The Perfect Way to Spend Your First Day in Paris

The Gorgeous Cluny, ignore the construction...

I am going to go ahead and pat myself on the back for planning this part of the trip very well. Well done, Me!
Anyway, we went to the Cluny Museum first thing. It was about a block away from where we stayed at the Hotel Marignan and happens to be a smaller museum that sells, and participates in, the Paris Museum Pass. Pick up one of those and you can skip ticket lines at a bundle of monuments and museums: it covers your admission and lets you go straight to security. There were maybe 2 other people at the Cluny as we got there right as it opened. We spent a short time there before moving on to our next sight and came back another day, but we took a couple photos...



The Cluny lets you see some stained glass up close, usually the windows are much farther away.

We made the 5 minute walk from the Cluny to...NOTRE DAME! (Pronounced Noh-Truh -DAAhm) The greatest Gothic Cathedral, arguably, in the world. Notre Dame means Our Lady (referring to Mary) and she is quite a lady, probably my favorite spot in Paris was right here next to her on the Ile de la Cite.

You may notice the soldiers behind me, evidence of the heightened security here.

We got to know Our Lady very well. We climbed up her towers and met her many gargoyles. None of them dance or sing, sorry Disney fans. I've heard from multiple sources about how long and slow the line can be to get up into the bell tower, but we got there shortly after the tower opened and only waited 20 minutes or so. All you Paris travel junkies know how good that is, and it is only the beginning of how minimal crowds and lines were for us.

 

Protective nets to keep us from jumping a la Quasimodo.

Even on a hazy day the view was pretty fabulous!

  And we climbed up and met the bells. While we were up there, the bells in the other tower started ringing, which was awesome. Sorry, this video isn't great, but you can hear the bells!

I guess it was a bell like this one in the other tower that we heard ringing.

I am a little Gargoyle obsessed. I just really liked that this eagle is, like, eating grapes or something. I  loved getting up to close to them, seeing the details, naming them...

I call these ones Herbert and Sam.

We climbed up on top of the bell tower as well, as if the views weren't good enough before, and we got the full 360 of Paris.

 

 Yes, we saw Notre Dame top to bottom! Outside...

and in. I am a nut for stained glass. Notre Dame's Rose window is among the largest you'll find anywhere.

And we wander around the back and check out Our Lady's flying buttresses. She looks good from every angle. This is going to be a super long post, by all means keep reading for the world's most beautiful windows at Sainte Chapelle:

This stunning little chapel was built to house the Crown of Thorns, a relic of the Catholic Church. The is, hands down, the greatest stained glass I have ever seen, glorious colored light from every side.

Pro tip: The camera will probably pick up more color through a window that is not getting direct sunlight. look at all those blues and greens

And on to our next stop...

The LOUVRE! It wasn't hard to find what was once the largest building in the world, but it took a while to get to the entrance. It's big. Really big. Really, really big.

The Napoleon III Apartments: Lavish and large.

The now enclosed courtyards of the Louvre hosts hoards of great Greek (and imitation Greek) statues.

Winged Victory, one of the big hits of the Louvre, does not disappoint.  And here is the world's most famous face! I was a little star struck. She isn't big, but she is beautiful. This is as close as you can get to her these days. I guess her theft back in 1913 left the French feeling very protective. She was moved something like 7 times during WWII to keep her out of Nazi hands, her caretaker almost died for her. This is the part where I make an obligatory comment about her smile.

Surrounded by masterpieces, how does one handle all of the art? All of the history? Well you enjoy it, brag about it, then you go back to your hotel and eat macarons.

Lee and Michelangelo's Slave

I wondered if the Louvre would live up to the hype or if I would be one of those people who left thinking they'd just spent all day being bored by old stuff. If you are one of those people, then I am really sorry you went to arguably the greatest museum of ancient-romantic era art and couldn't find anything that took your breath away. I am sorry that the grand scope of human achievements bores you. Go home and read a book.

 Learn a little about the how Michelangelo discovered figures in enormous marble slabs without creating models or sketches to copy from. Or how Rembrandt did one of his famous self portraits using the same brush for every stroke: every texture--hair clothing, skin--were created by the artist without the assistance of different sized or shaped brushes. Study French history from Louis XIV to Napoleon Bonaparte, the turbulent bloody times that led to this museum being the first of it's kind being open to the public. And make sure you explore the more recent events that led to the theft of over 4 million pieces of art by Nazi leadership. A significant portion of the art at this museum was hidden away to protect it from bombs, looting, and calculated theft during WWII. Much modern art--"degenerate" is the term Hitler used--was burned. Masterworks that will never be seen again. If you knew just how close this all came to being rubble and embers, how close we came to losing the greatest cultural artifacts and sites in Europe, maybe you wouldn't yawn your way through the Louvre. People made incredible sacrifices to keep this art safe, it was worth risking their lives.

If you don't enjoy this incredible collection, don't blame the art or the curator. It's not them, it's you. It's okay to not know about all this, I didn't. But before I visited one of the worlds greatest museums, I took the time to learn. I researched the crap out of this trip with the help of good guidebooks, the internet, and my library card, so that I would get more out of my trip. The time spent in preparation was well worth it if it meant that I could chuckle at the look on the Pope's face as Napoleon crowns himself.



Danish for a Day

We are back from our Transatlantic travels and I am ready to share! I have a lot of photos and stories and travel tips, so I hope you are prepared for a dump of information over several blog posts. Let's start off with how great Paul was flying to Los Angeles.

We learned the secret to other people liking your kids: dress them nicely. We put Paul in a baby fedora, so everyone at the airport thought he was the cutest. Furthermore, he really was listening to our directions and being generally charming. He loved sitting by the window and was so excited when the plane took off, but I didn't really know how to help him with the pressure changes hurting his ears. I tried getting him to yawn and gave him chewy snacks, nothing seemed to help except just landing the plane. Good thing he wasn't going on the long flight with us!

Aunt Megan picked him up at the airport and Lee and I rushed off to catch our connection. Next stop: Copenhagen!

You don't want to know about the sights or smells of our 11ish hour flight. No, we didn't get any sleep, we actually weren't even sitting by each other. We arrived at our chilly destination around 11 AM and tried to clean ourselves up and bit and figure out money and transportation and food. Being that hungry and that tired makes everything very hard. Not speaking Danish was barely a hiccup. We got cash (bad exchange rate), got on the train (easy peasy) and a few minutes later found ourselves in the center of a new city!

 

We first visited Vor Frue Kirke: The Church of Our Lady. You can see it's short, rectangular spire behind Lee. This church is the home to Bertel Thorvaldsen's original Christus and the 12 Apostles.

 

I have seen so many replicas of this particular statue that I thought seeing the Christus in the space it was planned for would be a neat way to spend our layover. As an added bonus we also got to see all 12 Apostles as well! It was the original 12 plus Paul and, I believe, minus Judas. Peter is the statue holding keys, most of the rest of the Apostles are recognizable because, gruesomely enough, they are holding the implements of their deaths. Hey, we had to tell them apart somehow!

 

 If you do a little study of history and architecture (you really should before you visit Europe) Then you can get a good feel for the contrast between Protestant churches, like this one, and the Catholic Churches (we'll visit more of those in a few days). The minimal décor, the simple lines, the size of the space are all so well suited to the white marble centerpiece: the resurrected Lord with his arms outstretched.

 

 I was so tired and hungry that I was dizzy. Does it show in the photo? We made our way from the church straight to the buffet down the street and we ate. And ate. On days like this one I really love that overstuffed feeling. After many hungry hours it felt good to be full. That at least got us a little bit of energy so we could make our way through town...

Pictured here: "Town."

 

...To Vor Frelsers Kirke! (Church of Our Savior). We did a fair bit of wandering as our phone's GPS got confused, but the skyline of Copenhagen is dotted with Church spires, this one is very distinctive and easy to find. I found the sight in-SPIRE-ing. (Don't worry, I am slapping myself for you for that pun.)

 

Unfortunately the stairs around the spire (Oh yes, those are stairs on the OUTSIDE of the spire) didn't open until February 27th, and we were in Copenhagen on the 25th. That just gives us a reason to come back I guess! We went inside the church...

Lee and the Altar Piece behind him.

I wish I could have heard this organ play! I love visiting these big churches, they are all unique and the art in them is fantastic!

We liked strolling around the picturesque canals and harbors:

 

And checking out the unique architecture...

We also popped into the National Museum of Denmark for little while. We saw some medieval stuff, some Viking stuff...honestly I think I was practically delirious with exhaustion so I was barely able to take it in.

These are the best trumpets I've ever seen.

 

I love when museums use creepy mannequins in their displays. I don't know why, it just gives cracks me up.

And then it was time to head back to the train station, gather our bags, and go to the airport for the last leg of our flight. Even though we got a little lost and were completely pooped, I'd say our day in Copenhagen was successful. All the places we visited were free admission, we got a good, big meal and saw just enough of the city to know what we would might want to come back for. This was Lee's first time in Europe and my first time in Denmark, I think we managed quite well. We spent our wait in the airport on the phone with Paul, snoozing, and wishing we were snoozing. It was a clear night, so I could see all of Europe lit up beneath us as we flew. I couldn't get decent photo, but it really looked like the view from the ISS or something. It was wild! And, as we descended to Orly Airport, I could see the Eiffel Tower welcoming us to Paris with her lights. Mercifully we had a shuttle van to take us to our hotel on a quiet street in the Latin Quarter where we could take a hot shower and curl up in a warm bed. I seem to sleep my very best after jetting around the world.

 More on our visit in Paris on my next post, and I will be sharing some valuable travel lessons and tips from my experience soon as well. If anyone is planning or trip or would like to plan a trip, let me know and I will share some of the great resources I found that helped me plan this one!

Claire's "10 Vacation Mistakes that will Ruin Your Life"

I just found an article entitled:


10 Vacation Mistakes that will Ruin Your Life


I didn't read that article, but I am pretty sure it went something like this....


Going on vacation should be relaxing, renewing, eye-opening, and memorable, but sometimes our travels don't go as smoothly as we hope. Missed flights, lost luggage, and feuding families can put a negative spin on your vacation, but they don't usually do permanent damage. Life goes on! But what if they didn't? What if leaving the house and trying something new literally ruins your life? Here are a few handy tips that should ensure that your travels do not completely destroy everything and everyone you love.


10. Stealing the Mona Lisa
First of all, it's been done before! People, let's at least be original with our art thefts. But also remember that you would never be able to sell such a well known piece of art, you couldn't display it in your home, and you may end up being caught by the authorities. Just as with the drug smuggling in Mexico, I suspect you would more than ruin your vacation with this blunder. You would probably end up with a criminal record and some prison time besides. I don't think the Guillotine is used anymore, but I don't think this would be the way to find out! leave the priceless art and artifacts in the museums where the whole world can enjoy them.


9. Forgetting your water pack in the Sahara
You've checked and double checked your packing list, but your certain you've forgotten something. You ignore the uneasy feeling until you've been riding your camel for 7.5 hours and you stop for a drink. Oh, no! You've forgotten your water! Doctors and Nutritionists are always saying that we need to drink lots of water, that it will make us healthier, well they are right! Not only that, forgetting to have enough drinking water could be a trip ruining or life ending experience. Dehydration and Heat Exhaustion are no way to go! Be prepared so you don't die alone chasing the mirage on the horizon.


8. Traveling into a War Zone without an Escort
You may be ready to sacrifice life and limb to win first prize at the local documentary film festival, but consider before you head into the line of fire: Do I really want to spend my vacation dodging bullets, Claymores and AMRAMs? I imagine even the most hardened soldiers in the world spend their R and R away from the front lines, and that is what a vacation should be: Rest and Relaxation. You can find plenty of exciting vacation spots without crossing into the danger zone.
As you plan your trip, here are some questions you should be asking yourself: What percentage of this town or city is bombed our rubble? What percentage of people there are carrying automatic weapons? Am I likely to be in the way of major military operations while I travel? Am I legally allowed to visit that area without authorization from a high ranking military officer? If the answer is 'Yes' or 'over 50%' then I might hit google and look for a new destination.


7. Having an Extra-Marital Affair
In cities like Las Vegas and Amsterdam, it isn't hard to find prostitutes, but that doesn't make finding them a good idea. Consider how this travel mistake might negatively impact life after your trip. 1 in 5 American adults are carrying an STI/STD, if you are one of them then it would be more considerate to not share that around. Seek medical treatment. If you are not currently one of those infected individuals, you might want to stay that way. Not only that, but if you've made marriage vows, breaking them may really throw your life off the rails! Consider your partner's feelings first and remember the family you have back home. If you aren't interested in having a secret second family, it might be best for you to simply avoid the Red Light District and spend the evening in your hotel room watching HBO alone instead.


6. Buying Drugs or Guns in Mexico
I know, I know, what happens on Spring Break stays in Spring Break, right? Well, as much as we wish everyone could forget that drunken karaoke night in Cabo, youtube is forever! But getting drunk and singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You" to your ex is far from the worst vacation mistake you can make. In an effort to crack down on cartels and smuggling operations coming out of Mexico, the LEO's south of the border are getting serious about checking vehicles as you cross the border. Even if it seems like a good idea to cart back a few grams of heroine or a trunk full of AK's, think again! If you are caught, you'll be serving your time not in the US of A, but down in a Mexican prison and you might find yourself down there with no English speaking legal council and nothing but a soiled prison mattress for comfort. Not only would your Spring Break be over in a snap, you may end up doing time for months or even years!
It's easy as this: To avoid ruining your vacation (and your life) you should never agree to be a drug mule or gun runner while traveling. Though this tip is specific to Mexico, it is a good rule of thumb for anywhere in the world!

5. Petting the Crocodile
You are not Steve Erwin and this is not the Discovery Channel. Respect the local wildlife. You don't have to go swimming off the coast of that seal island in South Africa, you don't have to pick up the Rattlesnake, and you don't need to hang out with a pack of Grizzlies to enjoy the great outdoors. The Bison in Yellowstone may look docile, but they will gore the crap out of you if they feel threatened. Take photos from afar, stay in the safari jeep, and be smart about where you go swimming. If you try to do too much wildlife interaction you may find yourself less a limb and plus a hefty hospital bill, not to mention a spoiled trip!


4. Bringing explosives on the Plane
There is a decent chance you would get caught with them trying to get through security at the airport, and who wants to spend their whole trip being grilled by Federal Agents? Not me! Instead of relaxing on the beaches of Hawai'i, you could find yourself on the beaches if Gitmo, not my top pick. And then even if you did make it through security, can you imagine how stressful that would be? After sweating your way passed TSA you would find yourself thinking, "Do I look weird? That guy is looking at me like I look weird. Oh, mercy, he is going to talk to the Flight Attendant. HE KNOWS! He is going to alert her to my suspicious behavior! Act cool, be casual. Why oh why did I ever decide to bring these explosives on my trip?!?"
The solution is simple: Leave that C-4 at home! It's heavy, hazardous, and could make your vacation the point in your life when you went from Suburban Dad to Public Enemy #1. Leave your hazardous materials and home and save yourself the stress!


3. Being Kidnapped by a Gang of Human Traffickers
One minute you are walking down a lonely alley late at night in a strange city a little intoxicated and very alone, and the next minute you are surrounded by unfriendly strangers who whisk you away to your knew home in a Colombian brothel! We've all been there, when we are traveling in a dangerous part of town late at night by ourselves and we've failed to tell anyone where we're going, but Liam Neeson isn't your dad and no one is going to find you! It's best to stick to populated areas, don't tell strangers where you're staying, make sure you stick with a buddy or at least are checking regularly with someone back home, and don't leave your drink unattended. Believe it or not these simple precautions can prevent  your disappearing from the life you know and into a flea infested hellhole


2. Joining a Murderous Death Cult
Now, I'm not sure how many of these there are floating around, but if action movies are any indicator then there are a lot! And they mostly exist in fascinating locations and are very evil. It might seem like fun and games to chant a bunch of nonsense syllables and wear a flowing robe, but then the next thing you know you are standing at a sacrificial altar and someone hands you a knife. You are suddenly in the precarious position of not wanting to let down your new friends but you also don't want to endanger your immortal soul.
To avoid being placed in this position in the first place, don't join the Murderous Death Cult. If you want to connect with people in your travels try a youth hostel or visiting the local pub to make friends. You might find you have a lot in common and no one will ask you to gut a virgin to feed Zorp the Lizard King.


1. Bringing along the One Ring
Your Precious calls to you as you pack your suit case, "Take me with you, wouldn't it be awesome to be invisible and skip the TSA lines at the airport?" Yes, that would be awesome, but when you travel with the One Ring you are carrying all of it's baggage. You have Gollum following you, waiting for the right chance to throttle you in your sleep, you may be chased by Nazgul to the point that you can't even enjoy the Grand Canyon, and, of course, Sauron's Eye will be continuously watching you. Ick! I prefer privacy when I shower! All of those will ruin your trip for sure, but will they really ruin your life? Y-E-S, yes! The One Ring will weigh so heavily on your mind and consume you with temptation till you become a Gollum yourself. Yes, you'd drop 100 lbs, but is the trade off in rotted teeth worth it? Absolutely not! Let a Hobbit toss the Ring for you ASAP and go backpacking in new Zealand...without the side trip to Mordor!

End of Year Adventures

We had a very busy and exciting Christmas and New Years Eve down here in Green Valley. Here are a few highlights:

Christmas Eve with Kaden, Paul, and Aubrie

 All the kids got new Christmas pajamas and slippers. Before bed, Aubrie said to Grandpa "Good night, Santa!" I think the hat confused her. Kody played beautiful Christmas music on the piano, we played at the park, read stories and decorated Ninja-bread men.

One of the many Christmas stories we read Christmas Eve.

We waited until Christmas Eve to put any gifts under the tree (we wanted them to stay wrapped), so we were able to film the kids as they saw the presents for the first time:

We convince Paul to not rip packages open willy-nilly and instead he liked bringing gifts to random people.

This is right before Paul made a beeline for the nuts.

Candy, monster feet, cars, road rug, and my new glasses!

 We all went to the Desert Museum together, but I forgot my camera that day! I got to play with a Hermit Crab (Paul wandered away before the crab came out of it's shell), and a humming bird landed on Grandma Karen. It was a little cold, by Arizona standards anyway, we were definitely glad to have jackets, hats, and gloves!

We also visited the International Wildlife Museum. This was our first time there and I was really impressed with how much there is to see there. It is full of taxidermy animals, which sounds creepy but it was pretty cool. See for yourself!

This is a non-taxidermy plastic replica of a Do-Do Bird.

Aubrie and her new pal the shaggy Buffalo

The only picture we got of the whole group together.

 In the future, when Paul asks me about life when he was two, I will start every story with, "A long time ago, when you were only knee high to a Giraffe..."

We played lots of games and watched a few movies on Le Big Screen, we also visited San Xavier Del Bac.

Paul really wanted to climb on top of the grotto hill.

January 31, 2015

It was great to spend Christmas and New Years with the Phillips and Jones families! It was a great way to finish the year. I am excited to see what 2016 will bring our family, and I hope it brings good things to all of you, my friends and family!

Phillips Family Christmas Card

Here is our seasonal greeting card. No need to wait for it in the mail, it's here!

2015 has just flown by! It doesn't seem that long ago that Paul had just started toddling around, now he's running, climbing, jumping, and diving all over our lives. Not to mention talking! Most of what he says in unintelligible, a lot only Lee and I can translate, but a few words are very clear. He's also invented his own pantomime sign language for those oh so important things he can't figure out how to say. Paul is into planes, trains, and automobiles. He loves books, movies, playing outside, and general dare-devilry. This weekend we visited Tubac to see their Luminaries and Paul got to meet Santa Claus. Paul was doing this hilarious face and I am not really sure what it means.



Lee has been kept busy at work, but not so busy that he hasn't been able to do fun things with us. With all the fun trips we've been able to do as well as fun weekends around here, we've really appreciated the 9/80 schedule that gives him every second Friday off.

I've had the chance to do some projects with a local theater this year. I taught musical theater for a week long arts camp, I was also in a production of "Almost Maine" in November. It's been nice to get back into theater scene, I am looking forward to more of that next year.

I'm going to keep this short, you can learn more about our exciting year on past blog posts. For now, just know that our weather is better than yours (finally!) but we hope you enjoy a white Christmas, I certainly miss the chill, snow covered nights of Christmas up north.

Merry Christmas or, as we say in our neck of the woods, Feliz Navidad! Have a happy new year with all the challenges and blessings life brings.

Love, Claire, Lee and Paul

The Big Two

Two years old. The terrible Twos. 730 days. Paul turned two last weekend and now he is exactly as cute as he ever was, he just knows more words. His latest word is "Ham." Fear not! We documented his big day with pictures. Enjoy!
Grandma Jamie visited us and we celebrated all week long. We visited the Desert Museum:

She sacrificed her feet so the mean ducks wouldn't bite Paul.

Paul insisted on sitting on every brass Javalina at the entrance.

 

 

 

We also visited the Air and Space Museum. Hundreds of planes, jets, engines, missiles...

Paul and Lee head to the Moon!

You don't want to ride on a plane that Paul is flying

 Paul's Birthday happened to coincide with the Pecan Festival this year, so we went there to get some treats, a balloon animal, a pony ride, and see lots of tractors.

Paul is way into tractors now.

All the fun of a fancy carnival birthday party, none of the expense or stress, I don't think we're going to do better than this for Paul's 3rd Birthday.

A Very Potter Halloween

We tried to fit as much Halloween fun in these past couple of weeks as we could. We went to the Stake Halloween Carnival:

Lee and I were assaulted by several young Hogwarts students.

Paul cheated at all the carnival games to get maximum prizes, but no one seemed to mind. We also had a ward Trunk-or-Treat which Paul enjoyed with a little help from his friend:

Not going to share that candy!

We went to Buckalew Farms with cousins Katie and Kasey to feed and pet farm animals, go through the corn maze, and ride in a tractor pulled wagon to the pumpkin patch and choose out a pumpkin.

Paul loved the goats and this turkey.

And to wrap it all up, we had a Halloween party and did some Trick-or-Treating. What a sugar overload!

I have no idea how many cookies Paul ate. I lost track.

Margo Poulsen and Paul Phillips

Professor Quirrell, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Dobby.

Now we have far too much left over candy and junk food, so please come to my house and eat all my sugar. Please.