Museum Day: Louvre and Musee d'Orsay

Here's a quick factoid for you all.  The first Sunday of every month is free national museum day.  So any national museums you get free admission!  Lauren and I being budget savvy girls, saved Sunday specifically for our cultural day.  We first decide to go in and knock out the Louvre, we figured it would be pretty crowded on this days so we attempted to get somewhat of an early start.  Which I think ended up being around 10am.  We took the subway and actually got off at the Louvre stop and were able to enter the museum from underground rather than waiting in a line outside in the cold.  The line actually moved quite fast and we may have waited around 10 minutes.  The first thing we did once we got past the entance was grab a Starbucks and head on our journey.  One great thing about the Louvre, although giant and massive, (that's what she said) they have it very well marked and signs pointing to the big attractions. Lauren and I scoped out the 4 statues and paintings that we wanted to see and off we went.  The first attraction we hit was the Winged Victory of Samothrace.  Name doesn't ring a bell?  Didn't for us either, but we have definitely seen it in a book or movie somewhere.

Next on the agenda was the mother of all mothers, the reason the Louvre is on the map (well maybe that is stretching it), ladies and gents may I present to you the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, MONA LISA

As I'm sure you've heard, the painting is actually quite small and it's enclosed into a glass case.  There is also a large crowd gathered around and it's pretty hard to make your way up to the front.  However I squeezed my way through and my camera has a pretty awesome zoom lens on it, papparazzi style, so I was able to snag a half decent picture!  Next up was the famous Venus de Milo which depicts Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty.  She might be a bit more attractive if she had all her limbs, I'm just sayin!

Last but not least we head for the Egyptian portion of the museum and for the life of me I can't find the name of the giant statue in the picture below.  I've been searching on the Louvre's website for the past 30 mintues and have given up!

I really like the shadowing in the second picture.  After we hit up all of the above we headed outside to the famous glass pyramid to get some shots of that.  Thats where we saw a massive line waiting outside in the cold, suckers!

Next up was the Musee d'Orasay which Lauren and I had heard was the most beautiful of all museums and everyone just ranted and raved about it.  This time we were the suckers as we stood in line outside in the cold for roughly an hour and a half!  We had the pleasure of being behind a Greek couple which I'm pretty sure hated me.  Some good people watching did take place however, we had to do something to keep us entertained!  Finally we get into the entrance and Lauren is basically shoved in from behind by an 80 year old woman!  Once we get inside we are pretty much less than thrilled.  Maybe because all of the hype and the fact we just waited over an hour we were expecting a lot more.  The museum used to be an old train station...here is a pic of the giant clock inside.

There are some pretty cool paintings inside though, Van Gogh's self portrait is actually located here along with some of his other works, but that one being the most popular.

The next pic is my fave, although gross, I just think it's hilarious!  And the fact that it looks almost like a photograph rather than a painting!  Ch ch ch check it out.

I'm not sure of the painters of the next series of photos, but I think they are all pretty famous and you may recognize a few of them.  I do know they include both Monet and Manet.

Well that about sums up our museum day, I'm sure drinks were had later on that night, don't ask where, I'm sure you already know the answer!

Fat Tire Bike Tour and Eiffel Tower

Here we are on Saturday, Jan. 2nd, all rested up and ready for our bike tour.  I have previously done a bike tour with this same company when I was in Barcelona, Spain in July 2009.  I also had a friend from college and my study abroad trip that worked for the company in Barcelona so I saw him when I was there.  The bike rides are very fun and not strenious in the least bit and they give you a little snippit of the highlights of the city.  The bike tour started at 11:00 am and we went straight to the office rather than meeting at the Eiffel Tower as suggested.  But we knew we were going to have to go to the office anyway to collect the bikes so Lauren and I figured why not cut out some walking time.  Turns out we missed a little big of facts and trivia on the Eiffel Tower but no big deal, that's what Wikipedia is for, haha!  Our tour guides name was John and he was actually from Houston!  Quite a few of the guides and staff are from Texas which is a plus, they even had a Texas flag hanging in the office!

That morning the sun was out shining so Lauren and I had thought we picked a great day to do the bike ride...wrong!  It actually started snowing right before we wheeled off, thankfully it stopped but the wind and cold didn't.  Our first stop was where Napolean went to military school.

Do you see the black divets?!  Well me either!  That's what our tour guide asked us and I think I was the only one that said no, and I'm pretty sure from there on out I was considered the black sheep of the group, but in all honesty I really didn't see what he was talking about, but apparently they are gun shot holes.  Onwards to the next stop we visited where Napoleon is actually buried.  The dome on top is actual gold.  It is 1 of 4 buildings here in Paris that has real gold on it.  Fancy Schmancy.

I believe the next leg of the trip was actually when Lauren almost took out an innocent pedestrian with her bike!  We did make it over to Pont Alexandre III without any casualties so that was a plus.  Pont Alexandre is considered to the be the most beautiful bridge in Paris as it is ornately adorned. 

In the first picture above, the building with the French flag on the top of it is the Grand Palais.  But the pillar i also part of the bridge, and the second pic is a piece of the artwork on the bridge as well.  The next stop we are told is lunch....yay!  We knew we were stopping off for lunch at a little cafe and we couldn't have been more thrilled for 2 reasons...one, we were really hungry and two, we were so cold and we would get a little break from the chill at the cafe.  Boy were we wrong!  The cafe we went to was actually in the park and all the seating was outside, ahhh!  Lauren and I made the best of it though, we each ordered a Croque Monsiur which is basically a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and it came with a little salad.  We each got a little coffee as well to try to warm us up.  After lunch we cycled over to the same place where the ferris wheel and obelisk are which we had already previously checked out.  But we did get some new info about one of the hotels that was in the square.  I can't remember the name of it, but it is the most expensive hotel in Paris.  The winner of the Tour de France gets a 1 week free stay there and you also get to hang your country's flag from the flagpole.  Fellow Texans will appreciate this next part.  We were told by our guide that when Lance Armstrong won his titles he didn't fly the American flag, but the TEXAS flag!

At this point we started winding down the tour and were heading back towars the Eiffel Tower.  We got a few cool shots of it and later Lauren and I walked over for a more up close and personal view.

After the bike ride we headed back over to my place to try and thaw out from the frigid cold we had encountered most of th day.  I believe that night we made our way back over to Corcoran's (are you seeing a trend yet?) where Lauren met her future husband Pablo.  I would give anything to have a picture of this man but sadly I don't.  Pablo started out normal and had some good conversation skills.  Turns out he is from Philly.  Well as the drinks continued to flow he expressed his undying love for Lauren and how he wanted to divorce his wife (whom was back at the hotel, might I add)!  I'm not sure if this was also the night we met our dear friend Veronique, but if it wasn't it still makes a good story.  Veronique was born a French citizen but she moved to the US at a young age and actually ended up marrying an American later on in life.  She has 3 grown children whom she hasn't seen in a few years because of her being deported, wait for it, 3 TIMES!  How does one get back into the country after being deported you ask?  Well she told us!  Apparently she did a sneak attack across the Mexican border at one point.  Nice lady but she had a lot of baggage!  Basically that's why we went to Corcoran's every night (and why i still do) is because typically it's never a dull evening!

Wandering About

So after a heavy night of boozing and ringing in the new year, Lauren and I had decided that New Year's Day we should probably take it easy due to the previous nights festivities.  We found ourselves just roaming around on Jan. 1st.  We wanted to check out and get an up close view of the Notre Dame so we did that.  We obviously wanted to go inside (in case there happened to be a Quasi Moto sighting) but opted out of that for a good reason....there were about 500 people standing in a line like I had never seen!  We came to the conclusion that since it was a holiday and lots of tourists are in town over the new year that that was the reason for the incredible line.  I of course went back later and walked around inside, but we will save those pictures for another day and blog entry.  Here are some that from that day though.

After we checked out Notre Dame, we wandered over to the coolest little bookstore.  It's pretty famous and it's called Shakespere and Company.  They have both new and used books and they're all in English, which is a plus for me!  Upstairs they have a lady who plays the piano while patrons read their books.

After the bookstore Lauren and I walked just tad over to the Latin Quarter.  We ate at a Kebab place, which was Lauren's first time.  She opted out of the kebab though and got a chicken plate I believe.  I definitely got the kebab though.  I love that stuff and wish they had it back in the states.  Then we find ourselves a bit parched and we hopped in to a bar called The Latin Corner.  Not even sure where to begin on this place.  First off they tell us they are going to put us in the VIP section.  So we follow them and we end up getting put in a back corner basically!  The service was quite horrible, and the smoke machine was intense.  Back home they use smoke machines but it will just let off a little bit and then stop.  Not here!  It was seriously billowing out the machine non-stop.  Lauren and I were starting to think there might be an actual fire!  Also the menu was a bit shady.  They had an option for 20 Euros and you could get a "sexy dance" from your waiter!  Where the hell are we? Needless to say we definitely didn't order that.  The drinks were kinda fun though.  They lit a sparkler and stuck it in your drink, so I will give them kudos for good presentation.

What I'm holding above is the worst Mai Tai I've ever had.  The only reason I managed to choke it down was for the mere reason that I had paid around 7 Euro's for it.  On our way out of the Latin Corner we actually see a girl getting one of the "sexy dances". Lauren and I felt sorry for her, as her waiter was nothing to look at...I'm hoping it was a special occasion (like her b-day) otherwise I would be puzzled as to why someone would order that.  Onwards to go wander around the Marais.  I had heard this was a posh and very cool area of town so we thought we would check it out.  After walking in circles and literally breaking out my touristy map we gave up.

We were quite hungry so we popped into a busy restaurant in the area.  That is how Lauren and I usually picked most of the restaurants we ate at during her stay.  Our motto was "if it's busy and crowded it must be good!"  We sat down at a little booth, looked at the menu and were immediately confused.  There wasn't one word in English and the prices weren't even that great.  We decided that if we didn't know what we were getting then we sure as hell weren't gonna spend a bunch of money.  We ended up finding a little Italian food place and it hit the spot.  We didn't go out this night as we were still recovering from NYE and we had to get up fairly early the next day for our Fat Tire Bike Tour around the city!

Pere Lachaise Cemetary and New Years Eve

Here we are on Dec. 31st....New Year's Eve....the last day in 2009.  Where else would one rather go than to walk around a giant cemetary?!  Seemed pretty logical to Lauren and I anyway.  We hopped on the Line 2 and it took us straight to the Pere Lachaise Cemetary, where many a famous man is buried.  As we walked through the entrance there was a small map and we briefly looked it over, saying to each other "we don't need to buy a map, we've got this covered!"  We had already discussed how we would be in and out of there in no time, we wanted to hit the big 3 and be done.  HA, in our dreams!  I'm pretty sure we walked every last inch of that cemetary and it was a dreary and cold day at that.  Alas, we happened upon our first gravestone that we wanted to see, Mr. Oscar Wilde, the famous playwright, poet, and author. Age 46 at time of death.

Apparently he is quite the ladie's man!  If you look closely on the 2nd picture you can see his name engraved on the headstone.  I would be interested in how much that tombstone cost.  I guess when Oscar was asked "What do you want on YOUR tombstone?" he went with extra kisses rather than extra cheese.  So onwards we go to find our next dead guy (wow, I feel bad about saying that).  Here are a couple of random snapshots.

The next place we stopped off at was the beloved tomb of famous musical composer and pianist, Chopin.  He was only 39 when he died.

Last but certainly not least we go out in search for the man that put this cemetary on the map.  My friends, may I introduce to you the gravesite of Mr. Jim Morrison of The Doors.  27 yrs old at time of death.  I also think they purposely made is gravestone impossible to find!

To be honest, I was a little dissapointed and un-impressed as compared to the previous two.  But the man was a legend so I'll give him props for that.  I also read and article on wikipedia (so take it how you want it) that people used to have sex on his gravestone and a guard had to placed at this site to keep people from vandalizing his headstone and such.  The day Lauren and I were there, there was no such guard, but some metal railing to keep people from getting to close.

After the cemetary experience, we made our way into the city center and walked along the Siene River.  Very romantic for both Lauren and I, haha.  We did come across Pont Neuf which is the oldest bridge to cross the Seine here in Paris.  As expected, heres a pic.

Onwards to New Year's Eve festivities.  Lauren and I asked my roommate some suggestions on where to ring in the New Year and she mentioned that a lot of people gather at the Sacre Coeur and since it's a high spot in the city, we figured we would be able to see any fireworks go off.  We bought a bottle of cheapo Champagne (didn't even bother with cups) and headed that way.  We got to the area a bit early so we sat down outside at a little cafe and had some wine and did a bit of people watching.  It was there that we spotted animal print lady.  Check out the coat on this one...

Is that zebra or leopard or a combo fo the two, I can't decipher!  After a couple glasses of wine we head back to the steps of the SC to pop some bottles. We crammed our way into the crowd and were able to get a few snapshots.  It was a bit of a foggy night so not too many fireworks were seen other than the ones close range.  Lauren was able to snap a cool pic.

Above is a view of the NYE crowd gathered on the steps of the SC.  Below are Lauren and I toasting to 2010.

As per usual we made our way over to Corcoran's for a little clebration, only to find a couple more crazies to chat with.  Usually Corcoran's has no cover charge but this evening it was 10 Euros but at you got a "free" drink.  Lauren and I post up at the bar as usual and in no time we're chatting with these 2 fellows, haha!

I think Lauren and I are starting to see a trend here.  We do indeed end up entertaining ourselves at some point.  Please notice Lauren's paper scarf around her neck.

All in all we had a good New Years.  We closed the place down and sang as loud as we could all the way back my apt!