Friday Trip Blogging

Day 5 - Louvre, Carnavalet, Picasso, Pompidou Museums and Champs Elysees walk

Winged Victory sculpture. I love this statue. It's really impressive in person.


Venus de Milo's butt crack.


Michelangelo's homoerotic slave sculpture.


Some shots from the Louvre's ancient Egypt section.



Couldn't take pictures in the Carnavalet museum, but it was pretty cool. Lots of French history.

Some examples of Picasso's genius/madness/pranksterism. I still haven't decided which of those three he was more.




The funky fountain outside the Pompidou Modern Art museum. We were tired and not very enthusiastic about the art inside, so we didn't go in.


Obelisk at the Place de la Concorde, site of many beheadings during the French Revolution (but the Obelisk wasn't there yet during the Revolution).


Looking down the line made by the Obelisk, Arc de Triomphe, and La Grande Arche de la Defense.


This was our last day in Paris. I'll start London on Monday.

Wednesday Trip Blogging

Day 4 - Versailles, museums, and Bateau Mouche

The (partial) palace of Versailles (we couldn't get any good pictures of the whole front)


Inside the Versailles chapel


Big-ass painting of Napoleon's coronation


Fountains and Grand Canal in the palace's back yard


At the Rodin Museum - The Kiss


Rodin Museum - The Thinker


Rodin Museum - The (unfinished) Gates of Hell


Rodin Museum - The Burghers of Calais


The dome of Les Invalides (another of my favorite places in Paris) from the gardens of the Rodin Museum


Napoleon's Tomb (yes, he's really in there)


Coat and hat worn by Napoleon on St. Helena


Mini Statute of Liberty, seen from a boat on the Seine (with Eiffel Tower in the background)

Oops

Got a bit busy and forgot to do trip pictures today. I'll get back to it tomorrow.

Monday Trip Blogging

Day 3 - Paris Tourist Traps

Sainte Chapelle from the outside.


Video clip of the stained glass inside Ste. Chapelle.


Saint Michel monument.


Notre Dame cathedral is the shit!


Charlemagne statue in front of N.D.


Couple of chimeras up on N.D.


The only picture we took inside the Musee d'Orsay.


The inconceivably small Smart Car.


The self-cleaning, free public toilet we used near Montmartre.


An illegally-snapped shot of the inside of Sacre Coeur Basilica.


S.C. in all it's glory from the outside.


Our escargot appetizer.

Friday Trip Blogging

Day 2 - Driving tour of some Loire Valley castles

Our cute little Opel Meriva. Manual transmission, so I got to have some fun driving it.


Nuclear power plant seen on the road to Chambord.


Unfortunately back-lit pic of Chambord castle. It was a hunting lodge for nobility, thus all the chimneys for keeping warm during hunting season.


Looking up the middle of Chambord's famous double-helix staircase, rumored to be designed by Leonardo Da Vinci.


Chenonceau castle, spanning the Cher River.


Impressive fireplace mantel in one of Chenonceau's bedrooms.


The chapel of Amboise castle, overlooking the town.


Amboise castle from the front.


Villandry castle.


Hungry fish in Villandry's moat.


Funky, multi-colored chili peppers in the Villandry gardens.


View over a portion of Villandry's impressive gardens, the real attraction at the castle.


View of Azay-le-Rideau castle from outside the gate. We got there too late to get in. The castle has a cool moat that makes the castle look like it's floating on the water.


Ussé castle, also closed, but we were able to get a good shot from outside. This castle inspired the original Sleeping Beauty story.


I'll pick this up again on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Thursday Trip Blogging

I've been away for a while, so I won't have any pics of the kids, but I've got plenty of our trip to France and England (don't worry, Grac, I know London doesn't really count as England).

I'm going to stretch this out and just do one day's pics at a time. But don't worry, I'm not going to show every boring photo we took. I'll try to keep them interesting.

Day 1 - Paris
La Tour Eiffel in daylight


Looking up the center of the tower


Palais de Chaillot (with La Defense in the distance) at twilight


L'Arc de Triomphe, one of my favorite sites in Paris, at night


The Arc's impressive coffered ceiling


A video of the Eiffel Tower flashing for the tourists