6 Hours in Venice

On Tuesday, April 17th Meghan, Michael, and I took an early morning flight to Venice, Italy.  After we landed we took a bus to the island and checked our luggage at the train station.  It was absolutely beautiful in Venice, 70 degrees sunny and blue skies!  There really aren't captions worthy of these pictures so just enjoy!

Piazza San Marco:

Rialto Bridge:

There are no streets on the island of Venice, only pedestrian sidewalks.  The only way to get transported around the island is by water taxi.  It was very similar to a city bus with boat stops, time tables, and tickets.

Riding the water taxi:

We unfortunately didn't ride a gondola.  Gondola rides were over 100 Euro ($130) for an hour.  Some day it will be in my travel budget!  That evening was our first meal in Italy.  We picked a small restaurant next to one of the canals.

We had pizza and wine of course. The pizza in Italy is delicious and very fresh!

Six hours after arriving on the island we took the late night train to Florence, Italy.  The ride was about two hours.  We were fortunate enough to get a table on the train so we played cards and drank wine all the way there!  The ride through Italy was beautiful.

Next stop...Florence!

Paris-Part 2

Although I have made it home, unpacked, repacked, and moved to Tennessee I am going to continue blogging!  Thanks for staying patient during these crazy weeks for me. Here we go...

On Sunday, April 15th we woke up and went to Sainte-Chapelle.  This cathedral had such beautiful stained glass and supposedly held the Crown of Thorns at one point!

Here's a picture of one of the metro stops in Paris.  We used the subway to go everywhere!

Just before lunch we made our way up to Montmartre.  This is a district of Paris that is up on a hill and raised above the city.  On top of Montmartre is the Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart) Basilica. 

Here's a view of Paris from Montmartre...

Montmartre is known for it's artists that line the main square.  Their artwork was so beautiful! None of it was in my price range of course but it was fun looking around and watching them paint.  Artists also roamed the streets insisting that we wanted a pencil portate drawn of our face.  Although I resisted I have to admit they were very talented!  In Montmartre we stopped at a little Irish pub called Moulin De Gerra  for a cup of hot cocoa.

On our way down the hill we didn't make it very far before we found ourselves in another Irish pub for a pint and a few rounds of cards.

We stumbled across Moulin Rouge!

Next we went to Napoleon's tomb and the Musse de l'Armee (French Army Museum).  Napoleon was a French general and political leader who is considered one of the greatest military commanders of all time.  His French empire pretty much covered most of Europe at the time. 

After wandering around a war museum for an hour we figured we deserved a drink.   We made our way to the Latin Quarter for a French beer called 1664.  We stopped by Notre Dame Cathedral on our way home.  

We stopped inside to listen to a service with the Archbishop of Paris in French!!

After dining at a Mexican restaurant called The Studio for dinner we made our way back to the apartment for some wine and cards.

On Sunday morning we woke up and went on a sewer tour, yes a sewer tour! Paris has one of the most extensive sewer systems in the world so of course the French made a museum out of it! After making our way underground we were lead around the sewers reading different facts about them. The museum was actually in the sewers and you could see the trash in the drains float by! It wasn't the best smelling museum that I've been in but it was definitely interesting!  

Sunday afternoon was one of my favorite days abroad.  We wandered around the streets and went into little wine and cheese shops, markets, and bakeries looking for lunch food.  We came up with four baguettes, some gouda and mozzarella cheese, salami, raspberries, strawberries, 4 bottles of wine, and had a picnic lunch in the park in front of the Eiffel Tower.  This is an afternoon that I'll never forget! 

While walking under the Eiffel Tower I looked up and spotted my last name! After a quick Wikipedia search I learned that Arthur Morin is was of the 72 French scientists and engineers engraved on the side of the tower.  It looks like Arthur was a famous French physicists!

For our last night we went to Auberge de la Reine Blanche for dinner.

I couldn't resist a Nutella crepe on the way home...

Well that's it for Paris!  Next stop...Venice, Italy!

Paris-Part 1

On Friday afternoon Meghan and I landed at the Charles De' Galle airport in Paris, France. We managed to follow a series of trains and subways to make our way into the city to meet up with our friend Michael and his parents, Tom and Jean. That first night we took the Metro to see the Eiffle Tower at night.  It was spectacular!  My camera didn't capture it very well but here's the best shot.  At 10pm the Eiffle Tower displayed sparkling lights for 5 minutes, it was amazing!



On Saturday morning we woke up early in hopes to beat the tourist crowds to the Palace of Versailles. Long story short, King Louis the III was a ruler of France and used half of the country's budget to build his "hunting lodge". It became the home of the French government and court. King Louis the XVI was the last to live there with his wife Marie Antoinette. 

The inside of Versailles was ridiculous.  I have endless pictures of painted and gold encrusted ceilings.  We were able to see both King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's bed chambers, the dining hall, and the chaple (picutred below).

The garden behind Versailles was amazing!

Next we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe.  It's a war memorial.  All victorious French generals have their name inscribed on the inside of this monument.  

We climbed up what seemed like an endless spiral staircase to go to the top!

Next we walked down Champs Elyesees, the most famous street in France.  It's lined with expensive restaurants, designer stores, and the most expensive real estate in the world. This is also the road where the Tour de France ends!

Our busy day wasn't over quite yet. Next we went to The Louve, the most visited art museum in the world! It is huge.

There were endless rooms of roman sculptures and paintings.  If you had an eye for art you could be in there all day.  Meghan, the Lyle's, and I decided on an express route to see Venus...

...and of course Mona Lisa!

After a long day of tourism.  We walked over the Seine River to The Great Canadian Pub and had a few drinks and played cards.  



We ended the night at one of Jean's favorite restaurants in Paris.  We toasted to an accomplished day with our Belgian beer, Chimay.