Paris

We planned to meet up with our Kiwi friends, Sherryll and Geoff for a weekend in Paris, so we hopped on a train. It took 4 hours to reach Paris, and it was a lovely journey. European trains are very comfortable - even second class! We passed lots of quaint looking French towns on our way



4 hours of scenery, iPods and chats, we arrived in Paris. Met up with Sherryll and Geoff, and headed to the subway to find our hotel.



Toolman immediately noticed the rubber wheels on the subway - Why are they on there?



It took all weekend for us to come up with a good reason. I'll tell you later, but anyone got guesses?



The subway in Paris also hosts some disturbing adverts...



and some disturbed people. This guy in the green wig was trying to earn a busker wage by singing loud and crazy for 20 second then passing his hat around... not very entertaining sorry - just crazy.



The city has rental bikes that have lots of drop of depots like this around the city.



It seems to be used by the locals, a new way of thinking about public transport maybe?



Princess' other alias heralds from Paris surely - we saw many things with this name!



Is this on monopoly, Paris edition?



mmm...



Aren't they all spelt wrong, though :P ?



Paris is full of incredible buildings. This one is known as the Opéra Garnier, sometimes also known as the Paris Opera. This building, completed in 1875, was designed by Garnier. It was the inspiration behind the famous musical, The Phantom of the Opera.



We walked around the streets and bridges that criscross the river Seine. Check out the ornate decoration on the bridge.



Heres us relaxing out at the fountain in Place de la Concorde . This is also where the FIA headquarters are:



Naughty Max Mosley!



Geoff and Toolman admired the carpark goodies. Thats a Ferrari, if you are wondering.



We then headed towards the Eiffel Tower. This was our first real glimpse at it from anywhere near it - wow its big!



The view from the second level was scary. And thats only 1/2 way up.



In the lift to the top, you realise how small the top cross section is. It feels quite sparse looking at the framework.



And here is the difference in view - wow! It is quite a sight.



We spent lots of time looking around. They had distances and directions to countries (something like the signpost @ cape Reianga) and the direction to NZ seemed completely wrong - due north from Paris!



The light was fading as we descended, and the towers lights came on, giving a whole different look to the structure.



Isn't that cool?



Thats even better! They turned on the sparkle lights now and then, and it shimmers like a discoball xmas tree.



For breakfast, what else: coffee, oranje juice, jam and baguettes - mmm.



We took a hop-on, hop-off bus tour (yes, it is exactly what it sounds like).



One of our first stops had a ride that the ladies just had to go on.



Very mature.



The ladies spun around on the ornately decorated horses.



Then up the stairs to this beautiful church. The view over Paris from here was amazing.



We visited a Salvador Dali museum, exhibiting lots of well known works. This is a good example of a common motif in Dali, the melting clock. If you look carefully, It also has a face shape, doesn't it?



Some of his stuff is truly bizarre.



and some is more technical - look closely at the reflective cylinder in the middle of this one.



from a different angle.



This pooch puts the great in Great Dane.



We had a lunch in a closet sized restaraunt. They used mirrors everywhere to give the illusion of space.



Toolman found the only way to get a group photo - creative!



Back to the bus! We cruised on to the next leg of the hop-on, hop-off. We took in a lap at the Arc de Triumph, which wasn't as insane as we'd been told. Sure its a 5 lane roundabout, but thats nothing on China, and most of South East Asia. Maybe we are desensitized after all that?



The clouds pained an everchanging sky. Look at these clouds!



We also stopped near Notre Dame, and went and had a look.



The stained glass work is awesome.



The stonework on the outside is beautiful.



And the gardens outside are great too!



We visited at a good time of year, the blossoms ...



are also amazing!



In the garden behind Notre Dame, Toolman met his (Italian) doppelganger - spooky!



Isn't it pretty at night?



We took a boat ride - was a bit cheesy in parts, but nice overall.



Cruising the river Seine showed off the beautiful lights around the riverbank.



That is an (accidentally) awesome picture.



As is this one - it looks better when you look in detail - the focus is on the stone in the foreground. This would make an excellent desktop background.



This store has 2 words we never imagined would go together. Maybe the French are more girl-y at rugby?



Our stop outside the Moulin Rouge - didn't have the time or inclination to go inside.



This is the back of the Louvre.



And this is walking into the square. This glass pyramid is constructed with no central pillar, instead it has steel ropes in a lattice to keep each face true and solid. The Lourve is actually both underneath and all around this courtyard - there is art in the floor above our heads.



Another shot of the pyramid entrance.



Thas central cylinder actualyl recesses into the floor, and is an elevator for wheelchairs etc. Very cool!



The Louvre is an amazing building.



Not only is there tons of genuine artwork there, the whole building is decorated in amazing detail.



Is that sculpture doing the fingers?



This was a particularly striking (modern) work in the Louvre. Disturbing, but strangely alluring.



We came across a sign in a park that wasn't very obvious. What does the sign that you see as you leave mean?



An adult holding a childs' hand with a big red slash thru it: any guesses? Beware of paedophiles? No holding your childs' hand as you exit the park? WTF?



We visited the Pantheon, an amazing building.



It is huge, and the interior is beautiful.



They have a huge pendulum that swings back and forth, and can tell the time. How is that? The earth rotates underneath it, but it appears from our (rotating) view like the pendulum swings in a different direction as time passes.



We took a tour up to the roof. The stairs were old; we saw graffiti in these corridors spanning over100 years!



The view from up top inside.



Closeup of the outside of the dome.



Admiring the view.



Group photo. Only a few more things to mention.



The parking is done by touch here - this is not an extreme example.



They do sell the Royal with cheese! Toolman got bounced from McDonalds for taking this picture.

And lastly, Toolman thinks the subway has rubber tyres so that it can get traction to go up (underground) inclines - something that is hard on metal wheels.