Gay Paree
Trip Start
Apr 30, 2004
1
8
34
Trip End
May 09, 2004
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Paris,
France
Saturday, May 1, 2004
Continuing westward, after a couple of blocks we arrive at the extraordinary and controversial Centre Georges Pompidou. http://www.greatbuildings.com/cgi-bin/glk?http://www.cnac-gp.fr/ This striking building, one of the world's most renown pieces of modern architecture, is a love or hate affair. It's as if they turned the building inside out, with all the pipes, tubes and steel supporting girders on the outside instead of discreetly covered up within the wall. To top it all, it is a riot of colour. It houses the Modern Art Museum, theatres, a library and shops. Facing it is the no less remarkable Place Igor Stravinsky http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/pompfnt/pompfnt.html with its fountain of colourful whimsical figures that spray water in all directions.
By now we are getting peckish. We are in the Beaubourg section, which is a lively part of town.
01. Saturday Afternoon in the Park
We look for a restaurant in Place Beaubourg. There are plenty around. This is our first meal in Paris. Will it be spectacular? We select a curbside restaurant, "L'Entrecote des Halles", attracted more by the price than the ambiance. It offers a formule or set menu of entrecote steak with chef's own special Béarnaise herbal sauce and a desert for €13.00 each. The meal is good, but not outstanding. Most of our neigbours in the restaurant are tourists too, which is a little disappointing. We also try the house wine, again, very good but not exceptional. We have a lot to learn yet in regards to eating out.
It's now 8:00 pm and we have been walking since 4. It is still not dark, but the sun has set. We stroll through the narrow streets towards Le Marais. http://www.parislemarais.com/en/home.php There are lots of bars and restaurants lining the street, and at one point we notice there seems to be a predominance of men. One or two give the glad eye to Bryan. We finally realize we are traversing Gay Paree! Further down the street we pass a Parisian thrift store. Unlike the warehouse style thrift stores of America, this is more like a boutique and it's quite expensive. Nevertheless Bryan exits with a military style shirt, possibly from the French Foreign Legion.
By the time we arrive at the beautiful Place de Vosges http://www.paris.org/Monuments/Vosges/
in the heart of Le Marais, it is finally getting dark, and our feet are trying to point us towards our hotel. We wish we had more time to enjoy this lovely part of Paris, but we slog on through medieval streets to the Place Bastille http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Paris/Monuments-Paris/Bastille.shtml. It's now 9:30 pm and we are exhausted. Descending into the Metro station, for the first time we try out our Metro Passes. Nervously we insert our tickets into the appropriate slot. To our relief, they shoot out the other side and the entrance gates open miraculously allowing us through to board the train for Saint Michel.
