This morning me and my Smartwool (love that stuff!) set out to brave the crisp but sunny Parisian day in hopes of seeing the Bulgari jewelery exhibit at the Musée du Grand Palais by the Champs-Elysées.
I got off the Metro Line 2 and walked the extent of the Champs-Elysées to the museum, listening to my iPod on random and smiling at strangers....It really was a nice day.
The climate in Paris, France is really very much like Portland, Oregon. It rains all Winter, gets some surprise snow every once in a while and then a temperamental Spring and often an Indian Summer. These first few days of January have been beautiful and hearing some birds sing and experiencing some sunshine has given me a welcome sneak preview into what Spring will be like here. Hopefully just a little more green....But I know better, having grown up in a like climate, than to really hope that Winter’s over. It does this every year, it would seem, in Oregon as well. A few days of Spring-like weather in the dead of Winter gets everyone hoping--and then the rain and grey return. I’m not going to be disappointed, I decided, I’ll just appreciate the niceness while it’s here! :)
Anyway, I was trying to walk slowly and soak in everything I described and then got to the museum....
...only to find out that my teacher pass didn’t work for that particular exhibition. *Frown* It was 12 euro to get in and I decided not to pay it since I’m headed to Oxford, England on Friday. I’d save it for a pint, I told myself.
So, instead, as it would easily accessible, I decided to cross the Pont (Bridge) d’Alexandre III:
...and check Les Invalides--about which I had a discussion with Marie Claude Pornay yesterday (remember the couple I met in Alaska at the beginning of the summer....?), having dined with them and spent the good part of the day visiting in Créteil in their home. Les Invalides was an army hospital built by Louis XIV for his wounded soldiers. It’s now where Napoleon is buried and the Musée de l’Armée (Army Museum).
True to French form, the entrance wasn't marked very well, so using my "I'm sorry to bother you, Monsieur" that I'm so good at now, I was directed by a smiling (or smirking, not sure) soldier to the ticket counter (completely on the other side of the building from what made SENSE) and used my wonderful magic teacher pass to get in.
AND, I actually really enjoyed it! So much, in fact, that I decided I should probably start writing about some of my more lighthearted experiences here too....Let’s just say that today I met many a Knight in Shining Armour. Maybe without the Knight part, though....(I left all of them in Oregon). Here are some pics, even if some of them are kind of weird because I had to hold my camera up to the glass so as not to permit glare:
And not all of it was properly French. They did indeed even have also some Japanese armour on display. Way cool:
Then, I when around the back of the building to see the tomb of Napolean. Voici l'entrée:
Et le tombeau:
Kinda cool. Kind of a big tomb, too, for someone so short! I really wished that Dad and my brothers could have been there. They would have LOVED it!
Right around the corner from the Musée de l'Armée was supposed to also be the Musée de Rodin, which I’ve been very much wanting to see, but unfortunately it is closed on Mondays. So, another day, soon I hope. Anyway, I didn’t exactly get to see jewelery, but still, I’d say it was a nice excursion! Mondays aren’t so bad “chez moi”. I just have to get out more.... :)
I got off the Metro Line 2 and walked the extent of the Champs-Elysées to the museum, listening to my iPod on random and smiling at strangers....It really was a nice day.
The climate in Paris, France is really very much like Portland, Oregon. It rains all Winter, gets some surprise snow every once in a while and then a temperamental Spring and often an Indian Summer. These first few days of January have been beautiful and hearing some birds sing and experiencing some sunshine has given me a welcome sneak preview into what Spring will be like here. Hopefully just a little more green....But I know better, having grown up in a like climate, than to really hope that Winter’s over. It does this every year, it would seem, in Oregon as well. A few days of Spring-like weather in the dead of Winter gets everyone hoping--and then the rain and grey return. I’m not going to be disappointed, I decided, I’ll just appreciate the niceness while it’s here! :)
Anyway, I was trying to walk slowly and soak in everything I described and then got to the museum....
...only to find out that my teacher pass didn’t work for that particular exhibition. *Frown* It was 12 euro to get in and I decided not to pay it since I’m headed to Oxford, England on Friday. I’d save it for a pint, I told myself.
So, instead, as it would easily accessible, I decided to cross the Pont (Bridge) d’Alexandre III:
...and check Les Invalides--about which I had a discussion with Marie Claude Pornay yesterday (remember the couple I met in Alaska at the beginning of the summer....?), having dined with them and spent the good part of the day visiting in Créteil in their home. Les Invalides was an army hospital built by Louis XIV for his wounded soldiers. It’s now where Napoleon is buried and the Musée de l’Armée (Army Museum).
True to French form, the entrance wasn't marked very well, so using my "I'm sorry to bother you, Monsieur" that I'm so good at now, I was directed by a smiling (or smirking, not sure) soldier to the ticket counter (completely on the other side of the building from what made SENSE) and used my wonderful magic teacher pass to get in.
AND, I actually really enjoyed it! So much, in fact, that I decided I should probably start writing about some of my more lighthearted experiences here too....Let’s just say that today I met many a Knight in Shining Armour. Maybe without the Knight part, though....(I left all of them in Oregon). Here are some pics, even if some of them are kind of weird because I had to hold my camera up to the glass so as not to permit glare:
And not all of it was properly French. They did indeed even have also some Japanese armour on display. Way cool:
Then, I when around the back of the building to see the tomb of Napolean. Voici l'entrée:
Et le tombeau:
Kinda cool. Kind of a big tomb, too, for someone so short! I really wished that Dad and my brothers could have been there. They would have LOVED it!
Right around the corner from the Musée de l'Armée was supposed to also be the Musée de Rodin, which I’ve been very much wanting to see, but unfortunately it is closed on Mondays. So, another day, soon I hope. Anyway, I didn’t exactly get to see jewelery, but still, I’d say it was a nice excursion! Mondays aren’t so bad “chez moi”. I just have to get out more.... :)
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