Picasa Web Albums - Scott Penner

The obilisk in Saint Sulpice church, through which one of the earlier international date lines ran. This church was central in The Da Vinci Code, which called it the Rose line.

One of the original international date lines, located in St. Sulpice Church.

The Louvre square with its grand pyramid.

The Louvre Pyramid.

The pyramid, glassy and still, as it was when it was first built in 1989.

Place de la Concorde. The center of the Place is occupied by a giant Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramses II. It once marked the entrance to the Luxor Temple. The viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, offered the 3,300-year-old Luxor Obelisk to France in 1831. The obelisk arrived in Paris on December 21, 1833. King Louis-Philippe had it placed in the centre of Place de la Concorde on October 25, 1836.

Avenue des Champs-Élysées with the Arc de Triomph in the background. Can you hear the French national anthem??

Arc de Triomph at dusk. We had walked over 10 miles on our first full day in Paris. The fact that we were still awake by the time we got to this point was a triumph indeed!

The Metro entrance, as featured in Amelie, the famous French movie. Ursula is standing above the opening. We followed in the footsteps of Amelie, which we found online and printed for our reference.

Moulin de la Galette in Montmarte, often featured in the paintings of Renoir, van Gogh, and Picasso.

A corner pharmacy in the hilly suburb of Montmartre in Paris.

Au Marche de le Butte - the corner grocery store, central in Amelie's story.

Another Metro station featured in Amelie.

Scott and Ursula having a snack at a cafe in Montmatre. The photo was taken my a couple of ladies from Australia - fellow British colonists!

Scott in Montmarte.

Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, a wonderful suburb of northern Paris.

Sacre Coeur. From the earliest days , Montmartre has been a place of worship: the Druids, the Gauls, the Romans temples dedicated to the gods Mars et Mercury; St Peter's church rebuilt near the Royal Abbey of Montmartre on the XII century by King Louis the VI and his wife Adélaïde of Savoy; finally the Sacred Heart erected at the end of the XIX century.

The funiculaire in Montmarte, which was not operational when we were there. So we took the more than 300 stairs down the hill to the main level of Paris.

One of the giant legs of the Eiffel Tower.

Living wall at musee du quai branley, beside our apartment in Paris. It was quite unusual!

Venus de Milo, also known as Aphrodite of Milos. The statue dates to about 130–90 BC and was discovered on the Greek island of Milos in 1820.

The Louvre pyramid as seen from the museum's second floor.

Hammurabi's code of laws in the Louvre. I remember studying this in Grade 8 history and here it was!

Hammurabi's code of laws headpiece.

A close-up of hammurabi's code of laws in the Louvre. Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. Created by the Sumerians from ca. 3000 BC.

The inverted pyramid inside the Louvre, a powerful image. The blade and the chalice from the Da Vinci Code.

Entering the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris which covers 118 acres and established by Napoleon in 1804. It's the resting place of many famous people including Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Gericault, Chopin, Bizet and others.

One of the many roads in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

The grave of Jim Morrison, who broke on through to the other side.

Chopin's grave. He's still got tons of admirers.

Should I stay or should I go?

Ursula in the cemetery crematorium. Each square is a plaque behind which the ashes of the dead are inserted.

From dust to dust.

Oscar Wilde's resting place. All the blotches are lipstick from the lips of women who believe the myth that by kissing his tombstone, they will be married within a year.