Today we got up at the crack of dawn to take the metro and then the train to Charles de Gaulle Airport. We had a direct flight from Paris to Los Angeles with a stop in Chicago to go through customs. We arrived at the Charles de Gaulle with plenty of time to spare and boarded the plane without incident.
Upon arriving in Chicago, we were supposed to be issued priority passes, enabling us to get through customs and back onto the same exact plane that we had just been on so that we could finish our flight to LAX. As luck would have it and as is usual with United Airlines, we were not given our passes due to lack of organization on United's part. This shortcoming caused us and several other passengers to be delayed, thus resulting in all of us missing our flight back to LAX. We ended up on the next flight out two hours later. Considering the number of planes, trains, and buses that we took this month, having only one missed connection was pretty remarkable.
Here is the final tally of our trip.
• Airplane Flights: 4
• Trains: 8
• Tour Bus: 3
• Tours: 10
• Hotels: 9
• Beer/bratwurst meals: 3
• Castles: 5
• Churches/Cathedrals: 9
• Museums: 6
• Funicular Rides: 2
• Souvenirs: 7 (3 sweaters, 1 purse, 1 Christmas ornament, 2 refrigerator magnets)
• Luggage: 2 carry-ons per person, there and back. YEESS!
• Pictures: 10 gigabytes
• Gelatos: Countless
In closing, we hope that you had as much fun reading about this adventure as we had living it.
Until next time, Ciao!
Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Museum Day and a trip to the Opera
Today, was “Museum Day”. We were up early to get to the Musee d’Orsay at 9 am. After a short wait in line, we were able to get in without much drama. We spent a pleasant few hours in the Museum looking at the impressionist paintings, but preferred the sculpture collection and the Art Deco wing, which had some gorgeous furniture and objects d’art. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in the museum, so no pictures to post here.
From the Musee d’Orsay, we took a tour of the Paris Opera. Marianne (Antonia’s stepmother) had recommended this tour, and it was one of the highlights of our trip to Paris. Our tour guide was excellent. Half-French and half-American, he was thoughtful and witty while showing us around. He was also studying to be an opera singer, and his passion for the art form and for the building was palpable and infectious. The tour is quite extensive, although we were unable to go backstage because they were rehearsing a ballet for that evening (we were able to watch a bit of the rehearsal, though). For those going to Paris, this is a must-see.
After the Opera, we headed for the Louvre. A tip: The entrance fee for the Louvre goes down by two euros after 4 pm, and the Museum is open on Wednesdays until 10 pm. 4 pm on Wednesday is the time to go.
We stopped for a café au lait to fortify ourselves before heading in, and met two charming Canadians, Tina and Pamela, who were leaving Paris that day and gave us their Museum Passes, which gave us free and accelerated entry to the Louvre. (We liked the Canadians before this trip, but are HUGE fans now. They are the nicest people ever!)
The Louvre is enormous. Like the Smithsonian, if you looked at each exhibit for a few seconds, it would still take you a few years to get through the place. If you have a Museum Pass, you do not enter the museum through the glass pyramid, but through a side entrance. The museum has an excellent map that shows you were the highlights in each wing. At first, I rebelled against this map, thinking we would find our own highlights. We went through the lower level first, but soon realized that in fact the museum map was the right thing to follow.
We headed to the first of many Egyptian wings, where we checked out the mummies. But the highlights for us were the two “Captives” of Michaelangelo (There are six “Captives” in total, four in Florence and two in the Louvre. We were lucky to have seen all six), the Venus de Milo (flawless), Psyche and Cupid (romantic, with a real feeling of movement), the Winged Victory of Somothrace (which has powerful energy), and the Lacemaker by Vermeer. (The Smithsonian has a large collection of Vermeer in their 17th Century Dutch wing, and it was always Antonia’s favorite wing when she lived in D.C.)
We finally stumbled out of the glass pyramid and made our blurry way home to finish packing for our flight back to Los Angeles.
From the Musee d’Orsay, we took a tour of the Paris Opera. Marianne (Antonia’s stepmother) had recommended this tour, and it was one of the highlights of our trip to Paris. Our tour guide was excellent. Half-French and half-American, he was thoughtful and witty while showing us around. He was also studying to be an opera singer, and his passion for the art form and for the building was palpable and infectious. The tour is quite extensive, although we were unable to go backstage because they were rehearsing a ballet for that evening (we were able to watch a bit of the rehearsal, though). For those going to Paris, this is a must-see.
After the Opera, we headed for the Louvre. A tip: The entrance fee for the Louvre goes down by two euros after 4 pm, and the Museum is open on Wednesdays until 10 pm. 4 pm on Wednesday is the time to go.
We stopped for a café au lait to fortify ourselves before heading in, and met two charming Canadians, Tina and Pamela, who were leaving Paris that day and gave us their Museum Passes, which gave us free and accelerated entry to the Louvre. (We liked the Canadians before this trip, but are HUGE fans now. They are the nicest people ever!)
The Louvre is enormous. Like the Smithsonian, if you looked at each exhibit for a few seconds, it would still take you a few years to get through the place. If you have a Museum Pass, you do not enter the museum through the glass pyramid, but through a side entrance. The museum has an excellent map that shows you were the highlights in each wing. At first, I rebelled against this map, thinking we would find our own highlights. We went through the lower level first, but soon realized that in fact the museum map was the right thing to follow.
We headed to the first of many Egyptian wings, where we checked out the mummies. But the highlights for us were the two “Captives” of Michaelangelo (There are six “Captives” in total, four in Florence and two in the Louvre. We were lucky to have seen all six), the Venus de Milo (flawless), Psyche and Cupid (romantic, with a real feeling of movement), the Winged Victory of Somothrace (which has powerful energy), and the Lacemaker by Vermeer. (The Smithsonian has a large collection of Vermeer in their 17th Century Dutch wing, and it was always Antonia’s favorite wing when she lived in D.C.)
We finally stumbled out of the glass pyramid and made our blurry way home to finish packing for our flight back to Los Angeles.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Versailles and the Japanime'
We were up early to go on our day-long tour of Versailles and were at the tour office at 8 am. Unfortunately, the day-long tour was overbooked, and they moved us to the half-day tour instead, which started at 2 pm. Eric was really annoyed. To distract him, we went to Saint-Chapelle, the palatine chapel in the courtyard of the royal palace on the Île de la Cité. This chapel has some of the most famous stained glass windows in the world, many of which were unfortunately being restored while we were there. The chapel also houses a large collection of saints' relics and papal treasure (we have seen a lot of the Roman Catholic Church’s collections by going through the museum of St. Peters and the Vatican Museum in Rome, the museum in Notre Dame, and then the museum in Saint-Chapelle). Unfortunately, it was overcast that morning, and the windows were not as luminous as they are in direct sunlight, but it was definitely worth the visit.
From Saint Chappelle we took the metro across town to go to the Catacombs. The Catacombs of Paris are a famous underground ossuary in Paris, France. (An ossuary is a site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains, frequently used where burial space is scarce.) The ossuary fills a rennovated section of caverns and tunnels that are the remains of Paris’s stone quarries that were used to build the city. The Catacombs collected the bones of all the cemeteries of Paris from 1786 to 1814. They hold the remains of approximately 6 million Parisians. (There are catacombs in Rome as well, but we didn’t have time to see them while we were there, so Eric was really looking forward to seeing the Paris version.)
To get to the catacombs, you walk down an incredibly narrow, windy staircase until you get to the quarries. You walk quite a long way through underground tunnels and caverns until you get to the Catacombs (and the bones themselves). The bones are artistically arranged but very hard to photograph due to the dim light. (For better photos, google “Paris Catacombs”.)
The tour took longer than we had expected (two hours), so we had to hop back on the metro and make it back to the heart of Paris to catch our bus to Versailles. After touring several Versailles replicas in Germany, it was interesting to see the real thing, which is on an enormous scale. Still, the sheer number of people everywhere took the pleasure out of it a bit, much like it had in Venice. Versailles should be seen once, but I don’t have any desire to go back.
At the palace, there was an exhibit of the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, who specializes in manga and pop culture. While we applauded the idea of bringing together the modern with the historical, we found the exhibit to be pretty jarring. (Although we thought the gold statue in the garden was kind of funny. It reminded us of Napoleon.)
As our bus made its way back to Paris, we got caught up in a strike for something or other. (Paris was always on strike during the month of September. We weren’t sure if we would be able to fly into Paris because the air traffic controllers were on strike. The train conductors were threatening to go on strike the day after we left, which was the start of fashion week in Paris. One of our fellow shuttle passengers to the Milan airport made the immortal remark: “A strike in Paris – what else is new?”) We snapped a picture of crowd control from the bus. Our bus driver did a masterful job of getting us back to the tour agency.
From Saint Chappelle we took the metro across town to go to the Catacombs. The Catacombs of Paris are a famous underground ossuary in Paris, France. (An ossuary is a site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains, frequently used where burial space is scarce.) The ossuary fills a rennovated section of caverns and tunnels that are the remains of Paris’s stone quarries that were used to build the city. The Catacombs collected the bones of all the cemeteries of Paris from 1786 to 1814. They hold the remains of approximately 6 million Parisians. (There are catacombs in Rome as well, but we didn’t have time to see them while we were there, so Eric was really looking forward to seeing the Paris version.)
To get to the catacombs, you walk down an incredibly narrow, windy staircase until you get to the quarries. You walk quite a long way through underground tunnels and caverns until you get to the Catacombs (and the bones themselves). The bones are artistically arranged but very hard to photograph due to the dim light. (For better photos, google “Paris Catacombs”.)
The tour took longer than we had expected (two hours), so we had to hop back on the metro and make it back to the heart of Paris to catch our bus to Versailles. After touring several Versailles replicas in Germany, it was interesting to see the real thing, which is on an enormous scale. Still, the sheer number of people everywhere took the pleasure out of it a bit, much like it had in Venice. Versailles should be seen once, but I don’t have any desire to go back.
At the palace, there was an exhibit of the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, who specializes in manga and pop culture. While we applauded the idea of bringing together the modern with the historical, we found the exhibit to be pretty jarring. (Although we thought the gold statue in the garden was kind of funny. It reminded us of Napoleon.)
As our bus made its way back to Paris, we got caught up in a strike for something or other. (Paris was always on strike during the month of September. We weren’t sure if we would be able to fly into Paris because the air traffic controllers were on strike. The train conductors were threatening to go on strike the day after we left, which was the start of fashion week in Paris. One of our fellow shuttle passengers to the Milan airport made the immortal remark: “A strike in Paris – what else is new?”) We snapped a picture of crowd control from the bus. Our bus driver did a masterful job of getting us back to the tour agency.
Monday, September 27, 2010
A fun filled day - Cafe, Sewers, Cemetery, and Eric's 3 hour misadventure in the Metro
Monday we slept in a little bit and then walked up the Boulevard Saint-Germain to Les Deux Magots, a famous café which supposedly has the best hot chocolate in Paris. It was the best hot chocolate I have ever had! We sat outside and watched the people, and had a stereotypical surly/snooty waiter, the first “attitude” we had received from a Parisian since we had arrived. We were initially turned off but decided to see if we could shift his perception of American tourists by leaving him a generous tip, which earned us a genuine smile from him.
From there, we headed out to Montparnasse per Christophe’s instructions. Since it was overcast and grey, we did not bother to go up the tower for the view. Instead, we headed back towards the Seine to take the Paris Sewer Tour. Sewers have been draining wastewater in Paris since the beginning of the 13th Century, when the city's streets were paved and drains were built. Covered sewers were introduced during the reign of Napoléon Bonaparte, and the current network of more than 2,100 km of sewer tunnels was begun in 1850. The sandstone tunnels carry drainwater from the streets, sanitary sewers (now in separate pipes), mains for drinking water and the water used for streetcleaning, telecommunications cables, and pneumatic tubes between post offices.
The tour goes along the tunnels where the sewer pipes run. After descending the stairs from the aboveground ticket office, we entered a long gallery beneath the Quai d'Orsay that runs parallel to the Seine. We saw pipes and a five-ton "flushing boat" in what once was the main sewer line between the Place de la Concorde and the Pont de l'Alma. We also passed a large basin that traps solid material from wastewater (the sewers recover more than 15,000 cubic meters of grit per year). The main exhibit area is built above the sand trap of the main sewer.
We also saw sewer-maintenance equipment from past and present, mannequins of sewer workers in underground gear, huge wooden balls used to clean tunnels beneath the Seine, fascinating exhibits about the history and design of the Paris sewer network, and rushing drainwater from the streets above. You can also watch a video in the small theatre and browse through the gift shop. We had never contemplated how a sewer system works, and it’s amazing that a system that is over 100 years old is still supporting the millions of Paris inhabitants and modern engineering aboveground. It was very interesting, and we enjoyed it. (It’s dry, but it does smell a bit….odd.)
Antonia was eager to see the Pere La Chaise Cemetery. It took us forever to find it – we didn’t realize that there was an actual Metro stop for it since the guidebook we had neglected to mention the fact. We finally found the stop and we got on our way around 4 pm. By the time we arrived, we only had an hour to explore the Cemetery, and we didn’t find a map that would show us where some of the more famous people were buried (like Sarah Bernhardt, Honore de Balzac, Isadora Duncan, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde), but we did spend an amazing hour wandering around the gravestones. The weather was grey and overcast, and the cemetery looked just like a movie set: gothic, ominous, but with incredibly beautiful details. We could have stayed for hours taking photos. Unfortunately we were kicked out at 6 pm.
From the Cemetery we took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs Elysees, past the Tuilleries Gardens, and back to our apartment. It was getting dark. Although the Champs Elysees is famous, it was not a highlight of our trip for us. Perhaps because we had now walked so many “main streets” (in Munich, in Rome, and all over Italy), the charm was somewhat lost on us. In addition, it’s clear how much global commerce has taken originality out of shopping. We expected to see some extraordinary fashion in Paris and Milan, but we didn’t see anything that we didn’t think we could get in Los Angeles, for cheaper. Perhaps you need to know where to shop. It was distressing to see a Gap on the Champs Elysees, that’s all we’re saying.
Back at the apartment, I was exhausted, so Eric volunteered to get food for us. I should have known after the two nights in Munich and Rome, but there were so many cafes in our neighborhood, I didn’t think it would be such an ordeal. 2.5 hours later (I was freaking out!) he returned, bringing….Subway sandwiches. He couldn’t find anything to bring home, got on the metro and got turned around. Good grief! He was forbidden to go anywhere else by himself after that. (‘Course, we only had two more days of our trip, but still!)
From there, we headed out to Montparnasse per Christophe’s instructions. Since it was overcast and grey, we did not bother to go up the tower for the view. Instead, we headed back towards the Seine to take the Paris Sewer Tour. Sewers have been draining wastewater in Paris since the beginning of the 13th Century, when the city's streets were paved and drains were built. Covered sewers were introduced during the reign of Napoléon Bonaparte, and the current network of more than 2,100 km of sewer tunnels was begun in 1850. The sandstone tunnels carry drainwater from the streets, sanitary sewers (now in separate pipes), mains for drinking water and the water used for streetcleaning, telecommunications cables, and pneumatic tubes between post offices.
The tour goes along the tunnels where the sewer pipes run. After descending the stairs from the aboveground ticket office, we entered a long gallery beneath the Quai d'Orsay that runs parallel to the Seine. We saw pipes and a five-ton "flushing boat" in what once was the main sewer line between the Place de la Concorde and the Pont de l'Alma. We also passed a large basin that traps solid material from wastewater (the sewers recover more than 15,000 cubic meters of grit per year). The main exhibit area is built above the sand trap of the main sewer.
We also saw sewer-maintenance equipment from past and present, mannequins of sewer workers in underground gear, huge wooden balls used to clean tunnels beneath the Seine, fascinating exhibits about the history and design of the Paris sewer network, and rushing drainwater from the streets above. You can also watch a video in the small theatre and browse through the gift shop. We had never contemplated how a sewer system works, and it’s amazing that a system that is over 100 years old is still supporting the millions of Paris inhabitants and modern engineering aboveground. It was very interesting, and we enjoyed it. (It’s dry, but it does smell a bit….odd.)
Antonia was eager to see the Pere La Chaise Cemetery. It took us forever to find it – we didn’t realize that there was an actual Metro stop for it since the guidebook we had neglected to mention the fact. We finally found the stop and we got on our way around 4 pm. By the time we arrived, we only had an hour to explore the Cemetery, and we didn’t find a map that would show us where some of the more famous people were buried (like Sarah Bernhardt, Honore de Balzac, Isadora Duncan, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde), but we did spend an amazing hour wandering around the gravestones. The weather was grey and overcast, and the cemetery looked just like a movie set: gothic, ominous, but with incredibly beautiful details. We could have stayed for hours taking photos. Unfortunately we were kicked out at 6 pm.
From the Cemetery we took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs Elysees, past the Tuilleries Gardens, and back to our apartment. It was getting dark. Although the Champs Elysees is famous, it was not a highlight of our trip for us. Perhaps because we had now walked so many “main streets” (in Munich, in Rome, and all over Italy), the charm was somewhat lost on us. In addition, it’s clear how much global commerce has taken originality out of shopping. We expected to see some extraordinary fashion in Paris and Milan, but we didn’t see anything that we didn’t think we could get in Los Angeles, for cheaper. Perhaps you need to know where to shop. It was distressing to see a Gap on the Champs Elysees, that’s all we’re saying.
Back at the apartment, I was exhausted, so Eric volunteered to get food for us. I should have known after the two nights in Munich and Rome, but there were so many cafes in our neighborhood, I didn’t think it would be such an ordeal. 2.5 hours later (I was freaking out!) he returned, bringing….Subway sandwiches. He couldn’t find anything to bring home, got on the metro and got turned around. Good grief! He was forbidden to go anywhere else by himself after that. (‘Course, we only had two more days of our trip, but still!)
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Psst!!! Christophe is gonna show us the Antique Market. Come on!!! :)
Christophe and Kirsten met us at our place in the morning. We had a quick petit dejouner and then took the metro to the outskirts of Paris to tour the Antique Market, which is enormous. We walked around countless kiosks/shops, some large, some small, full of incredible things: Louis XVI furniture, lifesize pigs and roosters, modern furniture, antique lace, dishware of every imaginable pattern. It was overwhelming. There was a lot of English spoken, but the people there were not tourists but professional antiques buyers. Kerstin and I were distracted by a two storey store that sold antique clothing, but we were too intimidated to try anything on, as everything looked very fragile and very expensive. Also during this time, Eric discovered the black and white feature on the digital camera, which was perfect since Paris was so grey. ( I thought some of the pictures look like they were taken during the Sixties.)
For lunch, Christophe took us to a restaurant in the heart of the Market. He knew the head waiter there, and we got a great table by the window looking out into the street. During an excellent lunch of steak, Christophe regaled us of stories of his youth. Christophe’s mother is German and his father French, and he grew up mainly in Germany. When he was a teenager, his mother would send him to the Paris Antique market to buy antiques and smuggle them back to Germany, so he got to know the dealers (and this restaurant) really well. He remarked on the irony of the EU and the euro now – you can no longer “smuggle” antiques in this manner. He had great stories about this time. Kerstin actually knew Christophe during this time as they were in high school together, but she had no idea that he had such a lucrative side business – she just knew he wasn’t in school much.
After lunch, we left the Antique Market through the much less glamorous flea market, and then took the metro to the train station to say goodbye to Kirsten and Christophe, who were going back to Germany together. Suddenly, we were bereft. What were we going to do without our incredible tour guides? I cornered Christophe in the Metro and asked him what we should do, and he gave us our itinerary: the Moulin Rouge that night, breakfast the next day at Montparnasse with a trip to the top of the Montparnasse tower for a view of Paris, and the Pere La Chaise cemetery. A trip to Versailles.
With those instructions in mind, we said goodbye to these dear friends of ours, who had made Paris so wonderful for us. After they left, we felt like we needed a little downtime. It was grey and wet, and we did not want to go to the Moulin Rouge. We didn’t have anything to wear that would suit that kind of evening. We went back to the apartment and had a relaxing evening.
For lunch, Christophe took us to a restaurant in the heart of the Market. He knew the head waiter there, and we got a great table by the window looking out into the street. During an excellent lunch of steak, Christophe regaled us of stories of his youth. Christophe’s mother is German and his father French, and he grew up mainly in Germany. When he was a teenager, his mother would send him to the Paris Antique market to buy antiques and smuggle them back to Germany, so he got to know the dealers (and this restaurant) really well. He remarked on the irony of the EU and the euro now – you can no longer “smuggle” antiques in this manner. He had great stories about this time. Kerstin actually knew Christophe during this time as they were in high school together, but she had no idea that he had such a lucrative side business – she just knew he wasn’t in school much.
After lunch, we left the Antique Market through the much less glamorous flea market, and then took the metro to the train station to say goodbye to Kirsten and Christophe, who were going back to Germany together. Suddenly, we were bereft. What were we going to do without our incredible tour guides? I cornered Christophe in the Metro and asked him what we should do, and he gave us our itinerary: the Moulin Rouge that night, breakfast the next day at Montparnasse with a trip to the top of the Montparnasse tower for a view of Paris, and the Pere La Chaise cemetery. A trip to Versailles.
With those instructions in mind, we said goodbye to these dear friends of ours, who had made Paris so wonderful for us. After they left, we felt like we needed a little downtime. It was grey and wet, and we did not want to go to the Moulin Rouge. We didn’t have anything to wear that would suit that kind of evening. We went back to the apartment and had a relaxing evening.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Here come Kerstin and Christophe, YAAAY!!!!!!
Saturday morning, we got up early and went to see Notre Dame, just a small bridge away from us on the Ile-de-la-Cite. Notre Dame is enormous and there was a lot to see.
We took a leisurely stroll from Notre Dame to the Hotel de Ville, which had a big outdoor festival promoting heart health. There was a colorful violinist playing there, jumping up on the stage and walking around in the crowd while she played. From there, we walked along the Seine to the Boulevard Henry V, and turned northeast to the Bastille, where we met our friends Kerstin and Christophe at their hotel.
We had met Kerstin and Christophe initially in San Francisco, and they had spent two days with us in Los Angeles in the spring. Christophe is an excellent cook, and had made us a wonderful meal in L.A. While they were with us in California, we made plans to meet up in Paris. Kerstin lives in Germany and Christophe lives in Strasbourg. They have been to Paris several times, and we were really touched and grateful that they agreed to spend a weekend with us and show us around the city.
Once we connected with the two of them around 2 pm, Christophe took charge. And thank goodness he did. By this point, we had had a number of professional tour guides, but Christophe was one of the best guides we had, for two reasons: one, he knows a lot about the history of Paris; and two, he has a wonderful sense of timing. It was great to turn the reins over to him, because he knew exactly how the day should go.
After a coffee in the Bastille neighborhoods, we hopped on the Metro and went to Sacre Coeur. We climbed up the stairs so we could take in the view of the rooftops of Paris, and then walked through the church. From there, we walked through the winding streets of Montmartre, past the Moulin Rouge and the Musee de l’Erotisme, the Erotic Museum. (We used to have an Erotic Museum down the street from us in Hollywood which we had already toured, so we didn’t feel the need to visit.)
Eric was ready for a crepe at this point, so we stopped at a creperie in the Latin Quarter for dinner. Then it was back into the metro to the Trocadero.
There are two main ways to approach the Eiffel Tower. One is to come down the Champs Elysees, where you see the Tower the entire way. The second is to come up on the Tower’s backside, through the Trocadero, which in my opinion is much the better way. You exit the metro station and climb a flight of white marble stairs. As you climb up, the Tower appears right in front of you, from the top down. It is a beautiful sight. The sky was dark, and we had a wonderful view of the city.
A short walk from the Trocadero we caught a river boat that we took along the Seine. We were on the last boat, which departed at 11 pm. We were on the prow of the boat, directly under the Eiffel Tower, when the clock struck 11 pm and the Tower lit up with thousands of twinkling lights, which it does every hour on the hour after sunset.
The boat ride along the river was lovely, with all of the major landmarks lit up for the night. There was an audio tour of the route, but Christophe’s narration was more interesting and informative. We got back to the dock at midnight, just in time to see the Eiffel Tower light up again.
We took a leisurely stroll from Notre Dame to the Hotel de Ville, which had a big outdoor festival promoting heart health. There was a colorful violinist playing there, jumping up on the stage and walking around in the crowd while she played. From there, we walked along the Seine to the Boulevard Henry V, and turned northeast to the Bastille, where we met our friends Kerstin and Christophe at their hotel.
We had met Kerstin and Christophe initially in San Francisco, and they had spent two days with us in Los Angeles in the spring. Christophe is an excellent cook, and had made us a wonderful meal in L.A. While they were with us in California, we made plans to meet up in Paris. Kerstin lives in Germany and Christophe lives in Strasbourg. They have been to Paris several times, and we were really touched and grateful that they agreed to spend a weekend with us and show us around the city.
Once we connected with the two of them around 2 pm, Christophe took charge. And thank goodness he did. By this point, we had had a number of professional tour guides, but Christophe was one of the best guides we had, for two reasons: one, he knows a lot about the history of Paris; and two, he has a wonderful sense of timing. It was great to turn the reins over to him, because he knew exactly how the day should go.
After a coffee in the Bastille neighborhoods, we hopped on the Metro and went to Sacre Coeur. We climbed up the stairs so we could take in the view of the rooftops of Paris, and then walked through the church. From there, we walked through the winding streets of Montmartre, past the Moulin Rouge and the Musee de l’Erotisme, the Erotic Museum. (We used to have an Erotic Museum down the street from us in Hollywood which we had already toured, so we didn’t feel the need to visit.)
Eric was ready for a crepe at this point, so we stopped at a creperie in the Latin Quarter for dinner. Then it was back into the metro to the Trocadero.
There are two main ways to approach the Eiffel Tower. One is to come down the Champs Elysees, where you see the Tower the entire way. The second is to come up on the Tower’s backside, through the Trocadero, which in my opinion is much the better way. You exit the metro station and climb a flight of white marble stairs. As you climb up, the Tower appears right in front of you, from the top down. It is a beautiful sight. The sky was dark, and we had a wonderful view of the city.
A short walk from the Trocadero we caught a river boat that we took along the Seine. We were on the last boat, which departed at 11 pm. We were on the prow of the boat, directly under the Eiffel Tower, when the clock struck 11 pm and the Tower lit up with thousands of twinkling lights, which it does every hour on the hour after sunset.
The boat ride along the river was lovely, with all of the major landmarks lit up for the night. There was an audio tour of the route, but Christophe’s narration was more interesting and informative. We got back to the dock at midnight, just in time to see the Eiffel Tower light up again.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Arrivederci, Italia! Bonjour Paris!
We made our way downstairs 10 minutes before our shuttle arrived, not thinking we had time for breakfast. We were corrected by the desk manager (“In Italy there is ALWAYS time for a cappuccino!”) and sat down for a quick breakfast before getting onto the shuttle. The flight from Milan to Paris is not long, and we soon found ourselves navigating the French train/metro system to get to my great-aunt’s apartment on the Ile-St.-Louis.
Arriving in Paris from Italy was the reverse of arriving in Rome from Germany. It was twenty degrees colder, grey, and drizzly. Brrr! The train/metro ride was fairly long, but we were soon lugging our bags across the Seine to get to the apartment. We had the keys to the apartment, but what we did not have was the front gate entry code. We couldn’t figure out who to call, and weren’t sure what to do next until a kindly neighbor who lived across the street let us in. (Why she knew the code was a mystery to us, but we thought it best not to ask and just be thankful she did.)
We greeted the landlady of the building with flowers and let her know we were there, and hauled our bags up four flights of steep, windy flights of stairs before letting us into Rosamonde’s charming artist “garret”. It was very “La Boheme-esque”. We took a walk around the neighborhood and bought some bread, cheese and wine for dinner at a local grocery store, and some lovely dessert at a local bakery, including a crepe. Thus started Eric’s Paris-long crepe fixation, echoing our” gelato-at-two” Italian fixation. From this day forward, Eric had to have at least one crepe per day.
Arriving in Paris from Italy was the reverse of arriving in Rome from Germany. It was twenty degrees colder, grey, and drizzly. Brrr! The train/metro ride was fairly long, but we were soon lugging our bags across the Seine to get to the apartment. We had the keys to the apartment, but what we did not have was the front gate entry code. We couldn’t figure out who to call, and weren’t sure what to do next until a kindly neighbor who lived across the street let us in. (Why she knew the code was a mystery to us, but we thought it best not to ask and just be thankful she did.)
We greeted the landlady of the building with flowers and let her know we were there, and hauled our bags up four flights of steep, windy flights of stairs before letting us into Rosamonde’s charming artist “garret”. It was very “La Boheme-esque”. We took a walk around the neighborhood and bought some bread, cheese and wine for dinner at a local grocery store, and some lovely dessert at a local bakery, including a crepe. Thus started Eric’s Paris-long crepe fixation, echoing our” gelato-at-two” Italian fixation. From this day forward, Eric had to have at least one crepe per day.
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