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Wednesday, February 4, 2015

{Travel} European Vacation - Day 7 Paris (Pompidou)

It was our last full day in Paris and what a gorgeous day it was!

This was the courtyard of the apartment building where we stayed. We walked through that doorway and passageway to the bigger double doors leading out to the street.

Walking to the Metro.

Pont-de-L'alma Station was about a 5-10 minute walk from the apartment. We kept our schedule pretty loose and the last day free to do whatever we liked. It had gotten very chilly so we decided an indoor activity was in order.

Off to the Centre Georges Pompidou.

It was a Sunday and not a whole lot is open on Sundays in Paris. The Pompidou was and we wanted to check out the modern art (and be inside!), especially Jeff Koons work.

There are stunning views from the top of the museum.

Can you spot me?

The Jeff Koons exhibit was very colorful and a lot of fun!

I love that he's from Pennsylvania!

Represent!

The museum's architecture is really modern too!

We also went to the Marcel Duchamp exhibit.

...and a few others but I was getting tired of taking photos.

Duchamp's version of the Mona Lisa.

More views from the top!

The gift shops were fun to browse and then I got to hang out with this guy while the girls finished their browsing/shopping.

We walked to Rue Montorgueil and looked for a place for lunch but we were at an odd hour for lunching on a Sunday so we ended up cabbing it back to our neighborhood and had lunch at Tribeca (our second time there).

It's such a pretty street.

The graffiti is attractive as well.

"Even bad guys dream of love".

We needed to pack that night(and take a few family photos).

We stayed local and had dinner at a touristy place with a view of the Eiffel Tower, Brasserie de la Tour Eiffel. Our waiter was hysterical!

Of course we needed to capture a few more memories on our walk home,

but the adventure wasn't over...we were heading to London in the morning!

to be continued...

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Tuesday, February 3, 2015

{Travel} European Vacation-Paris Day 6 (Musee de Louvre)

One thing at the the top of our must see list in Paris was The Louvre.

We purchased our tickets in advance and picked them up at fnac. We only needed two ticket as kids under 16 and students are free. Purchasing our tickets in advance saved us from having to wait outside too long in the cold.

Once you enter the Louvre, you are inside the pyramid.

Of course we went straight to the Mona Lisa. Yes, she's tiny and hard to get to. You're pretty far back from her as well.

The other Italian masters didn't seem to be as popular.

Venus de Milo

I loved the natural light.

The Louvre is huge and you really need a few visits (or many!). It has 70,000 pieces of artwork and stretches over more than 650,000 square feet. That's a lot of walking!

Looking out the window from inside.

It started out as a fortress and a palace for French royalty.

This statue, Winged Victory of Samothrace was one of my favorites.

It was opened as a public museum in 1793.

Colossal statue of Ramesses II

This fireplace is so me, it has got the H and and everything.

After the Louvre we had lunch at Cafe St. Honore.

I can't remember exactly what this was, some kind of toasted cheese and veggie sandwich, I think?

This view out of our window at night.

We took a cab to Champs Elysees that night and got out near the Luxor Obelisk to get a better look at it. The Luxor Obelisk was a gift from Egypt to France in the 19th century and once marked the entrance of the Luxor Temple.