a visual treat.

Adventure 1: (Friday)
Our very first "walk" for class-Layers of Paris-discovering the very roots that made Paris what it is today

l'Hôtel de Ville

City of Paris administration

Mayor's office

Large reception halls

Creed of the French Revolution: (Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité-Libery, Equality, and Brotherhood)

Love Locks Bridge

This is where people who have a loved one leave a lock behind to symbolize that their love will last forever :)

Mémorial des Martyrs de la Deportation

Memorial for those from France who died in Nazi Concentration camps.

So very, very sad. 

"They descended into the mouth of the earth and they did not return."

Notre Dame de Paris

The most famous Gothic Cathedral ever

Check out those flying buttresses ;)

Scenes from Christ's life

Ornate golden gate

I could not get enough of stained glass

Before people could read, they created bible stories like this so people could learn and understand

Crypte du Parvis

Archaeological museum of Gallo-Roman foundations

Conciergerie

Royal palace and prison

Holding place for prisoners before being sent to the Gullotine

Comprehensive list of names of gullotine victims (not pictured)

Marie Antoinette memorial

Women's courtyard

Saint-Chapelle

Only surviving chapel of its' time

Dedicated April 26, 1248 (THAT'S OLD!)

Downstairs

Breathtaking

Palais du Justice

Part of the Conciergerie

Still used for court hearings today-judges today still have to wear robes and wigs when they do hearings!

There's that French Revolution saying again :)

Massive

Adventure 2: (Saturday)

Walk to the Metro

Croissy-sur-Seine (suburb of Paris)

Charles de Gaulle statue

World War II Hero

Champs Elysées

French for Elysian fields (place of "blessed dead" in Greek mythology)

Among the most expensive strips of shopping and real-estate in the world

Open Air Stamp Market

They happen.

Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré

Ritzy Stores

Palais de l'Elysees

Where the President, Nicolas Sarkozy lives

French version of the White House

There's Sarkozy's front door!

U.S. Embassy

Place de la Concorde

Largest major public square in the French Capital

East end of the Champs-Elysées

Egyptian obelisk

Wedding!

That huge scary famous roundabout/death trap

Group photo

street bubble blower

crêpe break!

Musée l'Orangerie

Monét, Gaugin, Renoir, Rodin, Claudel, Cezanne, Matisse, etc. etc.

aka my dream come true

"The Waltz" by Camille Claudel-favorite sculpture ever.  Found it.  Saw it.  Got teary.

"The Kiss" by Rodin-Claudel's mentor. Beautiful.

Tuileries gardens

Created by Catherine de Medicis

former garden of Tuileries palace in 1564

Dedicated as a public park (between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde) after the French Revolution

outside the Orangerie

And this is where I got a raindrop on my lens

l'Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

honors casualties of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars

(not the huge one, the smaller one by the Louvre)

Front of the Louvre

What I've been waiting to see since I read the Da Vinci Code four years ago

More adventures to come :)

(all original photos)

All my love, B.