Paris 5

Denise and I ate at La Poule au Pot (la -pool-ah-po). Translation - chicken in a pot. It is supposed to be a favorite night spot of celebrities. They had little brass plates all along the seating area with the names of famous people who have eaten there.


Denise had lamb.


I had there signature dish - Poule au pot. It came in a large urn-shaped bowl with double what I could eat. The meals were good, but I'm not sure it was worth the price.


The Eiffel Tower in the evening is very impressive. It is quite the structure when you get close up and look at the design and engineering. The size of the base was surprising to me.


The ferris wheel in the Tuileries Gardens. This ferris wheel has been in several movies and books,


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Paris 4

One of the things on our "to do" list was to find St Germain Street. Actually there is a whole area by that name with several places and things bearing the name.


Here is Denise sitting at the St Germain cafe ordering hot chocolate.


When our order came there was a le saint-germain napkin and the cups were Cafe Richard cups. How appropriate. They must have been expecting us....


Here is Denise at the "lock of love" bridge. Both sides of the bridge are covered in locks, inside and out. When the space was covered, people started locking locks on the other locks already there. Now the locks are several locks deep on each side. A few weeks ago one side started to collapse and they closed the bridge for a day or two. I hate to think what the weight of all those locks is on the bridge. Some people in Paris have petitioned to have the locks removed because they think it is creating a safety hazard.





This pic is outside the Musee d'Orsay. The ladies in the sculptures are keeping a watchful eye on the of what's happening.

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Paris 3

Notre Dame - not the home of the Fighting Irish - the original. I thought Nena and Armida would appreciate these pics. I must admit it is pretty awe inspiring to actually be there. It does seem like a special place (Catholic or not). Like many of the standout buildings here, the architecture, and detail of craftsmanship is incredible. The massiveness of the structure is pretty daunting. Then you start thinking of all the important events that have taken place here and the people who have been here and participated in those events and the uniqueness of this cathedral stands out above most others.


The vaulted ceilings of the cathedrals are always an eye-catcher for me.The symmetry of the design is something that I really admire. The pic below is just the center of the cathedral. There is a large area similar looking to this one on each side of it.


We happen to be there for an early evening service. The proceedings are interesting to watch. The rising of the smoke as the service continued reminded me of the verse about the prayers of the saints rising in the smoke of the incense with a pleasing odor toward God.





This is one of side aisles below. Denise was walking and so is slightly blurred.


Religious or not, Catholic or not, Notre Dame is well worth your time and effort to visit.

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Paris 2

Here are a few pics inside The Louvre. Unless you have a few days to browse, you have to choose what parts you want to visit. I was surprised at the enormity of the place. We looked at some sculptures that were awesome.








The exhibits just go on and on. You can just wander and be amazed at each turn. And there are several levels.


Art imitating life, or vice versa? A young Asian couple saw Denise doing this and started laughing - then the young girl did the same pose as her husband took her pic.


I can prove I have seen the real Mona Lisa. A little glare because it sits behind bulletproof glass. There is always a crowd around the painting taking photos. You have to jockey for position. The rest of the Louvre is so large, the crowd is pretty well dispersed.

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Paris

We had a fun trip to Paris. The pic below is at the train station in Saarbrucken, Germany. Nick and Ivy and Denise and I traveled to Paris together on the train. At 200 miles per hour the trip is only 1 hour and 50 minutes. The ride is really smooth at that speed. When we arrived at the Paris EST train station, we split up. Nick and Ivy took one metro to their hotel and Denise and I took another metro to our hotel. So we both had our own Paris vacation. Then we met at the train station the following evening to ride back to Germany together. It worked out great.


When Denise and I came of the metro we were underground so we found the right way to street level. When we got out on the street, Rue Rivoli, we realized our metro had arrived under the Louvre. Our hotel was only two blocks away basically across from the Tuileries Gardens. The hotel room was great and the hotel staff very friendly and accomodating.


One wing of The Louvre. Just to the right is the main entrance through the arches.


Central park area in the Tuileries Gardens, directly in front of The Louvre.


Main entrance to The Louvre, through the arches and under the glass pyramid.


The above ground part of the pyramid made more famous by the Da Vinci Code.

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More Neuschwanstein Castle

Not a bad view from your front door. Para sailers come off of the cliffs up to the right.


This gorge runs next to the castle. As you walk up you can hear a waterfall. The people on the bridge are just above the waterfall and straight across from the castle.


The entry gate. The bridge is right behind the tower on the left.


As you enter the first courtyard on the lower level. The pic we took of the family is in the courtyard on the upper level where you see the folks in this pic.


The lower courtyard.

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Neuschwanstein Castle

From Fussen the castle that inspired the Disneyland castle is about 10 minutes away. It is kind of a tragic story. Ludwig , who designed and directed the building never saw it finished. Some political adversaries (and possibly some family) tried to get him deposed as mentally incapable to rule. A second doctor was brought in who found him mentally capable. In less than a week both Ludwig and the doctor were found drowned in the lake below the castle. No cause of the deaths were ever established and no investigation ever came up with anything. In one week the castle was given up by the family (who apparently never wanted it to begin with) and turned over to the local administration as a historical site. Some floors were never finished. The floors that were finished are well worth seeing. . The detail on the elaborate paintings and carvings is amazing. Ludwig was into history and myths and the whole decor shows it. the woodwork in the master bedroom took 12 people 4 years to complete. there is a throne room, large dining and meeting roome, etc. All extremely elaborate. BUT - no photos are allowed inside the castle.



This is the view walking up to the castle. It doesn't look nearly as large as it really is because it is narrow and long,sitting on a rocky top of an outcropping.


You can get up to the castle by bus, horse drawn carriage, or walking. We took the bus with Zeb and Titus in the stroller. The others hitched a ride on the horse drawn carriages.


This is the "modest" home of Ludwig's son at the bottom of the hill.


Here is our clan in the large interior courtyard.


Here's the view from one of the balconies. One place you can take photos while inside.

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Fussen

This is a quaint little town that is only about 10 minutes from Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the castle that inspired Walt Disney's Magical Kingdom Castle at Disneyland. Zeb, Nick, and I braved the tension in the air and watched the US play Germany on a local pizzeria bigscreen. There were two other people pulling for the US and a lot of Germans. After they beat the US people rode through the streets blowing horns, waving flags out the car windows, shouting, etc. It was fun to see the celebration (if we had to lose, at least we lost to the World Cup Winners by a score of only one to zero).


Denise, Ivy, and I took an early morning walk through part of town. It was a nice little town with some interesting looking shops, etc. It would be nice to have a couple of days to roam the town. It is right up against the Austrian Alps. ( I believe I am saying the right mountains here) When we took our walk hardly any shops were open yet. Exceptions being the coffee and pastry shops, bakeries, etc. The Germans love their morning caffe and a sandwich or pastry. Ivy dressed up the early morning street.


This building caught my eye. It was at the end of small narrow street.


I would have liked to have browsed this shop but it wasn't open yet and we were going to the castle in an hour or so. Gnomes, faeries, and other fantasy characters always interest me. I guess it is from reading all those fantasy novels through the years.


Denise is standing in the backyard of our hotel. I would recommend this hotel to anyone who needs a place close to Neuschwanstein castle. Friendly folks, good breakfast, large rooms for various numbers of people. There were 13 of us.



Another street in Fussen. Pretty typical German town that pulls in some tourism due to the castle being so near.

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Fussen

This is a quaint little town that is only about 10 minutes from Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the castle that inspired Walt Disney's Magical Kingdom Castle at Disneyland. Zeb, Nick, and I braved the tension in the air and watched the US play Germany on a local pizzeria bigscreen. There were two other people pulling for the US and a lot of Germans. After they beat the US people rode through the streets blowing horns, waving flags out the car windows, shouting, etc. It was fun to see the celebration (if we had to lose, at least we lost to the World Cup Winners by a score of only one to zero).


Denise, Ivy, and I took an early morning walk through part of town. It was a nice little town with some interesting looking shops, etc. It would be nice to have a couple of days to roam the town. It is right up against the Austrian Alps. ( I believe I am saying the right mountains here) When we took our walk hardly any shops were open yet. Exceptions being the coffee and pastry shops, bakeries, etc. The Germans love their morning caffe and a sandwich or pastry. Ivy dressed up the early morning street.


This building caught my eye. It was at the end of small narrow street.


I would have liked to have browsed this shop but it wasn't open yet and we were going to the castle in an hour or so. Gnomes, faeries, and other fantasy characters always interest me. I guess it is from reading all those fantasy novels through the years.


Denise is standing in the backyard of our hotel. I would recommend this hotel to anyone who needs a place close to Neuschwanstein castle. Friendly folks, good breakfast, large rooms for various numbers of people. There were 13 of us.



Another street in Fussen. Pretty typical German town that pulls in some tourism due to the castle being so near.

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More Munich

Saint Peters in Munich. It is a huge building and the architecture is amazing. I know that saying the architecture is amazing becomes rather redundant after a while, but you just can't imagine what you are going to see next.



This is the clock tower at St Peter's cathedral. Twice each day the darker area in the middle is a huge operating swiss style clock. There are knights, dancers, animals, etc. The clock show last about 10 to 15 minutes. At the end of all the antics, the large bird at the top center of the clock works comes out and announces the time. Pretty cool to watch.


On our travels we have seen several live statues. This one in the piazza of St Peters offered us some photo ops.


Above - Ivy, Gracie and Coral. Below - Rueben and Hazel.


We ate in this courtyard inside the St Peters complex. Some pretty scary characters built in to the ornamentation.


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