Today was quite an adventure in Paris. While Mikey had planned on visiting the Louvre, he just didn’t feel like waiting 1.5 hours to get in.
Instead, he settled in at a nice cafe and sipped on what Parisians call a cappuccino. Nice try, but this was bigger than a latte! It was very tasty – just not a cappuccino.
With caffeine checked off of the to-do list, he wandered down to the River Seine and saw a pretty awesome looking building.
The Musee d’Orsay was once a train station, but now houses a wonderful collection of mostly French and European art.
While the artwork (especially the impressionist collection) is amazing, the building itself is simply moving.
With time marching on, Mikey continued walking down the Seine and finally reached Notre Dame. Mikey and Frank visited the cathedral last year, so this was a more abbreviated visit.
Still, the stained glass windows are wonderful and Mikey finally got a good exterior shot from the other side:
Crossing the Seine once again (haha – that rhymes!), Mikey hiked up a hill to the Saint Etienne du Mont church.
This site has sported a Christian house of worship since the early 6th century CE, but the present church was completed at the beginning of the 17th century CE.
Of major note is the marble staircase that divides congregants from the celebrant and altar at mass.
Too bad you can’t climb up there any longer!
In seemingly poetic opposition to this church is the much larger Pantheon. Originally designed as a church, it is now an exaggerated form of French nationalism in its worship of heroes to the republic.
Well, if you’ve ever visited Washington, DC then you probably have seen similar examples of unabashed patriotism. Still, this place was pretty amazing and Mikey opted for the rooftop tour that allowed for some great pictures of the city.
Going back inside, Mikey quickly noted the resemblance between this Pantheon and the original in Rome: domes.
Oh, and lots of pretty cool heroes of France are buried here like Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas, Marie Curie, and:
Diderot
& Voltaire – to name a few!
Yeah, the Pantheon was fun, but Mikey had to keep moving along since it was his last day in Paris.
Crossing a bridge, he stopped to admire the “love locks” that thousands have placed on the Pont Noir.
While the significance is profound: basically, inscribe your name and your lover’s on a padlock and attach it to the bridge before throwing the key into the river (yeah, kinda romantic and lasting), the city is trying to crack down on the practice:
But, if they want to crack down on something … how about bizarre adverts?
And don’t even tell me he doesn’t favor Jared Kushner!! Creepy.
Anyway, Mikey charged on to two of his requisite Parisian sites:
The Arc de Triomphe
& the Eiffel Tower.
All that was left was to catch a subway back to the hotel, do laundry in the bathroom sink, and rest up before his early morning train to Spain (rhymed again!).
Although this is a NON-monetized blog, we leave you with a wonderful ad Mikey spotted in the metro last night:
I mean, if you’re in the market for French men’s undies…they are made in France!
Au revoir!
Mikey on The Way 