Europe--Day 6

Jogging in the rain in Paris...not nearly as romantic as it sounds. Actually, it's just very, very cold.

We felt so lucky to have the weather we did throughout the week. We had talked to some travelers in Germany who said Paris hailed and rained on them the entire time they were there. At least our foul weather came on the last day, when we did more travel and less walking.

We started at the Sacre-Coeur Basilica. In 1870, Otto von Bismarck (from Prussia) seiged Paris for 4 months. People were eating dogs, cats, and rats to survive. The religious believed it was punishment for the country becoming too liberal. haha They raised the money and built it as a gesture of humility.



Here is the view from the highest point in Paris.



Look closely: the gargoyles are performing one of their functions as rain gutters.



We headed to the Place de la Bastille, a strong fortress that was overtaken by Parisians during the Revolution. Today, only a monument stands. From this point, we visited the Hotel de Sully, a historic private mansion.



Next is the Place des Vosges, which Henry IV built in Marais (the area of Paris we are in this picture) to turn the area into an exclusive neighborhood. It worked, and people like Victor Hugo camped out here.



We ended the day by touring the Carnavalet Museum, which focuses on French history. It was practially vacant but full of interesting pictures and artifacts, so we ate it up. It especially focused on the Revolution (all three of them) and the rise (and fall) of Napolean. There is nothing like reading about a nation's long history to make you think about the future of your own nation.

Finally, we walked through the Jewish Quarters of Paris, and stopped for a moment at the Holocaust Memorial. Each point on the Star of David represents one million lost.