre. Vincenzo Peruggia, born in Italy, had worked in Paris at the Louvre in 1908. Still known by many of the guards, Peruggia had walked into the museum, noticed the Salon Carré empty, grabbed the Mona Lisa, went to the staircase, removed the painting from its frame, and walked out of the museum with the Mona Lisa under his painters smock. Peruggia was arrested after he attempted to sell the painting to an Italian antique dealer. The public went wild at the news of finding the Mona Lisa. The painting was displayed throughout Italy before it was returned to France on December 30, 1913.
The Venus de Milo is an ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous pieces of ancient Greek sculpture. The statue dates to about 130 BC.

In Place René-Viviani, a rather ordinary-looking living tree has had its hollow trunk filled with concrete and its branches supported by concrete posts. The plant was brought from Virginia to Europe in 1601 and planted there by Jean Robin, herbalist to King Henri IV of France. It is the oldest tree in Paris.

Versailles, France, 2004

France, 2004

Le Château de Versailles

The Palace of Versailles was the official residence of the Kings of France from 1682 until 1790. It was originally a hunting lodge, built in 1624, by Louis XIII. It was expanded by Louis XIV beginning in 1669.
No one knows exactly how much it cost to build Versailles because Louis XIV burned the accounts to keep the price a secret. Many kings lived and ruled from here, making the palace rich with history.
Napoleon stayed at Versailles but never seemed fond of it. Louis-Philippe prevented the destruction of the palace by converting it into a museum dedicated to the glory of France.
Construction begun in 1661, the construction of the château involved 32,000 to 45,000 workmen, some of whom had to drain marshes -- often at the cost of their lives -- and move forests. Louis XIV set out to build a palace that would be the envy of all Europe, and he created a symbol of pomp and opulence that was to be copied, yet never quite duplicated, all over Europe and even in America.
The Gardens of Versailles were laid out by the landscape artist Le Nôtre, who created a Garden of Eden using ornamental lakes and canals, geometrically designed flower beds, and avenues bordered with statuary.
On the 1.5km-long (1 mile) Grand Canal, Louis XV -- imagining he was in Venice -- used to take gondola rides with his favorite of the moment. The Fountain of Latona. It tells the story from Metamorphoses of a town that Jupiter turns into amphibians when they refuse to take in Apollo and his mother Latona.
On our trip to Versailles, we planned a picnic at the gardens next to the Gran Canal. The suculent meal consisted of a baguette, sliced ham and cheese wash down with a great bottle of Bordeaux. The Colonnade: Until 1685 the site of the present Colonnade was occupied by Le Notre's Grove of Springs with its narrow twisting paths weaving their way through the wood and crossing several little streams. On June 19, 1684, the Marquis de Dangeau noted in his diary that "the King has ordered a marble colonnade with big fountains for the spot where the Springs used to be". At the centre there now stands a copy of Girardon's Rape of Persephone.
The furniture and the artwork contained in these rooms constitute a treasury.

There are moments that you get overwhelm by the massive palace and its amazing decor.
Huge fireplaces were built in every single room.

Opulence and artwork are everywhere. The ceilings are covered with heavenly scenes from Greek mythology.
The Chapel royal at Versailles is consecrated to Saint Louis. Here is where Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI attended daily mass.

The Queen's chambers.

Giverny, France, 2004

Giverny, France

The Seine River at the Bonnières Bridge in Vernon, France."Claude Monet Street" crosses Giverny and takes you right to Claude Monet house and gardens.
On route to Giverny. We walked about 4 or 5 miles from Vernon to Giverny on these beautiful road.
Monet Gardens. When Monet and his family settled in Giverny in 1883 the piece of land sloping gently down from the house to the road was planted with an orchard and enclosed by high stone walls.
Monet would find his inspiration in his water garden(below) for more than twenty years.In this water garden you will find the famous Japanese bridge covered with wisterias, other smaller bridges, weeping willows, a bamboo wood and above all the famous nympheas which bloom all summer long. The pond and the surrounding vegetation form an enclosure separated from the surrounding countryside.
The water garden is full of asymmetries and curves. It is inspired by the Japanese gardens that Monet knew from the prints he collected avidly.

The land is divided into flowerbeds where flower clumps of different heights create volume. Fruit trees or ornamental trees dominate the climbing roses, the long -stemmed hollyhocks and the coloured banks of annuals. Monet mixed the simplest flowers (daisies and poppies) with the most rare varieties.