First full day
Trip Start
Oct 04, 2009
1
2
11
Trip End
Oct 15, 2009
Where I stayed
Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
LATER: It's been quite a day, and I think Rolinka is trying to wear us out so much that we'll be compliant for the rest of the tour.
Breakfast was the usual nothing special, but somehow still good. I love Nutella! How come this has never caught in the U.S.? Rolinka gave us a brief Métro lesson, and then we all trooped off to the Place de la Bastille and had a quick look at the exterior of the Opéra de la Bastille. Tickets to an opera can be had for as little as 5 euros.
Sainte Chapelle
Took the Métro to the Hôtel de Ville (P.S. I know I should be putting accents on a lot of these words, but at the moment I can't be buggered to figure out how to do it.) and then walked across the Seine to see the Sainte-Chapelle. There was something big going on at the criminal court, which shares an entry point with the Sainte-Chapelle, and one of the security screening machines broke down. We ended up waiting in line for an hour ... in the rain. It wasn't too awful, except that I was dying for some water.
I'm glad John and I saw the Sainte-Chapelle last year because the lovely big window is being restored and is covered in scaffolding and a tarp. On the bright side, I found the "Indoor" setting on my camera, and I think I got a few nice shots of the interior. Upon leaving the chapel, several of us went into the Supreme Court of France to use the WCs. It felt quite illicit!
Notre Dame next. The usual gypsies were out front patrolling the crowd, but of course we Rickniks are wise to them and they didn't bother us. Rolinka told a few stories about the statues over the portals, and then we were able to go inside, but not as a guided tour. Still, I think I've seen more of Notre Dame now than I ever have before.
For lunch I played "Dead Paris" and walked over to the Île Saint-Louis and had a galette fromagère at Café Med. Very tasty, although the happy little waitress seemed a teensy bit scandalized that all I wanted was a galette and a carafe of water. Dessert was a cup of gelato (limone and l'inimitabile ... a sort of hazelnutty scoop of wondrousness) from Amorino
Sainte Chapelle
.We all met back in front of the Cathedral, and several of us took a spin on the Point Zero in order to guaranty a return trip to Paris. Seattle needs something like that. Maybe rub Rachel the Pig's nose for a guaranteed return? Then we crossed the river again and took a long walk through the Latin Quarter. In one narrow street, Rolinka was showing us the spot where a guillotine stood during the Revolution, when she noticed another guide giving a tour a few doorways down. It turned to be Brad, whose Montmartre walking tour John and I went on last year.
Our long walk ended up at the Musée d'Orsay, where because it was so late in the day Rolinka gave us an overview while we were still outside, and then released us into the museum on our own. I headed straight for the Impressionists upstairs, and leisurely made my way back down. Happened upon the Salle des Fêtes, which is a glorious burst of gold, crystal and mirrors. I also found the Art Nouveau rooms and was really enjoying them when the announcement came over the loudspeaker that the museum would be closing in 15 minutes, which was half an hour earlier than we had been told. Slightly disappointing, but it was definitely worth going back to.
Palais de Justice
Rolinka very generously offered to host a get-together at her apartment in Montmartre and then give a walking tour (not part of the official program). Because of the lateness of the hour, however, it turned into a homemade soup/bread/wine/quiche dinner. Her apartment was pretty nifty, with a small lower floor and a patio with a garden, and a decent-sized upper floor with a tiny kitchen and a sort of indoor balcony with large windows that could be opened entirely. Tour member Linda, who plays violin with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, played the piano beautifully downstairs while the rest of us slurped soup and guzzled wine upstairs. Rolinka was thrilled because no one has played that piano, and she even called her husband, Antoine, so he could hear.
After dinner, which ended around 9:00 p.m., we took the walking tour up to Sacre-Coeur. There was some sort of evening service taking place, all sung by white-habited nuns up on the altar. It was really beautiful, and I was surprised by just how many people were at church late on a Tuesday night.
Finally, at around 10:15, we made our way down the hill to the Métro and came back to the hotel. It is now 12:03 a.m., and I am exhausted. I'm hoping that tomorrow won't be such a test of stamina ... oh, wait. We go to the Louvre tomorrow. C'est la vie!
Comments
La Belle Vie
or something like that...great first day! Tres exhausting :-) Enjoy the Louvre. Look forward to hearing more tomorrow. (I want some of that dessert...yummm)