Musée d'Orsay and Villa Savoye

Day 23

Paris, although a bit on the grungy side, is a beautiful city!  We did a bit of a walking tour this morning before visiting the Musée d'Orsay.  There is fantastic architecture, amazing food, fabulous fashion!  It's incredible.  The Musée d'Orsay is amazing too!  My favorite was the Art Nouveau pieces, but I loved the impressionist paintings too.  Definitely inspiring.  We got to spend some time sketching too.

A quick stop for a group photo in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Neat faux architecture in an alley way.

Incredible example of Art Nouveau.

A living wall!

I can't believe how gold these statues are!

The Musee d'Orsay.  Too bad we couldn't take pictures inside.  It's a converted rail station, and it is beautiful, along with the pieces housed inside!

Ah, Villa Savoy!  It isn't every day that you get to visit on of Le Corbusier's masterpieces.  It is a bit on the run down side, but the grounds are well kept, and it isn't in shambles.  It was just incredible to be there.  

No big deal, just sittin' in the Petite Comfort Chair!

The view from the back.  Amazing architecture!  I'm so glad we got to visit this incredible design!

Sainte Chapelle, Pompidou, and The Louvre!

Day 22

Lots of color to behold today!  We started by visiting Sainte Chapelle.  Known for it's incredible stained glass, this chapel is among the finest in the world.

I love the colors!

The glass was incredible, but so was the painting and wood work!  Look at the colors here!

A famous Guimard Metro entrance.

Some interesting metal work over a building on our way to the Pompidou.

Just what Paris ought to look like, huh?

The Pompidou!  I couldn't believe it actually existed!  It was named after Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou, prime minister of France in the 60's.  It was designed by Renzo Piano.  It is even more amazing than you'd think it would be from the photographs.  I was impressed.

The Pompidou is a museum of modern art.  It has an exhibit of modern furniture.

This is the view of Paris from the top of the tube like staircase outside the building. Yes, that is a the staircase, on the outside...

Super cool!

Inside the staircase!  It has some Gregorian chant-like music going on.  It was really interesting.

And off to the Louvre!!  I've always wanted to come here!!!  Look at the reflection on I.M. Pei's Pyramid!

In the Napoleon Apartments.  Gorgeous! 

Winged Victory of Samothrace, by an unknown sculptor. -Amazing!

The Mona Lisa!!!  I could not believe the crowd you had to fight through only to stand 10 feet away from the actual painting.  But.. To be in the same room.  It was incredible.  We also got to see The Last Supper... Incredible!  What a fantastic day.  I could have spent every day I had in Paris at the Louvre and not even seen half of the treasures it contains!

Paris!!! and the Eiffel Tower

Day 21

We arrived in Paris around 5pm, waited at the train station to get transportation figured out, and then spent like 2 hours getting to our hotel, up and down stairs with our luggage! Fun!  haha, I wanted to throw all my luggage away!  But we made it, and the best part was walking to the Eiffel Tower!  That made it all worth it!!

And some yummy Creme Brulee.

Running around the Underground

Day 20

Last day in London.  We headed to Kensington Palace in the morning.  That is where Will and Kate are now living!  They have actually done kind of an enchanted palace type thing there.  It was interesting.

Kensington Palace

Pretty flowers outside the Kensington Palace.

Yeah, We're cool. I'm sure this is someone famous, I mean it's not every day you see someone getting picked up in a helicopter.

I think we took 5 different lines to get to our final destination today, due to closures and such.  It only took one transfer to get home. hahahaha

This was the Collier Campbell exhibit at the National Theater.  Fantastic Patterns!

Some cool looking sheds by the Nation Theater. 

The cool bridge!

Last day of Ireland

Day 19

The last day in Belfast was a free day.  We went shopping and did some general exploring of the city.

We found some strawbs.... Creative name eh?  You know you want some!

The view of the city from the Victoria mall.  

One of the public buildings downtown. I loved the hue of the bronze oxidation.  This was definitely a feature of many buildings in Belfast.

Another building downtown.  I think it housed Sony.. Maybe.

Neat Statue!  

And a great day.  I'll definitely miss Ireland!  I loved it!

Coastline Tour of Northern Ireland

Day 18

Talk about an amazing day!!!  This has definitely been one of my most favorite days so far.  It has been wonderful to get back into nature, and see the gorgeous coastline of Ireland!  What incredible inspiration there is to behold!

Carrickfergus Castle, just right outside of Belfast.

See, gorgeous coastline!

Just like as you'd expect the Irish Countryside!

We stopped every now and again to visit different sites.  Our bus driver seemed to know everything there is to know about the area.  This fantastic view of the water is on our way to experience the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bride.

Yep, you read correctly... A rope bridge, leading to a small island overlooking the sea.  It was beautiful, and extremely windy, and green too.

The most impressive attraction of our tour was the Giants Causeway.  Those stones are all natural.  It's a bit of a walk down the hill, but it is so worth every second climbing and exploring this natural wonder.

We got some great photographs.

And tried to come up with some creative poses.  What a fantastic day!  I am in love with the Irish Coastline.  I am definitely coming back.  Especially to rent a car and really explore on my own.  I love being back in nature, and out of the city.  It was beautiful!

Ireland, here we come!!

Day 17

5:30am and we were our way to catch a plan to Ireland!  We stayed in Belfast, so, when we landed we settled a bit at our hotel, and then jumped on a coach and had a little tour of the city.

We stayed at the Hilton.

Some Irish Money!  They still use the pound, but their bills look different.  Interesting huh?

 Belfast is such a unique city.  They have gone through so much with the unrest between the nationalists and the loyalists, and you can see it in the graffiti and such.

This is Belfast's Peace Wall.  It is incredible!

A little plea.  What a reminder to get along and let peace win over contention.  I wish the people of Belfast the very best!

Did you know the Titanic was build in the Belfast ship yard.  Here is a building they are building to memorialize that great steam liner.  It even looks like the bow of a ship.

Isn't this amazing!  That little tiny yellow thing in the middle is the size of a human.  This is where they placed the Titanic (by filling it with water, floating the ship in, then emptying the water) while making final touches before the ship made it's first (dreadful) voyage.

The staircase to the lookout point at the Victoria Shopping Center.  Incredible architecture!