Europe--Day 4

We set two alarms, but neither went off, and we woke up in a panic on Wednesday morning. We were still able to see everything we wanted to, though, starting with Notre Dame.


One thing to note...on the right portal, the kings of Judah are pictured. During the French Revolution, the people thought they were the French kings, and they cut off all their heads. A woman hid them in her yard, and they were discovered in 1977.

The gargoyles were entertaining, but the stonework on the building was the most impressive. In the center portal, Christ sits on his throne of judgement. Below him (see the picture), an angel and demon weight souls. The demon is cheating by pressing them down. Funny.



The inside matched the outside in decor. The place is set up like a cross with the building, and the gothic architecture is easy to identify. I LOVE stained glass with the lighting and color.

We walked through Historic Paris, and this picture overlooks some of the priciest areas to live in Paris--the Ile St. Louis, and the Seine River.

This is the Place St. Michel--where intellectuals, revolutionaries, liberals, poets, hippies, etc. gathered. In fact, in 1830 and 1848, citizens put up barricades here to fight the government as part of revolutions. This is also where the French students were nailed with tear gas in 1968, when they declared France an independent state.

My absolute favorite part of the city was Sainte-Chapelle, a gothic church built in 1248 with incredible stained glass. The outside is not very impressive, but the inside was jaw-dropping. The glass show scenes from the Christian history of the world, starting in Genesis, and working through the end of the world.

We headed back to the Deporation Memorial. We actually viewed quite a bit of Holocaust history on our trip, but this carried the most impact. Their are 200,000 lighted crystals, one for every French person who died in WWII. At the end, you see the eternal flame of hope. "Forgive, but never forget."

We booked it to the Louvre, where we spent three hours gazing at famous paintings. The Mona Lisa did not disappoint, but I was glad I learned how small it was before I viewed it in person. My favorite painting was a Raphael--the La Belle Jardiniere (1507). It has Madonna, Child, and John the Baptist in a pyramid.

Winged Victory of Samothrace, 190 BC, used to be on a hilltop to commemorate naval victory. She is blowing in the wind, and used to have a "we're #1" finger, that is displayed in a separate case.

Venus--the perfect balance of opposites in a contrapposto pose, her weight on her right foot. 100 BC.

We spent the evening hanging out at Trocadero and viewing the Eiffle Tower. Brady caught a few great views with our new camera.