Day 14: Louvre in the Afternoon

We spent pretty much entire day at the Louvre! After several hours, we thought about going back to the l'Orangerie to see some of what we missed, but ended up just exploring the Louvre a bit more.

We managed to get up and leave at a decent time, then took the RER to the d'Orsay and walked over to the Louvre. Since we were having a big dinner (and had a big lunch and dinner yesterday), we just stopped in the cafe for a light snack before hitting the museum.

Marsha had downloaded the Louvre app, which had a pretty cool audio tour (Madison was pleased to see that the official audio tour uses a Nintendo DS).

The initial tour (you can purchase others through the app) gives you turn-by-turn directions to see the major works in the museum. I had downloaded it, too, but not the extra content, so I had to wait until later when I could get a decent wifi connection.

The first part we entered was a stone wall and mote from the original Louvre, which was built as a fortress in from 1190 to 1202. The mote was eventually filled in and the existing palaces (the building is actually two palaces, the Louvre and Tuileries, that were joined together before Louie  XIV moved the seat of power to Versailles) were built on top starting from 1546, with additions over the next several centuries.

As a museum, the Louvre is known for three major artworks: the Mona Lisa (the main icon of their marketing, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace.

The app easily directed us to all three. 

Our next stop was several rooms full of statues. It was there that we saw the Venus de Milo (one down) and numerous other incredible statues.

Not to far from there is a long staircase. Perched up at the very top is Winged Victory (two down).

In addition to all of the incredible artwork, there's the palace itself. Many of the rooms, and especially the ceilings, are just incredible.

The palace (and therefore the museum) has an odd layout, so it's very easy to get lost and confused. We did several times. It's kind of a squared-off, sideways A. The top of the A is a box. You can enter the museum via the box or either of the side wings, but if you want to get from one wing to the other, you're probably better off going out (the main courtyard is underground, below the pyramid).

The rooms are numbered, but the numbers repeat on each floor, and in multiple places you go up and down stairs, so it gets even more confusing. After a few hours, I finally started getting the hang of it.

My one quibble was the heat. The museum has A/C that comes up through grates on the floor (we saw one girl do the Marilyn Monroe pose), but it wasn't enough to cool things down. Some rooms were cool, while others were like sweat boxes. But that's been true of all Paris, this week. We've gone back and forth from being chilly to sweating.

Another highlight is the Apollo Gallery and the Crown Jewels. When you enter, it's clear you're in part of the original palace.

 

There are so many galleries of paintings that you could spend days on end just looking at them all. There were so many that we just rushed by due to lack of time, but many others that we stopped to admire. These were works that we recognized or that just caught our attention.

The Mona Lisa (three down) is located in a room that branches off from a long hallway and when you go in there, it's just insane. You have to fight your way up to the front amid hundreds of people trying to photograph it and take selfies. And no one cares about any of the other paintings in the room (me included).

I'd heard that it was pretty small, but I'd heard that so much, it was actually bigger than I expected. Definitely not huge, but not tiny, either.

After seeing it the first time, I realized that I was so focused on trying to get a picture, that I didn't really get to look at the painting itself. So we went back later when it wasn't nearly as crazy, but it was still crowded and because of the barrier they have set up, you just can't get close to it at all.

One of my favorite areas was the Napoleon III apartments, another great glimpse of how the palace once looked. It actually reminded me a lot of Biltmore Estate, both in decor and layout.

While trying to find our was back to the Mona Lisa, we actually stumbled across one small section of impressionist paintings featuring Monet, Degas, and Renoir. That was a welcome surprise. Turns out they're not all at the l'Orangerie.

I was really intrigued by the elevator in the main entry hall. It's a cylindrical shaft that goes up and down within the circular staircase. I was dying to ride it, but it was restricted to people with poor mobility.

We finished up just in time to peruse the gift shop and take the RER back to the hotel to quickly (and I do mean quickly) freshen up and change for dinner. We had reservations for Les Ombres, which boasts the best views of the Eiffel Tower. The restaurant sits on top of the Quai Branley museum.

The dining room is all windows, so that every seat has a wonderful view. There's even a large patio where you can walk out before and after dinner for a better view.

After dinner, we went back to the room and changed again, this time more casual. Madison stayed behind so that Marsha and I could have a romantic walk together in the city of love. Oohs-la-la!

We walked up to the Champs-Élysées and back to Laduree to get more macarons. It wasn't nearly as busy and was a much less hectic experience. I was completely intrigued by the woman in front of us who was determined to buy up half the store. Even after she got her ticket to take to the register, she handed it back so that she could buy more stuff. Marsha tried to send me out to check the menu at the Laduree cafe, but I had to see the final bill. It was well over 200 Euros.

We had a great view of the Eiffel Tower again as we walked back to the hotel. Just can't get enough of it. It was the perfect ending to our last full day in Paris.

Day 13: Museum Hopping

We set the alarm to get up early, which, of course, means that we didn't leave until after Noon (big shock, I know). We had planned to spend the day at the Louvre, but since we got off to a late start, we changed our minds and decided to go to the d'Orsay Museum instead. 

We took the Metro there, but wanted to get something to eat first. Marsha really wanted to eat at a cafe with outdoor seating since we've seen them all over Paris. It seemed a risky proposition because the skies were getting a bit dark overhead. We decided to chance it and walked a little further to Le Palette, a cafe we'd seen on the Travel Channel show Delicious Destinations. They're known for their Croque Monsieurs and Croque Madams. Marsha and Madison can now attest as to why. Luckily, their outdoor seating (which seemed to be most of it) was also covered with an awning, and it only misted a little when we left.

Then it was back to the d'Orsay, where we spent most of the day. It used to be be a train station from 1900-1939. I just love the Beaux-Arts style of the building.

 

They have a great collection of Van Gogh -- the biggest we've ever seen. We'd seen a few of his works in NYC and Philly, but never this many in one place.

They have many, many impressionist and post-impressionist paintings, such as Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, Gaugain, Monet, and more. They also have a great collection of Toulouse-Lautrec.

There were some paintings I would have liked to read more about, but all of the descriptions were in French. Marsha made a list of pieces to look up back at the hotel. They also have some very interesting sculptures by Rodin and others.

We can now attest that there is a copy of Degas' Petit Dancer at every museum in the world. I think this is the fifth one we've seen.

 

Afterwards, we took a short break outside in the Tullerirs Gardens. We had some gelato while we watched a group of racers run by. It was getting late and we thought about hitting the Louvre until closing, but since it's open longer tomorrow, we went to the l'Orangerie instead.

We only had about 30 minutes before closing. In fact, they wouldn't have even let us in if we didn't have the Paris Museum Pass (thank you, Rick Steves). The l'Orangerie is small, but is known for Monet's Water Lillies collection, which is displayed in two specially designed oval-shaped rooms in which the paintings wrap around you 360 degrees. They're quite large and very impressive.

After they kicked us out, we walked over to the Place de la Concorde where we found a couple of chairs and enjoyed the cool breeze from the River Seine. The d'Orsay in particular was surprisingly hot (except for in the main hall) and that was just what we needed.

For our first dinner without reservations, we'd decided on a place I'd researched that doesn't actually take reservations. They were already getting busy with a near-hour wait, so we decided to check out some of the other cafes down the street.

We settled on the Bistro St-Dominique, which was the perfect choice. The food was excellent (I finally got to have have steak frites) and the service was fantastic. Our waiter was really personable and challenged each of us to pronounce our orders in French. Marsha wasn't ready yet to give it a try, but he said that Madison and I both did a pretty good job.

Marsha and Madison really wanted some more macarons, so we skipped dessert. I suggested that we walk to Laduree, which was only about twenty minutes away (the waiter agreed), but they didn't want to go that far. So we scoured the neighborhood and settled for a chocolate chip cookie from a local shop (had to hold out my hand again, which I hadn't done since Liverpool, and let the shopkeeper count my change when she didn't want to break my five) which was actually pretty tasty.

For the most part, the language barrier has been pretty non-existent. Between my smattering of French and the fact that most people here know some English, we've gotten along pretty well. We've definitely felt more than welcome. It's quite a magical city and we're already regretting having to leave in a couple of days.

Day 12: Paris Holds the Key to Your Heart

For our first full day in Paris, we wanted to get out and see the city, and do a lot of walking. So as usual, we slept in. I don't think we've fully adjusted to the time change, but we're not on Eastern time, either. Instead, we're somewhere in the middle.

Our original plan was to grab a baguette at the Eiffel Tower, then head to the Arc de Triomphe (since it's fairly close) and work our way down to Notre Dame and the Luxembourg Gardens. But our dinner reservations were closer to the Arc, so we did the whole plan in reverse.

We thought there would be shops and cafes right by the Tower, but it was more quick bite stands. We got a hot dog, and ham & cheese, both on baguettes. They were still quite tasty. We thought about climbing the Eiffel Tower (just to the bottom level), then thought against it.

I was glad to see plenty of police around to combat the rash of pickpockets we'd read about. There were also plenty of hucksters selling mini Eiffel Towers and such. And I was approached by a woman with a clip board who asked if I spoke English, one of the pickpocket methods I'd read about. I just said no in French.

We goofed a bit on not taking the Metro to Luxembourg Gardens. That was a really long walk, but Marsha and Madison really enjoyed looking at all the shop windows in Saint-Germaine.

When we finally Luxembourg Gardens,we found much of it to be a public park. The gardens in front of the Palace (now the French Senate) are very lovely. Our favorite feature, though, was the Medici Fountain, which was built in 1630 by Marie de Medici.

Worn out from the long walk, we finally took the Metro, but it was just one stop to Notre Dame. It's just incredible inside. It reminded me a little of Westminster Abbey, but better organized. There's the main sanctuary with parallel halls and little alcoves with stained-glass windows. Each had its own purpose, such as a giant crucifix and a confessional.

 

I was really intrigued by a series of panels that told the history of the cathedral. There were churches there for many years until construction began in 1163. It wasn't completed until 1345. It was built in sections, and with later additions (such as the towers and the spire in the middle), so it didn't go unused all that time. We couldn't help singing "The Bells of Notre Dame" from the Disney animated movie while we were there.

From there we walked short distance to Sainte-Chapelle, which Madison had specifically requested. It was built from 1239 to 1248. I was surprised when we first walked in. It was small and full of gift and information booths (reminded me of Christ and the moneylenders, but I wasn't about to do what he did), but then I realized we weren't in the actual chapel. We walked up a tiny, circular staircase (flashback to Cardiff Castle) in the back and found the upper chapel, which was truly breathtaking.Marsha even let out a gasp when she reached the top first.

Then we passed by the Pont des Arts bridge, where people used to put locks symbolizing their eternal love until recently when the city took most of them down because the added weight was damaging the bridge's structural integrity 

There's still quite a few on the side railings which aren't on the actual bridge. Of course, there's still guys out there selling locks. Marsha couldn't resist and bought one for John and Katie. We're giving them the keys as part of their wedding present. Hopefully, it will get to stay awhile.

 

Our next brief stop was the Louvre, but we're saving that for tomorrow when we have more time. We did manage to grab a few pictures, of course.

 

We walked on to the the Tuileries Gardens, where Marsha was "underwhelmed" with the Arc de Triomphe until I told her that wasn't it.

We continued on to the Petit Palais (now an art museum) and the Grand Palais, which sit side-by-side. The Grand Palais was built for the Universal Exposition of 1900 and is like three museums in one

but it was closed, probably for the day.

Once we got past the garden part, Marsha realized what people were talking about regarding the Champs-Élysées. It really is one of the best streets in Paris. The view down to the actual Arc is awesome.

 

This is where we had our second star sighting of the trip: Harry Hamlin (L.A. Law and Mad Men) and wife Lisa Rinna walked right past us. Marsha and I both recognized them right at the same time, though we had to tell Madison who they were.

We stopped at Laduree for some macarons. The inside was a little crazy. We had a hard time getting someone to help us. After multiple attempts, Marsha finally got someone's attention. They were amazingly good. I was expecting them to be crunchy, but they were chewy and just delicious. We only got three, but will definitely go back for more.

 

The actual Arc de Triomphe was very impressive to Marsha, much more of what she was expecting. It was much, much bigger than the smaller arch we saw.

We were getting close to dinner, so we hopped on the metro and went to Le Wagon Bleu. Marsha found this one and we were very excited about it. It was built out of a 1920s railroad car from the Orient Express. I wanted to eat there just for the location alone. It's right by some railroad tracks, so the periodic trains that went by just added to the effect.

The place was pretty empty when we arrived (a little early for dining in France), but was packed by the time we left. They only had two menus in English (Marsha and I had to share) and our server spoke very good English. Both the food and the service were excellent.

It was still light out (sun comes up early and goes down late here), so we did a little more sight-seeing as long as we were in the area. Marsha saw a building that looked like the Taj Mahal off in the distance, but when we walked towards it, we couldn't find it.

We went by the Montmartre Cemetery, 

then circled the block to the Cafe de 2 Moulins (Cafe of the Two Windmills), made famous by the movie Amelie

still have a big framed poster of her in the back.

Our final stop was the famous Moulin Rouge (The Red Windmill, and one of the two Moulins for which the Amelie cafe is named). We'd thought about going there, but it's rather pricey and might be a little uncomfortable to go with our teenage daughter.

 

A great first day in Paris. We got to see everything on our list today. Paris made an excellent first impression. We're loving it here.