We headed out in the morning to visit the Louvre, probably the most famous museum in the world and home of the Mona Lisa. After spending the morning there, we had lunch at a boulangerie and visited Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois, a nearby historic church. We continued on to Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the oldest church in Paris. We visited a third church, Saint-Eustache, a church we saw on our first day in Paris. We ended our day with dinner in a restaurant next to the church.
Continue reading “The Louvre and Three Historic Churches”Musée d’Orsay and the Tuileries Garden
We headed out a bit early for our timed entry to the Musée d’Orsay to take a very quick walk through the Tuileries Garden. Afterwards, we spent a few hours in the museum before heading out for lunch nearby. We then crossed the Seine to visit the Place de la Concorde before heading back into Tuileries Garden. We ultimately ended the day at Place Vendôme, also nearby.
Continue reading “Musée d’Orsay and the Tuileries Garden”A Hot Summer Morning at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
It was hotter than we expected today as we arrived at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens when they opened at 10am today. We didn’t spend too much time there as it only got hotter throughout the day. It is always enjoyable to see how the flowers change over time and of course to see what is going on with the local birds.
Continue reading “A Hot Summer Morning at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens”Around the Tiergarten
We spent most of the day in and around the Tiergarten, a large park on the west side of Berlin’s city center. We started out at the Brandenburger Tor, checked out the exterior of the Reichstag, and walked through part of the park. We saw various monuments and memorials and ultimately ended up at the southwest corner of the park by the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.
Continue reading “Around the Tiergarten”Remnants of the Berlin Wall
Today, we mostly visited portions that remain of the Berlin Wall. While doing so, we also saw Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous crossing between East and West Berlin. And we spent some time at the Topography of Terror, a Dokumentationszentrum (Documentation Center) that covers the Nazis’ rise to power and the evils that they committed. There is also some special focus on this particular site as it is where the Gestapo headquarters was located.
Continue reading “Remnants of the Berlin Wall”