Paris
Trip Start
Jan 28, 2008
1
41
42
Trip End
May 27, 2008
Paris,
Île-de-France,
France
Sunday, June 1, 2008
After an all-night train ride. We got the top bunks, 2 university kids (boy and girl) going to Pepperdine University in New Jersey but attending Humanities classes in Florence got the bottom bunks. Sounds like a great way to study. They were taking a weekend off from their studies to go to Paris. 15 hours scheduled made longer with a 1 1/2 hr. stop for something. Cheryl heard them change the engine. Maybe it was the Little Engine that Couldn't or maybe it was changing the crew when we went from Italy to France. Anyways it was a long trip with little sleep.
The train rolled into Berzy Station which isn't that far out of the downtown but far enough that you need an expensive cab ride or a subway ride. The subway has the same name for the station but to get from Train to Subway you have to negotiate several flights of steps and walk about a block. (And the elevator and escalators were "Hors Service". Only 2 stops but about 10 minutes later we were close to our hotel. Four short blocks and 3 stops to ask direction and we were there. L'hotel de la Place du Louvre not to be confused with the L'hotel du Louvre which is around a corner and a lot more expensive. From our 3rd floor window which is really the 4th floor because the ground floor is 0, the basement "the Cave" for breakfast is -1 we looked out straight at the gargoyles hanging from the eaves of the Saint Germaine des Auxerrois church (I don't know how old it is but the style is like the Notre Dame Cathedral with flying buttresses (and gargoyles). Probably 17th century. Off to the left, across the street and maybe 80 yards away was one side of the Louvre Museum, the king's former residence. Across the street the other way was the Seine and walking distance away was the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Saint Michel restaurants and shops. What a great location!
A terrific lunch at the L'Auxerrois restaurant 3 doors down the side street, great bread - a Parisian specialty and Lefte Beer and a very good house wine, a walkabout along the Seine, another fine meal on the Left Bank and then we caught up with sleep missed the night before.
On the 24th we did our usual ON/OFF bus tour (2 days, 24 euros each) which took us to all the normal tourist stops: got off at the Trocadero which is across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. They were getting ready for a concert so some of the area was blocked off. We learned later that the concert was to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary. As the line-ups at each of the legs of the Eiffel Tower were >45 minutes we limited our picture taking to ground level looking up. We did take in a boat cruise down the Seine and back We walked around the Les Halles and Montmartre and another fine meal. Why is it that Parisiens aren't all over 300 lbs?
Feeling adventurous, and it being a Sunday, we hopped two Metro lines to go down to the Port des Vanves Marche aux Pouces. Most things were overpriced but we Cheryl did make a deal for a duck decoy. Everyone else goes to Paris to shop at Chanel, Dior, or at least the Lafayette Dept. Stores. We get the Marche aux Pouces. Caught up with the ON/OFF bus (the Car Rouge) and off at the Champs Elysees. An o.k. lunch at a fast food eatery similar to McDonalds. Do you know that McDonalds (upscale to McCafe) is everywhere, even on the Champs Elysees? Up the Arc de Triomphe (only 285 steps, a piece of cake to us Great Wall of China veterans). Paperacci (spelling?) with telephoto lens trained on a restaurant down below, perhaps one of the Entertainers. Oh, Sunday May 25th is Fete des Meres in France. Cheryl got 2 Mother's Days this year. Maybe the duck decoy was her gift! Back on the Bus, over to Notre Dame for another great meal, and some souvenirs. We heard that the sights are all lit up at night and were going to take them in but even after 9:00 the sky was still quite light and we're getting used to early nights so we didn't wait for them to turn on the lights.
Monday May 26th- last full day in Paris. Cheryl was museumed out so went shopping. I was shopped out so I museumed. Museums are closed on Tuesdays except the Musee D'Orsey where I headed which was closed on Mondays. Back through the Toullieres Gardens and I noticed not bad line-ups at the Louvre so I went to pay Mona a visit. The Louvre is HUGE! Fantastic statues and paintings - 4 full hours and I only covered 2 wings of 12 and even then I had to bypass some impressive works. Plan several days. I took in the Babylon Exposition which was winding up the following day. Some of the inscriptions were 5000 years old and still very legible (if you can read Ancient Babylonian). I also took in the Italian Renaissance painters including Mona who had several hundred admirers while I was there.
Met Cheryl back at the hotel (as it had started to rain again) and had another wonderful lunch at the Auxerrois restaurant. At the owner's suggestion, I tried and enjoyed Manta Ray with a light lemon seasoning. Spent the rest of the day getting ready for homecoming. 121 days on the road. We're ready to come home! Miss the kids. Miss Sydney and Charlie. Europe was great but let's do it again.
