The sun was coming through the curtains and I could tell that it was going to be another beautiful day. Yesterday, it was in the high 70s with low humidity. It was a fabulous first day.
I looked over at my sister's bed and I noticed that she wasn't there. I guess she couldn't sleep and wanted to go for some cafe and a pain au chocolat.
We all met Becca in the lobby at 9am. It was going to be a full day. We are visiting the Eiffel Tower, L'Orangerie and the Louvre Museum. And then we are ending the evening with dinner as we cruise down the Seine River.
Get ready! It is going to be an exciting day on our virtual tour!
Becca was so cute this morning with her long hair and colorful red hat. She wanted to make sure that everybody could find her among the crowds.
Our hotel was about 3 miles from the Eiffel Tower. Since the weather was so nice, we all decided that it would be nice to walk. It felt good to walk and to see all the other sits along the way.
As we got closer to the tower, I was in awe of the magnitude of it. The plan to build this tower of 300 metres(1,000 feet) high was conceived as part of preparations for the World's Fair of 1889. Gustave Eiffel was the constructor for this unique tower. He is also well known for other projects, such as the Statute of Liberty, and he also agreed to build the locks of the Panama Canal. It took 22 months to build the Eiffel tower.
The plan was to tear the tower down after 20 years. Eiffel had cleverly put a radio antenna and wireless telegraph transmitter in the Tower, and the government eventually decided it was too useful to demolish. During WWII, Hitler had ordered that the Eiffel Tower be torn down. Fortunately, it never was.
The tower has 1,665 steps to the top. You can only take the stairs from the bottom up to the 2nd Floor. No one is allowed to take the stairs to the top. The tower is known as the "Symbol of Love" because of it's construction and outstanding views. It is the tallest monument in France. When you think of France, what do you think of? Of course, the Eiffel Tower.
The group decided to tackle the stairs to the second floor and then we took the lift to the top. I can't even describe the view to you, except "spectacular". When we got to the top, we decided to enjoy our time up there with a glass of champagne.
The Musee de l'Orangerie is located on the bank of the Seine in the old orangery of the Tuileries Palace on the Place de la Concorde near the Concorde metro station. This museum/art gallery is well known for the "Water Lilies" murals by Claude Monet. Pablo Picasso's work was also displayed. After spending a couple of hours here, we decided to find a cafe for lunch.
The cafe wasn't crowded as it was around 2 o'clock. It felt good to relax and to enjoy a glass of wine with our lunch. We made sure to say "bonjour" when we entered and "au revoir" when we left.
Off to the Louvre Museum. It is the world's largest art museum and historic monument in Paris. It is located on the Right Bank of the Seine, not far from our hotel.
I always like a little history of places. The Louvre was originally built as a fortress in 1190, but was reconstructed in the 16th century to serve as a royal palace. It was opened as a museum in August 1793 with a collection of 537 paintings.
You could spend days in the Louvre, but we only had a few hours. The two main pieces that I wanted to see were the original "Mona Lisa" which is located on the first floor and the "Venus de Milo". This is a marble Hellenstic sculpture of Nike, that created in about the 2nd century BC. The sculpture has been displayed there since 1884.
Museums exhaust me, but I got through and I was happy that I did see the "Mona Lisa". I can remember in the 6th grade that my teacher taught us about Leonardo da Vinci and his masterpiece "Mona Lisa".
The museum was closing at 6 pm and our group was one of the last to leave the museum. We got a taxi back to our hotel. Dinner on the river was at 8 pm.
Looking back over the day, the Eiffel Tower and the Dinner Cruise were my favorite. On the cruise, we met several other people from different parts of the world. There were some other Americans on board, as well. As the sun set, the temperature began to drop and being on the water, it was a little cooler. I was glad that I had brought a shawl. The meal was veal with foie gras and porto sauce. There were also a variety of cheeses to try with our wine. We topped the dinner off with crepes with chocolate sauce and banana slices.
As we approached the dock around 10:30 p.m., we were so relaxed from the wine, the singing and just the atmosphere of being in Paris.
Tomorrow, our day is a free day for shopping and doing whatever we want to.
I wonder what my virtual tour of Paris will be tomorrow?
1 comment:
I like this tour, thank you for taking us with you
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