We started out today with a long walk down to the Marais neighborhood to explore some of the older streets in the city. Our timing was off and shops weren't open until later, so we missed a lot of good chances to spend money. The shop windows really call out to us here, and it's a good thing I don't know enough French to read or we'd never get past all the bookstores we pass.
The rest of the day was devoted to catching up with family. Ilene's aunt, who we hadn't seen in more than 10 years, lives in Germany with her husband, who we hadn't met before, and they took the 3-hour train ride to come visit us. We had a very nice time getting re/acquainted and swapping travel stories as we covered a lot of ground together around the city. We had lunch at a place they recommend near the Eiffel Tower and then walked along the Seine back to the Tuileries gardens to the Orangerie. (Sunny and in the low 50's today.)
The Orangerie is a seemingly under-appreciated little museum with two nice reasons to visit -- a small collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings in a very nice space and the 8 panels of Monet's Nymphae. They are enormous paintings that he designed especially for this space, and they have a powerful effect in the 2 large oval rooms. Again, we felt quite privileged to get the chance to see them.
Next we went across the street to have coffee in the smart shopping district north of the gardens and the Louvre, to do some more window shopping and then say goodnight. Ilene's aunt and uncle are joining us on a day trip to Chartres tomorrow, which I expect to be the highlight of the trip.
-Robert
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Another country, another riot
I'm exaggerating, but we did cross paths with world events in a minor way today, reminding us of my adventure with the riots in Bangkok last April. You may have heard that there is a lot of popular unrest in Tunisia right now. It's getting major play on CNN International anyway. When we left our hotel this afternoon to explore some residential and less touristy neighborhoods (i.e. Belleville), the President of that country was still hanging on to power. As we walked around we came across a small demonstration of a few hundred Tunisian expats apparently in support of the street protesters in Tunis. The shouting in French that we could make out included the complaint that Sarkozy is an accomplice. By the time we got back to the hotel the President of Tunisia had fled the country and on his way to Paris.
We had a less ambitious agenda today and hopefully found our grove. It certainly led up to our best dinner so far. We started with a visit to Saint-Chapelle in the morning, a 13th-century cathedral founded by Saint Louis, famous for the beauty of its stain glassed windows which make up almost all of the exterior walls.
From there we hiked down to the Latin Quarter to visit the Musee de Moyen Age -- the Museum of the Middle Ages. We were disappointed that the section built over the 1st century Roman baths was closed. We did get to see some very cool tapestries, including The Lady with the Unicorn, which is actually a series of 6 tapestries.
We walked around the neighborhood of the Sorbonne for awhile looking in the bookshop windows and then tried out an ice cream shop that's supposed to be famous. It's been warm enough that we can take our coffee breaks at the sidewalk tables.
Then we took a nap to try and get on the right sleep schedule and to have the energy to hunt down a decent dinner. We can never nap for long in the daytime here because there's an elementary school below our window that has about 7 recess breaks a day I think. It sounds like the kids are in our room sometimes.
In the evening we hiked around Belleville and got chased into a cafe by the rain to have some hot chocolate. We eventually made our way to a proper neighborhood family-run restaurant. Maman running the front, Papa in back, heavy doses of plain peasant food with heavy gravies and sauces, fromage blanc with raspberry sauce for desert and a neighborhood kid who came in for awhile to sing pop songs for tips.
Tomorrow we expect to have a family reunion with an aunt of Ilene's who is visiting Paris for the weekend.
-Robert
We had a less ambitious agenda today and hopefully found our grove. It certainly led up to our best dinner so far. We started with a visit to Saint-Chapelle in the morning, a 13th-century cathedral founded by Saint Louis, famous for the beauty of its stain glassed windows which make up almost all of the exterior walls.
From there we hiked down to the Latin Quarter to visit the Musee de Moyen Age -- the Museum of the Middle Ages. We were disappointed that the section built over the 1st century Roman baths was closed. We did get to see some very cool tapestries, including The Lady with the Unicorn, which is actually a series of 6 tapestries.
We walked around the neighborhood of the Sorbonne for awhile looking in the bookshop windows and then tried out an ice cream shop that's supposed to be famous. It's been warm enough that we can take our coffee breaks at the sidewalk tables.
Then we took a nap to try and get on the right sleep schedule and to have the energy to hunt down a decent dinner. We can never nap for long in the daytime here because there's an elementary school below our window that has about 7 recess breaks a day I think. It sounds like the kids are in our room sometimes.
In the evening we hiked around Belleville and got chased into a cafe by the rain to have some hot chocolate. We eventually made our way to a proper neighborhood family-run restaurant. Maman running the front, Papa in back, heavy doses of plain peasant food with heavy gravies and sauces, fromage blanc with raspberry sauce for desert and a neighborhood kid who came in for awhile to sing pop songs for tips.
Tomorrow we expect to have a family reunion with an aunt of Ilene's who is visiting Paris for the weekend.
-Robert
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Art out the ears
More of the similar today. Still getting over the jetlag, we slept through the alarm and got a late start. We went to the Guimet Museum of Asiatic Arts first to see what was collected from places we've traveled to in Asia. It was curious to find that both we and artifacts from the Champa ruins in My Son have made the journey from that mountaintop in Vietnam to this room in Paris. We also re-acquainted ourselves with the woodblock prints that we saw so much of in Japan years ago.
After that we went by foot across the Seine, under the Eiffel Tower (not up it) and back east toward the center of town. After lunch at a bistro in the diplomatic district, we went to the Musee D'Orsay, which picks up in the mid-19th century where the Louvre leaves off. It's housed in a renovated fin de siecle train station and is on a more human scale that makes it much easier to appreciate the art. We saw some of the best-known -- and quite moving -- works from the French Impressionist and post-Impressionist eras. We didn't see as much as a typical visitor might, though, because a lot of the space is closed for renovations right now. We did enjoy quite a bit the special exhibit, which was on the career of Jean-Leon Gerome. One of his gladiator pictures in particular looked very familiar as soon as I walked in the room and saw it. I stood staring at for a long time wondering where I had seen it before. It turned out to be on loan from the Yale University Art Gallery where we've see in many times.
That took up all of the day and was enough art for us. We spent the evening walking up Boulevard St. Germain, checking out the shops and looking for someplace to eat. We still aren't having great luck with the food, being too disorganized, tired, distracted, illiterate in French and cheap to do much better than to fall into tourist traps. I'm still getting by on a lot of croque monsieur and croque madame. It's not healthy, but I figure I'm burning plenty of calories with all the walking we're doing.
Tomorrow we have a medieval history day planned.
-Robert
After that we went by foot across the Seine, under the Eiffel Tower (not up it) and back east toward the center of town. After lunch at a bistro in the diplomatic district, we went to the Musee D'Orsay, which picks up in the mid-19th century where the Louvre leaves off. It's housed in a renovated fin de siecle train station and is on a more human scale that makes it much easier to appreciate the art. We saw some of the best-known -- and quite moving -- works from the French Impressionist and post-Impressionist eras. We didn't see as much as a typical visitor might, though, because a lot of the space is closed for renovations right now. We did enjoy quite a bit the special exhibit, which was on the career of Jean-Leon Gerome. One of his gladiator pictures in particular looked very familiar as soon as I walked in the room and saw it. I stood staring at for a long time wondering where I had seen it before. It turned out to be on loan from the Yale University Art Gallery where we've see in many times.
That took up all of the day and was enough art for us. We spent the evening walking up Boulevard St. Germain, checking out the shops and looking for someplace to eat. We still aren't having great luck with the food, being too disorganized, tired, distracted, illiterate in French and cheap to do much better than to fall into tourist traps. I'm still getting by on a lot of croque monsieur and croque madame. It's not healthy, but I figure I'm burning plenty of calories with all the walking we're doing.
Tomorrow we have a medieval history day planned.
-Robert
From ca phe to cafe
Our Southeast Asian travel blog is temporarily relocated to Paris. Instead of ca phe sua da, we've been having a lot of cafe, (which is a single shot espresso here.)
We arrived at our hotel with no trouble at mid morning on Tuesday and with the usual jet lag. Taking a lesson from our trip to London when, eager not to waste a minute of the trip, we sleepwalked through Westminster Abbey on the first morning and remember nothing about it, this time we took a little nap first.
We started off with an easy trip to Notre Dame Cathedral on Tuesday afternoon, and it was an incredible privilege to be in one of the world's oldest, largest and most beautiful buildings. It's difficult to describe what it's like to see something so grand for the first time, and I expect it will end up being the highlight of the trip.
This morning we started off with the Louvre, thoroughly intimidated by how much there is to see. Despite it being the slow season now, we found it plenty crowded in the galleries, although the only line we've experienced is with the coat check. I hate to imagine what it's like during the busy season. In all honesty, it's very difficult to let the art make an impression in an environment like that, and I've come away from other museums more charged up from the experience. We managed to see a large portion of it including all the most famous highlights. Winged Victory was my favorite. I've heard so often that the Mona Lisa is smaller in person than people expect that I expected it to be smaller than it was.
After we felt thoroughly dosed with art, we walked the distance between there and the Champs Elysee, down the length of that, up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and all the way back again. And then, at twilight, back into the Louvre for another dose of 18th and 19th century sculpture. (It's open late on Wed. night and still crowded then, too.)
The view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe was fun to see, though we're not having great weather for it. It's been overcast all the time and drizzling some of the time. But it has been warm enough that walking around outside is comfortable. We've even eaten at a sidewalk cafe and had crepes sitting on a park bench.
We haven't had great luck with the food yet. It's difficult to coordinate the guidebook recommendations with our budget with the sightseeing destinations. The perfect place is never just outside the museum. I've been eating a lot of ham and cheese sandwiches.
We put in 10 miles easily today, and out legs are killing us. We have a similar agenda for tomorrow. We got one of the 4-day museum passes -- Wednesday to Saturday -- and have to keep up the pace for it to work out as a legitimate bargain. It does save some standing in line for tickets, though that's not too much a concern during the slow season.
We're having a lot of fun and learning a lot. Ilene says she understands Saigon better after seeing Paris -- how much the colonists were trying to recreate Paris there. None of the legendary rudeness yet. Lots of patience with our lack of French. I got the bartender at our local brasserie to talk football with me. I've been discovering how much "travel" in my mind is equated with "travel in Vietnam." I keep having to remind myself that I don't have to be anxious about knowing where my next source of drinking water is going to come from -- that even though I'm not at home I can still get water out of a tap whenever I like.
I'm getting tired of espresso and tried to get a "French press" style coffee. Nobody knows what I'm talking about, though. That's my mission for tomorrow.
-Robert
We arrived at our hotel with no trouble at mid morning on Tuesday and with the usual jet lag. Taking a lesson from our trip to London when, eager not to waste a minute of the trip, we sleepwalked through Westminster Abbey on the first morning and remember nothing about it, this time we took a little nap first.
We started off with an easy trip to Notre Dame Cathedral on Tuesday afternoon, and it was an incredible privilege to be in one of the world's oldest, largest and most beautiful buildings. It's difficult to describe what it's like to see something so grand for the first time, and I expect it will end up being the highlight of the trip.
This morning we started off with the Louvre, thoroughly intimidated by how much there is to see. Despite it being the slow season now, we found it plenty crowded in the galleries, although the only line we've experienced is with the coat check. I hate to imagine what it's like during the busy season. In all honesty, it's very difficult to let the art make an impression in an environment like that, and I've come away from other museums more charged up from the experience. We managed to see a large portion of it including all the most famous highlights. Winged Victory was my favorite. I've heard so often that the Mona Lisa is smaller in person than people expect that I expected it to be smaller than it was.
After we felt thoroughly dosed with art, we walked the distance between there and the Champs Elysee, down the length of that, up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and all the way back again. And then, at twilight, back into the Louvre for another dose of 18th and 19th century sculpture. (It's open late on Wed. night and still crowded then, too.)
The view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe was fun to see, though we're not having great weather for it. It's been overcast all the time and drizzling some of the time. But it has been warm enough that walking around outside is comfortable. We've even eaten at a sidewalk cafe and had crepes sitting on a park bench.
We haven't had great luck with the food yet. It's difficult to coordinate the guidebook recommendations with our budget with the sightseeing destinations. The perfect place is never just outside the museum. I've been eating a lot of ham and cheese sandwiches.
We put in 10 miles easily today, and out legs are killing us. We have a similar agenda for tomorrow. We got one of the 4-day museum passes -- Wednesday to Saturday -- and have to keep up the pace for it to work out as a legitimate bargain. It does save some standing in line for tickets, though that's not too much a concern during the slow season.
We're having a lot of fun and learning a lot. Ilene says she understands Saigon better after seeing Paris -- how much the colonists were trying to recreate Paris there. None of the legendary rudeness yet. Lots of patience with our lack of French. I got the bartender at our local brasserie to talk football with me. I've been discovering how much "travel" in my mind is equated with "travel in Vietnam." I keep having to remind myself that I don't have to be anxious about knowing where my next source of drinking water is going to come from -- that even though I'm not at home I can still get water out of a tap whenever I like.
I'm getting tired of espresso and tried to get a "French press" style coffee. Nobody knows what I'm talking about, though. That's my mission for tomorrow.
-Robert
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