Paris: Day 4

August 4, 2009

The Château de Versailles was the first sight on our agenda for the day. We hopped on the train after a quick croissant and coffee. The palace was beyond extravagant. Gold, ornate, and lavish best describe it. My photos could never do it justice, so I only took a few. There is a great slide show here featuring both the exterior and interior of the palace. The photos are beautiful and do a good job of relaying the grandeur.


The crowds of tourists rivaled those at the Louvre and were slightly distracting. After a few long, deep breaths and slowly counting to 10, we managed to focus on our audio tour and stay out of the way of the guided Asian tours. The amount of history involving King Louis XIV and the château is amazing. It started out as a hunting lodge and the King used it to escape from the city life of Paris. Later, the French royal court was moved here and it became both the French monarch and government headquarters. Go here if you're interested in more history. It was moving to walk through the exact same rooms once occupied by the King and his A-list guests. The Hall of Mirrors was spectacular and as well as impressive. I loved how the mirrors and windows were aligned in pairs. I can only imagine what it would have been like at night with tons of candles, full of noblemen and ladies in luxurious dresses instead of tourists in shorts.
We headed back to central Paris and to the Arc de Triomphe, a monument dedicated to French soldiers. We climbed the stairs to the top for the best 360° views of Paris. The Arc sits in the center of a massive round-about with 12 boulevards, lined beautifully with green trees.
It’s just like the movies and it was comical to watch the crazy traffic from both above and at ground level. It’s the only traffic circle that drivers already in the circle yield to those entering. (The opposite is true of all other traffic circles in France.) Here’s a video I shot from the top. If you listen closely, you can hear Michael laughing in the background at the fearless drivers and their maneuvers.

We wandered down the Champs-Elysées, the massive boulevard with high end shopping including the Louis Vuitton flagship store. We popped into a grocery store, picked up some champagne and blackberries, then headed back to the Eiffel Tower for an anniversary champagne toast. We lounged the afternoon away, sipping champagne, with more amazing views of the tower. There was no humidity and a light breeze – it was just perfect. The expression “living in the now” was meant for moments like that.
We then went to the hotel for a few minutes of down time and to freshen up. We grabbed our favorite quick dinner combo: a meat and cheese plate, with bread and wine.
The finale to our anniversary trip was the evening boat cruise down the Seine River. I researched for months on which cruise was the best and thought I had made up my mind. About one week before our trip, I found Canauxrama cruises based on a recommendation through the ever faithful Trip Advisor. I am so glad I did. It was simply wonderful. The boat was small and intimate, with tables and chairs rather than just rows and rows, and more rows of seats. The boat also had a bar serving beer, wine, and champagne. There was a live commentary that was both informative and humorous in French and English.
The sun was setting as we cruised past Notre Dame, casting a beautiful peach-colored hue across the sky. We passed under the many picturesque bridges of Paris, including the Pont Alexandre III, considered the most beautiful.

The Eiffel Tower’s lights began to dance as we floated by. It was the most magical anniversary, and it was only our third. I said to Michael “How are we ever going to top this one?”

Paris: Day 1

August 1, 2009

We arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport shortly before noon after a very short and direct flight (1 hour, 20 minutes, yeah!). Then we took a train from the airport to the Hotel Design de la Sorbonne. On the way there, Hubby and I had an ‘I was just thinking that’ moment – that in every city the train rides between the airport and the center always look the same. The hotel was located on a quiet street, rue Victor Cousin, facing the Sorbonne University. We had a nice view from our room #42, but I forgot to take any pictures of the view or even the room itself…. (These sites Hotel Sorbonne and Trip Advisor have some nice ones.) I loved the way the room was decorated in a funky French style which made up for the super tight space. Our room had the smallest bathroom I’ve ever seen. Imagine a closet with a toilet, a tiny sink, and shower. I later discovered that shaving long legs was nearly impossible and flooding the floor was a given.

For lunch, we wandered around the corner from the hotel to Place de la Sorbonne, a lovely square in front of the university with cute cafes and gushing fountains. We had a fine seat at Café de l’Ecritoire facing the square. The weather was wonderful, with no humidity compared to Italy. After many months of anticipation, planning and research on my part, we were finally in Paris!




We visited the Cluny museum, The National Museum of the Middle Ages. The courtyard/entrance area was ornamented with seashells, indicating the building’s former use as a Roman bath. Inside, we saw the six wall-size Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries, five of them depicting one of the five senses. We saw the remains of a Roman frigidarium (cold room with pool) with 40-foot ceilings, the best preserved Roman interior room in Paris.






We found the stone heads from Notre-Dame. They have an interesting history… They were sculpted around 1220-1230 and were once upon the bodies of Judah’s Biblical kings adorning the Notre Dame. Revolutionaries thought they were the Kings of France and in 1793 beheaded the statues. The heads were buried in a backyard and not found until 1977, two centuries later! (adapted from Rick Steve's Paris 2009)





We then walked down Boulevard St. Germain past Napoleon’s Tomb to the Rue Cler area. Here, we perused the market scene and equipped ourselves with our dinner picnic: a crusty yet soft baguette, brie cheese, strawberries, and of course some French wine. We continued on to the most visited monument in the world…the Eiffel Tower. It’s cliché to say it’s breathtaking, but it really was, and I couldn’t take my eyes, or my camera, off of it. After some typical tourist gawking, we spread out our sheet in the grassy Champ de Mars Park, uncorked our wine, and munched with other locals throughout the evening, gazing up at the Tower. One neat thing that I noticed while we were picnicking was the prevalence of what I will call the “Potluck Picnic”. Parisians would arrive armed with a similar fare to ours – a blanket, a baguette, and wine. They would stake out their spot with a view and begin the socializing. Other friends would arrive, bringing dishes ranging from salads to cheese to meat-on-a-stick (insert Phish reference here – Time for the Meatstick!). They would join their group and the social circle would expand. It was a delightful glimpse into a typical Saturday evening with friends. I would love to do this with our circle of friends back home, though I’ll admit I’m a bit jealous of the Paris scenery.







After dinner, we walked closer to the Tower to check it out up close. Its size when viewed from far away, like from the park, was deceiving. It appeared so close, but we had to walk a little distance to actually reach it. We passed on climbing up, the lines were ridiculous! Instead, we found tasty crepes and camped out along the grass on the other side of the tower near Trocadero square. We waited out the sunset and then at 10pm, we were part of the audible “ahhhhs” from the hundreds of onlookers gazing up at the dancing lights.