Je Amour Paris

Paris exceeded all expectations- I had heard from several people that I would be disappointed. I don't know if I had low expectations, or the city was just amazing but I loved it. Gorgeous and shockingly friendly, Paris is one of my favorites.

The memorial dedicated to the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe. This is the Eternal Flame. According to our walking tour guide, some Australians decided to pee on it one day making it not so eternal. The Arc was built by Napoleon to commemorate his triumphs and is in the middle of the most dangerous round about in Europe.

The Eiffel Tower was built for the World Exposition in 1889. Officials had a contest to see what giant monument could be built so that you could see it from anywhere in the city. Entries included a giant cyclops and an elephant. Gustav Eiffel won with his tower. So it was built and was going to be a temporary monument until Gus talked to Thomas Edison who wanted to light that baby up. Once Parisians saw it lit... they were in LOVE. It became permanent- and was built using American rivets.

View from the first level. There were three and apparently Gus had an apartment on the very top level- can we say bachelor pad?

The Sienne River

The Champs de Mars

Every 7 years, the Eiffel Tower is repainted a different shade of brown. The painting is a tradition and is done by hand. Whew.

Notre Dame: the most famous Gothic cathedral in the world took over 200 years to complete. It was worth 200 years. The view was breathtaking- if you could climb up all 400 winding stone stairs.

The statues aren't actually gargoyles- they are call Chimeras and are evil spirits. I thought this was a little strange to have evil spirits guarding a church, but who am I to judge?

This square was designed by the architect Haussmann who pretty much designed all of Paris.

Saturday morning we got up early and went to Versailles. King Louis XIV decided one day that he didn't want Paris to be his home anymore, so he picked up his royal court and peaced 30 minutes away to Versailles. He built the most amazing palace I have seen yet and massive gardens. I can understand why the French Revolution happened when the monarchy had this place.

The Hall of Mirrors- where the Treaty of Versailles was signed.

A chandelier in the palace

The amazing fountains outside the palace- we watched a fountain show as well

The Louvre... so massive

Sacre Coeur- the basillica was on top of this massive hill and outside people were drinking and relaxing while inside others were deep in prayer.
The Pont Neuf bridge in Paris. It's the oldest bridge- but the name is 'new bridge.' What's funny about this is the heads on the bridge. Henry V liked to party and after getting his friends wasted one night- he woke up all the artists and had sketches of his friends made. Then Henry instructed these artists to carve his friends' portraits on the unfinished bridge- the past's drunk photo.Monmarte was my favorite area of Paris. The hill leading up the the Sacre Coeur was filled with artists, shops, cafes and bars. The atmosphere was pure fun and relaxation. Ryan and I spend several hours there Saturday night and Sunday day.

I loved this painting, but couldnt afford its 300 euro price.We also saw Paris's red light district and the Moulin Rouge, the Bastille, Luxembourg Gardens, Museum D'Orsay, walked down the Champs Elysees, etc. What a weekend!!!

Paris: the People

So for Paris, I decided to mix things up a bit. I have two entries, one is the typical visit entry - and this one is about Parisians. Or at least who I think are Parisians and figure importantly in their culture.

Paris is the city of love- there was love... and frequent public display of affection

I don't understand what's going on here, but that is the biggest jar of Nutella I have ever seenMany of the homeless men had puppies- there goes my change
Character portraits in MonmarteThis guy was doing the robot outside the Arch de TriumpheA couple sits outside of the Luxembourg Gardens eating bananasI should think this one is obvious
A Parisian's life is roughLive entertainment- all the time!
These bikers were outside the Bastille plaza. I noticed as I photographed them, people were extremely careful not to get in my way- who knew- polite Parisians?Venus de Milo

Several times on their Metro, people came aboard just to serenade us

Music was even abundant in the Louvre, most rooms had some type of musical instrument

This guy was in the fountains at the Palace of Versailles. The gardens stretched for miles and it was easy to see why the French lower classes started a Revolution

G20 Meltdown Protest: Bank of England

The G20 Summit came to London and with it- angry people about the economy. Quick recap: the G20 is a big economic/banking conference held with 19 countries plus the European Union. This year it was hosted in London.

Security was tight all around the city, and protests were as common as red telephone booths. April Fools' Day was the first day of the Summit (ironic) and was supposed to be the biggest protest day. Most major organizations protested- Stop the War Coalition, nuclear disarmament organizations, etc but the largest was a group called the G20 Meltdown- an anti-capitalist group that threatened to put "bankers brains on a picnic."

The group came from four streets and congregated at the Bank of England led by effigies of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. About 5,000 people showed up for the protest, over 30 were arrested and 7 were hospitalized for minor injuries as of nightly reports. Here are my photos:

The police had to physically hold each other to fortify the line

Businesses closed and boarded up their windows

Protesters threw flour and beer cans at the police. When I first saw the flour flying, I thought it was a bomb ...The crowd kept pushing me forward and the police were pushing the line back- suddenly I found myself at the front facing a baton. Luckily, Ryan pulled me back and out of bludgeon reach.

The anarchists started cheering at random times

A policeman calls for reinforcements too late

MSN video- You can see me at the end down at the bottom right hand corner- my hands and camera pop up in a red raincoat.

MSN photo gallery with Associated Press Pictures and my pictures.

Really amazing pictures from the protest

CNN Story

We went to another protest in Trafalgar- this was the Stop the War Coalition and the nuclear disarmament organization- and it was peaceful.

I did not like his sign