Paris, France

Paris!!! La ville de l'amour (the city of love)!!! OUI!!! (yes). I was very excited to finally see the Eiffel Tower. In case you where wondering the green cone in the middle is supposed to represent a X-mas tree. Here we are cold but happy.
Every hour the Eiffel Tower completely lights up. It was truly an amazing sight, as you can see in the picture below:
Orlando and I decided to have some good old coffee right by the tower. It was actually very good and all the people had a completely laid back attitude, they just wanted to relax and look at the tower. There was even one lady with just her dog hanging out by the window. Actually this is one of my favorite picture of the whole trip, very European.

We got to the city on January 4, 2007 and the bus took us around the Champs-Élysées, which was actually quite scary!!! Cars every where just going around in a circle!?!?!? I had no idea who had the right of way, but luckily the bus driver did and we made it out of the roundabout in one piece.Early the next morning in the morning we went to the Louvre Museum.

Here is Orlando trying to find Mary Magdalene (rent The DaVinci Code if you have no idea what I'm talking about). Once inside the museum we went straight to see the Mona Lisa (you where not allowed to take picture of it). I was very surprised by how small it is. I did test out the theory that she is looking at you from every angle, I think she is!!!

We where able to see some great pieces of art. To the right I'm with the Venus de Milo. This statue is one of the most famous works of ancient Greek Sculpture. It is believed to depict Aprodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. To the right I'm with the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It is a marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory), discovered in April 1863 on the island of Samothrace.
Once Orlando figured out the subway system we went to Les Invalides in Paris, which consists of a complex of buildings containing museums and monuments, all relating to France's military history. Here is Orlando posing in front of the building:

The most notable tomb at Les Invalides is the one for Napoleon Bonaparte. Here I am next to his sarcophagus, which is huge for such a short guy (he was believed to be 5 ft 2 in tall).



In honor of all the Chapelle's shows we watched in our ipod through out the trip we visited Sainte-Chapelle. This Gothic chapel was completed in 1246 and the best part is in the inside. Check out all the stained glass!!! The amazing part is that each huge glass has sections depicting stories from the bible.

Afterwards we crossed the bridge over to the Notre Dame Cathedral. We did not find any hunchbacks though :-(. Even the back of the church was astonishing as you can see in the picture on the right.

We continued exploring the city and found this really cozy little French restaurant to have some lunch. We had a perfect seat right next to the window. The funny part is that it was cheaper to order wine than a Coca-Cola!!! We watched the people go by of all different shapes and sizes. We where there for a long time just reminding ourselves of all we have done, all the new friends we have made and all the places we have seen in just a few months. After living in Japan for 6 months everything seems easier, even if it's all written in French.