Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Coming Home
Just a quick message to say that we are safely home. I will write the story of the trip later when I am not so tired.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Home Time
Sadly our holiday is over. We have had our last French breakfast and all we have to do now is finish packing. Then it is out to Charles De Gaul Airport to board our plane for Singapore. Only a 3 hour stopover there before we board our Melbourne flight...
Monday, July 11, 2011
An Eiffel of Paris
Our last day in Paris and the last day of our holiday but what a beautiful summer's day. We set out on foot after breakfast for the St Augustin chapel that we had seen on our first evening in Paris. From there we continued on along Blvd Haussmann and Ave de Fiedland until we came to the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile - the monument to those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Located in the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, it effectively is the centre of a 12 road roundabout. The traffic goes around about 5 or 6 cars wide with no line markings - it is truly magic to watch. Keeping moving seems to be the trick, anyone that stops seems to get stranded with everyone else going around them. Fortunately for the tourists that want to climb to the of the monument, there is an underpass so you don't have to brave the traffic. We didn't bother with the climb as we had an appointment elsewhere.
We left by strolling down the Champs Elysees as far as Franklin D Roosevelt Metro station where we jumped on a number 9 line train for Trocadero. Our destination was, of course, the Eiffel Tower and our plan was to walk down the grand staircase at the Trocadero and across the River Seine. Our plans were thwarted by the preparations for Bastille Day on the 14th July. The Trocadero will be the site of a fireworks display and the staircase was closed to allow for preparations. So instead we had to contend with walking around the outside before crossing the river.
It was a beautiful sunny day and the crowds were out in force and the lift queues at the Eiffel Tower were huge. Not that that was a problem for us - we had our pre-purchased tickets. About 15 minutes before Noon we joined a small queue at the special gate for the smart people like us. While we were waiting it became obvious why the pre-bookings were sold out - tour group operators that want to get their people to the top use the pre-booking and accounted for most of the ticket holders. They let us in about 10 minutes early and we joined the end of the queue of previous pre-purchased ticket holders. The lifts going up the first two levels of the Eiffel Tower are double story. Our queue was using the lower level of the lift and the ordinary queue, the upper level. It took about half an hour for us to queue and get up to the second level which was really, really good. The ordinary people were going to be every bit of three hours in their queue, if not more.
To get to the top of the Eiffel Tower, you change lifts at the second level. Before we went up there were signs advising of crowding and a delay of 45 minutes at the second level. So when we got there, it was straight off to the queue for the top. Again there were two queues and it seemed like one we were in was for the pre-purchased ticket holders only. Although I couldn't be sure, the thing that was certain was that we were at the top within 15 minutes. The obvious message here is: pre-purchase your Eiffel Tower tickets! But don't tell everyone else they will all do it and then there will be no advantage...
The view from the top is fantastic and well worth the effort of getting there. You can see for miles with the whole of Paris laid out before you. After doing several circuits around the top and using the toilets provided for your convenience, we took a lift down to the second level. Not being in any hurry now, we took in the views from there and enjoyed an ice cream. With shops beckoning, we took the lift down to the ground and said farewell to the tower.
We crossed back over the Seine and took a bus towards the centre of Paris. We got off the bus opposite the Musee d'Orsay and retraced yesterday's walk through Jardin des Tuileries and past all those jewellery shops. This time they were open and so the shutters were up and the trinkets were on display. Oh how the other half a per cent live... We made our way past the Paris Opera and on to Galeries Lafayette which has the most amazing stained glass dome. Their stock was pretty amazing too for a department store - they seemed to start where we end in terms of quality. After Galeries Lafayette, we went to Printemps which was just next door - it was no different...
A couple of days early, we had seen some nice things in a little street near Notre Dame. After walking through the big department stores, we decided to go back there to do some shopping. So it was on to the Metro at Havre Caumartin for one stop to Opera and change to the number 7 line for a train to Pont Marie. We stepped off here, walked over part of the Seine onto Ile Saint Louis and found the shops we were looking for. After making the desired purchased, it was time to head back to our hotel. Rather than simply retracing our steps, we crossed the rest of the Seine and made our way to Jussieu Metro station, also on the number 7 line. We took the train back to Opera, changed to the number 3 line up to Villiers where we got off and walked back to our hotel. After a rest we went out for dinner, this time returning to the Village Cafe where we ate last night.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Just Another Day in Paris
Altogether, we only have 4 days in Paris and we can't hope to see everything so there is no need to try. With the Louvre taken care of and the Eiffel Tower booked for tomorrow, we could have an easy day today. Of course, you should know us by now - we didn't...
After a casual continental breakfast, we set off for Rome station on the number 2 Metro line. We rode it as far as Anvers, the stop for Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. We walked up the side street full of souvenir sellers. These were upmarket ones with shopfronts - not that it made any difference in the quality of souvenirs. At the edge of the shops there is a funicular to the top. We shunned that and set off up the grand staircase. We made it to the top with a little huffing and puffing (and rests on the way) and thought "What is another 300 steps, of course we have to climb to the top of the tower."
Before ascending the 300 steps, we gave ourselves a little rest by visiting the Crypt. It was an interesting mix of tombs, private chapels, artifacts on display and storage. Yes, they had there surplus chairs stacked up in unused corners. Feeling ready for the climb, we set off. It went in a couple of stages and was quite manageable. More importantly, it was well worth the effort. The view was fantastic although a bit dull because of the smog hanging around even on a Sunday. Having spent all our time in the centre of Paris which has been mostly protected against modern multi-story developments, you aren't aware of the extent of these on the outer fringe. Paris is huge! No wonder the traffic is a mess.
We descended the tower and wandered out into the Montmartre district to the side of Sacre Coeur. Although interesting, it was a tourist-trap so we kept walking downhill into Abbesses. Deciding that we would visit the Musee d'Orsay on the other side of the Seine, we jump a number 12 Metro to Solferino. The Musee d'Orsay is the Paris home for 19th Century art and includes works by artists such as Monet, Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh and Cezanne. It is also the home for the typically crazy Parisian ticketing arrangements.
Walking up to the building, we passed a street kiosk with a sign that read "Buy your tickets here and go straight in". At there entry there was a reasonably long queue at gate A to buy tickets that looked like it would take half an hour or more. Gate C looked like where you would go in if you had pre-purchased tickets. So, not being 100% certain of my reading of the sign that was in French only, I went and ask the man there if I bought tickets from the kiosk, would this be where I came in. In his most unhelpful French way, he replied that he knew nothing about the kiosk and to buy tickets I needed to go to gate A. So I went to the kiosk and asked there which gate we would use. The answer was "gate C" so we bought our tickets (no waiting), walked in through gate C (no waiting) and left everyone else in their queue!
Inside, the museum was worth the effort. To be able to see a wide collection of works by well known artists was fantastic, especially seeing the originals of some commonly reproduced pieces - Whistler's Mother and Van Gogh's self portrait to name two. Now I won't be filling up today's blog with lots of photos from inside the museum. Whereas the Louvre allowed non-flash photography, the Musee d'Orsay realised that most people are too stupid to be able to turn their flash off so they had banned photography altogether.
A good three and half hours after going in, we staggered out. Instead of doing the sensible thing of jumping the Metro, we decided to walk across the Seine and through Jardin des Tuileries. Once across the park, we could see a monument down the street so we had to go and look at that. It turned out to be in honour of Napoleon and it was located in the centre of Place Vendome, the home of every up-market jewellery shop in Paris. From there, we kept walking because by now we were almost at the Paris Opera and we didn't want to miss seeing that building. At that point, we were almost back to our hotel so, rather than take the Metro, we kept walking until we got there. After a bit of a rest, we walked up to Villiers and had a very nice dinner at the Village Cafe which was very French in spite of its name.
Musee d'Orsay from across the Seine
Parisians enjoying their Sunday in Jardin des Tuileries
Jardin des Tuileries even has a funfair
Napoleon's monument in Place Vendome
The Paris Opera
From the steps of the Paris Opera
Our hotel - a welcome sight
Saturday, July 9, 2011
What the Fuss is All About
Our cheap guide book suggested that the best way to get into the Louvre without the great queue is to enter from the Palais Royal Metro station on the number 7 line. So we made a reasonably early start, walking down to Europe station on the number 3 line, catching the Metro to Opera where we changed to the number 7 line. On arrival at Palais Royal, we took the Louvre exit and followed the sings to a little shop selling tickets. The queue was only about 10 people long and took no time at all. We then went into the Louvre itself at the basement level and found an entrance queue of a couple of hundred people.
No sooner that we had got in the queue, we were told by a very helpful official that as we had pre-purchased tickets we could go up to the Courtyard and use that entrance - so we did and joined a queue of about 10 people. We were inside the Louvre very quickly with no standing around so we were very glad we didn't persevere yesterday. Once inside, we made a beeline for the "main event" - the Mona Lisa. It was bedlam of course. On the one hand, it quite amazing to see it and, on the other hand, something of an anti-climax. The image is so familiar, you had to remind yourself that you were looking at the original work of art. With all the crowds around, you really couldn't take your time to enjoy it either - but we have seen it!
After fighting our way out of the Mona Lisa display room, we settled down to looking at the exhibits at a leisurely pace. The Louvre is more than huge, it is immense - 12 miles of corridors we found out. All in all, we were there for over five and half hours. In that time we looked at many things and walked straight past probably 100 times the number of things we stopped and looked closely at. Quite exhausted, we found our way out and retraced our steps on the Metro back to our hotel.
Barely scratching the surface of what can be found in the Louvre
After a big rest, we went out for dinner. We walked downhill past Gare Saint-Lazare station until we came to the Cafe du Mogador in Rue de la Chaussee d'Antin. We had a very nice dinner and, afterwards, walked it off by continuing down the road. We eventually came to a more touristy area and decided that we really liked the little corner of Paris we were staying. We jumped on the Metro at Richelieu Drouot on line 9 and changed to line 3 at Havre Caumartin for a train back to Villiers and our hotel.
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