Easter in Paris

Hello from...Nebraska!

I've been back home for about 6 weeks now. I think I've finally become reacquainted with life in Nebraska. Let me tell you - life in Middelburg was quite different. But that's another story for another day. This post is about my trip to Paris over the Easter weekend.

Thomas and I decided that Paris was the third major city we definitely wanted to visit while in Europe. After discussing transportation possibilities, we asked Lindsey if she'd like to come with us. Unfortunately, she declined due to wanting to use the break time to catch up on school work and sleep. So, Thomas and I asked one of my housemates, Lilia (who was, conveniently, from Paris), what the best (a.k.a. - cheapest) way to travel to there was.
In the end, we decided to take a train to Rotterdam, and from there we took an overnight bus to Paris. We used the same bus company (Eurolines) from our trip to London. Since we had both Good Friday and the Monday after Easter off from classes, we left for Rotterdam on Thursday and returned to Middelburg on Monday afternoon.

Friday was a very full day. We began by touring Saint Chapelle and the Conciergerie. The former is a beautiful cathedral that is famous for its stained glass. Once inside, we saw the lower chapel, with some small, simple stained glass:

Saint Chapelle (left) and the Palais de Justice, translated to "Palace of the City"

Part of the exterior of Saint Chapelle - This building, along with the Palais de Justice and the Conciergerie, are part of the oldest surviving buildings of the former royal palace.

Inside the lower chapel

Stained glass in the lower chapel

 After touring the lower chapel, Thomas and I went to the upper chapel to enjoy the incredible beauty of the stained glass. Upon walking into the chapel, we were immediately surrounded by this:

Our next stop was just down the block, past the Palais de Justice. It took us a little while to find the entrance to the Conciergerie because it looked like a normal doorway into the side of a building. When we found it, we explored some of the hallways where rebels from the French Revolution had been held captive until they were taken to the guillotine. We also saw Marie Antoinette's cell.

Outside of the Conciergerie

Inside the bottom level of the Conciergerie

The small chapel where prisoners were allowed a "last meal" and an opportunity for mass before being taken to the guillotine the next day.

A small courtyard where only women prisoners were allowed out for exercise and fresh air. (Notice the large, lethal spikes that ring the top of the buildings. This is to prevent prisoners from escaping.)

Our next stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral. Since it was Good Friday, there was a service for the Veneration of the Cross. So, it surprised me that the place was still open for touring. We walked around the perimeter inside the cathedral, and then stopped to tour the treasury. I think the pictures explain themselves:

These are just a few of the many relics, chalices, and monstrances that we saw in the Notre Dame treasury:

My favorite chalice out all the ones we saw

Thomas and I dubbed this one the "Tree Chalice" because of the design on the base

The details on everything were impeccable, especially on this chalice with wheat designs

My favorite monstrance in the treasury. The inner circle is ringed with a mini crown of thorns.

After finishing the tour inside the cathedral, we waited in a line along the side of the building so we could climb up one of the towers (see above photos of exterior) to see the gargoyles and have a wonderful view of Paris.

The weather was cool and breezy, so Thomas came prepared with a stocking hat for me and earmuffs for him (but he took them off for the picture). Notice the Eiffel Tower off in the distance...

Once we had climbed down the tower, we got on the metro to the Louvre. There was so much to see there, and we wandered through the long hallways, enjoying the art. The main exhibits we wanted to see at the Louvre was the "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci and the "Venus de Milo" statue. We could've spent hours - days, perhaps - inside the museum and not seen everything. It was absolutely beautiful.

Just part of the Louvre (with a fountain). I love fountains!

 

Sunset through the pyramid at the Louvre.

Standing under/inside the pyramid, since that's where the main entrance into the museum was located.

The infamous "Venus de Milo" statue

Thomas with an adorable smiling lion

I found little cow figurines and felt like I was home in Nebraska. I couldn't resist taking a photo for my dad *wink*

Stopped to create a "digital painting" on our way to Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa"

The room - and the huge crowd - surrounding the "Mona Lisa"

The painting was a lot smaller than I expected it to be. And, as shown in the previous photo, it has an entire wall dedicated to its display.

And there it is - the Mona Lisa. For all the hype surrounding this painting, actually viewing it wasn't as spectacular a feeling as I imagined it would be. But it's still really neat to know that we saw it.

By the time we left the Louvre, we were rather hungry. So we stopped in a small restaurant along the way to our next activity. I ordered Turkish food and Thomas got chicken cordon bleu, since we were in France. Both were delicious.
Our last tour for our first day in Paris was an evening cruise along the Seine River. We saw many of the popular / most famous Parisian attractions, and I managed to take some artsy pictures. Enjoy!

Notre Dame

After our very busy Friday and late-night river cruise, we were rather exhausted...so we ended up getting a bit of a late start on Saturday. That's why we made it to only the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe through the afternoon, before we needed to head back towards the Notre Dame to attend Easter Vigil mass on Saturday evening.
The lines at the Eiffel Tower were INSANELY long, and we waited for around 2 hours before making to the ticket window. We climbed the stairs up to the first and second levels, and then we decided to take the elevator to the top. The incredible views made all the time spent waiting worth it.

So...that's just day 1 in Paris. And there is already a considerable number of pictures in this post. That's why I've decided to do most of the explaining now, and then the next post will be basically all pictures from days 2 and 3 in Paris.

Here's a little preview of what's coming:

Saturday:

Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triomphe

Easter Vigil Mass at Notre Dame

Sunday:

Sacre-Couer Basilica

Orsay Museum

Gourmet Chocolate Museum

Pere Lachais Cemetery

Montparnasse Tower

Until next time,

~Laurie