02-17-2007
Yesterday, we checked out of Henri IV and found a room at the BVJ Louvre Hostel (breakfast included!). After stuffing our backpacks into lockers, we explored the Louvre for the rest of the day (about seven hours). Due to a worker´s strike, we gained free entrance! The Louvre building itself is beautifully decorated and architecturally interesting. I tried to imagine it as the hunting palace (vacation home, if you will) that it once was: what was the purpose of each room; where did each tall, graceful door lead? Images of the movies Marie Antoinette and Russian Ark kept coming to mind. Quite surreal, really. But on to the art: we saw all of the paintings that we could (the Holland wing was unfortunately closed when arrived there and I fear I missed some awesome works by Van Gogh, but I´m not sure). However, all of the paintings were really magnificient (though the Mona Lisa is surprisingly small) and I really enjoyed seeing works by Pissaro, Monet, and Bonnard. It was late when we finished the paintings, but we walked through some other areas for a bit and saw some sculptures and various works of ancient cultures, including the stone that holds the Code of Hamarabi. Overall, the Louvre was awesome, though it would take a very long time to really see all of the work that it holds. Later, we had dinner at the Louvre food court, then retreated to the hostel to plan our next move as Paris is a bit overwhelming at this point, particularily for me as I prefer the quiet country-side and can´t wait to see a forest! We´ll be back to see more of Paris at the end of our trip.
We decided today after breakfast (coffee, baguettes and jam, orange juice, and plain yogurt) to head to Cauterets to hike in the Pyrenees and enjoy the hotsprings. After Shaun made a reservation for a hotel, we loaded our packs and walked all the way to Gare Montparnasse to take the high-speed TGV to Lourdes. We had our Eurail passes validated as it was the first time we used them, and each paid a 3 euro supplement for the TGV. We watched the departures board carefully for Lourdes, but when it didn´t appear 15 minutes ahead of time as it was supposed to, we started asking questions! We found out that towns Tarbes and Dax were posted, through which we´d reach Lourdes at the end of the line (it pays to know your geography!), and were directed to the correct platform. But there, with only minutes to departure, we found our car was almost to the end of the train, so we had a mad dash and were glad for our light packs! We left the station at 14.40 and will arrive in Lourdes at 20.30, so we have the daylight to view the country-side. So far, it looks somewhat like the farmland of the midwest.
People have been very friendly and helpful thus far, and communication is becoming easier even for me! Of course, Shaun does most of the talking and is doing very well with his French. I know he feels a bit flustered at times, but he´s been able to get all of the information we need and relate to people in a way that builds bridges of understanding. As for me, I´m getting used to saying merci, au revoir, oui, no, perdon, and dropping the ends of my words!
Yesterday, we checked out of Henri IV and found a room at the BVJ Louvre Hostel (breakfast included!). After stuffing our backpacks into lockers, we explored the Louvre for the rest of the day (about seven hours). Due to a worker´s strike, we gained free entrance! The Louvre building itself is beautifully decorated and architecturally interesting. I tried to imagine it as the hunting palace (vacation home, if you will) that it once was: what was the purpose of each room; where did each tall, graceful door lead? Images of the movies Marie Antoinette and Russian Ark kept coming to mind. Quite surreal, really. But on to the art: we saw all of the paintings that we could (the Holland wing was unfortunately closed when arrived there and I fear I missed some awesome works by Van Gogh, but I´m not sure). However, all of the paintings were really magnificient (though the Mona Lisa is surprisingly small) and I really enjoyed seeing works by Pissaro, Monet, and Bonnard. It was late when we finished the paintings, but we walked through some other areas for a bit and saw some sculptures and various works of ancient cultures, including the stone that holds the Code of Hamarabi. Overall, the Louvre was awesome, though it would take a very long time to really see all of the work that it holds. Later, we had dinner at the Louvre food court, then retreated to the hostel to plan our next move as Paris is a bit overwhelming at this point, particularily for me as I prefer the quiet country-side and can´t wait to see a forest! We´ll be back to see more of Paris at the end of our trip.
We decided today after breakfast (coffee, baguettes and jam, orange juice, and plain yogurt) to head to Cauterets to hike in the Pyrenees and enjoy the hotsprings. After Shaun made a reservation for a hotel, we loaded our packs and walked all the way to Gare Montparnasse to take the high-speed TGV to Lourdes. We had our Eurail passes validated as it was the first time we used them, and each paid a 3 euro supplement for the TGV. We watched the departures board carefully for Lourdes, but when it didn´t appear 15 minutes ahead of time as it was supposed to, we started asking questions! We found out that towns Tarbes and Dax were posted, through which we´d reach Lourdes at the end of the line (it pays to know your geography!), and were directed to the correct platform. But there, with only minutes to departure, we found our car was almost to the end of the train, so we had a mad dash and were glad for our light packs! We left the station at 14.40 and will arrive in Lourdes at 20.30, so we have the daylight to view the country-side. So far, it looks somewhat like the farmland of the midwest.
People have been very friendly and helpful thus far, and communication is becoming easier even for me! Of course, Shaun does most of the talking and is doing very well with his French. I know he feels a bit flustered at times, but he´s been able to get all of the information we need and relate to people in a way that builds bridges of understanding. As for me, I´m getting used to saying merci, au revoir, oui, no, perdon, and dropping the ends of my words!
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