Gallivanting Grandma

Sunday – October 30, 2011

We’re so busy getting out and about and walking everywhere  in Paris that I can’t keep up to writing in my blog.  My photos will have to stand in for the writing.  Here are more photos of the famous and beautiful “City of Lights”……..

Place Dauphine

Covered Walkway

Political or Traffic Warning?

Musee du Moyen Age

Middle Ages Heads

Ancient Clock

The Pantheon

Side View of the Pantheon

Demonstration in Front of the Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon

Foucault Pendulum

Voltaire’s Crypt

Antique Stone Carving

Fall Leaves in Luxembourg Gardens

Smart Car Parking Space

Saint Sulpice

Saturday – October 29, 2011

The time is speeding by, the weather in Paris is mild and we’re having fun seeing the sights in this amazing city!  This morning we decided to get an early start and go to the Musee D’Orsay. It had been closed for renovations and just opened this month. The building used to be an old railroad station and instead of tearing it down, the Paris government turned it into an art museum. It is the premier modern art museum in Paris which covers the period of 1848 through 1914. More recent and contemporary art is displayed in the Pompedieu Center and several other sites. The Musee D’Orsay has an amazing collection of the work of artists who created the term: impressionism. These are some of my favorite artists: Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Matisse, Sisley, Corot, Lautrec, Manet, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.  The D’Orsay is full of all these artists!

One of the Clocks in the Musee D’Orsay

The biggest problem in our sojourn today to the D’Orsay were the many signs which read “NO PHOTOGRAPHY”! The building is a former railroad station with interesting ornamentation and lovely huge clocks and wonderful natural light. We didn’t want to take pictures of the art work, but the light and angles in the building are very interesting to photograph!! The last time we visited the Musee D’Orsay, photography was allowed and we have many interesting photos. Oh well, we just had to enjoy the art and flex our shutter fingers a lot.

Paris from the Inside Looking Out

It was almost one o’clock when we completed the 5th floor where the major impressionist artists’ works are displayed, and we were getting hungry because we skipped our morning croissants. There is a very nice restaurant at the end of the gallery and we decided to have lunch there. I had a great light meal of fresh salad Nicoise.

Another Clock in the Cafe

The Main Hall of the Musee D’Orsay

Coffee at a Sidewalk Cafe

The weather is still overcast but mild temperatures in the low 60s. We stopped for a rest at a typical French cafe and watched the world go by.  We still had a few hours left so we took the Metro to the Musee des Arts et Metiers.

Paris Metro – Solferino Station

The Paris Metro system is very easy to negotiate. It is much easier to use than the NYC subway system and much cleaner. This Metro line didn’t have the glass walls like the Rivoli line.

Museum of Arts & Metiers

The Arts and Metiers Museum is a really fascinating museum which traces the invention and development of machines, instruments, and mechanical devices. It is full of models of machines and also real instruments. We had discovered it on our last visit to Paris and were eager to return to see it again.

Inside the Museum of Arts & Metiers

Part of the museum is housed in an old Gothic church. This section has a real working Foucault pendulum and a display of very old French cars, trains, gliders, and other antique motorized vehicles.  It is a beautiful space.

Foucault Pendulum in Former Church

The museum has demonstrations of the history of how machines and instruments were invented and developed. It is a really interesting museum.

Hood Ornament from an Antique Car

Antique Engine

Grand Marble Staircase

Lavoisier’s Laboratory

Wooden Models of Energy Producers

We left the museum about six o’clock and took the Metro to the Chatelet Station.  There was a political demonstration going on in the small park near the station.  There were large crowds of people chanting and making lots of noise.

Arts & Metiers Metro Station

We walked to rue St. Honore where the 7th Best Boulangerie in Paris was located. We stood in a long line for a baguette “traditionelle”. Then we crossed the street to the trateur to get some pate and finally stopped at the fromagerie for some cheese. We took our treasures back to the hotel and had a yummy feast! Paris is such a fun place!!!!

Friday – October 28, 2011

Our hotel, Le Relais du Louvre, is really a very charming place to stay in Paris. I agree with everyone on Trip Advisor who stated that all the people at the reception desk are very nice, friendly, and very helpful.  They seem to be genuinely kind.

One of the Entrances to the Louvre Museum

That said, I can lodge my complaint about our neighbors who played their television too loud until 2:00 AM last night and kept us awake!

Metro Station Near Comedie Francaise

I abandoned any idea of getting an early start in the morning and slept until about nine o’clock. When I awoke, I peeked outside through the window between the curtains. Yes, Paris was still there! It’s so exciting!! Being in Paris is soooo much fun!

Palais Garnier Opera House

We tried a different cafe for cafe au lait and pain au chocolate. I wondered how long it would take to have coffee and a croissant in a different cafe every day and never repeat. So far, all the cafe au laits have been different but all very good and tasty.

Grand Staircase in the Opera House

We had decided to explore a different arrondissement today and walked up to rue St. Honore and turned left. There are many shops and restaurants along this narrow busy street.

Interior of Paris Opera House

We saw several Metro stations which seem to have been restored with interesting artistic entrances. Some have the beautiful old Art Nouveau green metalwork which resembles flowers and stems.

View of Place de l’Opera from the Balcony

We passed the entrance to Le Louvre museum and saw the famous Comedie Francaise Theater. The traffic was heavy and the sidewalks were full of people. The weather is very mild for this time of year and everyone seems to be outdoors. Today the temperature is about 64 degrees. The sky is overcast and gray, but there is only a 30% chance of rain.

Golden Auditorium of the Garnier Opera House

We walked all the way to Place de l’Opera to see the Palais Garnier Opera House. This is a magnificent Beaux-Arts building (built about 1870) which was recently cleaned outside and carefully restored inside to its original grandeur. The Paris Opera company moved out some years ago to a new modern facility near the Bastille. The old Palais Garnier Opera House had been empty, but now they are staging ballets and a few operas again.

Marc Chagall Painted Ceiling

We had toured this building on our last trip to Paris and loved it, so we wanted to see it again. The grand staircase is tres impressive decorated with different kinds of marble and beautiful marble statues. Inside the theater auditorium, the walls are all gold with red plush velvet seats and on the ceiling there is a magnificent circular Chagall painting. There are eight Gobelins tapestries on the walls of an anteroom near the box seats. The building is gorgeous! I am very happy that the French government restored it rather than take it down.

Church of the Madeleine

Afterwards we walked along the narrow rue des Mathurins which is parallel to Boulevard Haussmann. Then we turned left onto the boutique-filled rue Tronchet to the Place de la Madeleine. This is the location of the very impressive Neo-Classical Church of the Madeleine, consecrated in 1842. It has 52 huge Corinthian columns supporting the triangular roof.

Maille Speciality Mustard Shop

There are several famous shops around the Place de la Madeleine. Fauchon is a fun shop for “contemporary luxury foods”. Maille is for specialty mustards and other condiments. We continued our walk down the rue Royale toward the Place de la Concorde.

Interior Courtyard of Louvre Museum

We debated taking the Metro back to our hotel or continuing to walk and we decided to walk under the covering of the rue de Rivoli. There are many tourists in this area and also gaudy tourist shops selling gaudy souvenirs. We finally reached our hotel to rest and take a break before venturing out again.

Entrance to the Louvre Museum

The Louvre Museum is open late on Friday nights until 9:30 PM. Since it’s right across the street from our hotel, we thought it would be fun to go there. The sun was setting and it cast a beautiful warm glow on the building. We walked through the courtyard and into the central glass-pyramid ticket area. We decided to purchase a four-day “Museum Pass” because there were many more museums that we wanted to see in Paris.

Inside Looking Out

There are three main sections in the Louvre: Richelieu, Sully, and Denon. All the sections seemed to have French paintings and a wide variety of art from all parts of the world. We chose the Richelieu section because neither of us had ever been to that section before. We took the elevator to the top floor and worked our way down to the ground level. Suffice to say that there is a lot to see in the Louvre and a week is probably not enough time to enjoy all the incredible works of art.

View of Paris From the Louvre

We walked many miles today and we saw a great deal of the center of Paris and one section of the Louvre. Ahhhh Paris……. Magnifique!!

Thursday – October 27, 2011

It had been a weird night. I had fallen asleep about five o’clock and then I awoke eight hours later at 1:00 AM. Jeff was also awake and we discussed getting up and starting our day. We joked and talked about all the things we could do in the middle of the night in Paris if we were truly brave explorers. We decided not to explore the city in the dark.  Our bodies were still on New York Time!

View of the Louvre Museum From Our Window

I worked on my blog for a couple of hours and Jeff surfed the Web on his iPhone to find interesting eateries and cafes for the next day. The free WiFi in our room works great!! About 3:00 o’clock I started to get sleepy so I went back to bed thinking I would just take a short nap and get up again in a few minutes.

Beautiful Parisian Bridge

The next thing I knew when I looked over to see the time on the nightstand, it was 9:30 A.M.!! I must have been really tired to sleep so long! We showered and dressed and left Le Relais about 10:30.

Prize-Winning Boulangerie

Once outside, we walked toward the rue de Rivoli in search of morning coffee and a real French croissant. We found rue St. Honore and the Jean-Noel Julien Boulangerie (bakery) which had won seventh place in the 2011 Best Boulangerie in Paris contest.

Pastries at Jean-Noel Julien Boulangerie

We peeked in and took photos and promised ourselves that we would return soon to try their wares. At the next corner we stopped at a street cafe and had our cafe au lait with a delicious, buttery, flaky, baked-to-perfection, real Parisian croissant. Ah heaven….

Notre Dame Cathedral

Well fortified we walked toward the Ile de la Cite. This is where Paris originated as a small Celtic settlement known as Parisii, some say, in about 250 BC. It was appropriate to start our visit there.  Soon we were following the crowds of tourists to the famous Notre Dame Cathedral. It is a beautiful and imposing Gothic structure. We didn’t want to wait in a long line to get into the church nor did we want to wait on a longer line to climb the hundreds of steps to the top of the tower. We did that on previous trips and could pass up the experience now.

Flying Buttresses of Notre Dame

We walked around to the rear of the cathedral and into the little park to take photos and admire the flying buttresses which support the roof of the Gothic building. Then we crossed the little bridge connecting the islands to Ile St. Louis. I had never been on the little sister island and wanted to see it. It is mostly residential and quiet with one main street, the rue St. Louis en l’Ile, running through the middle length of the island. There is also a road that goes around the periphery.

View of the Seine From Ile Saint Louis

We were starting to get hungry about one o’clock so we found a tiny restaurant that made crepes called Le Sarrasin et Le Froment Creperie. We had to wait for a table so we patiently people-watched and looked at the interesting decorations on the walls and chatted. The friendly waiter gave us a good table near the front window and was very kind to us. I had the Camembert crepe with green salad & walnuts and Jeff had the jambon & Ementhaler cheese. These were the authentic Brittany buck-wheat crepes called “gallettes”. For dessert, we had the sweet white-flour crepes with applesauce. Yummm…  The gallettes brought back memories of our time in Brittany.

Flower Shop on Ile St. Louis

Back outside into the cool sunny air, we crossed the bridge connecting Ile St. Louis to the “Left Bank” of the Seine. We found the main street of Boulevard Saint Germain and walked along with the rushing Parisians. We strolled quite a way window shopping and people-watching. We were getting tired and decided to return to our hotel to rest.

End of Ile de la Cite

After dark, we went back out to find a good place for dinner. This is a prime tourist area in Paris and the last time we were here, we were disappointed in the restaurants and had a difficult time finding decent French food. We returned to the Left Bank and crossed the Pont Neuf then walked up rue Dauphine.

Halloween Window on Blvd. St. Germain

The neighborhood was jumping! There were many young people walking around, congregating in front of bistros, and sitting at outdoor tables on the sidewalks. The temperature was mild and it seemed like everyone was out enjoying it.  Of course, this isn’t tourist season and the university was in full session.

View of the Seine on the Left Bank

We continued to walk and read menus along the way. Then we turned off rue Dauphine to enter a little alley that I remembered from the last time we were in Paris. It is a quaint little cobblestone pedestrian street lined with small boutiques and restaurants. We settled on the Relais Odeon and had a satisfactory dinner. After dinner we walked around the narrow back streets which were still filled with happy young Parisians. We were getting tired, it had been a long day and we did a lot of walking.

Wednesday – October 26, 2011

It took well over an hour to get through Charles de Gaulle Airport because it’s so big and you have to walk a distance that feels like miles following signs to the baggage area. Then we trudged through Passport Control to get our passports stamped and then the last obstacle: Customs. Finally, out beyond the Sortie signs and into the Paris sunshine! Yes, the sun was shining in Paris, France! Every other time we arrived in Paris, it was always raining. So it became our standard joke that “it always rains in Paris”. It’s nice to be wrong about this one!

View Across the Seine River

We decided to opt for the more expensive taxi transport into the city because we were very tired and we didn’t want to negotiate trains, buses, and/or subways with our luggage. Public transportation into Paris is the cheaper way to get into the central part of Paris. At our age sitting in a taxi is a lot more appealing than lugging our suitcases up and down Metro steps. Been there, done that. There was lots of traffic and the taxi ride took almost an hour and cost 55 Euros. It was lovely driving through the farmlands outside the city and through the historic streets down rue Malesherbes and into the majestic La Place de Concorde and finally to our hotel.

Place de la Concorde

We arrived at the lovely Hotel Le Relais du Louvre on rue des Pretres St. Germain l’Auxerrois. It is a charming little hotel on a side street across from the Louvre Museum in the First Arrondesment.

Le Relais du Louvre

We chose this small ‘hotel de charme’ because of the location in the center of Paris and their off-season rates were reasonable. Also, Le Relais received excellent reviews from the Trip Advisor website which we always consult before traveling anywhere.

Pont Neuf – The New Bridge Built in 1578

Our room on the fourth floor is a typically small Parisian room, with exposed wooden beams on the ceiling.  Our window overlooks the Gothic 13^th Century Cathedral of St. Germain l’Auxerrois across the street. Our home-away-from-home is very clean & cozy and has a modern bathroom. We also have free WiFi in the room.  What more do we need??  :-)

View From Our Window

After we met the receptionist and left off our luggage, we went out for a walk in the City of Lights. This was our first time back to Paris since our last visit which was during Europe’s “hottest summer ever” heat wave in 2003. Now the late October morning was cool and brisk and sunny. We walked toward the Seine River in a state of disbelief that we were really in beautiful Paris! The sun glistened on the river. The Louvre Museum was behind us and we could see the top of the Eiffel Tower farther down the river.

View Down the Seine Looking Toward Le Louvre

We walked across the Pont Neuf and kept taking pictures and marveled at the beauty of the city. We continued down rue Dauphine where we had stayed on another trip to Paris. I noticed that there were many more Smart Cars and Japanese restaurants in Paris than our previous trips. We stopped at the Cafe Buci on a small triangular corner for coffee. They had outdoor tables despite the cool temperature and we sat down to enjoy real French coffee. Wow! It was wonderful!

Foot-Bridge Across the Seine

Then we walked back to the Seine and back across the footbridge to the First Arrondisment. We returned to our Relais to settle in and after a short while went back out toward the Louvre. We knew that no matter how tired we were from sleep deprivation, we had to stay awake for as long as possible to reset our body clocks to Europe time.

Going Toward the Entrance to Le Louvre

We walked down the busy rue de Rivoli along the museum building and cut through the center of the building to emerge near the famous glass pyramid which is the main entrance to the Louvre Museum. We continued toward the Tuileries Gardens for a leisurely walk.

Entrance to Le Louvre Museum

We started to get hungry and stopped at a crowded booth in the park, simply named Paul, to purchase two sandwiches on French baguettes. Jeff had the jambon et fromages and I had Camembert cheese on a sesame baguette. Wonderful……..

Paul Patisseries

We sat on a stone embankment with the other tourists and ate our yummy French sandwiches. Then we continued on to La Place de la Concorde. This traffic circle is an overwhelming oval of rushing traffic around the Egyptian Obelisk and another monument. La Place de la Concorde is also the beginning of the Champs Elysees and we could see the Arc de Triomphe beyond, at the other end. We aren’t in Kansas anymore…..

Fountain in the Tuilleries Gardens

I was getting really exhausted and feeling “punchy”. We found the nearest Metro station and descended to purchase discount carnets (tickets) to ride the public subways and buses. The Number 1 travels along rue de Rivoli and we took it to the third station which is near our hotel.

New Glass Walls in the Metro

We were shocked to discover that the French government installed glass walls with doors along the Metro platforms. We wondered why. Was it to keep people from jumping in front of trains or to control crowds of people from entering the cars? The stations were more worn and dirtier than I remembered them from previous trips.

Place de la Concorde With Darkening Clouds

We returned to the hotel about 4:30 and tried to stay awake as long as possible but finally couldn’t do it.  I fell into a deep sleep, exhausted from being awake so long but so happy to be in Paris.

Le Tour Eiffel