The Sights of Paris

I saw a lot of things in Paris. Some are very well known, like the two I have already showed you. Some are not so well known, which are the things I am going to show you next.

This is Sacre Couer, translated as the "White Church." It sits on a hill and overlooks Paris. Construction began in 1875 and took 39 years. (So it finished in what year?)

This is the Palais Garnier, also known as the Paris Opera House. The book, musical, and movie The Phantom of the Opera are all set in this Opera House. However, there is no mysterious musician living in the grotto beneath the opera (so far as anyone knows...)

This picture is of the Mary Magdalene Church. It was originally built as a memorial by Napoleon but later was turned into a church. It is the only church in Paris that has no windows.

This bridge is called the Alexander III Bridge. It was a gift from Russia to commemorate the Franco-Russian Alliance of 1892. Tsar Alexander III, the second to last tsar before the Russian Revolution, is the man who it is named after, and his son, Tsar Nicholas II (the very last tsar, or king, of Russia) laid the first stone in 1896.

This is the Inverted Pyramid in the Louvre, which is perhaps the most famous art museum in the world. There is a bigger glass pyramid outside in the courtyard, and it is said that this upside-down pyramid is exactly the same size.

Also at the Louvre is this lovely lady, whom you all might recognize--the Mona Lisa! She is much smaller in person than you might think, only 30 inches tall and 21 inches wide. She is kept behind bulletproof glass in a temperature-controlled space in order to protect this almost 500-year-old painting from thieves and from the air, which is not good for the painting, as Leonardo da Vinci painted it on wood and not canvas.

So there you have it--a quick tour of some of Paris's highlights!