Fountain dance…

It feels like a dream, now, but I know I was there in reality because I have all the video!

Versailles black and white…

Some of these were taken at the time of our visit using Hipstamatic with the John S lens and Blackeyes film. Some have been processed using the Snapseed app since we returned home. When I use Snapseed I use the black and white filter, vintage filter, tilt-shift, and a frame…

Versailles…

We, as the four Musketeers, (and a swan), were off on the RER railroad to Versailles.

We were accompanied by our trusted historian, artist, scout, and guide Marie Theres Berger from Context Travel. She showed us how to use the train, gave us history on the thirty minute ride, explained how to get back home, walked us around the garden in the morning and then left us. We spent the afternoon touring the inside and seeing the Petite Trianon. A magnificent day! So glad we had the guide, she did a beautiful job.

I do not think I can really describe this place in words…have to see it to believe it, almost…I will let the photos speak for themselves…
After arriving by train we walked past the Versailles Town Hall

To be greeted by Louis XIV

And the entrance to his humble abode

Then the garden

Inside

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We did see the rest and Le Petit Trianon, but this is where my battery went dead because I had taken too many videos. When we got to the Louvre two days later I bought a battery pack (in red, only because they did not have orange) so I would not have that problem again. I can't take pictures and it is as if you have cut off my arms…oh, no, that was the Venus de Milo…oh, well, my only disaster…

Gem…

To get to Sainte-Chapelle you enter through tough security surrounding the Palais de Justice. That puts you inside the beautiful gate around the structure and in the front of the Justice building.

From Paris, The Secret History by Andrew Hussey: “…even now one of the most beautiful and mysterious religious sites in Paris, an almost psychedelic series of contrasts between delicate stonework and otherworldly painted visions of the heavens and the starry sky. Gazing at the low ceiling of the lower chapel, or the exquisite stained glass of the upper chapel, still jolts the viewer into a direct awareness of the mystery of being and non-being. Overall no work represents better than the Sainte-Chapelle the interplay between mysticism and solid matter that characterizes the prevailing mood of the thirteenth century.”

The entrance…

The stonework

Floors

Lower chapel

Upper chapel

A link to the chapel’s history is here.
This was a delightful space…like a jewel with its pattern, color, and glowing glass. Our first day of touring was quite an intro to Paris…

Notre Dame interior…

We visited Notre Dame midday on a very sunny day and now I know in order to get better photos of stained glass I should go on a cloudy day or early or late on the day I am visiting. My photos in Sainte-Chapelle at 5:30 in the afternoon have much more of a glow to them. Also over on the list of things to be sure to do next time would be to have Notre Dame’s visit early in the day so my aged knees felt like they would want to climb all the steps up the tower to see the view. For some reason, on such a hot day, the feel of the cool church put me in mind to sit in the shaded park instead…

Digression. Now into the interior…

Jeanne D’Arc

Notre Dame

We came around to the front of the Palais de Justice and were impressed by the gate surrounding it as well as the ethereal spire of Sainte-Chapelle to be seen later in the day

With the added bonus of one of the few survivors of the original Art Nouveau Metro stops

Then it was time to experience Notre Dame

THE FACADE

The Rose Window with Mary

The Portal of Saint Anne

The Portal of the Last Judgement

Over the “Love lock” Bridge, Pont de L’Archeveche

To the famous bookstore

Strolling…

It was not hard for us to fit into the French way of strolling neighborhoods, pausing for a bite, and sitting in small parks with great views. (Proud to say the outrageous eating I did for two weeks had no negative effects due to the walk, walk, walking also involved.) The first full day we needed to be over in the 5th Arrondissement for our Untours orientation. We started early so we could walk the area and see some sights.
I kept my eyes upward and kept snapping pictures because I was awed by the architecture

We came to Place St. Michel (if there is going to be a student demonstration this is where it will start and locals rose up against Nazis here, commemorated under the dragons) where there is this magnificent fontaine

We did like that they were blowing bubble in our honor (rather than throwing cobblestones)

We walked on toward the Il de la Cite trying to remember to check the red man and green man signs and the zebra stripe crossings (must have been successful because we made it back home)

Discovering bridges and The Seine

(have decided for the next trip a goal will be to walk over every bridge)
We wanted lunch in the Place Dauphine behind the Palais de Justice and here I take a small diversion. We arrived in Paris the day after their Presidential election and in a few weeks they would have more elections so there were some interesting things revolving around the election to see. Lots of activity with press and police at the back side of the Palais

And one of the first chocolate shop windows I looked in (sorry about the glare from the glass) had this wonderful piece in chocolate…a large square, maybe 18 x 18, that looked like a die on top and on its sides had chocolate portraits of Hollande

And Sarkozy

Hollande won and we found our Place Dauphin

A lovely square

We ate right there…

White asparagus and beef salad for him and avocado and shrimp salad for me…

And we looked at this (a ProHDR app shot)

And realized we wouldn’t mind living up at the top in one of these buildings (if there was an elevator)
Enjoyed the blooms on these trees

We walked out the end of the square and saw Henry IV

Down the other side of the island we passed by the Conciergerie Prison where you waited for the guillotine

We passed a demonstration with white flags and whistles blowing

After visiting the big sight of the day, we rested in yet another park with this view (another ProHDR app shot)

I will show you pictures of that big sight in the next post.

I am sad to say, we must be going…

A lot of man-work went on during this Paris experience…

and a lot of rain…

Today we spend trying to fit everything into our suitcases because tomorrow we fly home. Leaving our hearts here though…so many things have been moved to the “we will have to do that next time list”…we will really have to take care of that sooner rather than later…I will blog more about specific places once I catch up on my sleep and process the pictures.
We owe such a debt of gratitude to those who give us tips on what to see…long time friends and those we make ten minutes before…not only the taxi driver but the couple in the cafe at the next table. We have a tip of our own to offer anyone that can make use of it…if you are soaking wet because the rain doesn’t stop and taking pictures in cemeteries has gotten old (balancing an umbrella on your shoulder to protect your iPhone becomes problematic when the wind gusts). To get out of the rain you can hop on the Metro. From the Left Bank take line 6 toward Etoile. The line leaves the tunnel system and goes above ground. Between stations Bir-Hakeim and Passy if you sit on the right side of the train while it travels (hopefully there are not too many raindrops on the glass) you can get this shot…

Get off at Passy and go back and do it again. The above shot was processed with Snapseed app to feel “antiquie” because that is how I felt last night. Here is the shot in a more traditional way…

I ❤ Paris.

More neighborhood…

Always in such a rush to get started in the mornings I forget to include things…for instance, me, trying to look native with my nibbled baguette in my hand as I walk…

The metal drains in the park that I definitely need to incorporate into my garden at home…

We leave for the Metro in the morning and follow the school kids and their Moms

Near the City Hall is a monument to those from the 15th that died in the two wars…with fresh flowers…

On a walk we discovered a building signed by the same artist that did the clay on the Ceramic Hotel. Lizard tile arch with cat and dog above…

I will take an apartment on the top floor as long as it has an elevator. I have noticed buildings that the architects have signed, usually the date is in the early 1900′s. I like that as a concept…

Our neighborhood…

The 15th Arrondissement is ours I tell you. A simple residential neighborhood that has been our home for almost two weeks thanks to Untours, Inc. Metro can get you anywhere, home is where the heart is. Mine is here…
The park

A cafe to sit in…

To look at the City Hall

While coffee and hot chocolate are enjoyed…

Watched over by cows from the Auvergne portion of France where most in this district hail from…

Beautiful center square

Rhodies in boxes…

Our apartment on the sixth floor has the smallest elevator in the world, but at least it has one…

Even has a washer/dryer combo!
Within a half block can be found…

Bread and pastry

Meat, fish, cheese and newspapers.
I bought apricots one night and the next day a big copper kettle of apricot jam was boiling in front of the Patisserie…home, sweet home…

And I almost forgot…there is a corner where you can stand to see the Eiffel Tower…