Département des Hauts-de-Seine

Each day on this trip brings a new wonder to behold, it seems like. Today we saw SO much again … Paris has a remarkable affordable public transit system, and the city is surprisingly walkable - in sections.

We started our morning at The Louvre. It is the largest museum in the world, and it was obvious. I found the building itself to be a work of art! We only scratched the surface there. Did see some amazing statues - Nike of Samothrace (winged) which Jordan sketched - 190 BC, and the Venice de Milo! 100 BC. Other noteworthy piece we saw was the Mona Lisa - the crowds were intense, but we managed to get to the front eventually to see her.

The French have created magnificent gardens everywhere - reminds me of what I’ve seen in Canada. They are just gorgeous. There were also two arches - one smaller and one massive. Really massive. The biggest surprise was seeing the Place de La Concorde - this is a square (where kings/queens were beheaded during the revolution) with what looks like a small version of the Washington monument from far away, but as you get closer it is clear it’s different. It’s an Egyptian obelisk!! No kidding. It’s 3300 years old! The Egyptians gifted the 230 ton Luxor obelisk (it has a twin still in Egypt) to France in the mid 1800’s. It took SEVEN years to transport it across the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, up the Nile and finally up the Seine river. And then it took a feat of engineering to raise it.

We took a metro ride out of the historical district to what looked to be the suburbs of Paris - Wandered the canal and then what else to do when in Paris with the biggest Marvel fan ever (Jordan), we went to opening night of the Dr. Strange movie. Found one playing in English. It felt familiar, kind of.En savoir plus