Oy With the Poodles Already: Paris Walk #15

Date: 9/27/12 and 10/1/12
Of Art, War, and World's Fairs: Les Invalides, Musee Rodin, La Tour Eiffel

I did this walk with a few different people, and at different times. It's a long walk, so I chose to split it up between days. It starts at the Grand and Petit Palais, which I learned were both built for the World's Fair. I think that is so interesting, because they are extremely beautiful buildings and I had no idea they weren't around that long. I also think it's funny that these things that seem to really be "Paris" for me weren't even originally here. I visited the Petit Palais with Cori, and it has one of the prettiest doors I've ever seen. It is weird to talk about a door like that, but wait til you see the picture. This walk also includes my favorite bridge in the whole world: Pont Alexandre III. (Pont means bridge in French) It is seriously the most beautiful bridge in the world, and another thing that opened for a world's fair! Who knew. I also found out from Sydney that it is the bridge that is featured in the dramatic ending of Anastasia, one of the best movies ever. So many fun facts about this bridge. It is amazing and very memorable. On this walk you also see the Invalides, which is a very large building with a golden dome at the top. It is home to the Musee de l'armee, which houses lots of armor, weapons, and just pretty much everything to do with war. I learned that during WWI, 11% of the French population was killed or wounded from this war. It was really devastating. The walk ends at the Eiffel Tower, which we visited as a group for FHE one night. How lucky is that?! Fun fact for you: it is painted using 60 tons of paint, and it has been painted red, yellow, and now brown. I cannot even imagine a red or yellow Eiffel tower, and I'm really glad they settled on brown!! It was amazing getting to go to the top and see the amazing view of Paris.