In Paris, there was no shortage of restaurants, café shops, boulangerie, and formagerie. There seemed to be one at every corner. We did enjoy an extensive variety of delicious French cuisine, but my favorites were always the bold coffee, freshly baked bread, and the creamy cheeses. I loved it so much that I ate it everyday, sometimes even several times a day! We may have flown to Paris in economy class, but my taste buds definitely traveled first-class.
During our trip, we rarely encountered the stereotypical “rude French." In fact, most of them were very friendly and helpful. What I quickly discovered was that the locals were more welcoming, and normally gave us preference when we attempted to communicate with them in French as opposed to English. Ironically, Andrew and I never studied French in high school (I studied Spanish, and Andrew studied Latin), but I guess we were convincing enough because oftentimes they mistook us for expatriates and tried to have full conversations with us. Either that, or they enjoyed seeing us struggle and hearing our terrible French.
France exceeded my expectations. I wanted to see everything and do everything, and with Andrew as my tour guide, I know that I accomplished that. As physically exhausted as I was from all the walking that we did, I’ve never felt emotionally stronger. Everything that had happened since the beginning of 2014 (the cancer recurrence, the chemotherapies, and the surgery), and the stress of what laid ahead disappeared. The only thing that was important was living in that moment; I was alive, and I was finally in France. It was beyond what I could have hoped for.
"Paris has enough marvelous variety to fill 100 lifetimes, and when you return one day, it will be like finding an old friend."
À bientôt
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World's Fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution and demonstrate France's position as a global superpower. The original plan was to dismantle the tower after the celebration, but it was kept by popular demand.
The tower is constructed from 7,300 tons of metal, and 2.5 million rivets. Every seven years, it's repainted, and it takes 25 full-time painters 18 months to apply the 60 tons of paint.
At each of the tower's four legs, only one elevator was in service, and the line to that was extremely long. Instead of waiting in line, we decided to climb up the 360 stairs. Good thing I had Andrew to push me up!
1st Level (200 ft.)
We got a sneak peak at the see-through glass floor panels that had just been completed. The official unveiling to visitors was October 6, 2014.
Everyone looked like tiny ants.
2nd Level (400 ft.)
It was dizzying going up since all of the stairs were winding and enclosed by a wire cage.
The 2nd Level had the best views of the city.
3rd Level (900 ft.)
After climbing a total of 720 stairs, it was a relief to ride the elevator for the remainder of the way up.
It was a beautiful and sunny day. From the top, we could see out for 40 miles.
Bridge builder Gustave Eiffel designed, financed, and oversaw the Eiffel Tower's entire construction. It only took two years to build.
Visitors could locate their position and distance to major world cities and their emblematic monument. We were 5570 miles away from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge!
In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was considered the tallest structure in the world at 1,063 ft. Today, it has been surpassed by the 2,722 ft. tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
We're so cool.
♥
Church of St Eustace
The St Eustache church was built from 1532 to 1640.
Even though construction took more than a century due to religious wars and lack of funds, the edifice is remarkably harmonious.
In 1849, 17th century wall paintings were discovered under the whitewashed walls, serving as models for the renovation of the rest of the church.
Listening to the musical traditions of St Eustache.
Centre Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou is the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe with more than 70,000 works. It also has lots of pigeons in front of the entrance.
The building is "exoskeletal" with its pipes, heating ducts, and escalator on the outside, and art on the inside.
The view of the Beaubourg area.
Martial Raysse Exhibition
America America, 1964.
Martial Raysse is the French New Realism artist, and his approach is similar to that of American Pop Art in which he uses objects and images derived from advertising. There were over 200 of his works in the form of paintings, sculptures, films, and drawings in this temporary exhibit.
Conversation printanière (Springtime conversation, 1964).
The installation of Oued Laou (1971-2014) was inspired by Raysse's visit to Morocco in the 1970's.
The mushrooms in Le jardin (The garden, 1972) look so delicious.
The joke's on you. Poisson d'avril (April fool, 2007).
Tue moi, Yasmina (Kill me, Yasmina, 2010).
Ici Plage, comme ici-bas (Here the beach as here below, 2012) is Raysse's most recent major painting to date. The whole of mankind has met together in this area halfway between the beach and the wasteland.
Modernités Plurielles
(Modern Art from 1905-1980s)
This gallery presented the founding movements of modern art, such as Fauvism, Cubism, Surrealism, and Abstraction.
There were over 1,000 works displayed from famous 20th century modern artists.
Henry Valensi, Symphonie vitale, 1952.
Pablo Picasso, Femme nue couchée, 1936.
Art Gallery Catalogues.
Tarsila, A Cuca (The Bogeywoman), 1924.
Tarsila was one of the pioneers of Modernism in Brazil. Her works were a form of simplification borrowed from Cubism and authentic aspects of Brazilian culture.
Mahmoud Mokhtar, Arous el-Nil, 1929.
Jackson Pollock, The Moon-Woman Cuts the Circle, 1943.
Can you see the feather headdress, the dance, and the dagger?
Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1964.
Artsy fartsy.
Salvador Dali's Guillaume Tell, 1930 is so scary!
Peter Sual, Bewtiful & Stwong, 1971.
I wonder if there was a neon paint sale going on.
A History. Art, Architecture, Design from the 1980s until Today
(Contemporary Art from 1980 to the Present Day)
This exhibit featured 420 works by nearly 200 artists, architects, and designers from over 55 countries.
Jean-Luc Vilmouth, Café Little Boy, 2002.
This installation had its origins in the story of Fukoromachi primary school in Hiroshima, which was destroyed by the atomic bomb. Visitors were invited to write on the walls in chalk in response to that tragic event.
Thomas Hirschhorn, Outgrowth, 2005.
Jean Nouvel, Institut du monde arabe, 1981-1987.
The abstract facades were made up of automatically adjusting metal diaphragms that functioned as a gigantic industrial "mashrabiya" screen.
Madeleine Church
The construction of the church began in 1763, and was not completed until 1843 as a result of political upheaval.
Saint Mary Magdalen is surrounded by three angels to the right and left. It took 22 years (1835-1857) for Italian sculptor, Baron Charles to accomplish this work.
The baptism of Christ by John the Baptist.
Avenue des Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées is 1.2 miles long, and runs between the Place de la Concorde and the Place Charles de Gaulle. It's famous for its theatres, cafés, luxury shops, and Bastille Day Military Parade.
Thank you! 100 photos for a Centennial was a collection of 100 images from the Great War.
Films are typically shown either in version originale (English with French subtitles) or version française (dubbed in French).
The Louis Vuitton flagship store is one of the largest single brand luxury store in the world. Don't you love my LV (Coach) wristlet?
In 1854, LV's claim to fame were the trunks. To honor its address of 101 Champs-Élysées, there are 101 hanging vintage and antique trunks.
In 1989, the Flamme de la Liberté was given to the people of France by donors throughout the world to commemorate the American-French friendship. It's an exact replica of the Statue of Liberty's gold leafed torch.
Sacré-Coeur Basilica
Sacré-Coeur Basilica
The carousel at the base of Sacré-Coeur was featured in the movie, Amélie.
Sacré-Coeur is located at the summit of the Butte Montmartre. At 420 feet, this is the highest point in the city.
Since there are honeycombed gypsum mines beneath the basilica, the foundation of 83 pillars are sunk 130 ft. deep.
The mosaic above the alter shows Christ exposing his sacred heart for humanity. He is flanked by Biblical figures on the left and French figures on the right.
These three stained-glass windows are dedicated to Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc, 1412-1431).
Church of Saint Peter of Montmartre
In 1147, King Louis VI and his wife, Adelaide founded St Pierre de Montmarte, making it one of Paris' oldest church.
These gray columns may have stood in the temple of Mercury or Mars in Roman times.
Montmartre
Before Edith Piaf was famous for La Vie en Rose, she sang for pocket change in the streets of Paris.
Since the 12th century, monks and nuns of the large abbey produced wine in Montmartre. Today, these vineyards are off-limits to tourists except during the annual grape harvest festival.
The locals were playing pétanque. The goal was to throw hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball.
It seems Le Passe-muraille (The Man Who Walked through Walls) got stuck!
In 1907, Pablo Picasso moved into this once squalid home. For the next two years, he and his neighbors, Georges Braque and Juan Gris, revolutionized the art world, making Montmartre "The Cubist Acropolis".
Vincent van Gogh lived on the top floor with his brother from 1886 to 1888. It was here where his art was transformed to wild ideas and Impressionist colors.
Who says I can't be a can-can dancer at Moulin Rouge?
