new photo link

I've dropped photobucket in favor of something faster. Here it is, it will sync automatically whenever I load pictures onto the computer. Pretty spiffy.

http://picasaweb.google.com/scarlson09

photo link

For some reason, it really does take forever to post pictures to photobucket. Here's the link to what's up so far though:

http://s664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/scarlson09/France%202009/

Day 4 (wow, is it only day 4?)

As I write this, all of our pictures thusfar are being uploaded onto a photobucket album. very. very. veerryy slowly. While the pictures do jazz up the blogs, it takes way too long to upload them and it's hard to choose just one or two, so now everyone can see them all!

Today we started our "Paris a la carte" tour on the Open bus, which we took up into Montmartre. We didn't get to see any of Montmartre on our shorter trip three years ago, so it was exciting to get to see it and explore, pick out places from "Amelie," etc. We loved the neighborhood. While the main street may have been flooded with assorted sex shops, up on the hill the little streets seem very village like, residential areas with pubs, artists, restaurants. We hiked all the way up the hill and toured the Sacre Coeur, which was beautiful of course. The carousel and little grassy park out front were definitely in "Amelie" and the view from there was great. Then we sort of sought out, sort of stumbled upon the Salvador Dali museum (actually referred to as a "space"). It was a cool, dark, basement kind of place that had hundreds of drawings, photos, and a few sculptures, mostly lesser known pieces, mostly from later years, 1960's and on. We learned a lot, and it's great to see his work from all different media. There was a fun photo booth by the exit. We have Kyle as a melting clock and me with Dali's moustache. As soon as I get to a scanner, you'll see them!

We got lunch in one of the little touristy squares with all the street artists, and headed down the hill to find the Moulin Rouge. I have to say though, I was a little disappointed by the exterior, and I blame Baz Luhrmann entirely. No real building could have lived up to the grandeur of his film. But, the Moulin Rouge is 120 years old this year! That's pretty wild. We got to see into the lobby, but unfortunately not into the main room, but the pictures look amazing. We're not going to a show there this time, because no, I don't have 100 euro (without dinner!) just laying around for that purpose. Next time though. It was fun to see, and the gift shop was nice. Took the open bus back around the circle to the Republique, walked back to the apartment, then we went off on one of our Paris city walks cards. (50 cards that plot out little scenic walks through different parts of town - thanks Mom and Dad) Saw Les Halles, Hotel de Ville, Eglise St Eustache, a few streets full of cafes. Really, I know there are a ton of people in this city, and probably even more tourists, but with sooo many restuarants, bars, and cafes, seemingly an infinite amount, how do they all stay busy?

Meanwhile, since we had a big lunch, we just picked up some food to go from the Monop' (it's getting to be my favorite shop) and had a light dinner back here at the apartment. Tomorrow, Versailles provided all goes well. I'm so excited, the interior was closed last time we visited.

A bientot,

Steph

- Kyle's added comments

I highly suggest to everyone that gets a chance to look up pictures of the inside of Sacre Couer since we weren't able to take pictures of the inside ourselves. The interior is definitely worth looking at, since the inside of that place is awesome.

We also have a little video of a crowd of people sitting on the steps in front of Sacre Couer with two guys singing Hey Jude (the second time we were hearing it live) with a single amp, guitar, and microphone. Once we figure out a quicker way of posting our videos from Steph's camera, we'll get it to you.

Day 3

We got a day behind on blogs, but yesterday began with an early morning rise from our hotel which lead to a rapid session of packing and getting ready.  After a quick coffee and croissant, it was back to the hotel room to finish packing, check out, and walk one km to the apartment.  After meeting the apartment's caretaker, Alexandra, we began separating our things out of the suitcases and into their more permanent places throughout the apartment. 

More exploring ensued as we wanted to become more familiar with the area around our apartment and we were very pleased to see not only more restaurants, but a multitude of gift shops, bakeries, a Monop' (like a mini supermarket), and more importantly, the Centre de Pompidou only about a block away.  Since this is one of the main attractions of Paris we went inside almost immediately, and were able to enjoy the special exhibitions of Calder, an American toy-maker/sculptor, and Kandinsky, an artist.  After a quick drink and a small break for our feet in the terrace surrounding the Pompidou we moved back inside and went up to the exhibitions for modern art, where we enjoyed work by Dali, Claude Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh.  Also among the artwork was more recent, somewhat experimental, pieces of art most of which were post 1970s. 

We returned to the apartment for a small break and only stepped out for a quick bite to eat crepes from a local creperie next door to the fountain of the Pompidou.  

- Kyle

Steph's additional remarks to Kyle's blog:

Our apartment is great. We have stone/terra cotta tile floors, our own mini washer/dryer (in one! why don't we have these in the US??) which is running right now, a patio, a decent kitchen, and a much larger bathroom than I was expecting. We stocked up on groceries a bit at the Monop' (Monoprix is like a super Target, Monop' is just the food part), and for as expensive as it is to dine out in Paris, the groceries were a lot less than I was expecting. And oh, the cheese. I can't get over how good and cheap the cheese is. I need tips on how to smuggle some back home.

The Pompidou Centre is the most awesome/ridiculous building in Paris, and it's a lot of fun because it's so unique. It's enormous, and the escalator is in a glass tube that snakes up the side of the building. At the top, there's a restaurant and a spectacular view of the city. In the huge, sloped square out front, there are people drawing caricatures, various musicians (including an Asian guy with a guitar playing Oasis), living statues, and people just sitting and hanging out. The main exhibit going on now is "elles @ pompidou" focusing on modern art by women. A lot of it was weird. The upstairs gallery (years 1905-1960) was amazing though, and the other separate exhibits on Calder and Kandinsky were great. I didn't know of Calder before, but his wire sculptures were so cool!

And then we had crepes for dinner at Creperie Beaubourg. Not just the street vendor crepes, but real, legit crepes, and they were delicious. I had a ham, egg, and cheese buckwheat crepe with a small salad, and a buerre sucre (butter and sugar) crepe for dessert. I can't wait to go back for some of their more elaborate dessert crepes. :)

-Steph

Day 2

Well today was a fun filled adventure through the gardens of the Louvre for lunch, where enjoyed our sandwiches from our nearby bakery.  After our lung we moved past the Louvre across the Seine to the Musee d'Orsay.  For a few hours we enjoyed not only the magnificent structure of the museum itself, but two special exhibitions (one of Rodin, one of Italy represented by a variety of artists).  Along the way we were able to see many pre-impressionism, impressionism, and post-impressionism pieces of work, including some done by Claude Monet, Van Gogh, and Renoir.  With sore feet and after a bottle of water we head back to the hotel to rest.  

For dinner we took the Metro to Place Monge and ate at our first authentic French restaurant, Auberge Le Pot de Terre to enjoy a three course meal with a bottle of wine.  All in all it was a great day where we saw a museum which was new to us, found an awesome row of restaurants, and returned to our hotel full and very happy.

- Kyle

Day 1

So, post-nap, we got up and decided that since we'd sat on planes for essentially a whole day (total travel time, including layover and time difference) we should walk around for a while. We walked around for about four and a half hours. All we've eaten so far in Paris is baguettes, crepes, and orangina, but it's great. We'll find a real meal tomorrow perhaps. But that bakery on our street is hard to pass up, with the 0.80 Euro baguettes, and the 1.90 cafe and croissant deal for breakfast. I decided that it was essential that I see the Eiffel Tower light up on the first night that we're here, so after strolling around various parts of town, we realized that it was about 10:00 (the sun hadn't set yet!) and we were still a distance from the tower. Hopped a train, since this line was only two stops away from Eiffel, but at the first stop, the train was done for the evening. Okay then. Switched two different metro lines, finally got there just before 11:00, saw the light show! 

Back at the hotel, exhausted, needing at least a semi full night's rest.

A demain,

Steph

Nous arrivons a Paris!

The stop in Toronto was a blast and a half with how customs went... alarms sounded, people tried to run away, it's a great story. Maple lollipops, anyone? I'll be getting more on the way back.

Air Canada is wonderful, I highly recommend it. I watched five movies between the two flights, though only slept about an hour, so coherence is low at this point.

So far (and I'd hate to jinx it) this has been the smoothest travel. We got out of CDG airport quickly, our bags were there and intact, and we found our shuttle right away. I was pleased that, even though I'm a bit rusty in practice speaking French, I was able to carry on small conversations with our shuttle driver. Kyle and I were the last stop, so we got a nice tour through town. I could never drive in Paris though. The roads, traffic, and drivers in this city are ridiculous. 

So we're in our hotel (for the first two nights, before we move into the apartment) and it's lovely and we can see the street and we're close to the Republique, and there's a bar and a sushi restaurant. Needless to say, we feel very at home. 

I think I'm just about to forgo a nap, and start enjoying the city, though it is raining. And I've just noticed that Kyle is asleep. So, nap it is! We do have a month, after all. 

:) 

Steph

map!

This is where we will be staying:

67 Rue Quincampoix, 75003 Paris, France

Search it on google maps