Day 6: Paris

This was the one day on our Paris itinerary I was most excited about. We had no set schedule, and no planned visits or tours. This was day was left to us to plan and fill up with whatever we wanted to do or see. Even our dinner was not arranged and scheduled on this day. Instead of eating as a giant group we were given the same 17€ voucher that Parisian office workers are given by their employers to buy thier meals. This meant that we could choose almost any restaraunt in Paris for our dinner. More on that later. Let's go back to the beginning of the day.

The first stop for my little group of six was the Paris Catacombs. These catacombs are not really catacombs in the same sense as the famous catacombs of Rome. They are really a giant underground ossuary. In the late 18th century, in an effort to improve sanitary conditions in the city, Paris began emptying its cemeteries and moving the bones into the old subterranean limestone quarries. Once the bones were there they were stacked into decorative patterns. The Catacombs of Paris are home to millions of former Parisians to this day. This was my first visit to the catacombs, and it is something I will definitely do again.

A short metro ride brought us to the island in the middle of the Seine where Paris was founded. After a stroll through an animal and plant market near the metro stop, we made our way over to Notre Dame Cathedral for a quick crepe stop and some pictures. Instead of waiting in the Sunday crowd for hours, we elected to settle for pictures of the outside of the church and crossed over the river to the Latin Quarter for lunch on the go. Then it was off to the Luxembourg Gardens, where we enjoyed a little bit of a break from the crowds in the former gardens of Marie de Medicis.

For dinner we returned to the Latin Quarter, where we found a great little restaurant that specialized in traditional French cuisine. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we were the only people in the entire joint speaking English. This meant that we were surrounded by locals. We were in a restaurant that is frequented by locals, instead of a tourist dive. The benefit of this was apparent. The food was fantastic, and our waiter was friendly. He even gave us a brief French lesson.

Overall, I have to say that this was my favorite day in Paris ever.

 

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Day 5: Paris

I don't think I can even begin to accurately describe the craziness that is Bastille Day in Paris. It seemed as if the entire nation of France converged upon Paris to celebrate the anniversary of the revolution (14 July 1789). We skipped the crowds lined up for the big military parade in favor of an excursion to the palace of Versailles.

Versailles was the home to only three French kings. Sick of living in Paris and suspicious of nobles conspiring to grab power from the crown, Louis XIV chose to move the court 12 miles out of the city to a hunting lodge his father had built near the small village of Versailles. Of course, he had the little lodge enlarged over the course of 20 years to accommodate the nobility, who were required to spend part of the year at Versailles, and the thousands of servants required to maintain royal and noble households. The palace consumed over half of all French revenue to build and maintain. Our visit to Versailles included a walking tour of the central building of the palace, including the king's apartments and the Hall of Mirrors. After being completely amazed by the inside of the palace, we strolled out into the gardens where we were treated to gushing fountains and baroque music before our bicycle ride through the outer gardens.

The second half of our day was consumed by a visit to the Louvre Museum. The museum was free in celebration of Bastille Day. With a little help from Thomas, we were able to avoid the lines outside the pyramid entrance by entering via the underground shopping mall and metro station that sits directly beneath the museum. The crowds inside the museum were surprisingly small, and we managed to visit the Mona Lisa with no trouble. There was some excitement shortly after we left the Mona Lisa gallery when someone left an unattended bag near the famous portrait and an angry tourist assaulted one of the guards as she tried to clear the room. The madness was soon cleared up and everyone went back to enjoying the art.

Our dinner in the neighborhood of Montmartre kept us in the world of art. This neighborhood, covering the highest hill in Paris, was once the home of artists like Van Gogh, Degas, and Picasso. This little piece of Paris has managed to retain some of its village charm in the middle of the urban expanse of Paris. After dinner and a crazy metro ride back to the hotel we were treated to a full half an hour of fireworks in front of the Eiffel Tower. San Diego sure could learn something about fireworks shows from the French. ;-)

 

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Day 4: Paris

I'm a bit behind on my writing for this trip. We have been keeping an amazingly busy schedule. I don't think I have had enough time to process everything we have seen and done in the past 24 hours. I'm taking any opportunity to write when I can. Currently, I am writing on the bus ride back to Paris from Versailles.

All aboard? We're still looking for the elusive Inspector Sans.

Day four began with an early wake up call for our Eurostar train from London to Paris. I have been on the Eurostar several times, but I am still amazed by this train under the English Channel every time I ride. Napoleon and Hitler never realized thier plans to cross over and invade England across this body of water (thankfully). Now, it only takes about 25 minutes to go under the Channel. It only takes 2 hours to travel from St. Pancras Station in London to the Gare du Nord in Paris.

Some of us don't really understand this jumping thing. We'll work on that.

After a quick stop for lunch near the Opera Garnier, we met our local tour guide for our bus tour of Paris. We were treated to a tour of the highlights of Paris with Amale, one of the best guides in the city. After a fantastic dinner and an even better dessert, we rushed through the rain for a very rainy boat cruise on the Seine. Fortunately, the boat was covered. We won't let a little rain ruin our fun, anyway. In Europe there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.

Twinkling lights on the Eiffel Tower.

I closed the evening with a small group at a cafe about a block away form our hotel. We shared a bottle of wine and watched the lights on the Eiffel Tower twinkle to round out our first day in Paris.

 

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