paris vacation pictures 2006
Paris Trip Saturday 21 Jan 2006
Travel Day, Montmartre and Eiffel Tower
Busy morning packing up clothes, cameras, cables, computer, iPod, Nintendo DS, games etc., for the flight over. I took the Mac PowerBook 12" "Silver" which I'm using to type up this, and to download and store all my pictures. Meredith's Mom and Dad drove us to Houston well in time for our 4pm Continental flight to Newark and we had a couple of hours to kill in George Bush Intercontinental airport. It was past lunchtime, so we headed for Taco Bell which is one of the few fast food places that I'll eat at these days.
The flight up to Newark Liberty was kind of bumpy, and really full so it was a moderately unpleasant but uneventful 4 hours. As always, despite the varied load of passengers, the Continental Flight Attendants were great and did their best to keep us happy.
Our layover in Newark was quite short and I needed to charge the Mac back up after working on it on the flight up, so I headed to gate C120 to find a power point and feed it some juice.
It was funny at the gate to see about three separate families all using laptops as DVD players to entertain their kids. The great thing was that all these kids were sitting transfixed in front of various, presumeably favorite movies. Who says technology doesn't improve life? The power supply arrangements were a bit off the wall though, with one power supply plugged in about six feet up and dangling from the wall.
Once again, we boarded a Continental jet, and once again it was a cramped and tiring experience, like all economy air travel, though the flight attendants fed us and kept us safe and well-watered. I managed to sleep for a couple of hours towards the middle of the flight, which really helped, though Meredith was pretty upset since she didn't manage to get any sleep at all. When I wasn't sleeping or reading Slashdot or Digg, I worked on some data analysis software that's been on my out of work hours list for a while.
I woke about 2 hours from landing just in time for breakfast, and the coffe, croissant and fruit salad helped wake me up for the arrival at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris... By this time it was 10 am European time Sunday 22nd January ...
Sunday 22 Jan 2006
First Day in Paris
We got though customs quickly and picked up our luggage and headed for the taxi stand. We were both pretty tired and in need of a shower and some lunch. AirportPictures
We reached the hotel after about 20 minutes, but were too early to check-in. This flattened Meredith who had been rather hoping for a bathroom and shower, but her hopes were dashed. I led the dilapidated, dejected and despondent dame towards the direction of a random bar or restaurant which duly appeared.
After getting settled at the Village Michel her hopes were dashed again by the pay toilet, though there was an available urinal (male style) outside the stalls of the male, female shared facility. After a few minutes, relief was finally granted by the friendly patron who brought us the requisite token to open the portal of the pay toilet, and pressures could be released.
A token was also brought for me, but I managed to somehow squander it, and reverted to using the essentially public urinal in the corner, though I had to avoid the puddles that a previous user had left, perhaps having one or several beers too many.
After these trials, we ordered coq au vin, along with a beer for me (Stella Artois) and a water (avec gas) for Meredith. The food was excellent, and hopefully a taste of things to come. I'm sure I've had coq au vin before, but none of those dishes bore any resemblance to the resilient, strong textured and flavored meat in a heart red wine based sauce, whole boiled potates placed on the plate like rocks in a zen garden. A real point of note in the dish was the size of the bones. Initially I refused to believe it was chicken at all, since I figured it had to be some kind of gigantic fowl to be so heavyset and large of bone. But chicken it was, and delicious it was.
After this repast, we returned the few hundred meters down the street to the hotel and checked-in. As always, the first thing uttered on entry related to the lack of resemblance to the expensive room on the booking web-site and the cheap room we had actually paid for, and were now entering. Infact, the room was clean, bright, adequantely furninshed with a bed, desk, wardrobe, chair, window (with view) and bathroom with shower.
The room cost $70 a night for the two of us, so I think we're getting a pretty good deal. This way undercuts the prices we saw displayed at the hotel.
After getting showered and freshened up we headed off to check out the Montmartre neighbourhood.
One of the main attractions in Montmartre is the Sacre Coeur Basilica. This looks to be on one of the highest points in the Montmartre quarter. Our hotel is about 3/4 of a mile North of the basilica, with the basilica being between the hotel and the central part of Paris. There are several choices to reach the basilica including a long windy road, a bus, a funnicular from the Paris side only and a series of steep steps. We of course took the steps initially, and switched to the road near the top.
We did pause on the way up ...
Once you get to the top, you are rewarded with the sight of the enormous Sacre Coeur Basilica.
Photography is not permitted inside the Basilica, and when we went a mass was in progress. We did see at least one would be photographer being firmly ejected for transgressing the rules.
After returning from the Basilica, Meredith napped for a while and I worked on the computer. After an hour or so, we were both ready for some dinner so we headed off to explore Montmartre again. Our wanderings led us past a little Chinese food place that either sold the food cold for taking home to reheat, or they would heat and serve the food for you to have at a few tables in the shop. We opted for the latter course and enjoyed potstickers, chicken kebabs, rice and a beef and vermicelli samosa each for about 18E. Including a coke and Heineken!
After dinner, we both felt somewhat energised, and we caught a train down to Champs du Mars, which is the station for the Tour Eiffel. It's really cool, and similar to Tower station in London, in the way that the first thing you see on emerging from the station in the top of the Eiffel tower. The view is very impressive close up, though taking a good photograph may involve lying on your back.
The Metro and RER train systems seem well integrated in Paris, with easy to use touch screens, though only in French, for buying tickets that are useful in both systems.
After returning to the hotel, we noticed one thing that might have knocked ten bucks of the nightly rate. The green metro line runs right under the ground nearby, so everything rumbles a little when a train goes by. It's not bad though, and I'm sure we'll get used to it in a day or so.
Paris Trip Monday 23 January 2006
Notre Dame Cathedral and Eiffel Tower
We slept in somewhat despite the trains rumbling underneath us every few minutes. It was quarter to tenish when we got up and showered, and descended to the lobby cum dining room for breakfast. Breakfast is included with the room rate and comprised a pot of good coffee, a glass of jus d'orange and a baguette and croissant.
Champ du Mars station was the next destination, which is the stop for Notre Dame. The weather was beautiful, and we took plenty of pictures of the area surrounding the cathedral. We stopped for a coffee, and diet coke for Meredith. Maybe we will try and pack some of our own sodas next time as the cost was 6E for a single diet coke!
Entrance to Notre Dame was free and we walked slowly round, looking at the areas dedicated to worship of the various saints. Unlike the Basilica, photography is permitted in Notra Dame, though perhaps not for much longer if the widespread flouting on the no flash rule that we saw is typical. Perhaps they could hand out little pieces of black tape for people to stick on their little cameras that they seem unable to control correctly. It was sad to see so many little flashes, "Everytime your flash fires, God kills an angel." might be a good sign to put up. I took some pictures inside, and we bought a Statue of the Virgin for a friend back in Houston.
After walking round the inside of the main cathedral, I took off alone for an hour to walk the 410 stairs up to the top of the left tower. The walk costs 7.50E and is semi-guided in that the guides let you know what to do, but don't actually say anything. The 410 steps were quite a walk, up through twisty spiral staircases, including an involuntary 20 minute stop at the gift store, where I protested by not buying anything. After escaping the gift shop, the next area is the top path along the front of the cathedral. There are spectacular views of Paris available, and another step climb to the top of the right-hand tower.
It was time to eat again, and we headed along the banks of Seine (No one had fallen in, so I was unable to shout "You are in-seine!") towards the memorial at St Michel. On the way there was a bang and a very pretty Parisienne leaped out to inspect the damage to the front of her Peugeot. Minor traffic accidents in Paris seem to be common in Paris as most cars bear at least minor dents, and the remonstration between the drivers was good natured and was moderated by a nearby gendarme.
We ate at Fountain St Michel. Food in Paris is a bit pricey, and 20E seems typical for a light meal of coffe, diet coke and a couple of sandwiches. The food generally is very good, and you don't feel quite so bad when your ham sandwich comes with a thick layer of perfectly toasted and strongly flavored cheese. In France, even the simple food is well prepared.
After eating it was back to the hotel for a nap (Meredith) and to download pictures and blogging (me). We are off to the Tour Eiffel next, and plan to head all the way to the top this time.
We took the metro and RER to Champs de Mars and again headed for the tower. Initially it didn't look too promising as there were few people around, as it was *very* cold, but sure enough one of the piers of the Eiffel Tower was open. This will probably sound like fantasy to people who have visited during summer, but there were about 4 people in the line to buy tickets to ascend the tower. Sadly the top level was not open for another two weeks, so we had to make do with the 7.50E ride to the second level. In fact, my pictures of Paris might have been even worse if we had gone to the top. I didn't have a tripod with me, or an F1.0 lens, so I had to make the best of it, with my hands practically losing all feeling.
After making the trip up the Eiffel tower, we took some more pictures and headed to Cafe Iolanda to eat.
Time for the trip back, and we took a different route, heading North instead of East, and stopping at the Chant Elyses to see the Arc d'Triomphe and look at the shops.
By the time our legs were getting tired and Meredith was starting to get very tired of seeing stairs everywhere. Of course, even worse than the actual stairs was the anticipation of stairs, with the coy cast-iron end of a banister peeking out from behind a corner being a license for us both to break into hearty guffaws.
Paris Trip Tuesday 24 January 2006
Cemetry Pere Lachaise and Musee d'Orsay
We managed to wake up and get showered a bit earlier today. We were down at breakfast by 9am enjoying coffee and croissants. Again the weather was cold and clear, with a biting cold wind, which was only partly offset by the weak sunlight.
We had planned to take the metro down to Musee d'Orsay, but our train was stopped at Barbes Rochechouart due to a failed train somewhere. We had sat on the train for a while, but eventually a fairly final sounding announcement was made and everyone left for other connections.
As it happened we were able to connect to the line that goes to Pere Lachaise station, so we changed plans and decided to go to the Pere Lachaise cemetry to see the grave of Jim Morrison. It was easy to find a map of the cemetry to buy at a kiosk near the station, and armed with this we headed in to look for the grave.
The cemetry was quiet, with only a few groups of people roaming around, most probably with the same intention of looking for the grave of the lizard king. Pere Lachaise is a large cemetery and the many small plots are laid out butted right up against one another.
On the way around the cemetry, we saw lots of beautiful statuary and monuments.
After walking for about 20 minutes, we found the crypt of Heloise et Aberlard, a tragic love story.
After this we found the grave of Jim Morrison, which was surrounded by barriers, though I did manage to get a picture.
There were some other very attractive sculptures and stained glass present in some of the crypts, but our destination was the crypt of Oscar Wilde, who is buried here. Sadly, when we found the crypt it was defaced, which Wilde himself probably would have been appalled at. Ghastly, dear boy, simply ghastly.
After looking at the cemetery, we ended up heading East towards Place Gambetta, where we found a photo shop. I bought some extremely expensive CR2 batteries for the reserve battery holder for my D70, as I had neglected to charge it the night before. I also acquired a SanDisk Extreme II 1.0Gig compact flash for 80E which will allow me to shoot pictures a bit faster than with the generic branded flash card currently in the camera. We looked around a little more, before settling on a little Bar Restaurant to eat lunch at. Meredith had Hamburger with a fried egg on top, and I had a Steak au Poivre, both were extremely rare, but also delicious. I think we're still waiting for a really bad meal, though my spaghetti carbonara last night wasn't the best.
After paying the 22.40E for lunch, which included a diet coke and an excellent cappaccino, we entered the Gambetta metro station and caught a train to Republique. Here we changed and went South to Gare d'Austerlitz. At this point it wasn't very clear on what to do. Gare d'Austerlitz is a mixed station with RER and suburban trains, and RER C which we needed to get to Musee d'Orsay was tucked away downstairs, behind what seemed like a mini-mall. Down on platform A, it wasn't clear about with of the two available platforms to wait at, so asked a French lady, who tried to help us understand. Sadly, she talked just a little too fast for my weak language skills, but we eventually worked out that any train at either of the platforms would be just fine. As indeed it turned out, emerging right at the Musee d'Orsay.
Musee d'Orsay is built in an old railway station building, and looks fantastic, both inside and outside. There are some interesting sculptures outside and the building facade is clean and handsome.
Inside the Musee d'Orsay, the feeling is of a modern cathedral with a huge airy and naturally lit open space. People roam around amongst sculptures with feeling of relaxed contemplation. There were several parties of children, probably on school trips, who seemed to be having fun.
Musee d'Orsay has a fantastique collection of art, both paintings and sculpture. There are many acknowledged masterpieces and during January, like now, it is not incredibly busy. The main collections of paintings are spread out in bright airy rooms on several levels around the edge of the building.
It's worth noting that photography is permitted, though obviously flash photography will not be tolerated around such priceless works of art. It seems kinda silly to photograph art anyway, so I (mainly) refrained from risking it near the paintings.
And one of my favorite parts of Musee D'Orsay was the wonderful restored clock.
We splashed for a cab after visiting Musee D'Orsay as Meredith was tired from all the walking and stair climbing, and the cab dropped us at the Jules Joffrin metro station. For a late second lunch, or early dinner, depending on how you look at it, we walked up to a Patisserie and purchased a Croque Monsieur, a big slice of pizza, a slice of Flan and a Royal Chocolate. This gace us a pretty good meal in the hotel room, and after eating, Meredith napped, and your faithful correspondent worked on downloading pictures, and this vacation blog.
After a while, it was time to eat again, and we enjoyed some Italian food at a nearby restaurant. Meredith had bolognaise and I had saltimbocca and a half bottle of wine.
Paris Trip Wednesday 25 January 2006
Hotel Des Invalides and Louvre
Invalides is a military hospital, and also the site of several museums, including the tomb of Napoleon. Paris seems to be putting a lot of effort into her role as a capital city, and there were several groups of workmen at work in the grounds of Invalides.
We walked from Invalides metro station Southwards towards the back entrance, through the arch and quads towards the ticket offices in the front. On the way we detoured slightly to take a few pictures of the Place de la Concorde.
After Place de la Concorde we headed towards Invalides.
We bought tickets for the military museum and Napoleon's tomb, heading for the military museum first. Sadly, it was up several flights of stairs. We did ask about the elevator, but it was reserved for the disabled. If you are elderly or have sore knees, you might want to skip the museum.
Once up on the second floor, the museum was very interesting. The museum we looked at covered WWII over two floors with lots of good and thought provoking exhibits, including French, British and German uniforms, vehicles and other items reflecting the war.
The highlight of the trip today was seeing the RAF logbook. It was just a mundane flying logbook, yet it told a truly heroic tale of men giving their lives in defense of their country. The tragic artifacts from the Holocaust also gave pause for thought and reflection on what must not be allowed to happen again.
After the war museum, it was on to the tomb of Napoleon. The tomb is in one of the annexes of the main building at Invalides, under a large dome.
We opted to have lunch after this, and retraced our steps back towards the Grand Palais on the North bank of the Seine crossing the Pont Alexandre III, passing the Petit Palais.
Finding ourselves at Champs Elyses, we walked up to find somewhere to buy postcards and lunch. It was easy to find postcards, but a post office was harder. We did find one though, and my French was put to the test buying stamps for the UK and USA.
After buying stamps, we looked around the side streets behind the Champs and found a Thai/Chinese restaurant. My red curry was kind of bland initially, but spiced up nicely with the addition of some large dollops of red chilli sauce.
With lunch eaten, we waited for a taxi to take us to the Louvre. We waited a while, and with an apparently comatose man in front of us, we decided to start walking towards the Grand Palais and Louvre, and hopefully pickup a tax on the way. A taxi duly appeared, driven by yet another surly sudanese man, who muttered into a bluetooth earpiece. After the food prices in Paris, especially for such basics as sodas, 6E for a taxi seemed like a bargain, and we were deposited happily at the front of the Louvre, which contrary to my expectations was not louvred in any way shape or form. Instead, a huge complex of beautiful buildings act as a nest to a large glass pyramid, which is the entrance and focal point for visitors.
The Louvre is large. Very very large. It also has very very many paintings. No person can reasonably expect to enjoy a visit if they try to see too much. After buying tickets from the automated ticket booth via credit card, we looked around the entrance hall for a starting point.
Tickets for the Louvre are good all day, so you can exit and restart if you have a full day to devote to seeing it. We started at the top and worked downwards. Having so many paintings allows a slightly different perspective than normal. With so many paintings, you get a different insight into the daily life of portraiture that must have been many painters stock-in-trade. Certain eras of painting also have commonalities, such as the exposed breast, and consistent religious themes. A few paintings caught my eye. Photography is permitted, except in busy areas, such as the Italian section (Mona Lisa) and a few others.
We struggled a little with the sheer size of the place. The maps can be confusing to read, and the stairs and elevators are quite far apart. For people who don't want to be on their feet for several hours, plan to start at some interesting place in art history, and schedule a stop back outside, or at the entrance hall, for a sandwich and some water. The Mona Lisa was present and correct, and we took a look for curiosities sake on the way out. Expect to enjoy the paintings in the quieter areas such as the Delacroix works, much more than a single painting behind bulletproof glass and a mob of tourists. In fact, unless you really need to see this painting, the Musee D'Orsay is a much better lit, cooler and generally more pleasant space in which to enjoy beautiful paintings.
On the way out, we bought some refreshments and sat outside on the edge of the fountain and recharged. It was bitterly cold, and had clouded over whilst we were inside the Louvre. We caught the Metro West to Concorde and changed to the 12 line North to Jules Jeffrin. On the spur of the moment, we changed our minds and stopped early at Abbesses, which is the stop for the Montmartre Funnicular. These are little cars that run up a steep track to the Sacre Coeur Basilica.
The Paris weather finally changed slightly for the worst, and it snowed briefly as we skirted the Basilica and walked down to the hotel. Meredith stopped at a phharmacy for some hand lotion whilst I went next door and bought a champignon mushroom pizza (fresh cooked) and a beignet chocolat. A delicious end to a long day.
Paris Trip Thursday 26 January 2006
La Madeleine and St Chapel
I had planned to get up early this morning, but I was tired and ill from the cough we both have, so I ended up not emerging until abou 10am, with Meredith still in bed. I did manage to make it down for breakfast, and brought back a baguette for Meredith. Once we were both woken and dressed, we took the subway to Opera to visit La Madeleine. Once there we walked down the street to find a cafe.
We both felt better after some more breakfast, and we headed back to find La Madeleine. On the way we did a little window shopping.
La Madeleine is a distinctive building being surrounded by many columns, with a huge frieze along the roofline.
Inside, the magnificent church was impressive and beautiful.
After La Madeleine, we walked South towards Place de la Concorde then East towards Ile de la Cite, taking us past La Louvre.
Passing the Louvre, we walked towards Pont Neuf, to cross onto Ile de la Cite.
We also stopped at Father and Son cafe for some lunch.
Saint Chapelle is within the bounds of the Palace of Justice and we had to go through some typically relaxed French security to get into the complex. Once inside we asked a friendly gendarme for directions and we were duly directed into the courtyard where we picked up the signs for St Chapel.
St Chapelle is divided into two main chambers. The lower chamber, where you initially enter, is not hugely impressive, and also contains a large official souvenir stand, which presumeably helps to raise money to fund the restoration which was in progress outside.
Above the lower chamber in St Chapel, is the much larger and immensely more ornate upper chamber. St Chapelle was conceived to hold some of the most impressive relics in Christendom including the Crown of Thorns and pieces of the True Cross, and was designed to reflect this, with stained glass windows that tell biblical stories, starting with Genesis.
After seeing St Chapelle we caught the Metro home to Jules Joffrin. It was funny to see a scooter with an Apple logo on it.
As I write this, we have two full days left in our Paris visit. Time to hit the books looking for more sights.
Paris Trip Friday 27 January 2006
Sacre Coeur and Musee Montmartre
I got up early and walked up to Basilique de Sacre Coeur to take some pictures of Paris in the early light.
Sadly, it was very misty so there wasn't too much of a view. I managed to get lost trying to get back to the hotel, Montmartre can be quite confusing, and I ended up taking the Metro back to Jules Joffrin station next to the hotel, including having to change once. I really must have been quite lost.
I returned to find Meredith ready for breakfast, and we ate our usual coffe and croissants before catching the Metro down to Montparnasse to visit the Montparnasse tower and the Henri Cartier Bresson Foundation.
Unfortunately, the mistiness persisted and the view from the Montparnasse was hazy and dull. It must be great on a nice day. We enjoyed coffee at the tower before walking in the bitter cold to HCB which was closed.
Again, we took the Metro to Trocadero to get a day view of the Eiffel Tower. I shot a few pictures of the tower brooding under a grey cloudy sky.
We stopped at Lina's Cafe for a light lunch and enjoyed some excellent toasted sandwiches and coke and coffee. The must have been a nearby school as while we were there, a mob of schoolkids descended and took over the place.
After our lunch, we decided to head back to Montmartre and visit the Musee Montmartre. Musee Montmartre is near the Lapin Agile where Picass is rumored to have hung out, though no one was there when we passed. We enjoyed the exhibits at Musee Montmartre, including a couple of Renoir sketches and a few paintings by Utrillo and Utter.
By now we were quite tired, so we headed back to the hotel, stopping to buy food locally, and also hit the local pharmacy for more actifed for our colds.
Paris Trip Saturday 28 January 2006
Catacombs, St Sulpice and St Germain
This morning we were both feeling quite sick from our coughs, and we struggled down to breakfast at a late 10:15am. Breakfast was busy, and we were wedged into a small, already used table. Meredith was not amused by this at all, but the table was cleared promptly and we started on our usual coffee, tea and croissants.
After breakfast we took the Metro South to Denfert Rochereau to visit the Catacombs. The catacombs were utilized near the end of the 18th century to store the contents of the Les Halles cemeteries which were unsanitary due to the number of bodies stored there. The bones were transported across Paris on carts, and originally, simply piled up in the Catacombs. Later, however, the bones were arranged more neatly, and into patterns, by monks. The Catacombes are 60 feet down underneath street level, and it is silent and warm down there. Despite the warnings visible on entry, we didn't find the descent down into the Catacombs too taxing, though it was quite a long trip down the spiral staircase. Once down, it was a longish walk of a kilometer or so to the 'burial chambers'. There are many explanatory signs dotted around, and a presentation at the start of the underground portion.
After a long walk, you begin to feel that the tunnels are never going to end, then you reach the entry room, with an ominous warning.
When you pass through this portal, you enter more tunnels and chambers where the bones removed from the cemeteries are piled up in patterns.
After the Catacombs, and slightly tired from the 60 feet climb back to the surface, we stopped at a small cafe which specialized in pancakes. We had some coffee and filled buckwheat pancakes and continued on with a trip to the church of St Sulpice. We saw some interesting things on the way to St Sulpice including an Apple Store, though it had no mention of the new Intel Macs.
At St Sulpice, one of the towers was being restored, by the looks of the scaffolding, though the inside was beautiful. This church in particular had quite a good heating system, and there were several tramps sat on chairs placed strategically over the hot air vents.
After St Sulpice, we decided to go and look at the church of St Germaine. I think this will be the last sight we see in Paris for this trip.
And if you managed to read all this way, or just looked at the pictures, heres a final reward.
;-)
