PARIS TOURISTS

When we were working in Paris, we had a couple of weekends where we were able to "play tourist." Arnold in front of the famous "Notre Dame Cathedral." We had heard so much about it that we were a little surprised that it was so much smaller than we had previously thought it would be.

In front of the cathedral are these statues of (we believe) King Herod, two angels and John the Baptist (the one holding his head).

There was beautiful carvings on both sides of the main entrance. While we were waiting in line, there was a blind man begging. Somehow it seemed appropriate to give him a little something, but by the time we got through the crowd he was not there. We were able, however, to find him on our way out. There are many beggars in Paris, but this man seemed genuinely in need and was very discrete and not so "in your face" as many of those begging that we saw.
Inside of the cathedral were these models of the cathedral. They were exquisitely done and most interesting.
Unfortunately, taking pictures of stained glass windows is very difficult. They never show the beauty of seeing them in person. While we were looking around, all of a sudden JoAnn began to see purple and white lights twinkling around. At first she thought it was from the stained glass, then began to wonder if she were seeing things or having a "vision." It turned out to be the start of a migraine headache, which usually has lightening type lights. We joked about going to Notre Dame and "seeing the light."
This sculpture was magnificent.
This is a picture of the entry to the treasury. Note the man at the booth to take your money to let you go into the treasury.
Just outside of the cathedral was a large tree decorated with red Christmas bulbs.
Some government offices near Notre Dame.
Arnold in front of some more government buildings.

JoAnn overlooking the Seine River.

THE EIFFEL TOWER

Arnold in the place overlooking the Eiffel Tower. This is a large square that is raised up from the Tower. It is filled with tourists and beggars. There are also a plethora of those trying to sell you Eiffel Tower-related items. They had a little cart there that sold sandwiches. One lady insisted on us giving her money to buy food. She would not take "No" for an answer, so finally JoAnn gave her a half eaten sandwich and she went away. We had heard so many stories of those who "beg" for a living and were even told that women will "rent" babies for the day so they look more in need - who can turn down a hungry baby - and you have to give money for the baby not a sandwich. We were told emphatically by everyone that we should not give them money as they would then know where you keep your money and you would be a target to be pick pocketed by their friends. Don't know if it is true or not, but it is awfully hard to say no.

A cute Asian couple being photographed. They looked so professional we were not sure whether they were models or really newlyweds. There was also a group of soccor (or maybe rugby) players who came to the square, changed into their uniforms in front of everyone and then got a group picture with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
This is such a popular place to have your picture taken with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

There are steps off to the sides where you can walk down to get an up close look at the Tower and take an elevator to the top. We were content, however, to view it from here.
Arnold in front of the Arch de Triomph. We drove this large roundabout with friends one evening and it is very scary. Cars just come on and off at will - they seem to not even look, just turn in front of you.

One Saturday we went to the Louvre. What a great place. It is much more modern than we expected. I guess we thought it would be old and dark, etc., like a lot of the museums, churches and buildings in Bordeaux. But it was very nice. There is so much to see that it would take weeks to see it all. It is fairly inexpensive and many people get year passes so they can go for an hour or two at a time whenever they want. We saw the Mona Lisa (our camera died just as we were about to snap a picture of the Mona Lisa - after waiting in line for 10 minutes),

Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory statute, quite a few Roman, Greek and Egyptian statues, paintings from Italy,

beautiful painted ceilings, etc. There are still about 20 different types of exhibits that we didn't get to see - including a large collection of Islamic art. There are so many different painting exhibits (done by region) that we wanted to see, but just couldn't do it all. They even have a special one-hour tour of things regarding the Da Vinci Code. We didn't get to it, but it is supposed to show all the things from the book and the movie. We also saw the brass circle on the floor which marks the prime meridian which is shown in the movie. If the strike goes on, we may get back there. But, we would also like to be able to see some of the other tourist attractions here.