Paris - Day 6

Not really a full day today, and not the day we planned, but a fun day nonetheless.

We went to Sacre-Coeur this morning, the first stop on what we thought would be a tour of Montmartre. The basilica was gorgeous and the history behind it was quite interesting. It was more serene than the circus at Notre-Dame, which was a step in the right direction. The only drawback was: no pictures inside the church. That was unfortunate, as some of the dome paintings and stained glass were magnificent.

We had planned to trek further into Montmartre after Sacre-Coeur, but it wasn't as inviting as we had hoped. There were copious amounts of broken bottles everywhere and the atmosphere was a little dreary. We decided to move on.

We went back towards the downtown and the Rue Royale that we had passed through yesterday. We got a closer look at the Church of Mary Magdalene that we saw yesterday. It was unique, with religious modern art in some of the side niches.

After lunch, and dropping 27 euros at the mustard shop (lemon & harissa, chablis & morels, garlic & lemon, parmesan & basil, rhubarb & thyme, fine herbs, dill & lime and a l'ancien), we wandered down the retail avenue, window shopping at all the big labels - Chanel, Cartier, Dior, Yves St. Laurent and many more. Fiona's favorite, Hermes, agreed to swap some of our quite unfashionable euros for their somewhat more fashionable scarves. How kind.

Paris - Day 5

Day 5 was a bit of a potpourri. One major item on the agenda and then a range of possibilities.

We took our first Metro trip and we highly recommend it for getting around Paris. The tracks and destinations are clear and well laid out. The price is reasonable, as are the crowds. Definitely skip the Batobus on the Seine and take the Metro.

We got off at the Arc de Triomphe and wandered around the base for a while. The views on a relatively quiet Sunday morning were grand. The large avenues were mostly empty and we could see for miles due to the clear skies. We took the 284 steps to the top terrace and got an even better view.

We then wandered down the Champs Elysees, which was made a bit easier due to the fact it was Sunday and some of the shops were closed. I guess we could have planned that better. We took the time for a nice lunch before making it down to the end of the Champs. There, at the Grand Palais, we found an exposition of ancient books and prints. Fiona catered to my love of old books and agreed to have a look for a couple of hours. The books were spectacular. I went in with a North American view of old books (ie. first editions by Churchill or Twain) and got a European insight into old books - books made before the printing press, hand written and illustrated. It was absolutely amazing.

We left the Grand Palais and found a nice little park outside the Petit Palais to recharge our batteries with some fruit and croissants. We quickly attracted quite a crowd of pigeons and sparrows.

We then decided on seeing a few more landmarks before calling it a day. We wandered down to the Opera building, passing the Church of Marie de Magdalene along the way, although my personal highlight was the Maille mustard shop (fortunately, for my wallet, it was closed). We then hopped the Metro to the Cemetiere de Pere Lachaise, where some Parisiens of note are buried. We saw Marcel Proust and Edith Piaf, Modigliani and Jim Morrison, Marshal Ney and the several Napoleonic noble families. The highlight was the gravestone of Oscar Wilde, covered with lipstick kisses. I leave it to you to decide whether or not one belongs to Fiona.

We hustled it back home and had a quiet meal. We're becoming somewhat worn down by now, and are taking every opportunity to ride instead of walk, sit instead of stand, etc... I think the timeline of a week in Paris flirts with our limits.

Paris - Day 4

We had another great dinner last night. On the recommendation of the hotel and to celebrate Fiona's birthday we went to a local eatery called Le Pere Claude (known to be a favourite of a certain Mr. Chirac). It worked out perfectly. We had a great waiter who was bang on with his recommendations. I had a starter that probably ranks up in the top ten of things I have ever eaten: a truffle based cream soup with two lightly poached eggs swimming in it. It may sound gross to some, but I was speechless in trying to describe it to Fiona. We absolutely recommend this place to anyone dining in Paris. All at a reasonable price, too.

Because we had walked our feet raw at Versailles the day before, we decided that today would have a slightly more lazy overtone. We had "petit dejeuner Anglaise" at the corner brasserie and then wandered down to the Batobus - a Seine based boat service that acts like a bus, allowing you to hop on and off at the major tourist attractions. Our stop was Notre Dame.

For as busy as it was, there wasn't a lot of waiting around. The church itself is very impressive - although not everyone was in the right frame of mind, necessitating a shushing by the staff over the PA system. We ducked into the treasury to see some of the icons and other "donations" made by kings and queens over the years. They also had a cabinet of cameos containing the likeness of all of the popes - very interesting. We kept comparing it back to our tour of the Grote Kerk in Breda. Scales were similar, with Notre Dame being much darker inside, but with more of its beauty and decoration still intact. We had a little thunderstorm during our visit, so we did not ascend the 387 step spiral staircase to the top of the towers.

When we decided to come to Paris we hoped to have enough time to see the major tourist attractions and still be able to wander around and get a feel for the "real" Paris. With nothing else really planned for the day, we decided to go off in search of an authentic "chocolat chaud". Staying on the islands, we tracked down a tiny shop that had a particularly good reputation. The chocolat was thick and creamy and unlike any "hot chocolate" that we had ever had. We ended up having to cut it a bit with water, which was provided, because it was so rich.

We then walked a few doors down to a local art gallery containing a lot of really good work by local and visiting artists. We ended up having a good conversation with the gallery owner and settling on an original piece that will forever remind us of this fantastic trip - a much better souvenir than the tacky miniature Eiffel Towers that are sold by the handful on every street corner. The gallery owner asked us for our information and offered to let us know when some of the other artists had new work, so it looks like we now have our own private art dealer to visit every time we jet into town. Moving on up in the world ...

The painting is wrapped for travel, so we'll take a snapshot and post it once we get back home.

Looks like tomorrow will be the Champs D'Elysees and the Arc du Triomphe. We're planning on taking the metro in order to give our feet another day of rest. I think we'll do a walking tour of Montmartre on Monday. We happened to be flipping channels on our hotel TV while changing for dinner tonight and had to stop on the music channel when we heard an unfamiliar but very catchy tune. We liked it quite a bit, but were unable to find a download on iTunes. Lo and behold, the band, Yodelice, is playing a free concert at the Palais Royal tomorrow evening, as part of the "Fete de la Musique" festival running tomorrow. Funny how that works out.

Paris - Day 3

First things first - a very happy birthday to my fabulous young wife. It truly is great to spending it with you in Paris!

Our feet had recovered somewhat from our previous day's excursion, and it was a good thing, too, because they were seriously put to the test today. We got up early, grabbed a quick croissant and grabbed the train out of town towards Versaille. By the time we arrived at 9:30, the crowds were already gathering and the school trips were pulling up in their busloads. I thought that was something I would have a hard time with, the crowds, but it has been easier to take than I thought. You just resign yourself to the fact that there will always be someone in your otherwise perfect picture, that everything worth seeing will have a line and that a constant dull roar of noise will be in the background. I was joking today that as a Canadian I never really grew up with a good perception of what "busy" is.

Versaille was, of course, magnificent. We enjoyed every aspect - the Grand Apartements, les jardin, le Trianon and the Queen's Hamlet. It really is worth the trip for anyone visiting Paris. I'll let the pictures do the talking and sign off early tonight ...

Paris - Day 2

Day 2 dawned with much promise. We had a busy schedule planned - trying to cram in as much as possible before Fiona turned 30 and we were forced to slow down ...

We had a nice leisurely lie-in, much appreciated by someone whose alarm usually rings at 6am. We decided to skip the 16 euro (each!) continental breakfast at the hotel and wander down the street to the local patisserie. Three croissants and a pan du chocolat later we were fueled up and ready to go. Actually it took us a while to come down from our carbohydrate high. There really is nothing like wandering the relatively quiet morning streets of Paris eating a warm, fresh croissant.

Our first stop was the Musee D'Orsay, located just off the Seine across from the Grand Louvre. We stopped a few times for pictures and to make sure our pace did not increase above leisurely. One of our stops involved this older lady who picked up a large, gold wedding band that was at my feet. She offered it to me, but I assured her it wasn't mine. She told us she couldn't keep it, she wasn't allowed to wear jewelry. While I tried to convince her to just leave it where it lay, some authentic Parisiens walked by and gave Fiona a stern "Non, non!" and a finger wag as exclamation. We eventually walked off, leaving the woman with the ring, who lingered around the area for some time. Fiona was convinced there had been no ring on the sidewalk before the woman arrived. It turned out that we had walked into one of Paris' more common/confusing tourist scams. How it is supposed to work: the woman bends down and pretends to pick a ring up close to your feet. The ring is large, looks gold and is usually of the wedding band variety. She asks if it is yours. When you say no, she tells you to take it, saying she can't keep it for a variety of reasons (depending on the creativity of your con-person). In an ideal situation you pocket the ring, at which point she notes that she's hungry and can you give her a few euros for lunch. You hand over a few coins, and they ask for more, noting that she just gave you a rather large ring. You hand over more and a few days/months/years later you realize that the ring is made of worthless brass. After the one that happened to us, we saw it happen on no less than three more occasions, including another attempt on us by the same woman. This ring scam goes side-by-side with the "do you speak english" and bracelet scams. Tourists beware!

Back to more positive stuff. The Musee d'Orsay was phenomenal. As huge fans of the impressionists we immensely enjoyed most of the 5 floors. We got our fill of Van Gogh's, Monets, Manets, Degas and Renoir. I found I am a closet fan of Camille Pissaro, while Fiona discovered her taste for Fantin-Latour. We also got our fill of sculpture - not something we get a lot of, and enjoyed a set piece on the old Chat Noir shadow theatre. They had many of the cut-outs that they used to project plays on display. Tres cool. We also got to take pictures ("sans flash"), which is unusual, so we've included some of our faves in the post.

Next stop was a busy brasserie across the street for a lunch of quiche Lorraine and croque-monsieur, washed down avec biere et vin. Tres bon!

We wandered over to the Place de la Concord to view the square and it's golden topped obelisk. I think every city should have an obelisk. Our Egyptian hieroglyphics is a little rusty, so no translation. Next to the square are the rather impressive gates to the Jardin du Tuilleries. We grabbed a glacee chocolat to aid us in our wanderings. We passed some time sitting on a bench watching the people go by - one of our now favorite things to do in Paris. At the end of the jardins is the Grand Louvre. I can't imagine how much time it must take to go through the inside of that museum. It is absolutely ginormous! We toured the outside and took the appropriate pictures to ensure that everyone knows we've been there. If we have a rainy day maybe we'll actually go inside. If not, well it gives us a reason to come back.

Last stop of the day was L'Hotel des Invalides - an old army hospital that has been turned into a military museum. We quickly ran through a few exhibits including one on medieval armour. The real prize is the L'Eglise du Dome "tucked" in behind. If your planning on building yourself a tomb that people will gawk at, you should come here for tips. Monsieur Bonaparte had to build something quite large to fit both his tiny body and huge ego, and he did a magnificent job. The detailed work is incredibly impressive and sufficiently awe-inspiring. If you need a refresher on just exactly how awesome Napoleon (thought he) was, take some time at L'Eglise du Dome. Fiona took plenty of notes and has sworn to me that she will build something bigger and better once I bite the dust.

We just finished a quiet dinner at a local Italian restaurant recommended by the hotel. We plan to put up our aching feet and prepare for more walking tomorrow.