Icons of Paris
With one full day to see Paris, I wanted to make sure Fierce saw the major Parisian sights. Our adventure began at the Louvre. We had a lot of fun taking silly, perspective pictures outside of it as if we were touching the very tippy-top point of the glass pyramid. We had pre-paid for tickets, so we entered pretty quickly. Making that descent down the escalator, all you want to do is look back up to see that beautiful glass once again.
Soon, we made our way through a large room filled with marble statues that lead you up grand staircases and into rooms upon rooms of statues, paintings and several items owned by Napoleon.
Some time later, Andrea, ever outgoing, found an employee that personally showed us where to find the Renaissance paintings in another wing. A large hall spreads out before you with floor to ceiling paintings full of life and color. These are the history books of their day. Snapshots of remembrance.
Follow the signs or the throngs of people and you will find the the Mona Lisa. The Louvre houses her in a massive room with a few jealous paintings dotting the navy blue walls. The hungry tourists vie for the perfect shot and to be honest, if you don’t join in, you will never see her, so it’s no time to be shy. Somehow, the crowd does ebb and flow like a river so if you do jump in, you can have a few moments to gaze at her simplistic beauty. We saw a boy who was allowed to cross the main barrier and get a close up so Andrea asked the guard if Fierce could go as well.
He waved Fierce over, asked for my phone and took a few pictures of Fierce and Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. What a special moment. In all that crazy, life seemed to slow down for just a minute. Thank you!
We decided to do a little window shopping at Les Passages. It’s a lovely covered alleyway with inlaid, marble floors. I thought Andrea might like it and when we came upon a quaint bookstore, we lost her to her amusement. Fierce and I checked out a few things and then came back. When I opened the door, I gasped. Old books were stacked for the owner to understand their organization and for you to dig and find treasures. Andrea made friends with the owner as we explored the shelves. His eyes lit up as he answered all of our questions. Before we left, he gave each of us a post card. He seemed to fit his store, done up in tweed and silver hair, but like I said, his blue eyes shone of the boyish adventures he could tell over a cup of hot tea.
We walked along the Seine River for a while, but eventually found our way to the Arc De Triomphe. Wes and his Dad have both gotten their pictures here, next to our last name, “Almeida.” I kept the tradition going and had Fierce step up to get a snapshot as well. From across the street, it still looks like you can wrap your arms around it in a way, but right up next to the massive pillars, it feels like you could walk a block before returning to where you started.
Similarly, the Eiffel Tower can be a trinket you fit in your pocket, until your feet bring you to it’s base and you have to stretch your neck all the way back to see the needle on top. When we arrived at 4:45pm, we breathed a sigh of relief because, apparently the last visitors to go inside the tower must buy tickets before 5pm. We made it!
We are in Paris and standing in a very cold, long line to take an elevator to the 2nd floor. Wiggling toes and doing small stretches to stay warm with big smiles on our faces, because…we are in Paris and we are going to be IN the Eiffel Tower! We repeat such phrases until the doors open and we go to the edge to look down at a city in lights. At one point I turned around to take a picture of the tower itself and the lights started to twinkle! Fierce and I made sure we went all the way around to see all the views before we left. Fierce said he liked being so high up. He didn’t even balk at some of the glass floors you can walk across. It was such a fantastic way to end our day in Paris.
