Another day in Paris

I have already fallen behind on my blogs, but this is my attempt to make up for lost time. Monday, mom and I saw quite a bit of Paris. We bought a 2 day museum pass, so we tried to see as much as we could. We stared at the Conciergerie, which was built as a palace then laster used as a prison during the French Revolution. It is famous for holding Marie Antoinette during her final days before her death. He headed down towards Notre-Dame next, stopping for a tomato and cheese panini along the way of course. It was another sunny day so seeing the light come through the rose windows inside of the cathedral was really incredible.

Notre-Dame

Chandeliers inside Notre-Dame

We headed back to the Sainte-Chapelle which is right next to the Conciergerie. We tried to go earlier before Notre-Dame, but for some reason it was closed. It turned out working great for us, because we showed up right when it re-opened and were able to be first in line, which meant we saw the top floor of the chapel before the crowd arrived. When we visited Paris several years ago with our family, this was my favorite place. It was just as amazing as I remembered, but maybe I was able to appreciate it more this time. 

Sainte-Chapelle

Each stain glass window tells a story through its pictures. We had fun walking around the room trying to read the stories. Some of the windows have been restored recently, and there is a huge difference in the ones that have been cleaned.

We walked farther down the Seine River and crossed over Pont des Arts, a famous bridge for tourists and also for local Parisians. It has been fun being here in the off-season because we have seen so few other tourists. It might make us stand out a little more, but we feel like we are getting a vert true taste of this city.

River Seine

After crossing the bridge, we strolled through the Tuileries gardens. It was getting colder but no one seemed to care, everyone was enjoying the day. We still had much left on our schedule, so we kept walking through the garden towards the Musee d'Orsay. 

Jardin des Tuileries

The Musee d'Orangerie was gorgeous. Even though mom and I had read about it, it was more than we expected. It used to be a winter greenhouse for the Tuileries' citrus tress, so it it a birght building with many windows. Monet's famous Water Lilies (Nympheas) are here, which are displayed across the walls in an oval room. We saw other several other paintings by Renoir, which mom really enjoyed since Renoir is her favorite.We both really liked this place. 

Musee d'Orangerie- Monet's Water Lilies

When we finished up at the Orangerie, we headed out of the gardens to Place de la Concorde. Of course it was time for our afternoon pastry, so we picked up a Grand Marnier crepe and waffle to eat as we watched the sun began to set. Place de la Concorde is famous for the 75-foot Egyptian Obelisk in the middle of the square. It also marks the beginning of the famous Champs-Elysees.  

Champs-Elysees

We have one more stop before our day is over: Centre Pompidou. This place is by far the most unique looking building in Paris, and at night it was a very exciting place to be. It is famous for its unusual architecture and also its modern art museum. The building itself is huge and is home to a large library, restaurant and cafe, cinema, and several modern studios and galleries. Mom and I however had a bit of a  different reason for going. First, we wanted to scope out where I will be living with my host family for the semester. We took the metro to my stop, which is right at the corner of the Centre Pompidou. The place was all lit up and busy with people coming and going. My little street faces the Pompidou building, so I will be staying right in the middle of all the hustle and bustle. The other reason we wanted to go was to ride the escalator to the top of the building. Those of you who have seen the Pompidou know that the escalators are on the outside of the building, enclosed in glass-like tubes. It was great to see the city all lit-up at night. We reached the top right at 6pm, so when I pulled out my camera to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower, all of its light started blinking. This light show has been called the "electric shimmy", which is exactly what it looked like. 

View from the top of Centre Pompidou

The view from the top was really neat- a great way to end our day.

Mom at the top!