I seriously can't move my feet. And I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.
Today was the only open day for us and, as expected, we scattered around the city - and in some instances, beyond the Péripherie - to take in our own slice of Paris. Over the next few days, I'll be asking various choristers to share their experience so that I don't bore you with my own account of Paris. However, seeing as how I'm the blogger, I'm going to start with the highlights of my day.
Oliver Munar's day in Paris
I'm absolutely enraptured. And it had nothing to do with a so-called Apocalypse Day.
I embarked on became an epic journey with Boyd Hansen, Paul Newman and Julia Millen. We hopped on the Metro to return to the Arc de Triomphe, also known as Etoile. It was early on the Saturday morning, the sun was shining brightly but unfortunately, the stairwells to get to the top of the Arc de Triomphe - which is home to some impressive views of the city - were closed. A small disappointment, but the four of us got some great pictures of the four scenes on the Arc de Triomphe: Cortot's The Triumph of 1810, Etex's Resistance and Peace, and the famous La Marseillaise by Rude. I vowed that given the opportunity, I would try to return to the Arc to get on top of it...
The long walk begins
The Arc de Triomphe sits along the famous Champs d'Elysées. Even on an early Saturday morning, the avenue was alive and buzzing, mainly with people enjoying petit dejeuner at the various cafes along the street. It was a gorgeous morning for a walk, but we veered away from the Champs de'Elysées for a return to Invalides.
A visit with Napoleon
Les Invalides is a series of buildings that relate to the rich French military history. The golden dome of the Chapel-de-Saint-Louis-des-Invalides is prominent in the Parisian skyline. It marks the place under which the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte, the famous Emperor of France, can be found. We visited the crypt under the main floor of the chapel for a reminder of Napoleon's various accomplishments, including the Napoleonic code and the metric system. It was about this time that my camera battery started giving out, so I became a little more selective of what I would take a picture of. Lesson learned: charge the camera battery nightly and definitely endeavour to get a second one.
A fit-for-purpose visit to the Louvre
After a jaunt through the Tuilleries Gardens, which connects the Place de la Concorde (the endpoint of the Champs d'Elysees that is marked with the famous Obelisk) to the Louvre, we met a large group of fellow choristers to take advantage of a quick admission into the Louvre. Once inside, many of us made a bee-line for the museum's biggest attractions: La Joconde (better known as the Mona Lisa), the Venus de Milo, the Coronation of Napoleon. These are incredible works that now, I can say I have seen with my own eyes. However, on Boyd's urging, we also visited the lavish apartments of Napoleon III, the nephew of the famed French emperor. Those rooms were absolutely fantastic and well worth the visit.
A special visit to the Eiffel Tower
After a quick return back to the hotel, which included recharging my camera battery, a group of us made a trip to the Eiffel Tower. We came to celebrate the 65th birthday of one of our own, Marian Zekulin. After all, when will be the next time I can celebrate any birthday at the Eiffel Tower? Incidentally, our date at the Eiffel Tower coincided with the prediction of the so-called "rapture" that was supposed to happen at 6pm in every time zone. Sufficed to say, the only rapture was figurative, because we had an incredible birthday celebration for Marian.
After dinner, a few of us braved a trip up the stairs from the first to the second level of the Eiffel Tower, an estimated 300 steps (we had a free lift ticket to take us from the ground to the first level, where the restaurant for Marian's birthday is located). It was a tough climb, but I kept telling myself it would burn off the calories taken in from Marian's cake at dinner and the glass of wine that came along with it. When in Paris, right? After conquering m fear of the ascent and taking pictures of the city, we descended to the ground. The the foursome was now expanded to include Justin Jalea, Nina Hornjatkevyc and Wes Nickel.
A return to the Arc de Triomphe
It turns out that my vow to return to the top of the Arc de Triomphe was going to be realized. The seven of us hopped the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe - this time at night. Along the way, we saw the Eiffel Tower light up, but we had to hurry because the Arc de Triomphe would soon be closing. Thankfully, we reached it in time, and we climbed another 267 steps - yes, I counted, both up and down - to take in the view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We spent a lot of time looking down along the now-busy Champs d'Elysées and the now-glowing Eiffel Tower. We would later stroll down the now-jammed Champs d'Elysées to soak in a bit of the street energy from the lifeline of Paris.
Let the singing begin
So now, day two has come to a close. That can only mean one thing: it's time to sing. Our first concert on this trip is Sunday afternoon at Eglise Ste-Anne de Paris, which Tim has hinted will be rather short. Sometimes I forget we're on a choir... Anyway, I'll have pictures in the morning when my camera battery is juiced up so until then, bonne nuit à tous!
Today was the only open day for us and, as expected, we scattered around the city - and in some instances, beyond the Péripherie - to take in our own slice of Paris. Over the next few days, I'll be asking various choristers to share their experience so that I don't bore you with my own account of Paris. However, seeing as how I'm the blogger, I'm going to start with the highlights of my day.
Oliver Munar's day in Paris
I'm absolutely enraptured. And it had nothing to do with a so-called Apocalypse Day.
I embarked on became an epic journey with Boyd Hansen, Paul Newman and Julia Millen. We hopped on the Metro to return to the Arc de Triomphe, also known as Etoile. It was early on the Saturday morning, the sun was shining brightly but unfortunately, the stairwells to get to the top of the Arc de Triomphe - which is home to some impressive views of the city - were closed. A small disappointment, but the four of us got some great pictures of the four scenes on the Arc de Triomphe: Cortot's The Triumph of 1810, Etex's Resistance and Peace, and the famous La Marseillaise by Rude. I vowed that given the opportunity, I would try to return to the Arc to get on top of it...
 |
| Oliver Munar, Julia Millen and Boyd Hansen at the Arc de Triomphe. |
The long walk begins
The Arc de Triomphe sits along the famous Champs d'Elysées. Even on an early Saturday morning, the avenue was alive and buzzing, mainly with people enjoying petit dejeuner at the various cafes along the street. It was a gorgeous morning for a walk, but we veered away from the Champs de'Elysées for a return to Invalides.
A visit with Napoleon
 |
| Saint-Thomas-des-Invalides The final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte |
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| Napoleon's tomb |
Les Invalides is a series of buildings that relate to the rich French military history. The golden dome of the Chapel-de-Saint-Louis-des-Invalides is prominent in the Parisian skyline. It marks the place under which the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte, the famous Emperor of France, can be found. We visited the crypt under the main floor of the chapel for a reminder of Napoleon's various accomplishments, including the Napoleonic code and the metric system. It was about this time that my camera battery started giving out, so I became a little more selective of what I would take a picture of. Lesson learned: charge the camera battery nightly and definitely endeavour to get a second one.
A fit-for-purpose visit to the Louvre
After a jaunt through the Tuilleries Gardens, which connects the Place de la Concorde (the endpoint of the Champs d'Elysees that is marked with the famous Obelisk) to the Louvre, we met a large group of fellow choristers to take advantage of a quick admission into the Louvre. Once inside, many of us made a bee-line for the museum's biggest attractions: La Joconde (better known as the Mona Lisa), the Venus de Milo, the Coronation of Napoleon. These are incredible works that now, I can say I have seen with my own eyes. However, on Boyd's urging, we also visited the lavish apartments of Napoleon III, the nephew of the famed French emperor. Those rooms were absolutely fantastic and well worth the visit.
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| The Inverted Pyramid, at the underground entrance to the Louvre. |
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| La Joconde |
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| Aphrodite of Milos |
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| The dining room in the Napoleon III apartments |
A special visit to the Eiffel Tower
After a quick return back to the hotel, which included recharging my camera battery, a group of us made a trip to the Eiffel Tower. We came to celebrate the 65th birthday of one of our own, Marian Zekulin. After all, when will be the next time I can celebrate any birthday at the Eiffel Tower? Incidentally, our date at the Eiffel Tower coincided with the prediction of the so-called "rapture" that was supposed to happen at 6pm in every time zone. Sufficed to say, the only rapture was figurative, because we had an incredible birthday celebration for Marian.
After dinner, a few of us braved a trip up the stairs from the first to the second level of the Eiffel Tower, an estimated 300 steps (we had a free lift ticket to take us from the ground to the first level, where the restaurant for Marian's birthday is located). It was a tough climb, but I kept telling myself it would burn off the calories taken in from Marian's cake at dinner and the glass of wine that came along with it. When in Paris, right? After conquering m fear of the ascent and taking pictures of the city, we descended to the ground. The the foursome was now expanded to include Justin Jalea, Nina Hornjatkevyc and Wes Nickel.
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| We arrived a little late for dinner... |
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| ...to celebrate Marian's birthday! (By the way, this is the card she received from her fellow altos from the Calgary Philharmonic Chorus!) |
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| Marian and the Spiritus friends who helped celebrate her birthday at the Eiffel Tower. |
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| We left the Eiffel Tower as the sun was going down. |
A return to the Arc de Triomphe
It turns out that my vow to return to the top of the Arc de Triomphe was going to be realized. The seven of us hopped the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe - this time at night. Along the way, we saw the Eiffel Tower light up, but we had to hurry because the Arc de Triomphe would soon be closing. Thankfully, we reached it in time, and we climbed another 267 steps - yes, I counted, both up and down - to take in the view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We spent a lot of time looking down along the now-busy Champs d'Elysées and the now-glowing Eiffel Tower. We would later stroll down the now-jammed Champs d'Elysées to soak in a bit of the street energy from the lifeline of Paris.
 | |
| The Champs Elysées from the top of the Arc de Triomphe |
Let the singing begin
So now, day two has come to a close. That can only mean one thing: it's time to sing. Our first concert on this trip is Sunday afternoon at Eglise Ste-Anne de Paris, which Tim has hinted will be rather short. Sometimes I forget we're on a choir... Anyway, I'll have pictures in the morning when my camera battery is juiced up so until then, bonne nuit à tous!
Keep up the good work, Oliver!! Wes and I eagerly await your blog each day. I used your commentary to trace the walking tour on Google Maps. All I can say is "wow" your group covered a lot of ground this day!!
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