[Throwback] Final Thoughts on My Return Trip to Paris

Here's a summary of my return trip to Paris: 

• Return Trip to Paris
• The Louvre
• Paris Sights and Landmarks
• Final Thoughts on my Return Trip to Paris
  

The Louvre Palace

I revisited Paris towards the tail end of my assignment in Belgium. Both of my trips to French capital were in winter but while the skies were dark and muggy during my first visit, the sun shone brightly and the skies were clear during my second. That said, it was colder in my return trip. I think it was averaging zero degrees Celsius every day!

Sacre-Coeur

Despite it being really cold, I still spent most of my time outdoors. It was only at the Louvre where I spent a lot of time indoors. (I did go inside both Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur but I wasn't there for very long.) Thankfully, I do quite decently in cold weather for someone who comes from a tropical country so I survived.

A photo while walking along the streets of Montmartre

I do remember walking a whole lot that weekend. Which isn't a surprise since I spent most of my time outdoors. I actually walked so much that my feet hurt at the end of my first day there. (Maybe the weather had something to do with that as well.)

Île de la Cité where you can find Notre Dame Cathedral

In my first blog post about this trip, I mentioned that I might have taken a day off so I could spend more time in Paris. After looking through my photos and checking the dates and times they were taken, I realized that I was really just there for the weekend. The first pic I took was at around noon on Saturday and the last pic was at around 3pm on Sunday. That must have meant I took the early morning train from Brussels to Paris on Saturday and the late afternoon/evening train on Sunday. Considering how little time I had there, I do feel I actually got to see and do quite a lot.

Stained glass window at Notre Dame

Since I was close to the end of my stint in Europe, I decided to splurge on this trip as some sort of celebration of my first ever international assignment. I booked a room at the very expensive Hotel du Louvre and if I recall correctly, it cost about USD300++ back then (I took a quick look now and a room here costs double that the amount I spent all those years ago).  I stayed at this hotel because it had high ratings and it was close to the Louvre which was my primary reason for visiting.

Me at the Louvre

So that's it for my return trip to Paris. I actually went to one other country - Luxembourg - during my 3-month assignment in Belgium that I still haven't written about so I will try to write about that soon.

[Throwback] Paris Sights and Landmarks

My return trip to Paris allowed me to see a bit more of the same sights that I had seen before as well as some new ones. I mentioned in my throwback post about my first trip to Paris that I got to see Les Invalides from afar. This time around, I got to see it up close.

Les Invalides

Formally known as Hôtel National des Invalides, this complex was built in the 17th century as a retirement home and a hospital for war veterans. Later on, some sections of Invalides were converted into museums. In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb can be found under the Dome of the Invalides.

Statue of Napoleon Bonaparte in Invalides

I didn't go into the museums but I did walk around the grounds to soak in the atmosphere...

...and to take a few photos.

Another new place I visited was the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, or simply Sacré-Coeur (which means Sacred Heart).

Sacré-Coeur

It was built atop Montmartre, a large hill in the French capital. As such, when you are here, you can see beautiful views of the city.

View of Paris from Sacré-Coeur

I also wanted to visit Moulin Rouge because I had seen the film. This cabaret is just a short walk from Sacré-Coeur. Naturally, I had to take a photo when I was there.

Moulin Rouge

The rest of my time in Paris was spent revisiting places I had seen before. In my first trip to Notre Dame, I only got to enjoy it from the outside. This time around, I went inside to admire the cathedral's beautiful interior.

Inside Notre Dame

I also saw a statue of King Charlemagne on the cathedral grounds and I decided to have a photo taken here. (I also don't what possessed me to unfashionably pop the collar of my leather jacket; I guess maybe I kinda wanted a different look in my photos.)

Charlemagne et ses Leudes

I also revisited the River Seine,

River Seine

the Arc de Triomphe,

Arc de Triomphe

...and the Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Tower

Next post: Final thoughts on my Return Trip to Paris

[Throwback] The Louvre

The Louvre is one of the most popular museums in the world. It houses Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and its glass pyramid, which was built in 1988, is a globally recognizable landmark. I was told that the art and artifact collection here is massive and that visitors can easily spend hours inside the museum. Since I didn't have much time in Paris, I spent only half a day inside the Louvre. Despite my short visit, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Louvre Pyramid

I had a Lonely Planet book of Europe and it recommended going to the Louvre early since the lines can tend to get quite long but I didn't wake up early enough. I vaguely remember the queue being pretty sizeable when I arrived but I don't think it took too long before I got in.

The Louvre Palace

There are several collections or departments inside the museum, and I spent a good portion of it in the paintings department. Visitors are allowed to take photos inside the museum except for the Mona Lisa. The paintings ranged in size, from smaller frames such as La Jeune Martyre (or The Young Martyr) by Paul Delaroche...

La Jeune Martyre (or The Young Martyr)

...and The Virgin of the Annunciation by Pompeo Batoni...

The Virgin of the Annunciation

...to much larger paintings that could completely fill your wall, such as Ancient Rome by Giovanni Paolo Panini, which is 2.31 meters high and 3.03 meters wide...

Ancient Rome

...and Le Radeau de la Méduse (The Raft of The Medusa) by Théodore Géricault which is 4.9 meters high and 7.16 meters wide.

Le Radeau de la Méduse (The Raft of The Medusa)

Towering over them all, however, is The Wedding at Cana. This painting by Paolo Veronese is 6.77 meters high and 9.94 meters wide. It's the largest painting at the Louvre!

The Wedding at Cana

I also spent some time at the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman department, where I saw the The Winged Victory of Samothrace...

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

...and the famous Venus de Milo.

Venus de Milo

I also took went to the Egyptian Antiquities department, where I saw many ancient artifacts, including the Great Sphinx of Tanis.

The Great Sphinx of Tanis

By then, I had spent a few hours inside the museum and while there was a lot more to see, I felt it was time for me to leave so I could see more of Paris.

View of the pyramid from inside the Louvre

Once I left, I took some time to appreciate the area around the Louvre. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel can be found in the courtyard of the Louvre Palace.

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

I then walked through the beautiful Jardin des Tuileries and exited at Place de la Concorde, where I saw the Luxor Obelisk. This obelisk is actually one of two that stood in front of the Luxor Temple in Egypt (the other some still remains at the temple).

Luxor Obelisk in Paris

If I have a chance to go to Paris again in the future, I would love to revisit the Louvre.

Next: Paris Sights and Landmarks

[Throwback] Return Trip to Paris

Last December, I wrote about my Europe Trip that included a visit to Paris. Since I didn't get to see enough of Paris during that trip (read this post to know why), I made sure to revisit the French capital while I was still working in Belgium. I think I may have even taken a day off at work so I could spend just a bit more time in Paris to see some sights I hadn't seen before, such as the Sacre Coeur...

Sacre Coeur

...and the Louvre.

The Louvre

I also revisited some places I had seen before, such as the Eiffel Tower...

Eiffel Tower

...and Notre Dame.

Notre Dame

I will be writing in greater detail about my weekend in Paris in the next few blog posts.

Next: The Louvre

Sunday from Tick, Tick... Boom!

This is one of my favorite songs from Tick, Tick... Boom! Check it out here:

video uploaded in YouTube by Netflix Film Club

Apart from the fact that it has a beautiful, almost haunting melody and is exquisitely sung with amazing harmonies, it is apparently performed by a who's who of Broadway. I will admit that I don't know many of them but I did recognize enough of them such as Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Adam Pascal, and Bebe Neuwirth to realize that the entire ensemble must have been Broadway greats. I searched online and found this article from cbr.com: Tick, Tick… Boom!: Every Broadway Cameo in ‘Sunday’. After reading this, my appreciation for Sunday grew even more. Everyone in this performance has at least one Tony nomination, with many of them being nominated and winning multiple times (and yes, that includes Andrew Garfield himself who won a Tony for Lead Actor in a Play for Angels in America). Lin Manuel Miranda and the creators of Tick, Tick... Boom! really did a fantastic job in casting this number.

Catching up on Netflix

I've been able to watch more shows than I usually do on Netflix. Of everything I've seen on this streaming service so far, my favorite is Lupin. This is a French Netflix series that a friend of mine recommended. It's about professional thief Assane Diop who takes inspiration from Arsène Lupin, a fictional French gentleman thief created in the early 1900s and who is featured in dozens of novels and novellas. I don't normally binge watch shows that I hadn't seen yet because it requires me to pay full attention and I often find it hard to stay focused for several hours at a time but this was an exception. Lupin was really right up my alley. It was so smart, slick, and inventive and I enjoyed it tremendously, so much so that I recommended it to my other friends too. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you do. (Netflix says that Lupin will be back for Part 3; I am surely looking forward to that.)

I also recently saw Tick, Tick... Boom! This has been advertised quite a bit so as a fan of musicals, I felt I had to see it. Thankfully, it lived up to the hype. Andrew Garfield has already gotten his fair share of awards and nominations for his performance as Jonathan Larson in this film and I do believe he deserves all the accolades. Prior to watching, I didn't know any of the music from Tick, Tick.. Boom! but I found myself immediately liking a lot of the songs. My favorites have to be Louder Than Words, Therapy, and Sunday. Lin-Manuel Miranda really did a great job directing this movie. If you haven't seen Tick, Tick... Boom! yet, I also recommend it.

One of the films that I had been really interested to see for a while now is Weathering With You (Tenki no Ko). I wanted to see it because it was created by the same people that made Your Name (Kimi no Na wa), which I absolutely love. I finally took the time to watch it. I thought it was good but I prefer Your Name a lot more.

I got to watch another animated film, The Breadwinner. This popped up as a recommendation to me as I was building my initial Netflix list. The description caught my attention: A courageous 11-year-old Afghan girl disguises herself as a boy and takes on odd jobs to provide for her family when her father is arrested. It was a really captivating premise. What I didn't realize was this film was actually quite depressing. It shows the plight of women under Taliban rule where women are forbidden to do a lot of things, including study and go out of their house without a male relative. Despite the heavy theme of the film, it is powerful, evocative, and beautiful.

I've also watched a lot of other shows on Netflix, including Joanna Lumley's Silk Road Adventure (I've wanted to visit Cappadocia in Turkey for a really long time now and this show just made me want to visit it sooner), 72 Dangerous Animals: Latin America, 72 Dangerous Animals: Asia, Wheel of Fortune (there are a few episodes from seasons 35 to 37), and Nailed It!

My List is still really long but it's great that I've gotten to use my Netflix subscription a lot more.