Happy Bastille Day!
Today we visited a cemetery. It sounds kind of morbid, but it was actually quite interesting.
Pere Lachaise Cemetery is the largest in Paris and dates back 200 years. There is a
long list of famous people who are buried there, including Oscar Wilde, Frederic Chopin, Rosini, Rothschild, and Jim Morrison, lead singer of the American rock group, the Doors. He is buried in The Poets' Corner of the cemetery. I have to wonder why he was buried in Paris istead of the United States. It seems he went to Paris to take a break and get his life back on track, and was only there four months before his death. When we visited his gravesite, there were several displays of affection for him. Our photography focus for the day was black and white with a spot of color. I hope you like them.
We were close to the red light district of Paris so we went to get a few shots of the infamous Moulin Rouge, a cabaret built in 1889, best known as the birthplace of the can-can dance. It is still in operation today and its red windmill is easily seen.
Next, we went to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica, located at the highest point in the city. We could not take pictures on the inside, but the mosaic in the apse is one of the largest and most beautiful in the world. The Basilica is built of travertine stone, which exudes calcite. This is what makes the structure always appear bright white. U2's music video "Two Hearts Beat as One" was shot here. Because it is Bastille Day, the streets were crowded with people. There is a great view of the Eiffel Tower from here.
Upon returning home, Jeannie and I went to do laundry. Let me tell you; if you're ever in France and you need someone who speaks English, just head to the local laundromat. Everyone in the laundromat were Americans! So, you guessed it, here is where I finally made a connection in France!
Janell Rardon is from Virginia and, guess what, she is an author! Not only is she an author, she is also a teacher, a spiritual leader, a public speaker, and she homeschools 22 kids. She is devoted to helping families live in the spirit of God. We thoroughly enjoyed talking with her. You can click here to check out
her blog. Oh, the reason she is in Europe? Her husband surprised her with this month long trip for their 25th wedding anniversary. How sweet is that?
Later, Jeannie, Michelle and I had dinner at a fabulous seafood restaurant. What a great way to end the evening...good food, good friends, good memories!
Tomorrow is the last day that we will be together as a group through FSU. We will be taking a peaceful journey on the River Seine...a fitting way to end our journey together. It has been a life changing adventure with a great group of people, many of whom I will keep close contact with, all of whom I will keep close in my heart. Thursday morning will be bittersweet as we end one journey, while many of us will be headed off to other places. Some are heading home; some are squeezing in another country or two while they are here. Jeannie and I will be going on to Switzerland and Italy before going home, so I'll continue blogging my way across Europe. I must say, I'm excited about seeing these last two countries, but I am also getting anxious to get home to my family and friends...
Too see a video of the finale of fireworks from the Eiffel Tower, please visit my friend's blog:
Florida Coal Cracker Chronicles
Well, after spending an hour uploading three pictures, I'm done. While several more were pointed out to us in our travels, these are pictures of each of the castles we actually visited today. The first castle is Chateau de Chambord. It is the largest castle in the Loire Valley, but was simply a hunting lodge. Can you imagine? The second is Chateau de Chenonceau. It has many gorgeous gardens, as well as a maze. The third is Cheverny. We were surrounded by horses and hunting dogs that are taken out twice a week for a hunt. The grounds, again, were breathtaking. I will post more when I can. We'll bid adieu to Paris and head to Switzerland tomorrow. Not sure what Internet service will be like there; hopefully better than here. Talk soon...
I thought this was a perfect example of a digital immigrant. This lady was sitting here texting on her cell phone. This is such a great contrast between the centuries old cathedral and the digital world. 
Happy Bastille Day!
We were close to the red light district of Paris so we went to get a few shots of the infamous Moulin Rouge, a cabaret built in 1889, best known as the birthplace of the can-can dance. It is still in operation today and its red windmill is easily seen.
Next, we went to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica, located at the highest point in the city. We could not take pictures on the inside, but the mosaic in the apse is one of the largest and most beautiful in the world. The Basilica is built of travertine stone, which exudes calcite. This is what makes the structure always appear bright white. U2's music video "Two Hearts Beat as One" was shot here. Because it is Bastille Day, the streets were crowded with people. There is a great view of the Eiffel Tower from here.
I love the French countryside! We traveled first class (Woo Hoo!) on the bullet train to Epernay, the heart of the world's most prestigious vineyards, and the Capital of Champagne. It is a little town out in the country where the Moet & Chandon Winery is located and is the main center for bottling, storing, and selling the wines of the Champagne region. The French countryside is gorgeous! It is true, you can't judge France by Paris. That would be like judging the US with NYC. There are too many beautiful towns, parks and cities to see that give totally different views of the country. 
After hearing a bit about the history, we took a guided tour down in the cellars of the Moet winery, a winery that has passed down from one generation to another. It was very interesting to hear about the process of wine making from start to finish. One thing I learned was how they get rid of the sediment from the bottles. They turn the bottles upside down, freeze the bottles, and then pop the sediment ice cube from the bottle. Turning the bottles is part of the maturation process and one person can rotate over 5000 bottles in one day. I was also surprised to learn that the bubbles were created through a mistake made by Dom Perignon himself! What a great flub, Dom!We finished our tour with a flute of Grand Vintage 2003 white and a flute of Grand Vintage 2003 Rose'. I won't say who chugged an extra glass of wine that someone did not drink after the sommeliers left the room! Too funny!
We were on our way to the Metro this morning when I noticed that cars were parked on the sidewalk. How cool is that?
Again with the clocks. I thought this cute little clock outside the Swatch store was adorable with the little bunny rabbits on it. Upon seeing an enlarged view on my computer, I realized it wasn't just cute, it was oo la la! 
We stopped for a while at the fountain to feed the baby ducks and try to absorb all our surroundings. Simply gorgeous. I took loads of pictures in this area. I thought this picture of the birch trees was interesting because people had actually used the trees to write their names or draw hearts with their initials in it. I thought it looked like a work of art. The third picture shows an area where street vendors display their goods, some of which are original pieces of art. Here is an artist we came across on the bridge as he was painting. I couldn't make a connection because he speaks French and I don't. Sacre bleu! 261
On the way home we happened upon this memorial. Not only can I not speak French, but I can't read it either. The plaque said something about the liberation of Paris: La Liberation de Paris, 1944.
Good heavens; the Louvre is huge! It began as a fortress in the 12th century, was later the palace of Sung King, Louis XIV, and has been a museum since the late 18th century. We were able to tour one wing today and a small part of another. That's it! You could easily spend two weeks in this museum if you were really into art. 
I took a picture of a cute litte Irish girl in sunglasses. She was playing in the water in the fountain by the pyramid. She was so cute. 
After leaving the Louvre, we walked around, just taking in all the sights and sounds of the streets of Paris. It's an amazing city. Something I found shocking is that motor cycles can drive on the sidewalks! YES! You can imagine our surprise when we saw this for the first time! Paris seems to be very accomodating to cyclists. At one of the large round-abouts that had several roads connecting to it, I noticed that at the end of each sidewalk there was a large space cornered off just for bicycle and motorcycle parking (and there were loads of them!).
Back in London toay, we visited the British Library, which is the national library of the UK. Its vast collection is so large, it is second only to the Library of Congress. The BL holds over 150 million items, including over 25 million books, and historical items dating back to 300 BC. We saw an original Magna Carta and the Gutenberg Bible. The GB dates back to the mid 15th century and represents the beginning of the printed book. 
All this history, yet the most remarkable thing was visiting Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station. Sound familiar? It's the famous platform that Harry Potter used to get to Hogwarts. By the way, some people from our group got to see J.K. Rowling last week, as well as stars from the film. They were here promoting their new movie coming out this week.
We then hopped aboard the Eurostar for a quick trip to Paris (2 1/2 hours). We went under the English Channel, but because there are various tunnels throughout the trip, it was difficult to tell exactly which was taking us under the water. Here is a picture of the train station and then us on the streets of Paris heading toward our hotel, which is just a block from the Metro.
