Don surprised me at Christmas 2018 with tickets to Paris, France for our 25th anniversary. I spent a day or two in Paris after serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in southern France many years ago. (La Mission Français de Marseilles) Don spent 24 hours in Paris on his way to India on a business trip in March 2018. We've been looking forward to celebrating our anniversary in Paris.
Day 1: Friday night/Saturday
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| Waiting at SLC International Airport for our 9 pm flight |
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| Sunset on the Seine |
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| The Eiffel Tower at night |
Day 2: Sunday
Jardin du Luxemburg
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| L'hotel Luxemburg |
As we were walking around Paris, we found this little Catholic Cathedral and we went inside. I enjoy looking at the beautiful stained glass windows and artwork in these buildings.
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| Atrium with the baptismal font. |
Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame was closed to the public due to the fire earlier this year. We were able to walk around the outside and take a lot of photos of the building. Restoration work is underway.
Notre-Dame was closed to the public due to the fire earlier this year. We were able to walk around the outside and take a lot of photos of the building. Restoration work is underway.
Place de la Concorde
La Basilique du Sacré Coeur de Montmartre
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| Dinner at Place du Tertre near Sacré Coeur |
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| We had our portrait drawn by a street artist in the Place du Tertre. He is very talented, but I don't think the picture really looks much like us. |
Musée du Louvre
Tickets for the Louvre Museum were sold out, so we didn't get to go inside to see the Mona Lisa or the Venus de Milo or other artwork. However, we'd both been inside before, so we walked around outside and took some photos.
Tickets for the Louvre Museum were sold out, so we didn't get to go inside to see the Mona Lisa or the Venus de Milo or other artwork. However, we'd both been inside before, so we walked around outside and took some photos.
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| Don's favorite statue in the courtyard of the Louvre. |
Le Tour d'Eiffel
We took an elevator to the 2nd platform and then another to the top of the tower. There were so many people that we decided to walk all the way down the steps - stopping at the 1st platform - instead of crowding into the elevator again.
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| Looking up from the ground to the 2nd platform |
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| Looking up at the top from the 2nd platform |
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| View from the 2nd platform |
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| View from the top |
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| View from the top |
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| View from the top |
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| View from the top |
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| On the 1st platform. The Eiffel Tower is 130 years old this year. |
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| On the 1st platform. We are standing on a glass floor through which you can see the ground below. |
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| Paris! The City of Love! |
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| Looking down at the ground from the 1st platform. |
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| View of the Arc de Triomphe from the Champs Élysee. |
Château de Versailles
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| King Louis XIV |
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| One of the many painted ceilings. I took 4 pictures to try and get all of it. (1 of 4) |
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| (2 of 4) |
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| (3 of 4) |
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| (4 of 4) |
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| Ceiling of the Hall of Mirrors. The Treaty of Versailles ending World War One was signed here. The Hall of Mirrors is still used for state occasions such as receptions for visiting heads of state. |
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| Hall of Mirrors |
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| Hall of Mirrors |
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| Queen's bed |
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| Lower garden |
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| Passage into a garden maze. |
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| One of many statues in the garden. |
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| Neptune Basin fountain |
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| Neptune Basin fountain |
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| Neptune Basin fountain |
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| Fountain of the Dragon |
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| Arc de Triomphe fountain |
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| Just outside the Château de Versailles in the garden. |
Paris Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Versailles, France
Unfortunately, the temple was closed for cleaning while we were there, so we were not able to attend a session, as we had hoped. We walked around the temple garden, visited with the missionaries in the Visitor Center and learned a little about the design of the temple as well as the use of different flower patterns on the windows and woodwork that specifically represent France.
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| "Sainteté Au Seigneur, La Maison Du Seigneur" |
"The beauty of the palace of the Kings of France, impressive as it was, simply cannot compare to the quiet magnificence of the palace of the King of Kings!" - Don
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| Last night in Paris. |
