Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Paris Part I: Days 18-20

Day 18
Thursday, July 4

Fourth of July!  Instead of celebrating with BBQ, watermelon and fireworks like our friends and family back home, us european travelers spent the day....on a bus.  We got an early start from the Hague and said goodbye to the Netherlands.  We spent the entire day driving to Paris.  It was a relatively uneventful trip with most of the group sleeping on the way there.  There was a lively episode dealing with the emergency exit door almost popping off, but it worked out.  After a whole day of traveling, we finally made it to Paris.  And now, my love affair with Paris begins.


After we arrived, we wandered around to find some food.  We were staying by the Bastille, so we just meandered by the restaurants until we stumbled into a crepe place.  This would be the first of MANY crepes during my week visit.  After dinner, our professors led us on a short walking tour to the Notre Dame.


Here, are some original stones from the Bastille prison.  After the Bastille was stormed and destroyed, the original stones were separated and shipped to various places around France.  Kind of like a traveling exhibit in a museum, these stones were spread around France to show the people outside of Paris what had come about from the Revolution.  To this day, many of the original stones can still be seen around the countryside.  These are located in what is now a children's park.  And that's my professor's shoulder because I don't take good pictures....





We walked along the Seine all the way to the Notre Dame and stopped at this ice cream face favorited by my professor and his wife.  This ice cream was seriously some of the best ice cream I have ever had and we would return 3 more times for late night snacks.





After the ice cream, we walked to the Notre Dame.  It's really quite beautiful at night.  We were warned to watch our bags for pickpocketers, as they tend to be most concentrated in the tourist-y areas.  So we ended our July 4 with ice cream in front of the Notre Dame and under the stars.  Not a bad ending to American Independence Day.





Day 19

Friday, July 5

After class in the morning, we departed for what would be the most walking we would do on the entire trip.  We were staying by the Bastille, so we set off walking west along the river.  On the way we passed the Pont de l'Archevêché or the Archbishop's bridge.  As you can see there are locks covering the sides of the bridge.  These locks are called Love Padlocks and basically couples attach a lock to bridge together, usually writing their names and a date on the lock.  The symbolically "lock" their hearts together and to the bridge.  I had a couple friends who "locked" their hearts to Paris and threw the keys into the Seine below.  Either way, there are thousands of locks along the bridge and of course many places along the bridge to purchase said locks.






After walking past the bridge, we continued onto the world famous Champs-Élysées.  The street starts out at the Place de la Concorde which is a public square most known for its revolutionary activities.  It was here the King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine in January of 1793.  


Champs-Élysées is also home to the famous final leg on the Tour de France, which was actually going on while we were there.  Unfortunately we were not in Paris for the last stage, but some dedicated fans from our group still made a trek out to watch the Tour live at Stage 12.


Champs-Élysées is also the shopping mecca of Paris.  The main street has everything from luxury stores like Louis Vuitton to a Toyota store where they actually sell cars at their storefront.  But perhaps the most famous attraction of Champs-Élysées is at the end, where the Arc de Triomphe stands. 



This famous monument stands to commemorate those who lost their lives fighting in the French Revolutionary (not the same as the French Revolution of 1789) and Napoleonic Wars.  Inscribed inside the Arc are all of the French victories and the names of victorious generals.  Underneath the Arc lies the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers from WWI.  The beautiful Arc completed construction in 1836 and is modeled after the Arch of Titus in Rome.  The Arc is so large that after the Paris victory parade in 1919 (celebrating the end of WWI), Charles Godefroy, a French aviator, flew a plane through the Arc.  This Neoclassical Arc has become my favorite monument, barely surpassing the Eiffel Tower.



After the Arc, we proceeded to walk down across the river to the Eiffel Tower.  Along the way we of course stopped for crepes.



After many pictures along the way, we finally got to the Eiffel.  Le Tour Eiffel was constructed in 1889 by engineer, Gustave Eiffel, as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair.  Since then, it has become one of the most recognizable structures in the world.  It is the most-visited paid monument in the world and a friend told me that it is the most photographed object ever.  Standing at 324 m (1,063 ft), it is the tallest structure in Paris and provides the most gorgeous view of Paris.  From 1889 to 1930, it was the tallest structure in the world, but was beat out by the Chrysler Building in NY.  However, after the addition of the antenna top in 1957, it now stands 17 feet taller than the Chrysler Building. 



When you get to the Eiffel, there are two options: stairs or elevator.  Being the gung ho UCLA hill climbers and cost conscious group that we were, we chose the stairs (stairs are 3 Euro while the Elevator is like 13 Euro).  There are two levels accessible to the general public by stair.  In total there were 669 steps from the ground to the second level.  After walking up the seemingly endless spiraling staircase, we reached the second level observation deck to be greeted with a breathtaking view of Paris.  It’s definitely the best place to see the city in its entirety. 






After spending a good amount of time taking in the view, we descended the Eiffel and made our way back towards our hotel at the Bastille.  In total, we had walked around 10 miles, including going up and down the Eiffel.  So of course we rewarded ourselves with the amazing ice cream from the first night by the Notre Dame.  This would only be the second of many visits.

Day 20
Saturday, July 6

After a Saturday morning class, we departed for the Notre Dame to see it during the day.  Notre Dame or “Our Lady” is perhaps one of the most famous churches in the world.  It’s considered a prime example of French Gothic architecture.  It’s a Catholic Church and there was actually a service going on while we were visiting.  Unlike Westminster Abbey, visitors are allowed inside the Notre Dame during service.  It’s also free, which is always a plus. 

Notre Dame by day




Beautiful stained glass windows



We didn’t spot any hunchbacks or talking gargoyles while there, sorry Quasimoto.



When we were all done with the Notre Dame, we just walked a little ways down the road to the less famous Sainte-Chapelle.  This became one of my favorite churches of the trip, out ranking the Notre Dame, Westminster and St. Paul’s.  Sainte-Chapelle is a smaller medieval Gothic chapel located on the side of the Palais de Justice.  It was originally commissioned by King Louis IX to hold his collection of Passion Relics, including Christ’s Crown of Thorns.  It was consecrated in April of 1248.  The most striking part of this old chapel is the beautiful stained glass windows engulfing the walls of the small main room.  The 15 windows are considered to be one of the most extensive collections of 13th-century stained glass in the world.  The windowpanes still clearly show the stories of the Infancy of Christ, John the Evangelist, Genesis etc.  the back wall features a beautiful rose window and it is definitely one of the most beautiful sights in Paris. 





We then had to head back to the hotel early because we were taking a class trip to a Château outside of Paris.  So we all piled into the buses and went to Vaux-le-Vicomte.  This baroque Château is located about 55km away from Paris.  The chateau was finished in 1661 for a superintendent of finances for King Louis XIV.  The architect Louis Le Vau and landscape architect André Le Nôtre worked together to create this magnificent palace and rounds.  It can actually be seen in the James Bond movie Moonraker as the home of villain Hugo Drax.






The Château is beautiful and the grounds are even more picturesque.  The go on forever and the giant pool reflects the back of the palace creating a serene and stunning sight.



At night, they lay candles throughout the grounds and individually light each one as the sun sets.  Here we are with our professor Barry O’Neill.





 We spent the evening exploring the grounds and just taking in this beautiful spot.  There were even fireworks at night!


 Then we all had a very long but entertaining bus ride back to Paris.



  

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Amsterdam: Days 14-17

Day 14
Sunday, June 30

In the morning we bid adieu to Brussels and loaded onto the bus for Amsterdam.  We made a pit stop along the way to a place called Deltapark.  This by far was one of the more random stops on our trip.  This place is a waterpark/science museum/irrigation exhibit.  Oh yeah, it's also in the middle of nowhere.  The part of Deltapark that we went to see was the Deltaworks.  Deltaworks is a huge innovative system of dams and dykes put in place in the Netherlands to keep the country from flooding.  Roughly 20% of the Netherlands is located below sea level, so after a devastating flood in 1953 the Deltaworks project was put in place to help prevent future floods. 

The red lines are the Deltaworks dams

It's actually a really beautiful place and it was nice to stretch our legs after a long bus trip.  


Deltaworks



One of the most impressive parts about the Deltaworks project, is that the dams are designed so that the natural ecosystems of the Dutch coastline are virtually unaffected.  The dams allow the natural tide of the ocean to go in and out, preserving the delicate ecosystems.  They do this by raising and lowering the enormous dam only when necessary.  They do this using a system of hydraulics the raise and lower the barrier.  It's really quite impressive and many other countries (including the US) have made visit to the Deltaworks to observe this innovative system.  The US has visited in regards to rebuilding the dams and levies in New Orleans.  

It's was actually really beautiful out there.

While we learned about all the economic consequences of the Deltaworks project, we took some time to take a turn on the famous water slide.  One of our professors called it one of the highlights of the trip each year.



Presenting future Leader of America Sam Haws and me on a Dutch Waterslide


We finally made it to The Hague in the evening, or as we would later come to know it, Den Haag.  The Hague is actually the capital city of the Netherlands.  However, it's actually kind of a sleepy town.  We arrived on a Sunday night and literally the streets were deserted and it was a ghost town.  However, we got to stay at the Hilton in Den Haag.  It was both a luxury and a curse.  The Hilton was super nice and the breakfast was to die for, BUT there was no internet except for in the lobby.  The struggle was real.  It was just for a few days though, so we survived fine enough.


Day 15
Monday, July 1

We forwent class in the morning in order to make a trip to Amsterdam!  The Hague is roughly 40 min-1 hour away from Amsterdam, so we bussed into the city.  It was a drizzly overcast day in Amsterdam, but the city still looked beautiful.  The buildings are all so narrow and tall and there are bicycles EVERYWHERE.  Seriously, there is a sidewalk and then a separate bike sidewalk.  Crossing the street is like a double whammy, because you have to cross the bike path AND THEN the actual street.

That red part on the left side of the street is the bike lane.

Our first stop was the Van Gogh Museum!  This was one of my favorite museums of the trip.  The museum was organized so that it told the story of Van Gogh's life and displayed the works by when he painted them.  For example, all the paintings he created when he was living in Amsterdam were displayed together with a narrative of his time and life in Amsterdam.  The museum also had the captions in English, which is always helpful.

Outside of the museum


After the Van Gogh, we wandered outside and came across the "I amsterdam" sign located outside of the Rijksmuseum.


 It was pretty cute and we all took pictures on our respective letters.  Of course "a" is for Allyson.


After wandering around the Rijksmuseum for a while, we walked to the other side of town to the Anne Frank House.  

Canals of Amsterdam

The Anne Frank house is the actual home that Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis during WWII.  It was actually her father's office building with a secret annex built into the back to house the Frank family and some family friends.  The museum had a very long line, but was definitely worth the wait.  During the tour you get to walk through the actual house and see the bookcase that hid the secret annex from the outside world.  But, the house is empty.  Otto Frank, Anne's father, wanted to keep the house empty to make a statement and represent the emptiness left behind after the Nazis ransacked the annex and captured the Frank family.  The rooms are barren and there are quotes written on the wall taken from Anne's diary.  The whole experience was very moving and I definitely recommend visiting the house if you are ever in Amsterdam.


The Anne Frank house

We spent the rest of the day wandering around Amsterdam.  We got some amazing ice cream and roamed the streets.  We also walked through the Red Light district, but I have no photos to show from that.  It was definitely an interesting experience.  

Bicycles on the canals of Amsterdam

We caught a late train back to the Hague and turned in for the night.

Day 16
Tuesday, July 2

Today, we had a shortened class because we had a class trip to the Binnenhof!  The Binnenhof is the Dutch parliament.  It was actually really interesting to see just how different things work over there.  The Dutch government is a Constitutional Monarchy, meaning that they have a monarch (King Willem Alexander I) but also a parliament.  

King Willem Alexander

Unlike the Constitutional Monarchy of England, where the Queen is basically just a symbolic figure with no real political power, the Dutch King Willem Alexander actually plays a role in the government.  He actually only recently ascended the throne in April of this year after his mother, Queen Beatrix, abdicated.  The government is taken much more casually in the Netherlands.  The senators just walk around the square of the Binnenhof and the King often bicycles into work.  Very different from the Secret Service and bullet-proof cars that we're used to in America.  

Binnenhof

Also, their constitution is in their giftshop.  Yeah, the giftshop.  It's just sitting in a glass case in the middle.  We didn't even know it was the constitution until some lady pointed it out.  

It's literally just sitting in the middle of this giftshop




This is the room where the annual budget is announced to the Dutch people.  All of the senators attend and the King and Queen sit on the thrones on the right side of the room.  They ride into the Binnenhof in a golden carriage and there's a bunch of fanfare and pomp and circumstance.  It's quite the event in Dutch government, probably along the same lines as the State of the Union address by our President each year combined with like a mini parade.

Dat gold carriage doh.

Queen Beatrix on Budget Day

After our trip to the Binnenhof, we went to the beach!  It was just a short tram ride to the shore and we spent the afternoon just hanging out.  Not too different from a regular afternoon at UCLA, but instead of Santa Monica, we were in The Hague.


It was kind of overcast, so this was about the view we were getting.


Day 17
Wednesday, July 3

On our last day in the Netherlands, we had class in the morning and then departed for our last trip to Amsterdam!  Once we got into the city we headed for the world famous Heineken Brewery!


We got to learn about the history of the Heineken company and see the process on how they make their famous brew.

Where they stir up the secret ingredients

Photo op

After we toured the factory, we got to go up onto the roof of the Brewery.  There was a beautiful view from the top and we enjoyed some delicious burgers and of course a few complementary Heinekens!



After we got done with Heineken, we went back to the amazing ice cream place we found the first day and then took an early train back to the Hague.  That would be it for Amsterdam and the Netherlands for we were on to Paris in the morning!  So we took the "Uitgang" (exit, the only Dutch word I picked up) and got ready for a long bus ride into Paris!