Personal Photos: Paris

The second half of our Europe trip was spend in Paris. There is definitely an allure about the city and it’s always been on my list of places I’d like to visit. After a little bit of adjustment, we really enjoyed our time exploring.

The Père Lachaise Cemetery, so beautiful to wander around and interesting to come across graves of well-known individuals.  
Had to stop and see all the locks on the bridges, but it did make me sad that this – tradition (if you can call it that) continues to cause structural damage to the bridges. It’s a very sweet thought about love to throw away the key, but it’s also causing some real harm.  The flat we stayed in was in a quiet neighborhood, but allowed us to walk to almost everything we wanted to see. The key was so different from any I’d ever used (above). The owner is a graphic designer and artist, which made me feel right at home. I appreciated all the displays of art around the living space. 
The Catacombs – definitely a place I wanted to see, but I certainly wasn’t prepared for how extensive they were. It feels like you could definitely get lost down there. The Louvre, how can I capture it in words? It’s huge. It’s amazing. It’s my Art History classes staring me right in the face. No joke, so many sculptures, paintings, drawings that I learned about were just sitting there, staring me in the face. Pieces of art that shaped the practice. It gave me chills. 
My favorite of all -Winged Victory of Samothrace. I tried describing to my husband why I’ve always been so moved by this piece and I couldn’t explain it well. Ever since I saw a picture of this in a history book, I never could get it out of my head. It is such a vision of strength and triumph, even it it’s current incomplete form. There is such power, grace and beauty captured.
Palace of Versailles – another monumental place to visit. I didn’t know very much of the detail surrounding this part of French history, but knew this place is known for its opulence. It is beautiful inside and out for sure. As I read about the history, I also began to understand the controversy surrounding this site, as well as the two monarchs most tied to the place.