Auction Adventure

Our first week back home went by as quick as our vacation. I can't even tell you how the week was spent, other then the fact that it was busy with errands, unpacking, laundry, work, and the usual.  Over the weekend, we spent sometime outside cleaning cars and doing some more mulching.  We also did some bidding on an online auction from Columbus, OH and won a piece of furniture!  We are now the owners of a Thomasville entryway table.  We had to drive to Columbus Monday evening to pick up the cabinet.

The way the auction work is like this -- someone will "hire" the auction company to post items online and then coordinate all the pick-up.  In this case, a all the items came from a specific house that was being cleaned out and sold.  When we picked up our item, the auction people got the item from the house and loaded it up in our car. They even threw in some bonus items (some weird grandma poems in frames and a lamp that looks like an urn), too.

(Our new "entryway" table.  This table will be used to housed items that we just dump when we come in the house.  For instance, there will be a place in the drawer for Steve to put his keys and wallet into while my purse will go behind the doors.)

(The pictures aren't the greatest because of the lighting.  I took the pictures at night right after we brought it home.  The white of the cabinet matches the white trim throughout the house.  It has gold trim accents which match the warm tones of the paint in the living room.  The piece definitely fits in the design of the house and we are excited to add more furniture in the house!  Oh, and the flowers on the table were from Steve, "just because."  Have I mentioned lately how lucky I am??)

Paris Apartment

We called Phillippe & Olena's apartment home for an entire week.  Their apartment was decorated in everything Ikea & was very organized and cleaned.  We felt just at home in it.

(When you first entered the apartment, the kitchen was on the right.  I made dinner every night on that tiny stove. This set up worked well for a week, but I can't even begin to imagine using this kitchen everyday.  I'm pretty sure this was tiny than the kitchen we had in our 1 bedroom apartment senior year of college.  At least in that apartment we had an oven!  They did have a microwave-- which we used -- and a toaster oven.)

(If you continue down the hallway, next comes the bathroom.  As with everything else in Europe, it was small, but it worked for a week.)

(Then the hallway opens up into the living room.  Look at all that Ikea stuff!  We definitely own the smaller version of that cabinet in birch.  This was the spot where we hung out, ate, and relaxed each evening.)

(Lastly is the bedroom.  They were super organized and everything had its place.  The bed wasn't the greatest, I could feel the springs in the mattress, and the middle was worn in more than the sides so we'd fall into the middle.  The pillows were pretty good though.  Can't win 'em all.)

(View from the bedroom through the living room and down the hall to the exit.  This was right when we arrived in Paris & before our suitcases threw-up all over the apartment.  By day 2, this apartment was almost trashed with all of our stuff.  It's amazing how small their apartment's are and how much stuff we had crammed in our bags.  I was probably pulling out my computer to write a blog post - ha ha)

(Steve either planning the next day or just goofing off on his computer -- there's a fine line separating those two and I could never figure out what he was really up to.)

(I did 4 loads of laundry while in Paris!  I thought that their washer could also dry, but it either didn't work or I didn't know what I was doing -- which is legit since the instructions were in French.  The first load ran over night, and when I opened it up the next morning the clothes were still wet.  Steve needed socks for the day so I just ironed a pair, the rest I just laid out on this monster drying rack.  Stuff dried relatively quickly and the overall laundry experience was way better than our Barcelona laundry episode form our previous trip.  I thought I could get away with only 3 loads of laundry but I discovered that I hadn't unpacked all the clothes and missed a bunch of socks, oops.  Oh, and I have to put in a plug for Tide Pods.  I brought them with us on the trip and they worked absolutely wonderfully and traveled brilliantly.)

(We used the elevator to go up and down everyday.  It was small, but we could both fit on it (not with the suitcases though).  Our apartment was located on Floor 2, which is really the third floor -- because Europeans count the first floor as Floor 0.  Another one of Europe's oddities.)

(These dishes were too cute not to share.  I think she had decorated them herself.  The back of the plates had Ikea logos, but there was also paint and color marks on the back which confirmed my homemade theory. There were like 6 different colors -- blue, purple, pink, orange, yellow, green.)

(Around each plate was a different proverb written in French.  This one says "Love without some madness isn't worth a sardine!  Spanish Proverb"  I just may have to do this with our next set of dishes.)  

Day 16 -- The Long Return Home

Our travel-back-to-Ohio day came way too quick.  We had to wake up around 6:30 on Sunday morning in order to make it to the airport in time for our 10:30 flight.  We got ready, finished packing, ate microwaved ham/swiss crepes for breakfast, and were soon toting our luggage to the metro.  We purchased our metro/RER tickets for the airport and went through the turnstile (which proved a little difficult with the suitcases, but we managed).

We had to switch metro lines once in order to get to the RER station.  It ended up being a nice transfer because the next metro line was just across the platform!  I had been prepared to lug the suitcases up and down stairs and through the tunnels to get to the right line, but we just walked off one train, crossed the platform and got on the other.  Once we got to the right station with the airport RER line, we did have to walk a little bit with our suitcases, but this station was made with suitcases in line (escalators and instead of turnstiles, there were doors that opened to let you go through).  Because we transferred from a metro to RER, we had to re-insert our tickets to prove that we had paid for all legs of the trip.

We soon found ourselves in the airport and found the right line to check-in.  We attempted to use kiosks but they wouldn't work, we finally figured out because we were flying international, they had to personally "check" our passports and such.  Once we unloaded the suitcases and got our tickets, we went through border patrol.  They had a sign in French and English that had a little translation problem.  It said something about no pictures in the Shengren area, not exactly sure what Shengren means. . .  

We had to take a shuttle after going through border patrol to get to the right wing.  Once we found the "L" wing, we went through security and found our gate.  While waiting for the plane (we had less than an hour), I bought a sandwich and water for us to split.  When it was time to board the flight, the line got extremely long (because they have to check everyone's passport again).  We just sat in the waiting area for awhile until the line was getting shorter.  But when they started calling all rows, we decided to just bypass the long line and go through Sky Priority line because we'd purchased the upgraded economy comfort seats in the front.  We were able to bypass the big line and just walk on the plane -- thanks Steve for the upgrade!

Even though our flight from Paris to Minneapolis (yes, we entered the US via Minnesota) was over 8 hours, the time seemed to fly by.  We spent the entire flight just watching videos.  We watched 2 together -- Hugo & Horrible Bosses - and watched 4 separate.  I watched The Artist & The Help while Steve watched Immortals & Wrath of the Titans.  Sometime between all those movies, we were served 2 meals -- chicken/mashed potatoes/salad/roll/cookie & cheese/meat calzone with ice cream.  We gained 6 hours on the flight and landed in Minneapolis just past noon.

Going through customs was a little stressful.  I had filled out the form and put that we brought chocolate back, but the first guy said I filled it out wrong and I needed to claim the food.  Then we picked up our luggage and feared our chocolate being confiscated.  So I was all stressed out about losing my chocolate - ha ha.  When we went through the final stage with our suitcases, the guy was confused why we claimed food when we only brought back chocolate.  He just laughed it off and sent us through -- whew!  We rechecked our suitcases, went through security and found our gate.  We were just thrilled to be able to understand everyone around us and use our phones again.

Our flight back to Columbus was short and quick.  I just read on the flight and Steve played video games on his phone.  By the time we got our suitcases and were back to our car, it was going on 7 pm local time, but it felt like 3am.  We decided that we should probably stop and get some food which turned into a fiasco.  We first tried a Burger King, but the dining room wasn't open.  So we went through the drive-thru and ordered but it was taking way too long.  So Steve just left the line (to my dismay) and we went through a Wendy's successfully.  After eating, we returned back on the road and tried not to aggravate each other.  We were both really tired and just wanting to be home.

We got home just after 9 and were both in bed asleep by 10.  Ha ha.  Our bed hadn't felt so good!  We sure missed our house, the big open space, the green grass (which looked like a jungle in our yard) and the comforts or our "big" shower, bed, and pillows.  We both slept pretty well, but both had to be up early.  Steve was out of the house by 7:30 & I was out by 7:45.  We retutned back to reality with Steve returning back to work and me having a CT Scan.  Nothing says "Welcome Back to America" like 2 bottles of Barium and an IV for contrast.

Day 15 -- Last Day in Paris :-(

Our last day in Paris came way too quick.  By the end of the week, we felt like we hadn't really done much and that our time was running out; but in reality, we covered almost all of Paris.  We only had two sites to hit on Saturday -- The Cluny Museum & The Louvre.  

We originally did not have plans to go to the Cluny (medieval art), but we had extra time.  I don't think I explained this earlier in my blogs from the trip, but if I did, bare with me -- we bought museum passes for our 6 days in Paris.  1 6-day pass cost 69 euros.  The museum pass is accepted at almost all museums/sites.  From everything that we visited, we only had to buy tickets to the Eiffel Tower, everything else was covered by our museum pass -- Cluny, Arc de Triomphe, Versailles Chateau, Louvre, Saint Chapelle, L'Armee Museum (just to name a few). 

Before we got on the metro to head to the Cluny Museum, we first stopped in at the grocery store.  We bought a couple of packaged sandwiches and put them in our cooler in our backpack.  We then got on the metro and headed to the museum.  

(The Cluny Museum.  The museum is located inside the Hotel Cluny.  It is  not a hotel like what we think of in America, hotel in this case just means a town house.  There were lots of big structures around Paris known as Hotel such and such.  The structure used to be used as a home for local abbots and had been constructed on an encient Roman bath.  One of the rooms in the museum is the frigidarium where the Romans would cool off.)

(One of the rooms in the museum had a bunch of stained glass from Saint Chapelle.  It was really neat to be able to see the pictures up close.  This scene is of Samson having his eyes gouged out after Delilah had cut off all his hair.)

(Ha ha, this one made us chuckle.  Rick Steves had a joke about the guy on the right regretting the deal he just made with the devil.  How do people survive European places without Rick Steves and his wit?)

(These are the heads of the Kings of Judah from the outside of Notre Dame.  In 1793 during the French Revolution, Parisians mistook the Kings of Judah as the Kings of France and all the statues were beheaded.  Some body rounded up all their heads and buried them in their backyard.  In 1977 the heads were accidentally unearthed.  The Kings of Judah on the outside of Notre Dame are reproductions and while the originals are in the Cluny.)

(One of the Unicorn Tapestries.  These are a series of medieval tapestries that highlights each of the 5 senses.  This one covers taste.  The lady is pulling a piece of candy out of the dish and the lion and unicorn look on & desire a taste of it, too.)

Once we finished up at the Cluny Museum, we walked to the Louvre.  It was only supposed to be 79 degrees out, but it was definitely close to 90!  It was getting pretty hot out, especially in the sun.  Fortunately, we were able to walk most of the way in the shade.  Before going into the museum, we found a spot in the shade and ate our sandwiches and sodas that we brought.  After we ate, we went inside the Louvre and began our LAST Rick Steves tour from Europe Trip 2012 2.0.

(The Louvre is made up of 3 different wings.  I think our tour pretty much hit all the major art in each wing.)

(Our tour started with Venus de Milo.  From there, we went through ancient Greek & Roman art.)

(The Louvre was pretty packed in certain areas.  In the areas with lots of people, it was pretty warm and stuffy.  Every once in a while, we'd walk over an AC vent and we'd fight over who got to stand on it.  Ha ha.  But once you walked away from the crowds, it cooled off.)

(Winged Victory of Samothrace -- this statue c. 190 BC was created to honor the goddess Nike as well as to honor a sea battle.)

(We walked through a wing that had a bunch of table ware and dishes from French royalty.  All of the dishes were decorated with odd things like dragons, eagles, and even people -- like the one in the picture!  We also saw France's crown jewels from Charlemagne & Louis XV.)

(We walked down the Grand Gallery and really enjoyed looking at the different paintings.  Supposedly, Rick Steves holds a heal to toe visitor slalom from end to end of the gallery in 1 minute 58 seconds.  We sadly did not attempt to break his record.)

(I got a kick out of this picture.  It is from a series of 4 paintings.  I have no idea what the paintings are called or who the artist is, but I thought it was neat how they made the person out of fruits, vegetables, wheat, and a burlap sack.)

(Halfway down the Grand Gallery, we turned to the right and entered a room full of people.  On a fake wall in the center of the room was hanging the very small Mona Lisa.  It's crazy how out of all the art, this small painting is the most known and is valued so highly.)

(The paparazzi mob in front of the Mona Lisa.)

We briefly walked through the neo-classical & romanticism wings, which finished up our last Rick Steves tour :(.  For the first time on the entire trip, we put the Rick Steves book in our backpack and just aimlessly walked around the museum.  We went to the Ancient East area to see some of the art and finished up in the Egyptian area.  

(A stele with the Hammurabi Code -- one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length.  The code was written by the Babylonian King Hammurabi.  There were tablets and steles around Babylon with his code wirtten on them to remind the citizens of laws like #196 - If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.)

(We were on a mission while going through the Egyptian area.  We were in search of the statue in the next picture, but we stopped and took a picture of this sphinx along the way.)

(A 'colossal' statue of Ramses II !!  We just had to find this statue in honor of our own little Ramses.  While we have been gone, he has been living it up at my parents' house.  We have gotten updates on the little guy and have been told that he is ready for us to return.)

(Another one of Steve's amazing photos.  This is looking up through the giant glass pyramid.  We exited the Louvre through the pyramid via the stairs -- lower right of picture.)

It was getting late in the afternoon and we were getting hot and tired.  We said goodbye to the Louvre and and headed back to our apartment.  The apartment does not have air conditioning, or a fan, so we stopped in at the grocery store and walked through the cool section :).  We purchased a baguette to go with our dinner and then we went to the apartment.  For dinner, we had left over pasta, some soup, and a baguette.  After dinner (and more Grimm), I began to pack up all our stuff.  Halfway in the process, we popped back down to the grocery store to buy some food for breakfast and a couple of bonus items.  We went back to the apartment, I finished packing, and then we went to bed.  

Day 14 -- Napoleon's Tomb & The Eiffel Tower

Friday morning, we went on our last walking tour down Rue Cler.  Rue Cler is a pedestrian only street that houses several food shops and cafes.  It is located in a more "sophisticated" location and appealed to middle class Parisians.  It's typical for Parisians to go to stores several times a day.  Because their fridges are so small they will just buy what they need either for the day or for a meal at a time.  We went in late morning and only about half the shops were open.  We weren't sure if we were too early or too late.  

(A view down Ru Cler)

After strolling down Rue Cler, we walked over to Les Invalides.  This complex was originally created to house war veterans who needed medical attention and help after the war.  When Napoleon saw the complex, he decided that he wanted to be buried there upon his death.  Today, one building is Napoleon's tomb (others are buried in it as well) and the other buildings are museums.

We started in the back of the complex and visited Napoleon first.  After seeing his overly extravagant tomb, we found a bench under some trees in the garden to eat some lunch.  I brought slices of a baguette, lunch meat & cheese.  (We kept the meat and cheese cold in a cooler with an ice pack that I brought from home). We made our sandwiches and enjoyed the view through the gardens.  Once we were re-energized, we headed into the WWI & WWII army museum.

(Les Invalides -- Napoleon is buried in this building directly under the dome. The museum portion is located behind this building in different wings of the complex.)

(Napoleon rests within a 7-layer sarcophagus.  Napoleon rests inside a tin coffin, inside a mahogany coffin, inside 2 lead coffins, inside an ebony coffin, inside an oak coffin, inside the red porphyry sarcophagus.  All around the sarcophagus on the floor were the names of battles.)

(You can go down into the crypt and walk around the sarcophagus.  Along the walls are scenes and even a statue of Napoleon.  His son Napoleon II is buried in a little alcove behind Napoleon's sarcophagus.)

(The enigma machine from WWII.  The allies were able to steal one of the machines and decode the German's plans.  This machine had a huge influence on the end of the war and the German's defeat.)

(So this picture is not the great at all, but I couldn't resist this opportunity.  I made Steve pose in front of this WWII naval uniform.  It is nearly identical to his grandpa's naval uniform that we own.  I keep telling Steve that a lot of the stuff we got from his grandpa could -- and should -- be in a museum.  After seeing the uniform in the glass case, Steve became a believer.)

After finishing up at the museum, we walked to the Rodin house/museum.  For those of you non-Rick Stevesers, he not only does outside walking tours that calls out little tidbits about stuff, but also does in-museum tours.  That's how we figure out what we're seeing and why we decide to go to the places that we do.  This was the one place that the book failed us.  The museum was under construction with rooms closed and a lot of the statues were moved around.  We attempted to try to find the statues Rick Steves had information on, but we gave up and just walked outside through the garden to see some of his famous works (that they couldn't move around).  It was pretty hot outside so I talked Steve into buying some ice cream.  It as way over priced, but most of Europe is over priced - ha!

(The Thinker)

(Gates of Hell)

It was getting too hot to be outside, and we knew we would have a late night, so we went back to the apartment around 3:30 in the afternoon.  Before going to the apartment, we stopped in at the supermarket and got frozen wings to heat up for dinner.  I brought a packet of rice from home that we also ate.  After resting up, watching some more Grimm, and eating, we headed back out via the metro to go see the Eiffel Tower.  

It was weird -- when we got off the metro, we walked up to the street and we couldn't see the tower! I thought maybe we were in the wrong location, but once we rounded the building we spotted it!

(Let me just rave for a minute about Steve.  He pretty much took EVERY picture on our trip.  I may have only taken like 5 out of the 400+ pictures.  He gets intense about where the sun is how to angle the shots.  I absolutely love having him as a photographer.  I feel like he captures some pretty awesome shots -- like this one!)

(We tried very hard to take our picture together in front of the tower, but we failed.  This is one of the pictures that I actually took.  Steve didn't approve of the sun's angle.  I'd have to agree on that one.)

(We got to the tower just after 8.  We were one of the crazies who didn't have a reservation and the regular elevator line was pretty long. We estimated that it would probably take an hour to get up to the top.  Being young and crazy, we decided to go into the much shorter line -- to WALK up the 600+ stairs to reach the halfway point.  Before starting the climb, I read the background of the tower from our beloved book.  This is my "I can't wait to walk up 600+ stairs" face.)

(Steve before walking up the stairs.  The tower is broken into 3 levels.  Level 1 can only be reached by stairs.  Level 2 can be reached by stairs & the elevator.  You then have to transfer to another elevator to get to the 3rd level.  We walked up to the 2nd level but didn't want to wait in another long line for the elevator to the 3rd level.  We enjoyed the view and walked back down to the bottom.)

(We got to watch the sunset from atop the tower.  This is how it looked when we continued to walk up to level 2.)

(I don't know why, but I got a kick out of this little dummy hanging off the stairs in between levels.)

(This is how it looked from level 2.  The sun was down and the city was lighting up.)

(We got back to the Tocedaro -- an area with trees and a fountain on one side of the tower -- at 9:50.  Steve bought us some drinks -- lesson learned, bring water bottle to the tower -- and we waited on a cement ledge until 10.  That's when the tower got all sparkly with lights like it did for the millennium celebration.)

While waiting for the tower to light up, lots of chotsky salesmen kept coming around.  As soon as the tower lit-up, we high tailed it out of there to beat the crowd to the metro.  We got back to our apartment just after 10:30 and then we headed to bed.

Day 13 -- Hidden Sights Around Paris

After having such a long (and tiring) day at Versailles, we slept in the next day and allowed ourselves a late start.  Once we were finally up and moving, we headed out for a walking tour in Pere Lachais Cemetery.  I know a cemetery tour in Paris doesn't sound appealing at first, but the cemetery covers a large area and has some famous residents like Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and Frederic Chopin.  It was also neat to see all the different kinds of monuments and their close proximity to each other.  

(The Crematorium as well as funeral chapel.  We just happened to walk by as a funeral was beginning.)

(We used a Rick Steves tour through the cemetery, but Steve added this monument of Victor Noir.  He was a journalist that was shot by Pierre Bonaparte - Napoleon's great-nephew.  The created his monument to look like the way they found him after he was shot.  The women of Paris especially like his monument and he became a fertility symbol of Paris.  Steve didn't have all of his information right when we visited the monument, and he made up a story about the guy.  At the time, I believed him and later discovered the truth thanks to wikipedia.)

(Oscar Wilde's tombstone.  He was a poet and playwright.  He is looked to as a martyr for homosexuality, and the cemetery had to put up the plexi-glass to prevent people from writing and kissing the monument.)

(There were a couple of monuments that were just covered with astro-turf.  There was no information in our book and nothing on the tombs to explain the grass choice.  It was especially weird to see these tombstones surrounded by regular monuments as well as older monuments.)

(Jim Morrison's grave.  He was an American singer/song-writer that died of a supposed heroin overdose in Paris at the age of 27. No autopsy was ever performed.  This is probably the most sought-out monument in the cemetery and it had a fence around it.  Rick Steves even noted that there is often times a guard standing nearby, but there wasn't one when we saw it.)

(Tombstone of Frederic Chopin.  I've played piano for almost 2 decades and have played several of his pieces.)

(Monument of Peter Abelard & Heloise.  Abelard was a medieval French philosopher who fell in love with a very young Heloise.  She became pregnant & they married.  Her uncle was upset at their union and had Abelard castrated.  Heloise ended up living as a nun.  She & Abelard continued their romance via love letters.)

After finishing up at Pere Lachais, we took the metro to the July Column which is a monument to the French revolution.  It is located in the center of Place de Bastille, which used to be a large fortress that was destroyed in the revolution.  From there, we walked through the aristocratic district, the royal square, went through the Carnavalet museum, and through the Jewish Quarter.  

(July Column)

(Place des Vosges -- formerly known as Royal Square -- was built in the early 1600s by Henry IV.  It is literally a square - 140 m X 140 m and was built as a prototype for future European residential squares.)

(The Carnavelt Museum had artifacts and paintings from the French Revolution.  This painting of Mary Antoinette's beheading was a favorite of ours.  Steve especially liked the guy catching the blood spewing out of her neck; while I thought the head on the stick was comical.)

By the time we went through the Jewish quarter, we were pretty hungry.  We got frustrated with how difficult it is to find quick grab'n'go meals in Paris (well really all Europe).  We were getting hungry and could find a place that suited what we wanted.  We ended up cutting the Marais tour short and walked to a department store that we knew had a food court.  We went up 5 floors and found the food court.  It was kind of stressful trying to figure out protocol -- it was the kind of place where you get a tray, go to different stations, then pay when you have your food.  We finally found a deal for a slice of pizza and can of soda for 6.40 euros. After eating, we headed across the river to see if we could get into Notre Dame.  There was a little line and I made the decision to wait.  I stood in the line while Steve rested in the shade (it was getting pretty warm in the sun).  The line moved quickly and we were inside Notre Dame within 10 minutes.

(Close-up of St. Dennis on the outside of Notre Dame.)

(Inside Notre Dame.  You can tell that this church is very much constructed in the Gothic style.)

(This is the only rose window in Notre Dame that has its original medieval glass.  It is located in the left transept -- left of the alter.)

(Along the outside of the choir behind the alter, there are carvings of Christ reappearing to his disciples after his crucifixion.)

Since our return to Notre Dame was a successful one, we decided to go ahead and try again to visit Saint Chapelle Church.  When we got to the Palais du Justice (the chapel is located within the Palace of Justice), there was barely a line!  Before getting inside the palace, you have to go through security (because their congress/state justice still meets in the building).  Once through security, we were able to get into Saint Chapelle and see its stained glass.

(Outside of Saint Chapelle.  It's crazy how glass from the outside just look dark. It also appears to be a sort of hidden gem because it is surrounded by the Palais du Justice.)

(Inside Saint Chapelle.  All the walls are full of stained glass.  This chapel was made to house the supposed crown of thorns worn by Christ.  However, that relic is no longer housed in the chapel.  The left side of the chapel has a big building next to it, so the sun never comes in on the left.  We went in late afternoon and the sun was shining brightly through the glass on the right.  It cast all sorts of colors inside.  It was beautiful!)

(Close up of the stained glass.  Moving around the chapel, the stained glass tells stories from the Bible from Genesis through Christs death.  There is also a section that has scenes explaining how the relics were brought to Saint Chapelle.

(We sadly forgot to bring our binoculars with us to the chapel.  We could only see the first few levels of the windows.  I must say, this was quite impressive!)

After viewing Saint Chapelle, we called it a day.  We returned back to our apartment, but first stopped at the grocery store to pick up an entree for dinner.  We got some more sauce, a couple of baguettes, and lunch meat.  When we got back to the apartment, we just lounged around and watched some Grimm (we're closet Grimm fans and used our free time to catch up).  I made penne noodles & sauce for dinner.  We had thought about going to see the Eiffel Tower, but decided we were tired.  We figured out what our last couple days in Paris would look like before heading off to bed.