1) While my flight landed safely in Paris, another flight did not. The memorial for those that died in the AirFrance plane crash took place the evening of June 3 at Notre Dame Cathedral, the same time our tour group was scheculed to visit. We were not initially aware of the evenings events, and were surprised at all of the police officers and road blocks in front of Notre Dame, but eventually pieced together what was going on. We found ourselves on the road as Nicolas Sarkozy's, France's president, motercade drove by (the 10 black, tinted window luxury cars, police escort, and police soluting gave it away, in addition to the moving of the road blocks). Following the motercade were the buses holding families of the victims.
The crowd gathering for the service, which was broadcast through loudspeakers so those outside could hear, spilled out in front. The singing was beautiful. Though it was for a tragic event, there is probably no other way really that I would have been able to hear a choir singing at Notre Dame.
One never expects to see snipers at the top of one of the most famous cathedrals in the world.
2) I guess Parisians are famous for their protesting. Check that off the "must see" list...
This sign, hung with a homemade poster, translates into the French version of "same crap, different day."
3) This is the tunnel where Princess Diana died. The memorial is the golden flame at the left.
4) A high fasion model shoot - didn't expect to see this at all! Just walked around a few bushes and statues in Luxemburg Garden and there were suddenly a lot of white sheets set up, people standing around fixing makeup, holding cameras. It was a very "French" thing to see while in a country known historically for its designer clothing.
5) You could NEVER see something like this in the USA - Le Catacombs (which means, 'the catacombs'). In the late 18th century, there developed a problem with where to bury all of these dead Parisians - land was an issue, the city was massive, and cemetaries were full and in some places the decay was leaching into the groundwater and making people sick. The solution was to dig up the cemetaries and relocate the bones to the old limestone quarries that maze under the city, some dating back to the Romans (that's how Paris's buildings are all in that matching white stone!) Only a small portion of the catecombs are open for visitors, though it is believed that there are around 18 miles of relocated corpses - 5 to 6 million people!!! You follow a lot of tunnels that seem to be leading to nothing, but then you arrive at these black and white pillars with a sign saying something to the effect of, "Halt, you are entering the realm of the dead." From that point on, you walk down tunnel after tunnel of femur and skull lined walls. Sometimes the ceiling is dripping. Sometimes the skulls are arranged into designs - hearts, crosses, squares and triangles. The poor and the wealthy are buried there together. So were those who died fighting in the French Revolution. But there was nothing left to identify one from another except plaques distinguising which cememtary that particular section's worth of bones had come from. There were a lot of people there, which I am grateful for becuase it might have been too creepy otherwise. But I did feel keenly aware of my mortality, and that someday there will be noone left to remember me and I will just be a faceless skull somewhere.
6) The bathrooms I went into in France were di-sgust-ing. Often they were open to both genders (THAT was strange in itself) and they always smelled bad. You could be in a charming restaurant, no concerns about cleanliness, but upon walking into the bathroom you choke. Cleanliness doesn't seem to be a priority there (at least in the city) and there didn't seem to be any public restrooms in shops even, like there are in the US. I've been in rest-stop bathrooms at the hight of American cross-country interstate travel that are cleaner and more plentiful than what Paris had! Throughout downtown there are these dirty green public bathrooms, but you do have to pay to use them and I would be afraid of what I would bring out with me if I went inside. McDonalds seemed like a solution at one moment of desperation (McD's are everywhere), but we had to buy something to get the code. So yes, I did make a purchase at McDonalds while in Paris, buying a Coke to get into a bathroom that smelled like urine where a man startled me by walking out of the neighboring stall right next to me. My thought? "What is a man doing in the ladies room? And why doesn't he seem to care that he is?"
The crowd gathering for the service, which was broadcast through loudspeakers so those outside could hear, spilled out in front. The singing was beautiful. Though it was for a tragic event, there is probably no other way really that I would have been able to hear a choir singing at Notre Dame.
One never expects to see snipers at the top of one of the most famous cathedrals in the world.
2) I guess Parisians are famous for their protesting. Check that off the "must see" list...
This sign, hung with a homemade poster, translates into the French version of "same crap, different day."
3) This is the tunnel where Princess Diana died. The memorial is the golden flame at the left.
4) A high fasion model shoot - didn't expect to see this at all! Just walked around a few bushes and statues in Luxemburg Garden and there were suddenly a lot of white sheets set up, people standing around fixing makeup, holding cameras. It was a very "French" thing to see while in a country known historically for its designer clothing.
5) You could NEVER see something like this in the USA - Le Catacombs (which means, 'the catacombs'). In the late 18th century, there developed a problem with where to bury all of these dead Parisians - land was an issue, the city was massive, and cemetaries were full and in some places the decay was leaching into the groundwater and making people sick. The solution was to dig up the cemetaries and relocate the bones to the old limestone quarries that maze under the city, some dating back to the Romans (that's how Paris's buildings are all in that matching white stone!) Only a small portion of the catecombs are open for visitors, though it is believed that there are around 18 miles of relocated corpses - 5 to 6 million people!!! You follow a lot of tunnels that seem to be leading to nothing, but then you arrive at these black and white pillars with a sign saying something to the effect of, "Halt, you are entering the realm of the dead." From that point on, you walk down tunnel after tunnel of femur and skull lined walls. Sometimes the ceiling is dripping. Sometimes the skulls are arranged into designs - hearts, crosses, squares and triangles. The poor and the wealthy are buried there together. So were those who died fighting in the French Revolution. But there was nothing left to identify one from another except plaques distinguising which cememtary that particular section's worth of bones had come from. There were a lot of people there, which I am grateful for becuase it might have been too creepy otherwise. But I did feel keenly aware of my mortality, and that someday there will be noone left to remember me and I will just be a faceless skull somewhere.
6) The bathrooms I went into in France were di-sgust-ing. Often they were open to both genders (THAT was strange in itself) and they always smelled bad. You could be in a charming restaurant, no concerns about cleanliness, but upon walking into the bathroom you choke. Cleanliness doesn't seem to be a priority there (at least in the city) and there didn't seem to be any public restrooms in shops even, like there are in the US. I've been in rest-stop bathrooms at the hight of American cross-country interstate travel that are cleaner and more plentiful than what Paris had! Throughout downtown there are these dirty green public bathrooms, but you do have to pay to use them and I would be afraid of what I would bring out with me if I went inside. McDonalds seemed like a solution at one moment of desperation (McD's are everywhere), but we had to buy something to get the code. So yes, I did make a purchase at McDonalds while in Paris, buying a Coke to get into a bathroom that smelled like urine where a man startled me by walking out of the neighboring stall right next to me. My thought? "What is a man doing in the ladies room? And why doesn't he seem to care that he is?"
But there are other 'luxury bathrooms' increasing in popularity that you still pay for, but have an entirely different experience in. Not as plentiful, the only one I saw and experienced was in the Louvre. For 1 euro, the bath-ROOM would be wood-paneled, sanitized by a person right before you walk in, perfumed, there is splendid music and mood-lighting, and washing your hands was...cool! They were so soft after! And the blow dryers shot out a high-powered jet that you slide your hands into, once, palms down, and when you pull them out they are dry! For .50 more, you could have another service, but I wasn't sure what it was and the perfumed bathroom room was sending me into a giggle fit anyway as I walked past designer toilet papers in every color of the rainbow, or with cartoon characters on them, that I didn't figure it out. It was TOTALLY worth it.
7). Just a random Roman cemetary that was discovered in Barcelona. No big deal.
8) Model shoot #2 in Barcelona.
9) Didn't expect to see HIS face here! It's in Catalan, another language spoken in northeastern Spain. Something about what GW and other world leaders (who were on other banners) were going to do about the world financial crisis.
10) Topless beaches...ahem.
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11) Groves of olive trees everywhere in between one city and the next
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12) Bidets! Only the hotels we stayed at in Spain had them. A reliable source (OK, it was Jesus -hehehe) told us that the bowl (which did have a stopper in it) could be used to soak your feet. If you're using it for its intended purpose though, why would you want to put your feet...I don't want to think about it anymore. Ann and I were both going to try it out, but neither of us did. I did turn it on once to see what the stream of water looked like, and you can adjust the temperature of the water thank GOODNESS. But I just couldn't. I just don't get it!
7). Just a random Roman cemetary that was discovered in Barcelona. No big deal.
8) Model shoot #2 in Barcelona.
9) Didn't expect to see HIS face here! It's in Catalan, another language spoken in northeastern Spain. Something about what GW and other world leaders (who were on other banners) were going to do about the world financial crisis.
10) Topless beaches...ahem..JPG)
11) Groves of olive trees everywhere in between one city and the next.JPG)
12) Bidets! Only the hotels we stayed at in Spain had them. A reliable source (OK, it was Jesus -hehehe) told us that the bowl (which did have a stopper in it) could be used to soak your feet. If you're using it for its intended purpose though, why would you want to put your feet...I don't want to think about it anymore. Ann and I were both going to try it out, but neither of us did. I did turn it on once to see what the stream of water looked like, and you can adjust the temperature of the water thank GOODNESS. But I just couldn't. I just don't get it!
**Additional Commentary: To make sure I spelled 'bidet' correctly, I Googled the word, and of course the trusty Wikipedia had and article about it which included how to use one. Though Jesus told us, he didn't go into the detail this article did. I get it now, but I still don't think I could do it. I just don't think so.
13) Toledo, as well as other cities around the world, celebrate the Catholic holiday of Corpus Christi. We were there two days before the festival, but the city was already decorated. There were white linen banners covering the streets around the cathedral (symbolic of the sacrament, a.k.a. Christ's body, being covered), and we even saw some of the mannequins that are used during the religious procession. Houses were decorated too, as there is a contest for the best. I would have loved to be there during the festivities, but seeing this medieval city decorated as it has probably been for generations was a special treat!
13) Toledo, as well as other cities around the world, celebrate the Catholic holiday of Corpus Christi. We were there two days before the festival, but the city was already decorated. There were white linen banners covering the streets around the cathedral (symbolic of the sacrament, a.k.a. Christ's body, being covered), and we even saw some of the mannequins that are used during the religious procession. Houses were decorated too, as there is a contest for the best. I would have loved to be there during the festivities, but seeing this medieval city decorated as it has probably been for generations was a special treat!
2 comments:
What adventures you've had!
I think I would really like to see Toledo. Glad you got to see it decorated--it looks like it was pretty cool!
So I noticed that you wrote over and over again that you just couldn't try a bidet. But you didn't say that about the topless beach...hmmmm....
So cool. This is an awesome post. I love that you grouped all these together. I love how you blogged about your trip in themes rather than chronologically. What an experience. So cool about the model shoot. It does seem very French.
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