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Group Nancy Bickham Steve Bickham Paula Welch George Welch Peggi Yacovissi Bill Yacovissi |
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Most of the pictures expand when clicked on
| The
Group Nancy Bickham Steve Bickham Paula Welch George Welch Peggi Yacovissi Bill Yacovissi |
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Like most visitors to Paris, the first thing we did was go see the Eiffel Tower. It's surprisingly big. |
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Nice view from the lower observation deck. |
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Then off to Notre Dame. |
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The less visited and photographed back of Notre Dame. |
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The Rose Window over the entrance |
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Playing with the zoom feature on my camera |
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Next day a trip to the Louvre. |
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This picture seems to be setting off quite a debate. |
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Peggi and I took a Gray Line tour to the Loire Valley while the rest of the group went the Chartres. This is Chambord, the hunting lodge built by Francois I completed in 1547. |
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Picture from the third floor balcony |
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Chambord is famous for the double helix staircase supposedly designed and built by Da Vinci |
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Then to Chenonceau completed in 1535. |
| Here's a view from the front with what's left of the really old castle gate. |  |
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Had lunch in a French country village |
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Finished the tour chateau with the Chateau Cheverny. |
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This house is still used and is magnificently furnished |
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Next off to Sacre-Coeur |
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You can climb up to the roof and get a views all over Paris. I thought it was really neat up there. |
| Somewhere along the line we stopped at Saint Chapelle. Here is a post card of the famous stained glass windows. |  |
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Next stop Versailles. If Chambord doesn't teach you what the French Revolution was about, Versailles certainly does. Here's Peggi in the front courtyard. |
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The famous Hall of Mirrors |
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Looking down an incredibly long hallway through a series of brightly colored rooms. |
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Versailles from the back. |
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The park surrounding the palace. |
| The famous swimming horses, or drowning horses, or something like that. Anyway, I'm sure this statue has something to do with rescuing virgins that being a popular theme in ancient literature. |  |
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Peggi, George, and Paula outside the Grand Trianon , or the Petit Trianon. These were little palaces in the park so the king could get away from it all. |
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A visit to the d'Orsay for some more culture. |
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An impressive building restored from an old railroad freight yard. |
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The group, sans Peggi, on a bridge outside the d'Orsay. Steve looks surprisingly French. I guess after a week he started to get acclimated. |
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A short hike, but a long walk, to Napoleon's Tomb. The French seem quite conflicted about their history. It's not easy making sense of the over indulgence of the monarchy, the terror of the revolution, Napoleon, and the Paris Commune all in one century. |
| Finally, a river boat cruise up or down the Seine. I never could figure out which way was downstream. Anyway, a nice shot of the Tower from the river. |  |
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THE END |
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