Paris-Day 2

We woke up early and went to Luxembourg Gardens, which were right near our hostel.  I enjoyed walking around the gardens, there were all these statues of French queens and princesses and saints.  The statues were really pretty, lots of detail, in a lovely white stone.  But they all had these huge metal sticks sticking out of their heads!  I know its to keep pigeons off, but it certainly looked silly. 

There was also a really cool fountain/statue/monument thing for Delacroix!  I had some big spiritual moments with Delacroix during this trip, and this was the start of it.  The sculptures in the monument thing was really beautiful.  Yay Delacroix!!!

 

So after exploring the garden, I pulled up a green chair, as did Katy, and we pressed our faces to the sun next to a big old fountain.  Joey came over and joined us, and read.  I drew for a while, and Katy napped.  I eventually napped as well.  It was a glorious, sunny, beautiful nap.  Thank you Melissa for suggesting to us the best nap spots in Paris! J

 

After our nap, we walked around, partially trying to find the Bastille, partially trying to find Pere-Lachaise, partially just wandering to wander.   We met an eccentric man on a bridge who took pictures of the three of us for me.  He is an artist (katy and I bought each one of his “little masterpieces for the price of a coffee!”.  He was very nice and funny and fun-he go into taking the pictures and directed us.  I have a few nice pictures of the three of us now thanks to him. 

 

We then wandered and found a boulangerie (a bakery), got a baguette each (and some sweets!  I got a giant piece of chocolate cake) and continued on our quest.  Walking through the streets of Paris was so fun!  There were so many people to see, so many little shops, lovely architecture, and trees!  It was great.  Eventually we found our way to the Bastille. Except its not the Bastille, its just a column where the Bastille was.  Which we didn’t know about and which is also VERY lame. 

 

It was getting later in the day, so we decided we should probably take the subway to Pere-Lachaise.  We ended up getting there about 50 minutes before it closed.  Se we walked around and found Jim Morrison’s grave.  Katy and I paid our respects. 

 

Pere-Lachaise.  I don’t have a good enough vocabulary to give this place an appropriate description.  It was quiet, it was calm.  I really liked it there, actually.  The architecture, the crumbling graves, the aged statues.  It had an eerie feeling, but there was a calm there too.  It was very beautiful.  It was very strange.  After walking amongst the tombs, I sat outside the walls of the graveyard and ate my piece of chocolate cake.  It was such a strange contrast in that moment.  The life of tasting a piece of chocolate cake, compared to the stone people so perfectly personifying death. 

 

In the evening Joey went to climb the Eiffel tower, which Katy’s and my fear of heights kept us from doing.  So katy and I decided to check out the Louvre’s courtyard.  Oh my goodness it was spectacular!  It’s all lit up, the Palace looks as if its from a fairy tale and the pyramid is reflected in the fountains.  Paris is pure magic.  We strolled around there for a while, laughing and smiling at the beauty and wondering how the French monarchy was surprised by the revolt.  Then we walked down the Champs d’elysee, which is also lit up and is beautiful!  My father commented to me, after our stroll of course “Emily Napoleon has walked down that road, so has Hitler.  Do you know how many people have walked down that road and you casually strolled down it one evening!”  He’s right.  At the time is was just a beautiful, magical stroll; Katy and I laughed and smiled at how beautiful it all was and at the fact that we were in Paris.  But its also a part of history, we walked where so much has taken place!  We ended up going to the arc d’Triumph and sitting underneath it. We relaxed under it actually.  We ate some baguette and chocolate and laughed and chatted.  It was cold, but we were having a great time.  I’m still having a hard time grasping that I not only walked down the champs d’elysee and saw the arc d’triumph, but I actually hung out, relaxed, and ate underneath it.  There are times when I still cannot believe how blessed and fortunate I am to be over here.