Coming home

The last day was 11 straight hours on a plane from Paris to Salt Lake. The airport in Paris was huge. It had something like five terminals and each terminal was divided into little terminals. Our taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong mini terminal - it took us 15 minutes to make our way to the Air France/Delta section. At least it wasn't the wrong terminal all together or we would have had some serious problems figuring out where to go. Our flight was delayed, so we had plenty of time to get to our gate. Once they started to board, we had to go through customs/security. Of course I was the only one flagged for an in depth search. I had to take off my shoes and had to have a pat-down. Apparently there's a picture of this, but I have yet to see it. Annie and Trisha thought it was great fun. At least the officer was nice and was joking with me the whole time. After I got my shoes back on, we made our way down a ramp and onto a bus, which drove us to our airplane. The nonstop flight from Paris to Salt Lake is new, and Delta had been making all this hoopla about more leg room, personal TVs, etc. They lied. There was nothing special about this plane except my seat actually reclined this time. No extra space, not personal TV. What a letdown. It was a long flight. There were three movies - one of which we watched on the way to London - and they were played one right after another. Not the best strategy if you're trying to keep people occupied. We had four hours left when the last one was over. Eleven hours cooped up anywhere will drive you bonkers, so you can imagine how happy we were when we finally landed. And it was so nice to feel warm again - although it's gotten old pretty fast. So that's it. That's the end of our trip. We parted ways at the airport and I haven't seen Annie or Trisha since - although I have IM'd Annie. Below are a few pics I snagged from Annie's site.

Jess and Trisha at the Salt Lake International Airport.
This is from our first travel day when we were leaving for London.

Jess trying to sleep on the plane from Salt Lake to London.
It looks like I cut my hair in this picture. Hmmm, maybe I should...
The lady next to me would not turn out her light - she drove me nuts.

Europe Day 8

This was our last full day in Paris. I also got a full-blown cold, too. We started another marathon day at the Musée d'Orsay, which houses impressionist paintings by masters such as Degas, Monet and Van Gogh. The museum is housed in an old train station, which is why the ceiling is so awesome. The Rodin Museum was next on the list. Love his sculptures, especially those of hands and, of course, "The Kiss." We ate lunch in the sculpture gardens there. Yum! After that, we headed off to the Pere Lachaise cemetery where famous artists, writers and musicians are buried. It was very beautiful in a morbid sort of way. The girls wanted to go shopping afterward and we walked the streets of Paris for three hours before heading back to the hotel for dinner. By this time I was so tired and felt so crappy that I went back to my room to pack and go to bed. Annie and Trisha took to the streets again after dinner and I think they had a lot of fun wandering around.

Musée d'Orsay

Dome of the Invalides and Rodin's "The Thinker"

Rodin's "The Thinker"

The hydrangeas in Paris were enormous. These were as tall as Annie.

Chopin's grave at the Pere Lachaise cemetery

Jim Morrison's (aka Jimmy Rasmussen - sorry Trisha)
grave at the Pere Lachaise cemetery

The crypt next to Jim Morrison's grave is covered
with graffiti notes from some of the musician's fans.

Pere Lachaise cemetery

Pere Lachaise cemetery

Pere Lachaise cemetery

Europe Day 7 Part 2

Thinking about it, this really was a long day. How did we do so much? After we left the Louvre, we walked through the Tuileries garden on our way to the Musee de l'Orangerie, which houses some of Monet's water lilies paintings. It's an awesome building, the way the paintings are displayed makes you feel like you're out in nature among them. Next, we headed back to our hotel for a little rest time before heading to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysées. A couple of funny stories about this last trip. First, Annie forgot her metro ticket, so she decided to just buy another ticket. That would have worked except Trisha and I had already gone through and come back out, so our tickets were now void. We ended up walking back to the hotel, getting Annie's ticket and going to a completely different station so our tickets would work. I guess it was a good thing, because we made it to the Arc just as the sun was setting - the perfect time to see Paris and all it's lights. Second, we were walking along the Champs and were getting hungry. We walked past the nicest, most upscale McDonald's probably on the planet, but passed it by. We kept passing cafes, but they were expensive. We passed another McDonald's - not quite as nice as the other - but the girls wanted to keep looking. We finally ended up in this shady French fast food place. I lost my appetite as soon as we walked in, but Annie and Trisha were willing to risk it. And risk it they did. Annie said it was the absolute worst fast food she'd ever tasted, and it showed on her face when she pulled what we think was a brown piece of slimy lettuce off of her sandwich. It was one of those times that I wish I had taken a picture. I didn't know such faces of disgust existed :) On a more serious note, this was one of the days that I really regretted not bringing my SLR camera. I kept thinking, "Oh, if only I had it I could do..." It's really heavy and I was smart to leave it home, since I can't afford to replace it, but oh how I missed having manual control.

The Tuileries garden

Annie and Jess eating yummy ice cream in the Tuileries garden

The so-called "kissing bridge." You're supposed to walk across it
with your significant other and kiss at every lamp. I don't know
what that's supposed to do for you other than the joy, or lack thereof,
of kissing someone so many times, but that's what you're supposed to do.

A closeup of the columns at the end of the "kissing bridge."

Jess outside the sushi restaurant on the way back to our hotel...

Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

Me at the top of the Arc de Triomphe. For some
reason my camera liked to make me blurry...

The Eiffel Tower "twinking" as seen from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

A view from the top of the stairs that you have to climb to get to
the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We counted approximately 200.
3 words: Buns of Steel!

Europe Day 7 Part 1

Day 7 was another full day, and as such has also been divided into two parts. Our "tour" was officially over at this point and we were on our own for the last two days. Our first stop was Sainte Chapelle. I had been there before on my first trip to Paris and had been bugging the girls about going there. Jamie had told Trisha about it, too, so they said they'd go, but I think they thought I was overdoing it with the praise. I wish I had taken a picture of their faces when they walked in... the looks on their faces were priceless. To be fair, I don't think you can walk in there without being a bit overwhelmed. The walls are lined with stained glass windows that are practically floor to ceiling, with the ceiling painted blue with gold stars. You are surrounded by stained glass (80% original) and a kaleidescope of colors. When we got there they were starting a tour in English. It just so happened that we were the only English speakers who wanted it, so we got a 40+ minute private tour. Very, very cool. I don't think captions are necessary with these pics - just enjoy.

Sainte Chapelle is surrounded by other buildings, so this is the most of it
you can usually see from the outside. Unfortunately those other buildings
also block the sunlight from coming in the stained glass windows. . .

Our next stop was Notre Dame cathedral. It was fun for me to see the facade without scaffolding. We walked through, but didn't take any photos inside. It's pretty impressive, but I like Sainte Chapelle better. Afterward we went and bought crepes from a street vendor. I got mine filled with Nutella - gasp, chocolate, which tastes more like hazelnut than anything. I though of Mom while I was eating it :)

Apparently there is always one group or another protesting something in Paris. This was one of them. Couldn't tell you what they were protesting, though. We saw them on our way to the Centre Pompidou, a really cool museum that houses modern art. The building is cool because all the inner workings - water, electricity, etc. - are on the outside in different colors. It's like the building is turned inside out.

Protesters

Fountain outside Pompidou - look familiar?

Next stop was the Louvre. Part of it is on this post, part on the next. The Louvre is so big we had to map out what we wanted to see and skip a lot of the rest. We just didn't have time to do and see everything we wanted - we needed a week, at least.

Winged Victory - Nike of Samothrace

Closeup of the Nike of Samothrace

While Trisha checked out the stuff on ancient Egypt, Annie
and I ate lunch on a balcony at the Louvre. The view was
great, the food was better, the experience was priceless.

Europe Day 6

Day 6 was our day at Disneyland Paris. It was quite an adventure buying tickets for the metro, and it took us a while to find the ones that were not 50 Euros! I think it ended up being approximately 8 Euros each way, which was much better. It was an overcast day and looked like it might rain, but while we were getting our lunch, the sky opened up a torrential downpour. It poured for about 30-45 min and then it cleared up, and by the end of the day the sun was out. Crazy weather - reminded my of home :) I didn't take any pictures at Disneyland - let's face it Disney is Annie's thing - but I did get a Buzz Pez dispenser :) By the time we left the park, we were all pooped. I think we all had some of the best-night's sleep of the trip that night.

Annie and Jess at the entrance of Disneyland Paris.
Thanks, Annie, for the photo.

Europe Day 5 Part 2

We toured the inside of Versailles, which is just a little over the top. I mean how big of an ego can one person have? The pictures don't do it justice. It's gold swirls and flowery stuff everywhere.

Painted ceiling in Versailles

Chandelier and painted ceiling

Painted ceiling

Tapestry

Hall of mirrors

Where's Annie? Can you find her among the crowd in the hall of mirrors

After leaving Versailles we spent the afternoon shopping. I got some cute tops, Annie bought a red dress and Trisha came along for the ride :)

Next was a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Annie only wanted to go to the middle level - she doesn't like heights - but we talked her into coming to the top, which I think she's glad she did.

View from the top

Annie taking a picture

Another view from the top. The Arc de Triomphe

Annie and Trisha

Me at the top. Do you like the windblown look?

One of the wheels that raises and lowers the elevators

Eiffel Tower