Visiting Christine in Paris for Easter

Christine is living in Paris for the first three months of 2008, so we thought it would be the perfect excuse to visit the City of Light again. Having a second chance meant that we could see all the things we missed the first time around!
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This time, Jay had his new camera. His favorite place to play with his shutter speed was in the subways.
.Under threat of closure due to strikes, the first thing we did was to visit Versailles. Christine called ahead to make sure the museum was opened. They’re response was “Yes, but there is no guarantee about tomorrow.” We took that as a strong hint to take advantage of the day.
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We were glad the palace was so beautiful, because we had to queue for 2 hours to get in! Here are the storm clouds coming into our picture…a few minutes later, we had hail!
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Though crowded, we were able to appreciate the extravagance of the palace. This room is only one example of the opulence!

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That evening we rushed back into Paris to witness the World Pillow Fight Day. In cities all around the world, there was a synchronized pillow fight at 6pm. The one for Paris took place at the Louvre. Great fun!

The next day was Easter Sunday. We attended service at the American Church in Paris, as it was the only English speaking service around (that we were aware of, at least). The congregation was made up of people from around the world.

. Next up, we hit the weekend markets. Lots to see, but not much to buy, in our opinion. As a precaution against the ubiquitous pickpockets, Christine tucked in her bag underneath her coat and enhanced her caboose!

.Afterwards, we went to the Louvre. This was our second time here, but with all that there is to see, we could never see everything it has to offer no matter how often we visit! We found a self-guided tour on the Louvre’s website centered around the theme of love.

We learned a lot about the art they included in the tour, which included not only paintings but also sculptures and antiquities.

.On the way out of the Louvre, we spotted some policemen on roller blades. We thought it was amusing, but very functional!

Monday was our last full day, so we tried to fit in everything we could! We started by visiting the Conciergerie. It is part of the larger complex known as the Palais de Justice, which is still used for judicial purposes. It was interesting and had a rich history. Marie Antoinnette actually spent the last of her days here.

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However, after a little while, we started to be affected by the depressing mood of the place. Bad karma there, perhaps? Anyway, we got ourselves out of there to visit the church next door. As we were able to buy a combined ticket for both the prison and the church (funny combo, isn’t it?), we skipped the queue (we liked that a lot!).

The church, as expected was beautiful, and it felt very different from the much larger Notre Dame. Though we have seen what seems like a million churches in our travels, this was still worth a visit for us. It didn’t take long either!

.With a few hours left in the day, Christine and Karen thought they would try some outlet shopping (unsuccessful) while Jay went around the city taking pictures (also unsuccessful because of the rain). All was not lost, as Jay was able to take advantage of the clearer skies that evening to create some really beautiful photos.

Who can resist the Eiffel Tower by night...?

This thing just photographs so well!