New Year's in Paris! (Part I)

My family was flying out of Paris on New Year's Day, so they decided that they wanted a few days to visit the city before leaving. We left on a very early train and arrived in Paris later that morning. We settled into the apartment, had a tasty lunch at a restaurant down the street from the apartment (I'm going to try to recreate my mom's spinach, bacon and poached egg salad pretty soon, I think!), and then headed into the city. We took a walk along the Seine and ended up at the Louvre.

Here is Notre Dame on a beautiful (but cold) winter's day:


We walked by the courthouse on the way to the Louvre, and I just couldn't resist getting this shot of a line of police vans, ready to go in case of a riot, I guess!


Paris is the home of some beautiful bridges...


Kyle, Matt, my mom and dad on Pont Neuf, the oldest standing bridge over the Seine in Paris (construction completed in 1607) with the Louvre in the background:


A statue of Henri IV, who was responsible for a lot of updating and construction in Paris in the 16th and 17th centuries, on the Pont Neuf:


We soon arrived at the Louvre, and as this inscription says, "The Louvre Museum, founded the 16th of September 1792 by decree of the Legislative Assembly, was opened the 10th of August 1793 by execution of a decree rendered by the National Convention." So, basically, the museum is about as old as the United States!


The afternoon light that afternoon resulted in some beautiful shots inside and out of the museum. Here is a statue on one of the buildings outside:


I don't really know what Sophie's doing in this picture. We asked her to smile, and this was the result. It's taken by the entry and the famous glass pyramids.


Uncle Kyle and Sophie in front of the fountains:


One of my favorite paintings, The Coronation of Napoleon by David--I didn't get a great shot because it was really crowded:


Nike of Samothrace (or Winged Victory):


Here's the Mona Lisa. It's that tiny stamp-sized painting at the end of the room. We mostly took this picture to show how crowded the Louvre was that day (and how crowded the Mona Lisa is almost every day).


We stumbled on these rooms of beautiful Roman sculpture on the way to see the Aphrodite of Milos (or Venus de Milo). The natural afternoon light was absolutely amazing.



A bust of Hadrian:


We finally made it to Napoleon's Apartments this time around. Napoleon III was the nephew and step-grandson of Napoleon and was the French Republic's first president and the only emperor of the Second French Empire (1852-1870). He apparently liked the luxurious life of president and emperor.

Sophie enjoying herself:


And posing with Uncle Kyle:


We are a Chuck Taylor family:


Did I mention it was crowded?! This was the main entrance an hour before the museum was going to close...and they're all buying tickets, not leaving!


An early evening view of the pyramids: