Vacation = Done

We're home now and here's a picture of the damage we did to our credit cards.

Becky's first -

Then Davey's -

Paris Day 7

For our last day in Paris, we started off with some delicious pastries and the Louvre (Davey wouldn't let me do a "four minute" Louvre in homage to Godard, I was way to tired anyway - Becky). Same stuff as every other museum so far. I think we are museum-ed out. We saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, some titty twisting and some idiots posing in front of famous "stuff"... and then we went back to Miu Miu (see photo)... then on to the Picasso Museum. There was a very limited selection of his work at the museum, suprisingly - mostly early work. The interior architecture of the museum was incredible and outshined the collection in my opinion ("unfortunately" says Becky). Then we went on a search for a cheese covered hot dog. We've been seeing them all over Paris, until today when we actually wanted one. So, I got another falafel and Becky got quiche lorraine instead. Delicious... Then we went over to the Architecture History Museum of Paris. Boring... Then we decided to call it a day (there was some random window shopping here and there throughout the day as well). We ended at the grocery store with 2 bottles of champagne and some tortellini for later. We have to clean the apartment and pack our bags for our departure tomorrow morning -back to London for one day (and more Indian food!).

Paris Day 6 - otherwise known as the day of food photos

The forecast for today had been cold and rainy. So. we decided to do indoor stuff today - i.e. the Louvre. The sign says it all. Luckily for us, there was blue skies (although it was pretty chilly). We then headed over to La Defense to see the Grande Arch. This building is along the same axis as the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe, but at the far end. It is a super modern skyscraper with a hollow portion large enough to contain the Notre Dame. It was fascinating, but the wind was brisk. So, we snapped some photos and went back underground. We then headed over to another Hector Guimard Metro station, Porte Dauphine. This one is my favorite. It looks pretty similar to the one from yesterday, but more ornate. From there we went to the Bibliotheque Nationale (built in the 17th century - it houses 2 Gutenberg Bibles!). This time it was open. We walked in and happened to walk in the portion that I wanted to see most - one of the reading rooms. A man ran up to us and told us that this particular room was closed to the public until 2012. He was nice enough to talk to us and allow me to snap 2 photos. We then went over to another reading room that had people in it. We were greeted with a frenchie speaking some frenchie gibberish that indicated that tourists weren't welcome. As we walked to the door I snapped a photo and he got angry and said some thing that I understood to mean, "no photos". We left without finding anything historical, except the building itself. Bastards. On towards Notre Dame, stopping for a delicious butter and sugar crepe. Our first crepe since we've been in France and "monsieur petite" was it delicious. Imagine a warm, flat and gooey waffle with butter and sugar; and you're close. Then we walked through Notre Dame... more stained glass and statues... and tithing machines (to help pay for their molestation lawsuits!!!)... We find it hilarious that people always insist upon posing in front of monuments and historical mumbo-jumbo and the serious poses make us laugh the most (as well as the peace signs and the thumbs up). Here are our own interpretations in front of the River Seine... We then headed over to Marsais for the best Falafel we have ever had by far. Seriously. On our way home, there was a 12-piece string ensemble performing in the subway station. It's always random what you might see underground: homeless people sleeping in the hallway, some stinky guy singing in the train, a gypsy simply holding their hand out for money or a guy with a accordion (plenty of these types). They all have two things in common - apparently no jobs and a receptacle for money.

Paris Day 5

Can you spot the American in the next picture?

This morning we started at a Metro stop designed by Hector Guimard in the early 19th century. Then we went up a HUGE inclined street until we reached Sacre Coeur - an elegant church built in the early 1900's on top of a hill overlooking Paris. It is my grandmother's favorite place in Paris... There we saw a wonderfully gorgeous Jaguar. We waited for the owner to come back so we could steal it, but he/she never came... From there we wandered back down the hill and looked through some fabric stores and then headed over to Parc de la Villette (the red "follies" - AKA erector sets). This park was designed by Bernard Tschumi in the 1980's and got him international fame. He later became the Dean of Architecture at Columbia University and completely modernised their program... On to the Arc de Triomphe - Napolean's grand monument to his military victory at Austerlitz. The site is also the begining of the Champs Elysees - a famous shopping district that seemed not much different than an American shopping mall, except that it was outdoors and has better architecture (but the stores are the same: AKA the Gap, etc.). Becky was looking for a Miu Miu store specifically. No luck. So, we then went over to Tuileries. This is a high end shopping district (at least 3 Chanel stores in a 3 block radius). Bingo, we found a Miu Miu store and they had the shoes Becky wanted (wants). I would tell you how much, but she is still thinking about buying them. And if she does you would want to commit her. I'm sure this is all payback for the endless hunt for architecture. We ended our day at another H&M. We got out pretty cheap this time - because we've bought everything they have to offer. We might have to stay here until they release their winter 2008 collection. We bought dinner at the grocery store (so Becky can save up for her shoes): chicken, cheesy potatoes and wine. Wine and cheese are so incredibly cheap in France. You can get a bottle of wine for the same price as can of coke (the coke costs $4).

Paris Day 4

Today we started off in the lowest pit of tourist hell, Versailles. We decided to go on Sunday because it is the only day that they turn the fountains on in the gardens. BIG mistake. There were at least 40000000000 people there, most were octogenarians. Luckily for us, errrrr luckier for us, we bought our museum passes online last month and didn't have to wait in the line that was at least 1500 people long to get tickets. We moved through there like the rest of the sheep in about 2 hours. It was interesting to see and we can check that off our list of things to see and never have to see again. The french are big on the statues and the gold foil... No wonder the people revolted against the french royalty - because they had gaudy tastes. So, we saved the gardens for last and when we went out there, it ironically was a separate ticket and was not included in our Museum Pass... We headed back to town to see the Pompidou Centre (Richard Rogers). It was.... interesting. There was also a museum inside that we wandered through. We have come to the decisive conclusion that modern art is mostly Bullshit. I mean, anyone can paint a black square on a grey rectangle. Right? Then we wandered around trying to find the Picasso museum for a long time. It was close to the Pompidou, but since the streets are not on a grid and constantly change names (and the names of all the streets were not on our map), we had a really hard time. We asked some frenchies for directions and they said some gibberish and made some motions with their arms. We tried to follow that and after going in circles for awhile we finally found it. A word to the wise, if you ever go to Paris, get a cherpa. We've been using the sun to get our bearings, especially when we come out of the subway, but some days have been overcast and the sun becomes ellusive. Anyhow, the picture explains the Picasso Museum. Then we got on the subway and headed towards the Cinematheque Francaise - a museum of cinema history that holds the largest collection of film and is renowned for film preservation. We're showing a picture of Scarlett O'Hara's dress from "Gone with the Wind". The building was designed by Frank Gehry - originally as the American Center. Then we went and had dinner at the place where Hemingway wrote "The Sun also Rises", as well as where the story takes place - La Closerie des Lilas. This would be the last picture in the sequence. I was originally going to try Steak Tartare and then I saw our neighbor eating it and decided to have a "cooked" steak instead - Davey
The foie gras was delicious! - Becky

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