Mercure Caen Cote De Nacre Herouville Saint Clair

With so much art to see in Paris, Vicki and I decided to split up our art days. So, we went for the Musee de Orsay (19th century) first, and saved the Louvre for later. The Musee de Orsay is a much more manageable museum than the Louvre, and can easily be done in a day. Actually, I think we did it in half of a day, but we skipped large sections in which weren't interested. The museum itself is very unique because it used to be a train ...

... met more people. most the people there were like 16 and on group tours, so it wasnīt easy to meet anyone. So going back a little, the day before im supposed to leave on an overnight train from paris to madrid, i find out that they wont sell me a ticket because i had to buy it like three days ahead of time....i freaked! aghh, all alone, i donīt know the language, how will i get to madrid? thankfully i bought a flight to madrid scheduled for the ...

... set out for the sights....first stop The Louvre. We saw all the famous works- sculpters:Venus De Milo (better known to some as Gummy De Milo from the Simpsons!!), paintings: Madonna of the Rocks, Raft of Medussa, Wedding Feast and of course the famous Mona Lisa!!! (a tiny painting on the HUGEST wall!!)...its always been a mystery as to what she's smiling at...we ...

... glass window. Which, while it is beautiful...I got tired of seeing it. I got to see the excavation site outside of St. Denis where they found the bones of Marie Antoinette and King Louis and the mummified heart of the Dauphin. I saw Napoleon's robes and jewels. I saw those tapestries..you know..the ones with the lady and the unicorn? I saw those. They were at the Cluny. We ...

... I would still come here for 3 things. The Gates of hell... walk straight from the stairs to the big doorway of bronze across the garden. Turn around and walk straight back past the entry, and you will find The Thinker! We took our pictures of him and followed the signs to the third good thing in this place.... The bathroom! Marc hadn't gone in the Airport, so he really had to go ...

... on to avoid the glare on a canvas. The exposition also offered much information on the artist--which required one to stand in a small space and read four or five ceiling to floor panels at once. This caused backups and problems with room flow--one couldn't get through one space to the next. There were also paintings hung around corners--forcing the museum goer into small spaces with no exit in the opposite direction. Hopefully the museum experience ...

... off to Giverny today to go see monet's gardens but getting up at 6:30 was beyond me so instead I headed back into paris to check out a few photography exhibitions I've been eying off for a while. The first one was full of the type of photo's I'd delete without even thinking. But instead they'd turn them into black-and-white, pixilate or blur them badly and call it art. Hmmm. However, the second exhibition was much more my ...

... my goodness, the traffic!!!!) while staring at the unbelievably gorgeous buildings all around us. We found the Boulevard Haussman quite easily, and checked in to the beautiful Millenium Hotel, where we stumbled through a few half hearted 'bonjours' and 'mercis', and got an upgrade to a stunning hotel room. The hotel is in the Opera district, where, surprise surprise the Opera Garnier is located (I would say it is a breathtakingly beautiful building, but I soon ...

I spent the better half of today battling through horrendous crowds to climb the Eifel Tower (by escalator this time). It took a total of 5 hours of lining up in numerous crowds to go to the top and come down again... I did it during the sunset which afforded me both day and night views which was the only good thing about the whole thing. It cost 11 euro (20 dollars) to go to the top by escalator. The crowds in this city are absolutely horrendous ...

... to stand out). On walks from the hotel to the town center, this building was always at the end of the journey. So, I could use it as a landmark... a sort of beacon... to get me to the center of the city... and then from there, I would know the way. The night was not warm, but it was not quite chilly by Canadian standards. I buttoned up my coat, grabbed onto the shoulder straps of my backpack, and started walking. Along the way, in true geek fashion, I fancied that I ...