the time to enjoy a european trip is about three weeks after unpacking - george Ade

Make that 52 weeks. Exactly one year from today I returned to Boston after an exhilarating, eye-opening, fantastic adventure in Europe. I got to visit four countries, twelve cities, an abundance of landmarks, and made my way through the wonders and history that define western/central Europe. I'm pretty sure I covered everything I saw so by reading this blog from the beginning, I hope you get a sense of all that I experienced.

Paris was better than I expected or hoped for. Though on my sister's travel radar for years, Paris never really interested me that much. I don't really know why, and if it hadn't been for the flight availability, I would never have thought about visiting. My eyes were set on Southern France, Prague, Croatia or Greece, all of which I unfortunately couldn't fit in. I certainly don't regret the choice now. Paris had sooooo much to see and so much to choose from. Yes, it was a little on the expensive side, but it offered an abundance of historical museums, churches and landmarks to visit giving me plenty to do in my short time there. Highlights for me were the Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, and Louvre. Yes, cliche and probably typical answers. But there's a reason they're so popular. They're outstanding.

Tours was nice, and I liked being in a smaller city, but if I were to go back, I'd give myself a few days and I'd rent a car. The chateaus are very spread out and each is unique enough that I'd want to see the different designs so I'd need to go at my own pace and not that of a tour. Pompeii was a definite highlight and a must-see if you're in the Rome area. You can definitely make it a half-day trip, but I'd allow myself the entire day to travel from Rome, see and explore the entire place, and return back. Maybe I'd give it two days and spend the 2nd climbing Mt. Vesuvius.

Rome had plenty to do to fill up two days and I think I certainly covered most of it. I didn't feel rushed which was nice but If I had one more day, I would have gone to the Borghese Museum and maybe spent a little more time in the Vatican and St. Peter's as well as giving myself more time to explore Palantine Hill. But other than that I have no regrets about things I wish I'd seen. And even a year later, I still think the Capuchin Monk Crypt was one of the coolest things ever in Rome...and in Europe.

I didn't quite realize until I was there that I'd planned much of my Italian experience in Tuscany, but because I was to rely on trains and public transportation, I purposely chose large cities rather than smaller ones. So Rome, Florence and Venice immediately shot to the top of the list. Siena ended up being a "transition" city, and though the first part of my day there was awful, the view at the top of the Duomo complex more than made up for it. Rolling hills...the wind in my hair...I'm such a cliche. Florence gave me "David" so no matter how shitty the rest could have been (it wasn't, but IF it'd been) "David" more than made up for it. I don't know if I've ever seen a more perfect piece of art. Venice was such a change from Tuscany and it really felt like a completely different culture. While the other cities felt foreign because they had this essence of being "old" and "classic," Venice was it's own little world...a water planet according to Anne and I. And I loved every minute of it. Venice was beautiful, yes...but overall it was just really, really cool.

Munich was a great change of pace from both France and Italy. There was such a different cultural feeling to it that I didn't feel when transitioning from France to Italy. Yes, Italy was different from France, but Munich really gave me this "look you're in a new place" kinda feel. The Bavarian architecture with its onion domes and more streamline designs was quite different from that of Venice, Tuscany or Paris. I don't know the correct terminology for architecture, but visually you could see, and even feel, the difference. My visit to Dachau, though very sad, was a great learning experience. There are many concentration camps open throughout Europe but by finding one in my "path" of travel, I lucked out. I definitely think you should try and visit at least one throughout your lifetime since they are such an iconic piece of history and a great visual as to why an atrocity like the Holocaust should never happen again.

I don't want to assign beauty, as each and every city was gorgeous in its own way, but Innsbruck would take the crown in a fight. The snow-capped mountains surrounding this small, Alpine city makes for a picture perfect vacation spot. Not to mention the kindness of the Hotel Weiss Kruez's staff. Everything about my single day there was perfect. If the weather had been worse, my opinion would probably be different, but the sun was out and shining gloriously!

Salzburg...oh Salzburg. You had the crappy weather, yet you still got me to fall in love. What a classic, endearing place. It's with me every day, and not just cause my panoramic poster hangs above my closet so I get to look at it all the time. I got to live out a childhood dream of living The Sound of  Music and every time I watch it now, I think of being there and that excitement I felt. Salzburg is somewhere I would return to in a heartbeat. The lakes region and the surrounding mountains would be a terrific place to spend a week exploring.

Finally, there was Vienna. A gorgeous city that doesn't need much more discussion from me. Overall, I really, really loved my adventure in Europe. I'm the kind of person that wants to see and do everything, all dependent on cost of course, so it was ridiculously hard trying to figure out my itinerary because I wanted to go everywhere in Europe. I barely scratched the surface of my "to do" list. I think I need at least a year and a completely disposable income next time. But with what I did see and experience, I would never give that up. I saw history and iconic landmarks...places where I could have easily spent the entire day staring at their amazingness. There's not much more I can think of to say, but I will leave you with the quote below. My blogging isn't over, but my European recollections have come to an end.

the rewards of the journey far outweigh 

the risk of leaving the harbor - unknown

throw off the bowlines. sail away from the safe harbor. catch the trade winds in your sails. explore. dream. discover. - mark twain

I'm going to write a more detailed "reflections" kind of post, but before doing so, I thought it would be good to write down my "conclusion" entry from my travel notebook. Word for word, these were my thoughts as I was sitting in the airport waiting to board my plane back to Boston. Some of it might make no sense because I was just writing my stream of consciousness, but it gives a good picture of all that happened in my three weeks abroad.

Paris

• great city for history, architecture, art
• not wild about prices for things and people on street trying to talk to you
• Notre Dame was my fave 
• hostel okay; staff wasn't the friendliest; bad breakfast
• Metro was good; got me places 

Tours

• Chateaus - gorgeous
• Tours' cathedral - cold, but really neat
• tour made me sleepy but I don't think I missed much of the English narration
• hotel - good; wish there'd been breakfast; far walk; shower took awhile to heat; best towel ever!

Pompeii

• really interesting place
• wish I knew booklet had descriptions of each place
• huge, but I saw most of it
• more detailed art/decor stuff made it fantastic rather than the architecture

Rome

• crazy city drivers
• very interesting things; both Ancient and Catholic
• Renaissance Art - fantastic
• sculptures throughout city - cool
• each church pretty distinctive
• monk bones!

Siena

• STUPID BUS SYSTEM
• Duomo etc. actually very nice and interesting; Tuscan overlook one of my fave places
• Piazza del Campo - very nice
• gelato!

Florence

• everything had an admission fee that wasn't cheap
• LOVED DAVID!!!
• black and white marble design of Tuscan churches
• all had fancy facades but plain sides
• illegal bag selling

Venice

• it's own planet and culture
• lots of churches
• getting lost is easy
• boat pass - wonderful
• flooding! so neat!

Munich

• overall - underwhelming compared to previous cities
• Olympic Tower - overpriced
• Marienplatz - neat/awesome
• Dachau - depressing
• had lots of little things with nothing overwhelmingly awesome
• Nymphenburg - HUGE

Innsbruck

• My FAVORITE place!
• gorgeous weather, gorgeous mountains
• cheap, cutest, central hotel. LOVED
• crystals were trippy/weird
• Nordpark my fave; trampling around 2 ft. of snow on the Alps with parachuters and rock cliffs

Salzburg

• such an awesome, old, old, city
• SoM!! - all the filming places
• wish mountain wasn't closed
• saw the Untersberg! Gorgeous! Alps diff!
• panorama painting and my poster

Vienna

• a lot like Munich
• not a lot to do for 3 days without spending a lot of money
• everything had admission
• enjoyed art museum a lot - wish I could have seen all, but I saw all paintings
• Karlskirche - best church
• a lot hindered by crowds and Vienna's lack of herding abilities and awful space layout
• royalty history- very interesting

And though this has nothing to do with my thoughts on my trip, I have to add the last comment I made in the journal, from the airplane, because I don't remember it at all and I find it hilarious. It's also a great conclusion as its not a conclusion at all..."someone keeps farting; it smells."

return to Paris

After visiting Tours on Saturday day, I headed back to Paris early Sunday morning. I was planning on seeing a few more things in the area by Gare de Lyon that I didn't get to see when I was in the city before. And I had til 8PM to do since my train to Milan was an overnight one. The train ride back was uneventful and very quiet; it was 8AM on Sunday morning though. When I got back to Paris, we arrived at the Montparnasse station and since I had no Metro tickets or small bills or coins left, I went to find a small market to get some food and change. Yet, in Montparnasse on a Sunday everything is closed!! It took me like 15 minutes to find a place with reasonably priced food. And on the way to finding the place I ran into the people on the sidewalks who want you to sign up for things. And since it wasn't my first encounter with them, when my response of "no Francais" prompted them to speak in English I decided to say "no English" to get them to leave me alone. Gah, not the best 30 minutes of my life...

After getting food and getting on the subway I make it to the Paris Bercy station where my night train would be leaving from, and a train attendant said they had luggage storage there as well. However, they didn't and I had to go to Gare de Lyon to store my bag. After finally getting all my stuff situated in a locker, I was now ready to walk around and visit the Maison de Victor Hugo at the Places de Vosges and the Memorial de la Shoah. Upon nearing the Canal St. Martin I saw an internet cafe and was very happy to check my email. And I got a soda with it.

After spending a blissful hour with the internet, I move on to the Canal St. Martin and at the head of the canal, the Bastille. A very gorgeous statue in the center of a rotary.

Next, I continue onto the Places des Vosges, an upscale park area that's enclosed by a square residential complex with very expensive restaurants and art galleries on the ground floor. Victor Hugo lived here for a time and his former residence has been turned into a museum.

The Maison de Victor Hugo was very informative, but like a lot of museums it assumed you knew the basic history of his life. There was a particular woman, whom I can't remember the name of, in his life that was very influential and the information plaques kept mentioning her like we already knew who she was. I didn't, so it was a bit of a mystery of putting his life story together. There was an entire floor dedicated the photographs of Hugo that were taken by his son, I think, and maybe some that were taken by himself. There were numerous photos of his family included too. The upper floor was the apartment section and they included a map of the original layout as the current one had changed since Hugo lived there. In order to make the museum one of his life, instead of just the period Hugo lived there, each room was decorated in the style of a certain part of his life. They had furniture and decorations from his other residences, or in the style of his other homes in order to get the feel of what it was like to live like Victor Hugo.


When I exited the Maison it was raining and I didn't have my umbrella. Therefore since the Places des Vosges was covered all the way around I took a stroll and looked in the windows of all the art galleries and became very jealous of the people eating delicious looking entrees in the restaurants. At this point, the closest thing I'd had to a real meal was QuickBurger so the jealousy came fast and easy. I was really tempted to steal the bread out of baskets that were just sitting by the registers unattended. There were a lot of people there...they would have never noticed...but I didn't. The rain had let up some by the time I'd finished my loop around the park so I headed out to the Memorial de la Shoah.

The Memorial de la Shoah which opened in January of 2005 is "the largest research, information and awareness raising centre in Euripe on teh unprecedented history of the genocide of teh Juews during the Second World War" (from the guide the Memorial gave me). The Memorial was extremely informative, almost a little too much for me. I was fatigued, partially sleep-deprived and maybe a little jet-lagged so my concentration was limited and I could only absorb so much information. The Holocaust is also a very heavy subject so the information weighed down on my brain a little more than a basic museum.

The entrance to the museum leads you through the Wall of Names. It is pretty much what you'd expect when you hear "the Wall of Names." It is a series of walls with the first and last names and year of birth of the 76,000 Jewish men, women and children who were deported from France between 1942 and 44. They are presented by the year of deportation and in alphabetical order. It's a powerful thing when you see all those names listed as its a visual cue to a tiny, tiny portion of the people who were murdered in the Holocaust.

Once in the museum you descend downstairs into the Crypt. It is a symbolic tomb, a large empty space with a black marble Star of David in the center of the space. In the center lie the ashes of victims collected from various camps all over Europe laid among the soil from Israel. The star is really beautiful and I like it better than the memorial that is near Notre Dame.

In a portion of the wall in the crypt are books of remembrance which commemorate victims of the Shoah. There is also a back room attached which house the police files on the Jews; individual and family records of Jews who were persecuted, arrested and deported. This was another visual aid to process the amount of people who were deported and persecuted during the Holocaust. The number of boxes with files in them in this section was outstanding.

After visitng the crypt, I go down another floor to the permanent exhibition where the history of the Shoah is presented. This section was not large in terms of space, but the amout of information presented was enormous! I tried to read as much as I could, but like I said above...the heavy subject matter combined with my tired brain made it more difficult. What I was able to read and absorb was extremely interestng and informative and gave me a different perspective of the Holocaust. There were only 76,000 Jews deported from France so in comparison to the number of Polish Jews (which was in the millions), it's very small. But there is still a rich history of Jewish acceptance and living in France so to learn about that was really cool. At the end of the permanent exhibit was a memorial to the children deported from France. The small room has floor to ceiling, illuminated walls with photographs of only children who were victims of the Shoah. There are around 3,000 photos and it's a hard-hitting room.

After finishing with the museum, the sun was beginning to set and everything was closing so I started the trek back to Paris Bercy where I spend an hour or so reading a book. When my train arrived I boarded and experienced my first European night train. I will discuss more of this in another post dedicated to all train travel later but I will say it was an interesting experience. We depart Paris and head into the night towards Italy. Arrival time in Milan was 630AM.

Musee du Louvre

Before arriving at the Louvre, I expected that I would enter from the plaza above and descend through the famed glass pyramid into the lobby of the museum. However, the Metro dropped me off somewhere else and following signs, I made my way through the underground mall into the lobby. Doing so I was able to pass under the inverted glass pyramid hanging from the ceiling which was very enjoyable to look at even though I had misconceptions about it and thought it was closer to the lobby.

Anyway, upon entering the lobby I was 1000x more grateful for my museum pass than ever. The crowds were huge, unlike anything I was expecting. It was a Friday night after all. Bypassing the massive crowds waiting in line to purchase their ticket, I entered the wing that pointed to the Mona Lisa. The DaVinci painting was certainly one thing I wanted to see and I figured I'd get it, and it's crowd, out of the way before seeing the rest of the place.

What to say about the Mona Lisa? While very nice to actually see in person, it would have been nicer if I actually saw it. Because of it's high popularity and the fact that it's been stolen before, you can't get closer than 15-20 feet and even then the painting is behind glass/plastic therefore reflecting the room's lights and everyone's camera flashes so that it becomes quite obnoxious.

The Mona Lisa isn't that large to begin with, just an average portrait size, so being put back so far makes enjoying her impossible. You can't look at colors or brush strokes. You would do better looking at a copy of it on your computer or in books or even a print out for a production of Annie.

Add in the fact that I don't like crowds 99% of the time, I was definitely not impressed with the Mona Lisa's presentation (Thanks, Louvre Management). I didn't have a chance to see the Mona Lisa to actually have an opinion on that actual painting.

Directly across from the Mona Lisa was an enormous canvas taking up an entire wall of Jesus eating dinner with people. It wasn't a Last Supper depiction but it looked a little similar to those kinds. I have no memory of who painted it or what it was called. It amused me though to see how such a grand painting like this was treated so differently from the tiny Mona Lisa. I then made my way through part of the Italian painting wing which would then lead me into the Egyptian and Etruscan art. While all the paintings were outstanding, a part of the museum I thought was fascinating was how the building itself was a piece of art. Each room was perfectly arranged and designed and the carvings in the walls and ceilings were intricate and beautiful. In the first few rooms I spent almost as much time staring at the ceiling as I did the paintings.

With almost all the paintings and artwork I viewed throughout my trip, I was in unflappable awe over the detail depicted in the works. Almost all featured humans or mythical creatures doing ordinary and extraordinary things and being able to see each muscle, hair, face and distinct action was amazing. I'm not really an art lover but I was, and still am, completely fascinated by how these works were created. In some ways, these inanimate canvases portray human behavior more accurately than film or television ever could. But more on that in a later post.

Moving on from the paintings, I made my way through the Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Etruscan collections. A lot of it was the same stuff over and over again so it didn't take too much time. However, the place is so huge that even if you walked without looking it would still take time to get from one place to the other. I even passed a couple sleeping on a bench so the place really tuckers you out.

And it's also very maze-like and I was came very close to being lost at one point. I wander through all the non-painting rooms that are on the ground and first floors and almost everything I see is spectacular. The rooms that are more spread out and have these giant statues in them are outstanding and I enjoyed them a lot.


I finally make my way to what I will call the indoor sculpture garden. It's a massive, open room with large glass windows and hundreds of sculptures placed throughout it's space. There are also side rooms attached with even more glorious pieces of art. This was one of my favorite places of the museum. It was quiet and still and each sculpture was different and unique therefore making the experience of viewing each one special. So awesome!

By this point though I was getting very tired. I'd been there about 2 hours and being on my feet the last two days was beginning to take its toll. Since I'd already seen a small portion of the paintings I decided I would skip the rest of those and instead see the Medieval ruins in the basement first and then go upstairs to Napoleon's apartments before calling it a night.

The Medieval Louvre area was both boring and interesting at the same time. While I was fascinated by the fact that there were this ancient wall from a former fortress under the museum, It was very uniform and simple and therefore didn't take much time to look at. Walking through it all was very cool, but besides its size, there was nothing else to drop your jaw at. Napoleon's apartments on the other hand were the exact opposite. If I'm not mistaken, the apartments in the Louvre provide visitors with examples of how Napoleon lavishly lived while ruling France. The 5 or 6 rooms are all massive, highly decorated and overwhelming to look at. Though absolutely gorgeous there is just so much going on that even taking your time isn't enough to soak it all in. There are paintings, chandeliers, draperies, other decorative art, elaborate furniture...a lot of stuff for one tiny little man.

everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love. - claude monet

I think I've mentioned in other posts before this, but if you ever go to Paris and want to see a lot of famous museums, I highly recommend getting the Paris Museum pass. Not only did it save me a lot of money, it allowed me to skip lines and visit and see artwork I wouldn't have otherwise. The 5 attractions that were on the top of my sightseeing list and included in the pass were the Lourve, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle and the Concierge. The total admission for all these places was more than a 48-hr museum pass so I decided the pass was certainly worth it in regards to these places only. However, because I had the pass I then went to the Hotel des Invalides, Rodin Museum and Musee l'Orangerie without spending any extra money. It was really awesome.

Anyway...travel tips aside, this entry will be about my visit to the Musee l'Orangerie as well as my nice long walk up the Champs-Elysees and my visit to the Arc de Triomphe. From the Metro stop at Hotel deVille, I got off at the Place de la Concorde. It is the eastward end of the Champs-Elysees, home to the obelisk and between the Jardin du Tuileries and another garden I don't know the name of. It offers a great view of the Eglise de Madeline and is right next to the Musee l'Orangerie. The Place de la Concorde is also the home of a GIANT ferris wheel that may or may not be permanent but is indeed a huge eye-sore. I truly believe it should be removed as soon as possible, never to return.


Upon arriving at the Place de la Concorde I take a look towards the Madeline and admire the large fountain in the middle of the oblong rotary. A huge rotary by the way that has no lanes painted where you really would want some. After the fountain I wait awhile for the lights to change so that I can cross the rotary to look more closely at the obelisk which is very pretty and intricately carved with symbols I have no translation/meaning for. Although the obelisk is a very nice sight to look at, the island it's on is small and overcrowded so I head back to the sidewalk the next time the lights change.


I make my way into the museum (through another metal detector) and head to the main exhibit, Monet's Nympheas. The Nympheas is a collection of Monet's water-lily paintings that encompass two very long, narrow, circular rooms. Each room has 4 paintings that are each a unique panorama of color and design. Very beautiful and I sat and stared at them for awhile before heading downstairs to see the other impressionist work.


I don't remember any of the names of the artists but I do remember enjoying quite a number of paintings in the gallery. Overall, the museum was nice and I'm glad I went for free. If I had to pay I might have thought it as overpriced at 7.50Euro. The place isn't very big so compared to the 9Euro fee at the Lourve you can see where I feel the overpriced-ness.

After finishing the museum and feeling a huge wave of fatigue, I decided to try and find an internet cafe that might be cheaper than the hostel before going up the Arc de Triomphe and then the Lourve for the evening. A worker at the museum told me there was internet in the Grand Palais, a 10-15 minute walk northwest of the museum along the Seine. Turns out, he was mistaken and there is no internet. Or the people at the Grand Palais didn't understand me and told me there was no internet. I did get to see the outside of the Grand Palais and Petit Palais up close, so the walk wasn't a complete failure.

The Grand Palais workers said to look along the Champs-Elysees so I decide that the walk from there to the Arc de Triomphe isn't that long so I start up the famous avenue.

The Champs-Elysees is pretty much the equivalent to 5th Ave, Park Ave or Madison Ave in New York City. At least thats the impression I got. It's a place for shoppers who have money. The beginning of where I started was actually set up as a Christmas Market. There was even a Santa with sleigh and reindeer set up on a zipline. After walking up the avenue a third of the way and seeing nothing in the form of an internet cafe, I turn down a side street and ask people in a restaurant. They tell me that there is nothing like that near hear...grrr. This was my first experience with trusting foreigner's English when I shouldn't but that is a discussion to be saved for another post.

Since finding internet was not going to happen and I was starving I consented to buying a real dinner at QuickBurger as the bread and cheese I had was not sustaining me well. The chicken and fries I got with a soda were absolutely delcious. So satisfying for someone who hadn't had a real meal in 3 days. I make it to the Arc de Triomphe as the sun is almost completely set but there is still enough daylight to provide a beautiful background for my pictures. The Arc is in the middle of an EXTREMELY busy rotary and I was confused as how to cross as there were no crosswalks or lights or anything. I glance over to the Arc nad see a stairwell go into the ground and I then discover a similar one on my side of the road. An underground tunnel...very smart.


Finally under the arch I spend a bit of time observing all the detailed carvings in the two smaller side arches as well as the main one. It's all the same, plain flower pattern over and over but I find it very pretty.

I enter the arch and begin the ascent to the top. It was up a, you guessed it, narrow spiral stairwell that made me very dizzy and by this point my legs were REALLY tired so I just wanted it to end.

It does and I enter a museum kind of place with models and a gift shop and see that there is still another stairwell to ascend, though this one isn't spiral! The view from the top is wonderful. There are 12 different avenues that end at Charles de Gaulle-Etoile (the rotary around the Arc) and so just looking down each avenue individually gives me a different view of the city than the Eiffel Tower or the Notre Dame did.

One aspect of the Arc's view I was looking forward to was the ability to see straight down the Champs Elysees to the Place de la Concorde and the Obelisk and then all the way down to the Arc du Carousel next to the Lourve. However the eyesore of a Ferris wheel was lit up and blocking the whole second half of the view. Grrrr. I was not that happy. I spent quite awhile staring out into the Paris night since this was my only evening city view and I wanted to enjoy it. But after awhile I knew I had to go if I wanted to see as much as the Lourve as I could in the next 4 hours.

sing the bells, bells, bells, bells bells, bells, bells, bells bells of Notre Dame...

Yes, the title of this post is from a Disney movie that is based off the novel by Victor Hugo. I'm not ashamed to say that all I know about this indescribable cathedral comes from that Disney movie, but it's true. Before seeing it for myself, I knew what it looked like and that it was famous for its gargoyles, gargoyles that I really wished sang and danced like in the film. My first viewing of Notre Dame was during the night bike tour and although it was very pretty all lit up, my second viewing with the church standing against a backdrop of crystal clear blue sky was jaw-droppingly beautiful.


I don't know anything about architecture besides what I like and think is pretty, and Notre Dame is something I loved. In front of the cathedral there is a plaza where there are plants and benches and it's a place I imagine is packed on a sunny summer day. On this sunny November day there were a lot of people but not so many that I couldn't find a seat and gaze and gaze and gaze at the beauty of the church. I don't think there are any words that can describe how detailed and artistic Notre Dame is. There are hundreds of sculptures and intricate carvings on the front and the symmetry is outstanding. Sure it took 600 years to build, but even then I still can't imagine how the Parisians from so long ago were able to construct it. I tried to imagine, but since there's only so much the mind can take I had to stop. My mind would just be blown.


The inside of the cathedral was dark, but I was still able to appreciate the utter beauty of it all even if I couldn't get pictures that reflected what I was seeing with my eyes. I think my favorite part of the interior was the large stained glass windows on each side right before the altar begins. They were just really gorgeous and huge and pretty.

After I made my way throughout the whole sanctuary I exited the building and hopped in line for the climb to the towers. Because space is so limited up there only 40 people can be admitted at a time so the line moves steadily, but not necessarily quickly.

The staircase was long and spirally and I was very winded when I got to the top and my legs were definitely shaking, but the view was wonderful and seeing all the gargoyles up close was so cool!
Each one was so different and unique and although not terribly detailed, they had great facial expressions. Some were also animals or hybrids of animals instead of just scarwinged creatures or human-like creatures that have been depicted in the Disney movie or the cartoon series "Gargoyles." And as with all the things I really liked, I took way too many pictures of them.



The view from the cathedral was wonderful because I could see the two areas of the city I'd already visited (The Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur) and it gave me a different perspective of the layout of Paris.

While at the base of the bell towers you can enter the one on the right (facing the church) and go up and see one of the bells. They also explain how they are operated and how many men it takes to make them play. It was all very interesting. And of course I had a moment's flash to the movie where Quasimodo swings through all the bells to play them, and when he tells Esmerelda all the names he gave them.

After visitng the bells I then had to wait until the group at the top of the bell tower had descended before going up with my group. It was another spiral staircase and there wasn't much extra to see at the top, but it was still fun. The best part was being able to see the architecture of the flying buttresses and other elements from almost a birds-eye view.

The worst part was that you could only circle the top once and were limited to 5-7 min to see everything. Once everyone was done looking we then began the descent down the stairs to the ground.


Another part of the Notre Dame complex area was a crypt of an archealogical dig which uncovered and preserved the remains of the ancient city of Paris. There was a lot of information to get, but I couldn't grasp what the place looked like because it was so worn and it was like in a building that felt like an aquarium or zoo or something. Okay, that description sucked, but I can't really do better. I just didn't feel it. So I skipped the whole second half and headed to the Metro. On my way there I looked at the Mémorial de la Déportation which is a tribute to the 200,000 French who were deported to concentration camps. I also passed by Hotel DeVille, (and yes, I think of Cruella DeVille everytime I hear this, so what?) which is Paris' City Hall and it was pretty cool. Next stop on the itinerary...Place de la Concorde and the Musee l'Orangie.

The Concierge and Saint Chappelle

After leaving the Sacre Coeur, I hop on the subway and take it down to the Ile de la Cite where I had been the previous night on the bike tour. Since I knew the basic layout of the area because of the bike tour I was very grateful I'd gone on it. The Concierge was my first stop after getting off the train and it was much smaller than I thought it would be which made me glad it was included in the Museum Pass so I paid no extra money on it. Upon entering the building you step down into a floor like a basement because it is all stone, but not quite a whole floor below the surface. In the large space with numerous columns (it looks like a church) there is a temporary art exhibition on the left side and a very interesting spiral staircase on the right. The rest of the room doesn't have much to look at.

After walking through the main space, I pass through a small gift shop area into the prison section. The Concierge was the main prison used for holding those who were awaiting trial or execution during the French Revolution. Probably the most famous prisoner held here was Marie Antionette who stayed for a short period before being beheaded. The first cells observered are that of the workers of the prison like the warden. The spaces are tiny and were used for bookeeping and other things related to maintaining the prison. From that point they have other cells set up with mannequins so you can see how crappy living in a prison was. There are also descriptions of the conditions for the poorest people who shared cells. The cells had only hay to cover the cement floor and because of such tight accomodations, disease spread rapidly.

Upstairs there are more cells with mannequins. A couple of the ones in this section were for those who could pay for an "upgrade" and didn't have to share cells. They were also able to have such things as a bed, chair, desk, books, paper, writing utensils etc. These prisoners still had sucky lives but they didn't seem to suck as much as the ones in the communal cells. This was the first place, of a few, that made me never want to go to jail EVER!


After seeing the generic cells, I moved through an informative section that detailed the lives of some of the prisoners. The entire section had English translations which I found very helpful; but like with many places I went to, the information provided assumed you knew the basic history of the place and people. So I liked reading all the profiles of what people did to get into jail, but a fair amount was lost on me. From here I went back downstairs and entered the area where Marie Antionette's cell was. Though they do their best to replicate the cell, the layout of the space was slightly altered due to structural changes to the building, especially the chapel next to her old cell. She had a very fancy and decorated room and was guarded my her own personal guard. There was definitely a lack of privacy though for her since there wasn't no door between her space and the guard (once again, this is all from how the museum placed furniture, decorations, etc.).

The chapel was just that...a small chapel. Nothing fancy or exciting, but I did like how the paintings were described in English and pointed out certain important political figures. I pass through the chapel walk through a courtyard which places me back by the warden's cell area. The Concierge had one more room for me to look at and like the main hall, didn't have much. The carvings on the columns are very interesting but there's nothing outstanding about the place. I get back onto the sideway, walk about 500 feet and turn into the entrance for the Saint Chappelle. The church is part of the Palais de Justice (Court House) complex therefore I must go through a metal detector before entering the courtyard where the church is.


The Saint Chappelle is not a huge church, it's actually quite small in terms of square feet. With my awesome museum pass I get to bypass the ticket line and head straight in. The entrance is in what I would call the basement, which is also a gift shop that has a small chapel/prayer space towards the back. To access the main sanctuary I walk up a narrow, stone stairwell and enter. It's pretty cold inside but that doesn't stop me from appreciating the beauty of it. From about 10-12 feet off the floor up to the very high ceiling are stained glass windows that circle the entire space. Each large window are tall and narrow and made up of smaller spaces that tell stories of the Bible. I'm not going to try and bulls*it what stories the windows tell because I didn't read the info provided but they are from the Bible.

I sit along the side of the church in the chairs amongst all the other tourist and am really taken back by the detail of each window. There are thousands and thousands of pieces of glass used for each window and each window is distinct. None of the them tell the same story and the smaller spaces are all differnet geometrically. The two examples I posted above show circles and non-striaght-edged diamonds. The back window, which is seen when looking at the church from the front outside, is a large "rose window" which I find particularly stunning. The framework is that of a flower, but each piece of the flower is an element of what section of the Bible is being told.


My only dissapointment with the Saint Chappelle is that for some reason (maybe because the sun wasn't shining through it) was that the left sided windows were very dark and it was hard to distinguish what the pictures were depicting. There was also a lot of scaffolding covering the front-left portion of the church and the main center window above the altar and so not being able to see that was sad. But since like 75% of the glass is original from however long ago, I understand them having to preserve the building and the glass. Though the building is another place that I probably could have stared at for awhile, I still had many places to see. And it was quite cold. I exit the church, find the exit to the Palais de Justice complex and head south towards the Cathedral de Notre Dame.

i travel not to go anywhere, but to go....the great affair is to move - Robert Louis Stevenson

Metro...Commuter...Long-Distance...Night... All types of trains...All trains I rode at least once. For 3 weeks the European rail system was something I admired, depended on and hated all at the same time. Admiration because America doesn't hold a candle to Europe in regards to train transportation. Dependency because the trains were my only means of transpo besides my own two feet. And hatred because of unexpected fees and multiple problems with reservations.

Upon purchasing a Global EurailPass (certainly worth the money!) that allowed me 15 days of unlimited travel anywhere in 21 different countries, I received a free map and timetable along with booklet on how to use to the train system. When I arrived in Paris I had a plan: all I had to do was make a few train reservations for certain long-distance trains and the 2 night trains I would be taking. I knew there would be a "small fee" attached to them all, especially the night trains, however, when I hear "small fee" I think of 3-5Euro, not 5-15. I was not very happy when train reservations for 3 trains plus 1 night train amounted to $66. And since I could only do some of the Italian train reservations while in Paris, knowing there would be even more fees made me very frustrated. I had expected/budgeted in my mind $20-30 so having to pay that much was NOT fun.

My other ordeal while making train reservations that morning was dealing with the trains I wanted being booked already. Orignally my plan was to take an afternoon train from Paris to Milan, then a night train from Milan to Rome. I had read that the fees for night trains in Italy were less than in France and from the Eurail timetable I believed you could get a reclining seat which costs less than a couchette. However, the train to Milan was booked, as was the direct night train to Rome (my second option) so I was slightly panicked as I don't like disruption to my plans I've thought very carefully about. Especially when I was meeting Anne based off the time I originally planned. After mentally calming myself down I asked about a night train to Milan, and then a early morning train down to Rome. YES, they had one available!! I was at least going to make it to Rome, even if it was going to be 3 hours later.

So some words of advice for future train travelers...Reserve your seats online in advance if you can. And if you can't, have back-up plans. There may be seats available on the trains, but they aren't for 2nd Class Global Pass people. So unless you want to pay like a 70-100Euro fee to get on that first train option by upgrading yourself, have back-up plans. Also, I was traveleing between Paris and Rome on a Sunday night so traveling between major cities on a Sunday night might not have been the best choice. I also advise all of you double check the tickets you receive from the window person before leaving because the date might be wrong. Although the person I was dealing with spoke English well enough for me to make the reservations, he booked me on the train for the wrong date. I luckily found out though, not because I looked, but because I was trying to change my tickets and they pointed it out to me. Which leads me to another piece of advice...in France at least, they have the languages that are spoken at each window listed on monitors above so look for those if you don't speak French.

Traveling in multiple foreign countries when you don't speak any of the languages makes yourself very vulnerable to mistakes and miscommunication like I experienced with the train reservations. I was definitely expecting to have some problems, but it didn't make them any less frustrating. The good thing was that I learned from my mistakes and when I had to make my other reservations I was prepared and had no problems. I think that's it for the rambling and advice about reservations. Since this post is already long enough, I'll add my thoughts about riding the trains later.

Sacre Coeur

My first stop for my second day in Paris was the Sacre Coeur, a five minute walk from my hostel, but I had to return to the Gare du Nord to make train reservations first. I get up, get dressed and head downstairs to see what's for breakfast. It's pretty pathetic. Some rolls, a couple pieces of bread and what I think is peanut butter (Halleluliah!) but it isn't (God damn it!). No one is downstairs so I throw 6 rolls in my bag and head out to the train station. At Gare du Nord there is no wait at the ticket windows and the attendant speaks English pretty well. However, I experience great shock and awe at the fees that accompany specific trains I must make reservations for (look for a future post on the European train system).

After dealing with the ticket reservations I head back to the hostel in desperate need to use the expensive internet. I quickly send off a warning email to Anne (my sister) about our meeting time change in Rome, push all the stress from the situation to the back of my mind and finally head out to Sacre Coeur. The Sacre Coeur is a very large church at the top of the highest point in Paris called Montmarte. With no other hills around, Montmarte is quite noticeable from lookout points such as the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame. The church is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Paris and was built quite recently (finished in 1914) compared to other ancient Parisian sights.

The hike up to the church is fairly steep but not horribly difficult as there are steps built into the hill the entire way up. The worst part of the climb are the obnoxious, persistent people at the bottom of the hill trying to sell you woven bracelets or something. The outside of the basilica is very plain with a few statues of men on horseback and some religious ones. No intricate carvings like many of the Roman churches I will later visit. I really like the metal lion heads with the door handles in their mouths.

The inside of the church is just as simple as the outside. The dome is really cool to look up into and the stained glass is very interesting. As this was the first European church on my trip I was extremely impressed by the architecture and appearance but if I had seen it after some of the others I probably wouldn't have thought so. After visiting the interior I walk around the side and into the entrance to the dome and crypt.

It's a one way trip to the top up a VERY narrow spiral staircase and it's very easy to get dizzy while climbing up. This stairwell doesn't actually lead to the central dome. Instead it's one of the side ones and you must climb along the roof of the church to enter the stairwell for the main dome. This part is really fun and I like being close to the different towers, seeing the roof up close and there is a really steep, tiny stairwell I have to climb.

I make it to the top of the central dome eventually and the view of Paris is very nice. The only problem is that it's early in the morning and the sun is still low against the horizon, shining through all the haze and making it very difficult to see specific parts of the city. You can make certain things out, but it might have been better later in the day. Because of this, I plan out my days in the other cities to include tower climbs mid-day.

After soaking in the view for a little bit I head down to the crypt. For the descent you take the exact same set of stairs except on the other side of the church and it is just as narrow as the first one and takes more effort to not get dizzy. A technique I figured out to help is go slow and don't look where you're stepping. Seeing the stairs go in a circle is more dizzying and looking at the wall. When I get to the crypt I'm disappointed to find it's closed. I go out front to the church and admire the facade some more before heading back down the hill to the Metro station. Next stop: the Concierge.