|
|
|
| Having taken the high-speed Thalys train from Amsterdam through Brussels to Paris, I arrived at Gare du Nord station. The train ride was 4 hours and the countryside was beautiful. The first thing I did when I arrived in Paris was to purchase a ticket for riding the trains around Paris. The trains within Paris are a bit confusing with several different types of trains. See the Paris train map. |
 |
| I had made a reservation at The Paris Hilton on Avenue de Suffren before the trip began. Taking the RER B and C lines, I was able to easily reach my hotel. Unfortunately, the room I had reserved did not have a view of the Eiffel Tower. The hotel, however, was very nice and very helpful to tourists. With no real agenda, I took the RER C line back to St. Michel-Notre Dame train station to start exploring Paris. The photo above shows how beautiful the Seine River looks. |
Everywhere I looked on the external structure of Notre Dame was a sculpture to be studied. There were hundreds of statues and carvings telling different stories. Even in the light, cool mist of this particular evening I just stood in amazement as I looked up and down the front of Notre Dame.
The pipe organ (see photo above), dating back to 1402, is now fully electric and controlled by computers. The pipe organ has 7800 pipes, of which 900 are classified as historic. The organ has 5 keyboards of 56 keys.
The awe continues inside Notre-Dame. The church is very dark with most of the light being what is able to come through the gorgeous stained glass windows. Saturday mass (at 18.30/6:30PM) was less than uplifting, even though I did not understand a single word. Fortunately, most Catholic masses are similar and the cadence of the Priest's voice allowed me to follow along. The enormous pipe organ played Gothic religous tunes throughout the mass.
The Louvre Museum: I did not have time to visit this museum so I just took pictures of the outside. It is interesting that it was the Sino-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei who took over the first major part of the modernization concept for the Lourve Museum. His project, which involved the construction of a huge pyramid in the center of the cour Napoléon, was exhibited at the palais de l'Elysée in 1983, where it caused considerable controversy right from the outset. A lifesized simulation was planned and executed in 1985, when the project was given final approval. |
|
|
|
|
|
Contact Amy