On our way to Paris!!!

                                                                                                    

After a tired night at the Sandman hotel, we got all our stuff and hopped onto the transit bus to the airport. It was still pretty early in the morning so I didn’t feel like carrying my big backpack around at 5:00 am. We then got all our luggage and bags through the security without any problems. We were all really hungry by the time we found our departure lounge so we decided to look for something to eat. We then went to one of the airport cafes and ate a few breakfast wraps and sandwiches.


The moment came of finally sitting down in the airplane, the seatbelt sign came on and the airplane jerked forward slightly. With a lot of speed we were in the air slowly leaving Canada below us. After hours and hours of eating, sleeping, listening to music, and watching movies we could see land again way below us. We made it to Montreal! It was a 4 hour wait till our airplane to Paris arrived so it was pretty boring. Most of those hours were taken up by figuring out where to go and eating lunch. So after eating lunch we rested down again in a departure lounge, by the time we were in the lounge there wasn't much time left. Our airplane then arrived and we got on board! This flight wasn't too different from our one before.




It was now 8:30am Paris time and we were all waiting for our bags to come. Now all we had to do was buy some metro tickets to get to our hotel we had booked ahead of time. After a while of getting through the metro stations and getting on the right ones we got in central Paris where our hotel was. We asked a man where the street was that had our hotel on it, he showed us the direction and we found it. The hotel was called The Palym Hotel; it was a really nice hotel. Our room wasn't ready yet so we put all our bags into the hotel storage room and we went outside onto the streets to look around. We were hungry so we went to a cafe on the main street overlooking the big 4 sided clock that was on the elaborate train station.

 

 

  

We were not too hungry so we just ordered some mineral water and a cheese and meat dish. After we were finished the meal we just kind of sat there enjoying finally relaxing. We walked through the doors of The Palym Hotel and the lady at the desk told us our room was ready for us. So we all got our bags and went to our room. It was a really beautiful room with 4 beds, a bathroom, and a desk where you could get access to a computer. The ceiling of the room was magnificent it was really high and it was white with carvings in it. Once we got in our room we all dropped our bags figured out how to use the Wi-Fi code and passed out on our beds.

  I woke up an hour later to find that we were going to go look around instead of sleeping. So we got on the metro again and decided that we were going to go to the Eiffel tower. When we arrived at the station where the Eiffel tower was and went looking for a restaurant first. We ate at some Chinese place (which wasn't that good!) and then we made our way back to where we could see the Eiffel tower. I had forgotten how big and beautiful it was.

 

 

 We thought we would still have time to climb the stairs but it turned out that it was too late. You could still take the elevator but the lines were too big. So we walked around it instead.

We had walked awhile when we stopped at a cafe and got some coffees and tea (it was really good). We then walked back to see the amazing view of the Eiffel tower from a distance. It was dark outside and it was all lit up!

While walking back to the Eiffel tower and enjoying the wonderful sight a couple from Seattle overheard us speaking English. So they stopped us and told us that they had two tickets to the top of the Eiffel tower that they wanted to give away. It turns out that this was their last night in Paris and they had bought two ticket for that night but there was a mix up and the tickets they had bought were actually for the next night. Since they were leaving and couldn't make it. So they gave their two tickets to us for free!! We thanked them a lot and went back to the Hotel.


After a sort of restless night I woke up and we went down to the tiny restaurant that the hotel had and we all got a pretty good breakfast. After breakfast we got ready for the day and we were on our way to visit the Cluny Museum.

Musee De Cluny

On our second day in Paris we decided to go and see the Musee De Cluny. After a few mix ups at the metro we arrived at the museum and from what I could see on the outside it was a beautiful building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got inside we first entered into the room that houses the temporary collections of the Musee De Cluny. It was mostly ancient statues and had one magnificent tapestry. The next room which was the Notre Dame room was one of the more impressive rooms. In that room it displayed the 21 heads from the gallery of the kings of Juda (circa 1220-1230). On the right side of the room was a whole bunch of headless statues and in front of you across the room as you entered through the doors were 21 heads. All of the heads were really big and in pretty rough shape, they were originally on the Notre Dame Cathedral. All of these heads and statues were buried during the French revolution and were not discovered until 1977.

Also in the room of Notre Dame was a statue of Adam (The delightful statue of Adam according to the guide book!) so since my name is Adam I decided to get my picture beside it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite room that we visited was the room which showed the six tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn. Each of the six tapestries shows a lady (usually in the middle of the image). Also in each of the images there is a lion and a unicorn carrying the coats of arms. Another fact about the tapestries is that all of them are based on the same location: on a blue “island” with a scarlet red background filled with flowers. Also out of the six tapestries five of them represent the five senses.

(Sight) In this picture the lady is holding a hand mirror in her right hand, and the unicorn (resting beside her) can see itself in the reflection.

 

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 (Hearing) The image which is shown in this tapestry shows the lady playing a portable organ and the bellows of the organ are being worked by her maidservant.

(Smell) The lady who is weaving a garland of the flowers on the (island), and she is also holding on the tips of her fingers a carnation that she had just picked from the basket held by the maidservant.

 

(Taste) The lady takes out a confectionery from a dish the maidservant offers her.

 

 (Touch) The lady in this tapestry is holding onto a standard bearing the arms of the patron with her right hand and touches the unicorn’s horn with her left hand.

Then there is still the final (sixth) tapestry. This one is known as “A Mon Sevl Desir” in English it is (my only desire)

 No one has ever known what her desire is but there have been assumptions made. Some people say it is the sixth sense (love), which could likely correct; some say that the word “Desir” is referred to one of the meanings of the Latin Desiderium, which means “appeasement” or “regret”. In this case then, the tapestry probably suggests a renunciation of the pleasure of the senses. As Alain Erlande-Brandenburg shows very well that the young girl in this tapestry does not take jewels from the box which is being held out by her maidservant, but she is putting in the necklace that she is wearing, as if to show her desire to release herself from all of the passions that are unleashed by poorly-controlled senses. The sixth tapestry is then presenting an apology for free will and self-control, which then makes the meaning of “A Mon Sevl Desir” “according to my will only” Then again there are so many more assumptions about the sixth tapestry. I personally think both opinions are very sensible.

After that room we visited the last few displays on the second floor, which were some cool jewelry, more big pictures and portraits and the last one which was also interesting, the room of medieval armor and weapons. I thought this room was really cool because it gave you a good idea of what they used to defend themselves with and what they used as weapons in the medieval days.

 

 Then we just ended back at the gift shop and entrance. I really enjoyed the Musee de Cluny, it was one of my many highlights of my visit in Paris.  

 

  

Submitted by :

Adam Orr