War, Sculptures, and Shopping

Friday was the second day of our four day museum pass, but it was a very different day than staring at beautiful artwork.  We started off in the War Museum.  We both have a strong interest in WWI and WWII, so we were both eager to learn more, but before we reached those exhibits, we saw Napolean's tomb.  Jeremy thinks that it is a bit odd that the French revere Napolean as almost a god when he was actually an arrogant dictator who lost all the land that he gained and died exiled in a shack.  His tomb is surrounded by the names of all of his famous battles except Waterloo, which was his final battle and his biggest loss.

We moved into the WWI and WWII exhibits, which began with the rising tensions in the 1870's, moved into and through WWI, and then through the end of WWII.  The exhibits had descriptions in both French and English, so we had no trouble keeping up with the explanations.  We learned a lot about both wars.  I found it ironic that Hitler's downfall was similar to Napolean's as they both were overconfident and their decline began when they attacked Russia.  The exhibits covered three floors of the museum, and the history was told via artwork, pictures, memorabilia, weapons, and excellent descriptions.

We skipped the medieval war exhibits and walked toward the Rodin Museum.  Auguste Rodin was a French sculptor who lived from 1840-1917.  He is one of the most famous sculptors of all time with his most famous works being The Thinker and The Gates of Hell.  We got to see both of these sculptures at the museum.  We walked through a temporary exhibit first and then out into a beautiful garden that had some of his pieces scattered throughout.  We had a cup of coffee and learned a bit more about him.  The museum was in an old abbey turned hotel that he called home for much of his life.  He donated all of the sculptures and paintings that he owned, made by him or others, to France so that they could start this museum.  After wandering the park, we went in to see the permanent exhibit.  The emotion that he was able to evoke through each piece was incredible.  I felt lucky to have seen it firsthand.

We changed gears for the third time in the day.  This time we weren't thinking wars or sculpture but shopping!  I'm really not into fashion or expensive clothes, but we were headed toward Champ Elseeys, and the weather was perfect!  We began at the obelisk and headed toward the Arc de Triomphe.

We walked past some of the most expensive shops in the world.  I've never cared if I owned anything by Louis Vuitton, and since we just found out that we should be in the new house by the end of the month, we really weren't in the market for a new Mercedes Benz (or any car for that matter), but it was still fun to look.  When we finally made our way to the Arc de Triomphe, it was nearly dusk.

There was a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier complete with many old veterans and a military band.  We took some pictures and then headed up the few hundreds stairs to the top of the Arc de Triomphe.  The views of Paris were the most fantastic that we had seen so far.  And then, it got dark.  The original City of Lights became magical before our eyes.  As amazing as it had been to be in the Eiffel Tower, it was even better to see the cityscape with it as the star.  We spent a lot of time enjoying the views and the fresh air before calling it a night.