A view down into the forum from the Palatine Hill..This was the heart of Rome for a thousand years, and included the Senate, a main square, the temple of Vesta, the arch of Titus and lots of other things. Hard to imagine the glory when so little is left.
This is a sculpture on one of the side columns of the Victor Emmanuel Monument. This enormous monument to Italy's first king was built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Italy's unification, which was in 1870. It was just a patchwork of city states before that date.
Looking down from the roof of the Victor Emmanuel Monument into what was supposd to be a new subway station. When the contractors started digging they found numerous artifacts, so they were forced to stop digging while Archeologists examine the dig.
We managed to get Bill and Jerry out from behind the cameras for this shot.
A picture down into the forum from the Victor Emmanuel Monument.
This is the interior of the church of Santa Maria Aracoeli, which we all loved. Emporer Augustus supposedly had a vision on the top of this hill of Mary and Christ standing on an altar in the sky or ara coeli. If you look closely down the sides of the altar, you will see many chandeliers suspended and they run all along the central aisle too.
This window , below, has the symbol of Pope Urban VIII - three bumblebees. The benefactor of the Sistine Chapel
This tiny church had an amazingly ornate ceiling.
The outside of the Victor Emmanuel Monument, including the enormous bronze equestrian statue in the front.
This is the largest equestrian statue in the world, 43 feet long. The mustache on the rider is five feet across. There is a picture (somewhere) of 21 workers inside the horse one day, having lunch before it was finished.
Part of the Victor Emmanuel is Italy's tomb of the unknown soldier.
Our last lunch in Rome at Osteria de Mario, which had the best pasta carbonara ever! Goodbye beautiful ROME!
Patty in front of our London hotel, The Rembrandt. Note that she is bundled up. Much colder, low 50 and cloudy, but we have our umbrellas just in case.
Our favorite pub, right up the street from the hotel. Amazing fish and chips.
One of the many large sculptures at Marble Arch.
There are Union Jacks everywhere as London is preparing for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and then the 2012 Summer Olympics.
And this appears to be a special sign that Londoners only will understand !
A Bronze monument to the women of WW II.
Loved this bronze of Winston Churchill though I know it's not everyone's cup of tea.
A view of Big Ben (which isn't really the tower, it's the enormous bell inside the tower) and Westminster, where Parliament sits.
Patty and Jerry near the London Eye with Big Ben in the background.
Bill and Kathy in the same place. Still cloudy and very cool and windy.
This is Tower Bridge, though I heard a dozen people call it London Bridge! The Battleship in the foreground is permantly stationed here.
Patty coming to earth after our ride on the London Eye. What an amazing view of the entire city. The rotation takes about 30 minutes and we were lucky we didn't have to wait too long to get on it.
We did a quick run through the food hall at Harrod's Dept. store right down the street from our hotel. You can buy a steak in the butcher shop and take it across to the grill, where they'll cook it for you.
On the Eurostar to Paris for a one-day excursion with tour guide. We had a lovely breakfast while doing 150 mph and going under the English Channel.
The Arc de Triomphe, which was built between 1806 and 1836. It contains the French tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The beautiful glass pyramid at the Louvre Museum. This started life as a fortress in 1190 and then became the palace of Charles V. Later the palace was moved and this was used to store art. Napoleon opened it to the public as an art museum in 1793. There are 35,000 pieces of art here, not all on display though it certainly seemed large enough to hold that much as we walked through with William, our guide.
Another beautiful picture of the pyramid and wait until you see the one taken from inside! Look how small the people are :) And remember the DaVinci Code?
This is a great shot Jerry got from inside the museum
This is a tribute from the people of Paris to the Princess Diana who died in a car accident in the tunnel under this eternal flame.
Tried to go up in the Eiffel Tower, but it was a holiday in France for the Feast of the Ascension and we could not get within a mile of the ticket booth. But the guys took some great pictures.
This is am amazing structure. Which was built for the exhibition of 1889 and was the world's tallest structure until 1931 when it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in NYC. And remember Eiffel built the Statue of Liberty in NYC>
The museum was also incredibly busy though you can't really tell from this picture.
We saw the official apartments of Napoleon III,extremely ornate and gilt, velvet and crystal everywhere.
This is a view of the Mona Lisa which is behind glass and very protected. There are hundreds of people milling around, trying to get close enough for a camera shot. Bill remembers seeing this painting in the Louvre when he was about 12 and it was just hanging on a wall, with few people around.
The Mona Lisa...closer.
Napoleon III's state dining room. He was the nephew of Napoleon I. Napoleon did a lot to modernize Paris and make it the beautiful city it is today.
This is a painting of Napoleon I crowing his wife, the Empress Josephine, and then himself. Apparently the Pope was taking too long to do it. :)
The "Winged Victory" is from the 3rd to the 2nd century B.C.
The "Venus de Milo" supposedly represents the Goddess Aphrodite and dates from the 2nd century B.C
The exterior of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The cornerstone was laid in 1163 and it took almost 170 years to build. It was nearly destroyed during the French Revolution. but restored from 1841-64.
The stained glass in this window is original, 13th century.
Another exterior shot.
Couldn't leave without a shot of the famous gargoyles who figured so prominently in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."
We asked William to take us someplace great for coffee and pastry and he took us into the Marais district to Patisserie Carette for the best hot chocolate, cappuccino, pastry and macarons.
Here is a shot of the five of us enjoying an afternoon break.
Our last stop before the train home was Sacre Coeur. This Basilica was built as a monument to French soldiers killed in the Franco-Prussian war, It took 46 years to build.
Priests still pray here for the souls of the dead, 24 hours a day. There is an amazing mosaic of Christ over the altar, but none of our photographers made it into the church!
A beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower from the hill of Sacre Coeur. Then off to the Gare du Nord to get the Eurostar back to London. This day started at 5:00 a.m. and ended at 10:00 p.m., and was worth every minute and every Euro.
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