De la Vie, l'Amour et la Mort

Aujourd'hui, I went to Le Catacombes de Paris.

STOP
THIS HERE, IS THE EMPIRE OF THE DEAD

If I thought the catacombes in Rome were creepy, Paris was ten times worse

Triplets?

History 101: The catacombs used to be stone quarries in the 1700's but were later transformed into a burial ground due to the lack of consecrated space (ie. space around churches). These catacombs contain about six million people and are 45km in length.

After climbing down a tiny, dark, spiraling staircase 103 steps down, you walk through these tiny, dark hallways with water dripping from the ceiling. You then go beneath the door that says "this is the empire of the dead". Once you step inside you are surrounded by rows and rows of bones that go on forever.

It was awesome.

J'ai fait semblant que je ne parlais pas anglais et j'ai demandé à cet adolescent américain de prendre une photo de moi. She stared at me for a second and then her friend said "I think she wants you to take a picture for her." 

I love speaking two languages. 

This is probably the most morbid thing I have ever done

After getting a little lost (but not too lost!!!), I found my way to Notre Dame where I stumbled upon Pont de l'Archevêché, which is the bridge where lovers lock padlocks onto wire sides to seal their love.

The ultimate Forever Alone photo

I then walked around Notre Dame where I found an old man feeding the pigeons.

"Feed the birds, tuppence a bag" - Marry Poppins

He saw me watching and handed me some rice and one of the pigeons flew onto my hand and ate from it. 

This is Katrina trying to be as brave as the little girl over there

I was frightened, fascinated, and finding the moment fantastic all at the same time. How often does one get to stand in the square in front of Notre Dame and feed pigeons?



I finally went inside Notre Dame.

Is it just me, or do the round window remind you of those dutch cookies?

History 101: Construction of the church becan in 1163 during the reign of Louis VII because Bishop Maurice de Sully thought the old church unworthy. It was completed around 1345: 182 years later! Notre-Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports), which was popular in Gothic architecture in the medieval period.


It was really lovely, because I was able to stay for a vespers. It was absolutely beautiful. The organ was playing and they had this wonderful alto singing. It would bring tears to your eyes to think about the hundreds of christians and catholics that had worshipped here for thousands of years.

Cara! They played a magnificat!

Music 101: The organ has 7,374 pipes, with ca 900 classified as historical. It has 110 real stops, five 56-key manuals and a 32-key pedalboard. A two-year restoration of the organ was completed that fully computerized the organ under three LANs (Local Area Networks). The restoration also included a number of additions, notably two further horizontal reed stops en chamade in the Cavaille-Coll style. The Notre-Dame organ is therefore unique in France in having five fully independent reed stops en chamade.

To continue living like the French, I finished off my day with an espresso and crepe confiture in a brasserie beside the cathedral.

 

C'est la vie.

Autres Temps, Autres Mœurs

So my full first day in Paris, and my cousin and I ran off to the Louvre. 

It looked different in the Da Vinci Code...

 There was so much to see!
 

Oh dear Lord! Don't blink!

Saint Mary Magdalene
G. Erhart

Ross! His smile reminded me of you

Venus de Milo
Just like in the movies!

Abby! This is Saint Abbé!

Psyche and Cupid
A. Canova

The best part was finding all the Roman sculptures and thinking "wow! I've actually BEEN there!"

And yes. I saw the famous painting.

Must say it was a tad underwhelming

After a small lunch at a café, we walked over l'Opéra National de Paris.

A temple to the arts

It was incredibly ornate inside.

With shrines to different composers spread throughout the building.

Bach!

Saint-Saens!

Handel!

And a beautiful library full of old scores! I nearly cried.

The best part was when we walked outside and found a piano.

I have now performed for people in Paris, France! *Happy victory dance*

 My cousin and I then took the subway to see the most famous piece of architecture in all of France.

This is definitely as exciting as everyone makes it out to be

Where then we walked over the River Seine and ate crepes au Nutella Chantilly sold from a street vendor

 And THAT is how you have a good time in Paris.

Arrivederci Roma! Bienvenue Paris!

After an incredible two weeks in an incredible city with incredible people, it's time to say ciao to Rome....

Arrivederci!

 Et bonjour à Paris! 

After a quick flight, and a short layover in Munich (where I still didn't get my bratwurst and had to settle for a German pretzel instead), I made it to Charles de Gaulle Airport where my aunt was waiting, sign and all. 

Free coffee and a pretzel in Germany
How perfect is that

 For my first night in Paris, my cousin and I went out for a nuit blanche. Well, kind of.

After meeting up with her friends, we ran around the streets of Paris looking for a good club, all the while fending off the weirdos trying to hit on us.

Around 1am, they gave up. Apparently all the young people are on vacation and left Paris. Why do I find this ironic?

We ended up walking down Champs-Élysées and seeing the Arc de Triomphe. 

Then we had ice cream and McDonalds.

yeah....

We ended up cutting the night short and headed home around 2am.

It was definitely an interesting side of Paris. Probably not the greatest first impression, but certainly a memorable one.

You Know You're in Rome When.....

There's the obvious stuff

The Trevi Fountain...

                                            The Pantheon...

The Colosseum...

                                           and, of course, The Vatican

I forgot to do a selfie!!!

 But I've got a better list as to how you know you're in Rome.

1. Street signs are made of marble.

Yes, stick a slab of rock on a pole. Let's see if it'll stay up! oh...

 

2. There's gelato on every street.


















.... that have some interesting flavours

Fig and Cinnamon. Yummy

This is Siciliana Cassata
It's basically fruit cake and chocolate in gelato

 

 
























3. You're transported back to when it was okay for a man to wear a skirt and carry a sword.

Gladiators!

Paparazzi shot! hehehe

 
This one is interesting because they are scammers that will try to take pictures with you and then force you to pay them. They'll even physically stop you so that you pay them. It's like they take their job too literally.


4. It's an honour to dress like a clown. Swiss Guards!

Yeah...the black beret makes them seem all that more menacing

5. You drink from sketchy fountains.

They use a bathtub in the Vatican

6. You see dead popes.

That's his actual body...covered in wax...
kind of brings a whole new meaning to "wax museum"

7. You walk on ankle breaking cobblestone.

And yet the Italian women wear stilettos all the time

8. You can eat a whole pizza by yourself! The crust is so thin, it's not as much as if you were eating pizza in Canada.

9. Everyone drives Fiats and Vespas.

Even their taxis are Fiats...

 






10. This.

Squishy ball toy thing that makes noise...I don`t understand it either....