La belle Paris!

24 March 2010

The first thing planned for Wednesday morning was a 5:30 a.m. train ride to Paris, so naturally we were all very tired that morning. Upon arriving in Paris, we were sent on a bus tour through the streets; we saw many amazing and breathtaking sights!



The Paris Train Station, or Gare de L'Est, was a point of interest, as well as The Paris Opera House. The Opera House is also known as "Garnier's Palace" after its architect, and was built in 1862. Other important buildings we viewed on this tour were the Grande Hôtel, and the Ritz hotel, which is famous for being the home of Coco Chanel, and Chopin.



Also a point of interest was a carved column constructed in honor of the Battle of Austerlitz. When the tour was finished, we headed towards the Louvre, the second oldest museum in Paris. The Louvre was amazing. Unfortunately, we could not spend as long as we would have liked inside, but the paintings we did see were wonderful and included the Mona Lisa, as well as many other paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and other master artists.



Some other works of interest were marble sculptures: the Winged Victory at Samothrace, and the Venus de Milo. After visiting the Louvre, we headed over to the park behind the Eiffel Tower for a picnic lunch, and then prepared to go up in the tower. We took an elevator up to the second floor of the tower, and then spent time taking photos of the fantastic view of Paris. Once we were safely on the ground, we headed for another museum; on the way there, we spotted the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Élysées, both of which are symbols of Paris and Napoleonic France.



We then arrived at the Musée Marmottan, which is a museum renowned for its collection of impressionist art, including Monet. We viewed beautiful works, such as “Water Lilies,” as well as many statues and furnishings from the Napoleonic Period. Once we had finished our tour of the museum, we returned to the train station for our ride back to Strasbourg.