My favorite part about France? The Eiffel Tower? Notre Dame? The Arc de Triumph? Monmartre? The Louvre? Champs D' Elysses? Versailles? Yes, we saw them all in TWO DAYS! No, mon cherie, it was the FOOD, mais oui! Such good, good bread. Such good, good salads. Such good, good, good, good wine. Ahh, France, I shall miss you dearly now that we are in the land of mediocre bread, nonexistent salads and NOT French wine. *sigh*
But, France, what a beautiful place! What a beautiful language! What beautiful people! What a fat tourist I've become!
Did you know that Notre Dame took 167 years to build, starting in the 12th century, and some of the stained glass is original? When the Germans invaded in WWII they took apart each piece of each window, numbered them, and stored them underneath Notre Dame, then put it all back together afterward! Those French not only understand, create and cultivate beauty, they take great pains to maintain it!
Or that no matter where you stand in a room, the Mona Lisa looks like she's looking right at you! DaVinci achieved this by using many, many layers of paint and varnish to almost make it 3D. It is encased in bulletproof glass with guards on either side, and the room has its own a/c unit inside her little shrine, because she was painted on wood.
Did you know that the Eiffel Tower not only lights up at night, it also twinkles like a 4th of July sparkler for 10 minutes on the hour? It's simply mesmerizing to watch it.And the Statue of Liberty? We all know it was a gift from the beautiful country of France. But did you know that there are more of them, one on a bridge that was a gift from the U.S., and one in a park. In college, I had a poster of John Lennon flashing the peace sign in front of the Statue of Liberty, but I knew it was not the REAL one because it wasn't that big. Well, we found the one John was in front of and Tim snapped a pic of ME giving the peace sign in front of it. Yes, after three kids and worldwide travel, I STILL want to be a rock star.
But the kids look cooler than I do...
6 comments:
thanks for putting photos with your words! LOVE IT!
it also brings back ALOT of memories!
you, your kids & John Lennon....cool!
The picture of the Eiffel Tower is beautiful. What an adventure...thanks for sharing your pictures! Your move to China has been way more exciting than our move to Cleveland (o: The weather is starting to get to me. Can not wait for Spring.
LOVE the pictures!!! Oh I am so very jealous of you!!
Oh it looks SO amazing!
Now you make me want to see it even more!
Thanks for sharing your photos!
Michelle W.
Hi - I found your blog a couple of weeks ago. We are an American family (my husband grew up in Appleton, WI) that are expats in Paris. We have lived here for 3 years and still love the city as much as the first day we arrived. Glad that you and your family enjoyed the city as well. You picked an amazing time weather wise, Feb isn't usually so nice!
Oh, am I jealous!!
beth
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