The Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

Regrets about Paris-I knew that it would rain since I looked at the weekly forecast before we left. So I suggested that we visit Paris on Saturday or Sunday then go to Disneyland afterwards. Hubby was a little stubborn. So we came up with gray skies that does not complement the beauty of Eiffel tower. =(

The Eiffel Tower (French: Tour Eiffel, /tuʀ ɛfɛl/) is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the River Seine in Paris. The tower has become a global icon of France and is one of the most recognizable structures in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower

Designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel and built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution.

The construction of the tower is in itself a controversial matter as many criticised the reason for building it, the place where it is built and the shape it was made. Irregardless, the tower stood even the strongest wind that many claimed it cannot withstand. After all, its engineer, Eiffel, considered the most important thing while building it: wind resistance.

*Eiffel also designed the Basilica Minore de San Sebastian or what we know as San Sebastian Church in Legarda Street, Quiapo, Manila, Philippines. Visit Senor Enrique's Wish You Were Here.

Paris Experience - The Louvre

Musée du Louvre, Richelieu Wing

The present-day Louvre has been the result of a series of successive building projects completed over the past 800 years. Wikipedia page. It is located on the Right Bank in the 1er arrondissement between the Rue de Rivoli and the Seine River, the same river that flows to where the Eiffel tower is.

Home to many notable works of art and perhaps the most visited museum in the world, the Louvre used to be a palace under the reign of Philip II.
--

We arrived in Paris coming from Marne La Vallee via RER at the Opera Station, hubby brought his navigator so it didn't took us much time to find the museum. We had some photo op on the way, which I will upload in the following posts.

An antique dealer's shop opposite the Louvre. We were quite ecstatic seeing this, we actually thought that this is the musem. lol.

Inscription at the entrance of the Louvre Museum.

(Half) Pyramid at the courtyard. The pyramid being the entrance to the Louvre.

View from inside the pyramid. Escalators and elevators are available for use.

Niké en chiton ionique. Also called the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It is one of the surviving masterpieces of Hellenic sculpture despite its significant damage. Believed to date from 220-190 BC.

Taking a rest from the long walk as hubby takes more photos of the paintings on display.

Greek sculptures--severed head. Either the parts were lost or the sculptor intended it that way, since during that certain era, sculptors would make less visible parts of statues, also body parts are made separately then assembled together.

Three muses...hah...hubby's fave? Nah, he posed beside almost every statue.

Venus de Milo. One spectator said that it was perhaps during transport, that the hands of the statue got lost. I jokingly said Hercules threw a discus and accidentally destroyed the arms...referring to the Disney movie Hercules. =D Kidding aside, here's what really happened.

Painting on the ceiling...this could be of Roman origin.

Great sphinx of Tanis. This is one of the largest sphinxes outside Egypt. According to archaeologists, certain details suggest that this sphinx dates to an earlier period - the Old Kingdom (c. 2600 BC).

La Joconde, The Mona Lisa. Perhaps the most famous painting in the world, a portrait by Leonardo da Vinci of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, that has been finally established as a fact just this month. The La Joconde has been subject to many critics and research and at one time; a robbery. Thus, it has been displayed at the museum's Salle des États inside a purpose-built, climate-controlled enclosure behind bullet proof glass. A wooden rail prohibits the viewers from coming too near the painting. But the guards were so kind to have let us go past it, see here.

By the way, Jean Reno who played Bezu Fache in the movie Da Vinci code which was set at the Louvre, did a narration: the Da Vinci code soundwalk for the museum. The audio guide gives the listener historical facts and meanings of many paintings at the museum.

-----

The Louvre is not just big...but really really big, we were not able to finish touring it. Half day won't be enough for hubby, an artist and admirer of art and for me, an art lover who once dreamed of becoming an artist. =P The Louvre is truly an art lover's haven, no wonder it gathers as much as 8million visitors a year!

(This Photo is courtesy of the Free online photos.)

Disney Village

This post would be the last of the Disneyland trip.

This installment is about the Disney Village, the only park which is free. It is especially built for tourists who only want Disney items for souvenirs and giveaways.

Enjoy the sun-up, sun-down photos. =)

Everything Disney. - Rainforest Cafe.

Disney Fashion Boutique. - Mickey...again.



Disney Store.

Planet Hollywood.



Charlton on a Corvette. - Alexie outside a store.

Disneyland Park - Day 2

Disneyland Park, is mostly the fantasy-filled area of the Resort. It is divided into Main Street, USA and 3 other 'lands' .

Disneyland Hotel (above and below), an in-house hotel and also the entrance to the Park.

Charlton and Alexie posing by the Mickey flower ensemble in front of the hotel entrance.

My boys sitting at the Pavilion which is parallel to Sleeping Beauty's Castle, the street lined with flags is Main Street, USA. The street has 1920-inspired houses (emphasizing on football and automobiles). The houses serve as shops (from souvenirs to photography equipments) and restaurants (coffee, pizza, ice cream, and more).

During the parade, Tigger (Disney's Winnie the Pooh) and Geppetto (Pinocchio) on board. Notice the rail tracks, as the street has a tram for the visitors too.

One of the featured automobile also on parade, they also tour around with the guests and sometimes with the mascots.

Front of one of the shops. Notice: Kodak, yes they sell mostly Kodak products. The attendants are really friendly but they would almost always speak to you in French when you enter. Most of them speak English especially the Africans. But it was also nice when a cashier who seem not fluent in English heard me speaking with Charlton later on conversed with me in German. I felt confident I won't get lost.lol.

Inside the shop, a surplus of Mickey mouse and other Disney toys, souvenir items, clothing, memorabilia and more. The prices are generic at all of the shops. Security is a little lax though, don't be surprised if you see people shoplifting...coz I did. I tip my hat off to those who remain honest (like us! hehe).

One of the stuff we bought that proved to be useful later on is a gown for our little princess. See, she's standing here with Sleeping Beauty's castle at the background. The dress was perfect, should we have bought Cinderella's dress then the castle should be blue...fortunately, she likes pink and pink is Aurora's gown.

However, meticulous as she is, she had one complain. "Mali momie, kasi black ang hair ko dapat dress na lang ni Snow White, I can't be Aurora, hindi naman kasi ako blonde." (This is wrong momie, I have black hair so it should have been Snow White's dress , I can't be Aurora, I'm not blonde after all.) Oo nga naman.

One of the uses I was talking about is this: sending entries to the Disney Princess magazine.

Sitting by the bushes...behind is Alice in Wonderland's Curious Labyrinth.

Jiminy Cricket from Les Voyages de Pinocchio , a 2-minute ride which will show you the journeys of Pinocchio, presented by puppets...the rides were made of wood inpired by Geppetto's works.

Waving while still on board Dumbo the Flying Elephant.

Jack's Beanstalk minus the Giant...

'Sleeping Beauty' -A book by the castle's stairs.
















At the entrance of Sleeping Beauty's Castle was a small door with a vitrine full of crystals. Most of them are Disney character's mini-sculptures but there are huge masterpieces as you see here partly, a replica of the castle.

Hubby and I were awed at how they are made so we looked around and there, hubby's attention was caught by the hologram-like crystal boxes with yóur own photos! (more pics to follow)

We decided that this precious piece would be our souvenir from the Park. The attendants took our photos starting from Daniel. The woman in the photo appears to be the Supervisor here, she came and spoke to us (english) but when she heard me call out: "Da-niel!" She instantly knew that we speak German ( just by the pronunciation..as in English would be pronounced Day-nyel, Pinoys would say Dan-yel, and in German we say Da-nyel).

The rule is to not move for 5 seconds while the photo is being taken and to look on top of the camera...the box was ready after 2 hours and we paid an addition since there were 5 of us...the most that they have made were for 4 people.




<--The castle glowing at night, too bad we run out of batteries for the fireworks =(

There were still so many stuff that we were not able to see, but we had enough memories to make us remember the fantastic and enchanting experience at Disney's Fantasyland.

---

Day 1 - Disney Studios

Disneyland Resort Paris is located 32 km from the center of Paris at a new town called Marnee La Vallée, where most disney-themed hotels are also located.


The Resort has two theme parks, Disney Studios and Disneyland Park plus an entertainment district, Disney Village.















We headed first to Disney Studios and were delighted to see the big Mickey ears on the water tank...hubby, comic as usual requested for a photo. ---->

Disney Studios Park is divided into themed lots. We didn't wait much in line to see the featured videos but did lots of photo ops.

Charlton on a sweeping broom (Beauty and the Beast).


















Daniel with (Disney Pixar) Monsters Inc.'s Mike Wazowski, the only photo were he isn't crying.










Reason why Daniel never came near other mascots again. Sulley (again from Monsters Inc.) surely lives up to his name of being the top scarer!










Alexie beside Luigi and Charlton beside Guido in their tire shop (Cars, Disney Pixar).










Alexie with Minnie Mouse, we had to wait in line for an autograph and photo op. Tip: Bring your own pen and autograph book, the DisneyPrincess-designed pen costs 2,90 euros, the autograph book: 4,90!















Charlton was not in the mood then, so Alexie had all the photo ops with the mascots. This is either Chip or Dale...I cannot tell the difference. =D








We were also in line for Pluto's autograph but lost the chance because Goofy who did nothing but goof around run away with Pluto somewhere! T'was really fun, though the place is huge, its worth moving about, following the crowd, snapping photos and reliving the stories of the cartoon characters we have been familiar with through the years. Surely is a place for children but is definitely also a good time for the child-at-heart!





















Mickey Mouse, Disney's icon. Walt Disney and Mickey, how it all started.