A Birthday in Paris, France

Kevin asked me a few weeks ago what I wanted to do for my birthday.  I initially said I really didn't care, but a few days later, I realized that I really, really wanted to go to Paris for my birthday.  A few nights after he asked we were sitting at the table doing our budget and I spoke up and spoke my mind and told him I really wanted to go to Paris, he said, OK and got on the computer and looked up and bought train tickets to Paris.  Living in Germany is amazing!  Our village has a train station, so we were able to walk 5 minutes to our station and catch a train with only one transfer to Paris!  There is an ICE train that goes directly from Saarbrucken to Paris without stopping and goes about 200 mph/ 320 km/h. We left our house at 8AM, and arrived in Paris before 11 AM.  It was so easy.

While we were on the train we planned our day out so we could use our time effectively.  We bought tickets with skip the line passes. When we got off the train we went to the metro and bought a day pass each and hopped on the metro to our first destination: The Notre Dame Cathedral.  We knew we wouldn't be allowed in due to the fire last April, but we were surprised that we couldn't even get close.  The entire area was completely fenced off.  I was hoping we would be able to see point Zero, but that was within the restricted area.

We enjoyed walking along the river and feeling the brisk breeze.  The Seine River is super nasty.  I was surprised at how dirty it was, it didn't look like water, it just looked like light brown mud swirling around. It was lunch time and we were both pretty hungry so we stopped at a to-go deli and grabbed some amazing sandwiches.  The bread with nice and crispy and the tomatoes were super fresh.  It was such a delicious sandwich.

Our next stop was the Sainte Chapelle.  Kevin really wanted to go here and luckily we had skip-the-line tickets because the line was ridiculously long.  I looked up the description and it said ,"Ornate 13th century Gothic chapel with relics and notable stained-glass windows of biblical scenes." Ok, I thought, so like every other cathedral we have seen, shrug, no big deal.  We walked into the low celiling chapel and there were a few stain glass window about the windows.  It was a small and rather dark room and not very impressive.  I didn't understand why people would be lining up for this, but I figured it was just because it was popular.

We went to the right rear where there was a small winding staircase upward.  Up we went until we walked into one of the most impressive and beautiful rooms I have seen.  I literally stopped walking with a big O on my mouth.  Wall to wall, almost floor to ceiling was beautiful stain glass pictures.  So worth it!  We walked around just admiring the art of the windows for a while.  There were multiple tour groups and they were taking notes and nodding excitedly and staring up at the window panels.  Kevin and I turned and looked at each other and both voiced our desire to know more about the chapel and the windows.

Rick Steves came to our rescue.  I remembered that I had his app on my phone and opened it up with my fingers crossed that he had an audio tour of Sainte Chappel, and sure enough there it was.  We spent the next half hour or so walking around the rooms learning about the windows.  We learned that there are 15 huge windows and each window depicts a story in the Bible.  You start at the rear right with the stories in Genesis and End at the rear with the Apocalypse.

Kevin and I followed the Bible Stories from Adam and Eve, to Cain and Able, and Moses and on.  We followed the stories to the center above the Alter which shows the Passion of Christ.  It wasn't until I really notice and was listening to the audio tour that I realized that the alter was way up high.  This entire time I thought it was missing the alter or it had been stolen or put in a museum because the main area under the windows of the Passion of Christ was just empty and plain.  I finally saw a golden spiral staircase to the right that went up to the alter on top.  It is here on this alter that King Louise XVI placed a bought and supposed real crown of thorns that was placed on the head of Jesus Christ.

This entire church and the focal point is of this crown of thorns.  The remnants of the supposed crown are now in the treasury of the Notre Dame and are only displayed 13 times a year.  The church is beautiful and the history was really neat to learn.  I'm really glad Kevin wanted to come to the church.

We left the church and I was expecting to look back and see beautiful windows and a gorgeous building, instead I just saw a rather dull and almost ugly building.  I learned that the outside was made for the sole purpose of being a sound structure for the windows.  You can't see the windows since there isn't any light really reflecting from the inside outward.

Our next stop was right next door to The Conciergerie.  The Conciergerie was the prison where they kept those to be beheaded.  It was the prison of the famous Marie Antoinette.  We walked in and were greeted by a huge room with four gigantic fireplaces, this was where the guards would hang out. Up some stairs we came to different displays and rooms.  There were quotes and photos on the wall.  One room had a video looping and giving the history of the French Revolution.  We came to a small room that had name plates all over the wall.  Each name was someone who had been beheaded. There was also the story of how Maximillian, the one who started it all, ended up also being beheaded, so ironic.

We made our way through the prison to Maria Antoinettes prison cell.  She was given two rooms where she stayed.  She was also given a courtyard where she was allowed to get fresh air. Kevin and I commented about how it didn't seem like a prison cell or a prison courtyard, but an office building.  I thought about what is must have been like for her.  To have her husband beheaded and know that she was next and to have to live and go about for nine months until it was her turn.  To mentally prepare for that moment must have been hard for her.  Did you know she accidentally stepped on the executioner foot and softly apologized for that?  My respect for Marie went up after visiting The Conciergerie.

When we walked out of the prison were were surprised to see blue skies. Before leaving for Paris, we looked at the weather and it called for rain all day, so we brought our umbrellas and were prepared for a wet day.  I was pleasantly surprised to walk out to a beautiful afternoon.  When we bought our train tickets we knew that we wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower, so we bought tickets early.  Our reservation time was for 2:30, so we set off to the Metro to make it to the Eiffel Tower.

The closest metro was a little walk, so we enjoyed leasurly walking through the streets of Paris.  It was fun passing all the little shops and cafes.  We stopped at a cafe called Angelina's and got some hot chocolate and macarons.  This cafe is known for their hot chocolate, and it was a pretty little penny, but worth every cent.  It was delicious and thick and creamy.  It reminded me of Italian Hot Chocolate.  The Macarons, on the other hand, were discusting.  Gross.  Yuck.  I didn't even finish mine, and that says a lot.  I did comment to Kevin that no one said to get macarons there, they all rave about the hot chocolate.

We walked past the Louvre, and longingly looked at the lines and the museum.  We knew this would be the perfect thing to do without kids, but we had too many other things to do today.  We decide to save the Louvre for another day and another trip.

We found the metro and made it to the Eiffel Tower stop.  We followed the signs and beheld the iconic tower.  The sky was blue and the tower was beautiful.

After going through security and ticket check, we found ourselves at the base of the Eiffel Tower.  It was neat seeing the iron and metal structure so close.  It looked as if someone took one of the tower toys and just blew it up, or shrunk the real thing for the toy.  It almost looked like an amusement ride.

We got squeezed into an elevator with probably 50-60 people and made our way to the second tier of the tower.  The sky was clear and we could see for miles.  It was beautiful.  Kevin is usually a little nervous with heights, but he seemed to really love the views right along side me.

We took our time and walked slowly around the entire Eiffel Tower seeing the view from every vantage point.  We looked out and tried to spot all the different landmarks of Paris.  I was suprised at how it looked more domestic than industrial.  There was only one small section that had high risers and office buildings.  We spent about an hour just talking and walking around enjoying the views.

Reluctantly we decided to make our way down.  We chose to take the stairs down so we could continue to enjoy the views on our decent.  It was super easy taking the stirs down, and it was great holding Kevin's hand as we slowly came down.

When we got to the bottom, we took more time to just slowly walk around the base of the Eiffel Tower.  We exited the gates, then walked all the way down the walkway in from of the Eiffel Tower to get a great view from the from go the tower.  We were hoping the lights would come on while we were there, but we were still a few hours from the lights turning on.  I was slightly bummed, but not a lot because I knew we would be back soon. 

We jumped on the metro and went to our next destination, the Arc of Triomphe.  We exited the metro to find a dark grey sky and rain pouring down.  We got out our umbrellas and started walking towards the Arc.  I noticed that in the distance there were clear blue skies, so we decided to find a famous macaron place called Laduree which was just down the street and wait out the rain.  The line for Laduree was so long, but with the rain, we didn't mind waiting.  We got 12 macarons to take home and share with the kids and by the time we left the store, we were greeted with clear blue skies once more.

We walked down the street and straight for the Arc.  Kevin and I mentioned that the arc looked super familiar and found out that sure enough it was inspired by the Arch of Titus, which we saw in Rome. This Arc honors those who fought and died during the French Revolution.

Since we already had tickets, we were able to walk right under the Arc and go straight into the stairway without waiting.  All the French victories are inscribed on the walls of the Arc and there were even some General names too.  Under the Arc of Triomphe there is also a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWI which was guarded by some soldiers.  The winding staircase went up and up. It went on forever, but we were determined to make it to the top without stopping.

When we got to the top, we were rewarded with some spectacular views of the city to include the Eiffel Tower in the distance. We were so blessed to have clear blue skies, I just know this was a birthday blessing.  It was so beautiful.

 We left the Arc of Triomphe, and had about an hour and a half until we needed to be at the train station.  We decided to head to the north part of Paris in search of the Wall of Love.  We got off the Metro and saw the gigantic Sacre-Coeur, a domed white church, at the end of the street.  We talked about trying to go to the church with out remaining time, but realized the line was rather long and we didn't have enough time, so we will save this church for the next time we come to Paris.

We walked just a few more blocks, and found ourselves at the pin on the maps for the Wall of Love, but we didn't see a wall anywhere.  We walked around and finally after searching we found it behind a closed and locked gate.  We couldn't figure out why it was closed or how to get in.  It was well behind trees and buildings, so we couldn't even try to get a picture, I guess this is something else we will see when we come back.  We spent the next while just roaming the cute streets and little French shops.  I found some amazing sterling silver earrings, and Kevin smiled and bought them for me and said Happy Birthday with a sweet kiss.  I love this guy so much!  We had just enough time to get a gelato, so we stopped at Amorino which was on the way to the metro station.  We didn't realize they would make our gelato into a flower.  It was the perfect end to a perfect birthday.  Today was a magical and special day for me.  I loved everything about Paris, but I loved that I got to share it with the man I love.  Happy Birthday to me, the best birthday ever!

A Day in Milan: Girls Trip to Italy

Today, we got up early so we could catch the train before 8:00, so we could get to Milan before our 10:00 appointment to Santa Maria Delle Grazie where Da Vinci's Last Supper is located. We got off the train and rushed to get to the subway, we were cutting it so extremely close.  We got out of the subway at our stop right at 10:00 and realized that it was still a 10 minute walk to the church.  We all put on our speed walking shoes and walked/ran to the church square.  When we got there someone from our tour told us we had to hurry and drop our bags in the lockers and get inside because our tour was about to leave without us, and we wouldn't be able to join them.  We threw our bags in the lockers and were super grateful that they were free, then went into the Bramante Sacristy, which is a former convent, to start the tour.

The tour guide had already been giving historical information for the last 15 minutes, and the second we walked in we went from an open atrium to a small hallway.  The doors into the hallway locked behind us and the doors ahead were closed and locked.  Come to find out, only a small tour group is allowed in the building at one time.  Each tour group is only given 15 minutes in the actual room with the painting of the Last Supper, then they must leave.  The tour is an hour long, because you walk in stages until you enter the room, so the wait is filled with facts and history lessons.  It was a good thing we weren't any later, because once the door is locked they don't let anyone back or forward, you have to stay with your designated group.

We entered a large dark room with paintings on either ends of the walls.  This was not what I was expecting.  My entire life, I thought the Last Supper, by Da Vinci was on canvas and was a small picture.  To my surprise, it spanned an entire wall.  It is beautiful! I learned that The Last Supper was started in 1495 and Da Vinci did not have any experience working with mural fresco painting.  He used pigments directly on the dry wall, instead of on wet plaster.  Because of this, the painting is deteriorating due to humidity and earthly elements.  It is not withstanding the test of time.  The painting has to be continually restored due to flaking, vandalism, and the bombing and probably very little of it is still original.

The tour guide then sped up her talking by about 100% and was now talking full speed ahead to cover as much information as possible in the allotted 15 minutes.  She started by talking about who was in the painting and how they knew who it was.   It is said that this painting depicts the apostles reactions after being told by Jesus that one of them would betray him.

The painting divides the apostles into groups of three.  The first group of three are Bartholomew, James, son of Alphaeus and Andrew. I missed this part of the talking because I was reading the plaque and not realizing what she was talking about.

The next three are Judas Iscariot, Peter and John.  Judas is holding the silver peices in a bag in his right hand.  The older man beside him is Peter.  They know this is Peter because he has a knife in his right hand. John has long hair and we were told it is to represent the male and female in the universe.

The next group of three are Thomas, James the Greater and Philip. Thomas has his finger up as in a doubting expression. Phillip has a sweet face and hand on his heart.

The last group of three are Matthew, Jude Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot. This group isn't looking at Jesus, but their bodies are gesturing towards Him.

In the last restoration of the painting, a water jug was uncovered as well as more details of the food.  It was neat that I was able to see the faint outline of the water jug in person. The table also holds bread, fish (eel) and glasses of wine.

Something amazingly neat that I learned about this painting is that it survived the bombings during WWII.  The entire side walls and building was bombed but miraculously, the walls with the paintings survived.  The Last Supper, in 1940, was completely covered by sandbags and scaffolding in hopes of keeping it safe from potential bombing.  And safe it was.  It was incredible seeing pictures of the entire wall covered and secure in preparation for the war.

After learning all the fascinating details about The Last Supper, we were directed, with the last 5 minutes of our tour, to the painting behind us.  This paining is The Crucifixion by Donato Montorfano. The Crucifixion was not covered or protected during the war, but it also survived the bombing of the church.

When our time was up, we were very quickly and rudely pushed out of the room.  We found ourselves in a much smaller room with photographs of The Last Supper.

The tour guide was only given 10 minutes in this room before once again the doors were opened and we had to leave.  After leaving the room, we were then taken on a tour of the Church.

We left the church and walked around the Bramante Sacristy- which is a former convent and found the best view of the church was available here. We still wanted to see the Duomo, so we left the tour early and jumped on the next subway to the Duomo.

We got out of the subway and was awarded with the beautiful view of the Duomo Cathedral Square.  The sun was so bright and was reflecting off the white of the Cathedral, making me very happy that I had sunglasses. Heather Gillespie was joking about the new fad Instagram photo, so we tried it out for a laugh.  It's the one with the photographer holding the person's hand as they walk away.  It's super cheesy, but we had a good laugh.

We needed to get tickets to go to the Cathedral's roof, so we started walking to the ticket office.  On the way to the ticket office we stopped at the main elaborate doors of the Cathedral.  The doors were made between 1894-1908 and it depicts the stories from the life of Mary. There was one spot on the door that has been touched so many times that it shone bright gold from the oils from so many hands, it was the carving of Mary holding Jesus' hand as he walked to Jerusalem.

We were super nervous we wouldn't be able to go to the roof because we all had our backpacks.  We packed super light and we all brought only backpacks for the purpose that we knew we were going to have to have our bags with us all day today without anywhere to put them.  Luckily and with a sigh of relief, they let us pass security and go up the elevator to the top.  The rooftop of the Duomo di Milano was exquisite.  It was amazing.

We came out and found that we were walking on the roof.  I thought it would be just around the top, but it was actually just all over the roof and around the entire top of the church.  The views of all the steeples and angles was so amazing.  

We enjoyed taking our time as we walked all the way around the entire top.  There was a small staircase that took you to the highest point of the church.  The stairway was crazy narrow and steep.  That was the only point where I felt uncomfortable, but everyone was considerate and would wait so two people weren't passing each other.

At the highest point, the highest steeple was under renovation, so we couldn't see that part, but Heather laughed and said it looked like it had an angle Moroni at the top, just like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Temples.  The flying buttresses were actually my favorite architectural feature of the roof.  I always thought Gothic style was dark and sharp angles, but this white and beautiful gothic cathedral has changed all my prejudices of gothic style churches.  If you are ever in Milan, I highly recommend going to the roof and make sure you have a lot of time to be able to see the fine art work in sculptures, pinnacles, spires and the buttresses.  

We had set an alarm on our watches before we started our whirlwind day as the "book it to the airport" alarm.  As we were searching for food our alarm went off, so we went straight to the subway and made it to the airport in time to make our flight.  This was a short trip and we only had one day in each city, but it was fabulous.  I really love Italy. I love the food, the gelato, the architecture and the history.  What an amazing and beautiful country.  I'm glad I got to share this trip with two amazing ladies and friends, Heather and Rebecca.