This blog has pictures from both our Paris, France and Zurich, Switzerland trips.

July 17th - July 21st 2006 (5 days) I was in Zurich. Zurich is gorgeous because it is a clean city with hills, colors, a large lake, and the alps in the background. It was really hot and the whole city could be found after work at the lake swimming, laying out, and just enjoying themselves. It was super expensive there though and reminded me a bit of Orange County without the beach.

July 22nd - July 26th 2006 (5 days) We were in Paris. We had a fun time catching up with Bjornar and Marit who were vacationing from Norway. We visited all the major tourist attractions such as the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and Notre Dame. We also got to see the last day of the Tour de France race near the arc. We waited for several hours only to see their heads ride by a few times, but we may have seen the head of the first guy to win and then get decrowned for doping, Landis.

 

Our night time view of the Eiffel Tower. Every hour after dark the tower would twinkel for 5-10 minutes.

 

The second time I visited the Eiffel Tower during our stay.

 

The grassy area with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Me and Ronny packed the hotel blanket and plastic cups and met Bjornar and Marit for a pleasant night staring at the Tower and chatting with a random nice guy who joined us from South Africa.

 

Paris wasn't just cool, old concrete structures. Luxembourg Gardens was green and colorful.

 

Eiffel Tower. It is very massive and grand but not as cool as the Sydney Harbor Bridge. I think we were partial to the bridge because we used to see it every day for over a year while living in Sydney.

 

First visit to the Eiffel Tower

 

Bjornar, Marit, Me and Ronny enjoying a night of wine at a local Paris spot.

 

Decorations on the Louvre roof. Hundreds of statues of adults godlike men and cupids lined the rooftops of the Louvre. This guy looked cool and handsome up there with his right hand propped on his right leg so I needed his picture. I am sure there were several other cool ones up there, but this one caught my eye for some special reason.

 

The Louvre Museum, largest museum in the world. This picture shows just 1 wing of the museum as my picture focuses on the pyramid. I started to tour the museum and seek out the Mona Lisa and her enigmatic smile and mystery, but it was busier than Disneyland in there, so maybe next time. It is not my style to elbow shove going through a museum looking at art work.

 

It's me solving the Dan Brown mystery.

 

Sainte Chapelle, in the heart of Paris, built 1246

 

Sainte Chapelle's magnificent stained glass windows decorating the entire inside of the church.

 

Sainte Chapelle, another gothic church whos name translates from french to the Holy Chapel. It says that Christ's crown of thorns was once a relic here and peices of the orginal crucifiction cross is still there which is very neat.

 

I am a bit ashamed to admit I do not know what this building is now, but I saw it on my walk from the Louvre to Notre Dame. It is a grand building though so I took its picture.

 

The front side of Notre Dame, the gothic cathedral church in Paris dedicated to the Virgin Mary. There are so many interesting details on each of the old cathedrals I visited including gargoyles and the little people statutes outlining the gothic arches.

 

The backside of Notre Dame

 

Notre Dame

 

Another view of Paris from Sacre Cour. The first two nights we were staying in a different part of Paris. Then, we were staying in a hotel in the business district you see in this picture because Ronny was working somewhere over there.

 

The view from Le Sacre Cour.

 

Le Sacre Cour, A beautiful church in Paris. The inside is equally impressive. Ronny and Bjornar climbed to one of the lookouts and had a great view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower.

 

Across the street from Moulin Rouge.

 

Moulin Rouge

 

Paris