Okay, sometime between last night and this morning it got really really cold! And not like New York City cold or even Detroit cold, we're talking Chicago cold! Maybe it isn't that bad, but it sure feels like it!
We were up sorta early again this morning putting the apartment back in order for check out. Kirsten joined Ingrid for breakfast while I went to the laundromat down the street to wash the sheets and towels. The first laundromat attempt was a failure. It was one of those automatic deals where everything is tied into a central computer and you enter in various codes to get detergent and to operate the machines and such - so I was the only one in there. After two attempts at getting detergent from the machine didn't reward me with any detergent I called Tim down and asked him to bring his detergent. Together we tried to figure out how to work the washing machine. The directions seemed simple and it felt like we were doing it right but for some reason nothing was happening. Eventually the phone rang, Tim answered but the person didn't speak English. I decided to cut my losses and try a different place.
There was another laundromat around the corner that was doing brisk business and we had no problems in this one. The system was the same as the other one so who knows what we were doing wrong. There was also a helpful and kindly older gentleman who told us what to do at this second place.
Once the laundry was done, the apartment packed up and the keys turned in we dropped off our luggage at Tim & Becca's place and then went cruising around to kill a few hours. We stopped in a little wine shop and got a bottle for home and just generally walked around stopping into various shops and cafes to warm up. It was a very relaxing end to our time in Paris, thank yous to Tim & Becca for setting this up and picking the perfect neighborhood. When we come back we're pretty sure we'd like to stay in the same place.
Thanks to the actions of one upstanding citizen of Nigeria (Edit: Kirsten says I should indicate that this is sarcasm) flying into Detroit we had to leave for the airport well in advance of our flight time as all the flights back to the US were being extra scrutinized. But thanks to some pretty impressive planning on the part of Charles De Gaulle's designers, we were processed with lightning speed. We encountered absolutely no lines at check in, security, customs, or anything in between. It made me kind of embarrassed for tourists to the US and what they must encounter at our major airports. Even the last checkpoint as you go on the jet bridge had six scanning stations and six employees processing people's boarding pass instead of one person handling an entire jet like we do. For shame. I also think they had as many metal detectors just in our section of terminal 2E that there are in all of Detroit Metro. For shame. The only snafu we encountered was the second screening area that they had set up just for flights going to the states where your carry on gets inspected and your person gets wanded and patted down. This procedure got a little backed up but again, it was well staffed and everyone got through.
The flight was good, Kirsten and I were separated again, but still just two rows apart. They served us a smoked salmon salad thing, beef stew with a hot mustard ragout, bread, cheese, tangerine, and some sort of dessert thing. I thought it was excellent and I want to try to make the stew with the mustard but Kirsten got a cold meal and said it wasn't so good because it was cold. I watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - okay, Funny People - I thought it was very good, and part of This Is It - which I thought was very good too.
No problems at US customs. I think we've got all the rules down, be nice, answer questions promptly, and declare something ALWAYS! The MTA got us home in three hours.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Day 5: A day of great churches, art, and food!
Today began with bright clear skies and warmish temperatures and an early wake up time. The plan was for the entire group to meet at Notre Dame at nine a.m. to beat the crowds. The plan worked and we walked right in (but it was still quite crowded). Since it was Sunday, they were having mass and a sort of battle ensued between the "docents" of the cathedral who were trying to maintain order and the tourists who didn't want to follow rules and the squabbling dampened the more religious experiences for me. However the interior is stunning and humbling. I don't think I had ever been inside of a building that old and it made me wonder what buildings in the U.S. would still be standing 900 years from now. It was neat to see all the little quirks in the walls and ceilings where things were no longer quite straight or perhaps never were. I was definitely glad we got a chance to get inside and see Notre Dame from the inside.
Afterwards we sat out on the plaza out front and listened to the bells toll and watched the people while we waited for some of the people who were browsing the gift shop. Ingrid (who had joined us again today) took a picture of Kirsten and I in our Eskimo Joe shirts in front of the cathedral for my Mom who wants to try to get us in their catalog. So if you want to see us begin our modeling career, make sure you get on their mailing list!
After Notre Dame we walked across the plaza to the Concierge which is one of the original castles/palaces of Paris and is now used as their Justice Department headquarters and visiting now requires inspection by the French gendarmes. However, the main attraction here is Sainte-Chappelle which is buried within the Concierge walls. It was built by King Louis IX (St. Louis) to house his collection of holy relics including the Crown of Thorns which is now held at Notre Dame. Today the chapel is known for it's amazing stained glass windows. Sixteen windows surround the sanctuary stretching more than 100 feet high and depict over 1,100 different scenes from the bible. Definitely look at the pictures when Kirsten puts them up, it's indescribable!
From there the group split into several factions with one group heading up to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur and another went somewhere else. . . So Ingrid, Kirsten, and I went walking over to the Left Bank to go visit the Rodin Museum and Garden since the weather was nice. On the way though, we stopped in at the Flower Market that takes place on Ile de la Cite (where Notre Dame and the Concierge are located). Not so many flowers were being sold that we saw but there sure were a lot of birds for sale. Little budgies to cockatoos, grey parrots, and chickens and a giant rooster. The whole operation seemed to be run by gypsy types and it was a bit creepy so we didn't stay long.
Along the way to the Rodin Museum we stopped for a little breakfast at a little cafe called Malongo which seemed to be way off the tourist radar and provided a perfect place to sit and drink delicious tea and coffee with pastries and breads for dirt cheap prices (Edit: Apparently it's a European chain but still great and quiet). Moving along from there we also poked our heads into Ste. Germaine des Pres which is even older than Notre Dame. We weren't able to see much of it as they were also having mass but what we did see was quite beautiful looking. The bells outside also sounded very nice and the cafes that lined the little square out front were all packed with people who were listening to them - probably because they couldn't carry out a conversation without shouting.
Eventually we finally made it to the Rodin Museum and it was great. They had the actual Thinker, the Kiss, the Burghers of Calais, and the Gates of Hell, plus countless other statues, sculptures, and paintings in all sorts of mediums. The museum is mostly a garden with Rodin's larger works scattered around in a formal garden setting. The smaller pieces are housed in an old central building that looks like it was once a very lavish mansion. It's a great stop if you like Rodin's eye for detail. His hands and feet in particular are very expressive. This was my favorite museum.
Our last stop was the Marmottan Museum which was way out on the west side of town almost to the Peripherique. They're known for having one of the largest collections of Monet paintings anywhere, although it seems to be unknown or unvisited by most - probably because it is so out of the way. There was a line outside but it seemed only to be locals, I didn't hear anyone else speaking English the entire time I was there. The paintings were very nice and they had several that I recognized and there were a lot that I liked. Most interesting though were the more unusual Monet paintings that appeared not quite finished or actually had a lot of texture like Van Gogh which I hadn't seen before. It was fun trying to figure out the correct distance to stand away from the painting to see exactly what the tableau was that he was trying to convey.
We rode the metro back into the center of town and parted ways to change into our fancy pants for a nice dinner. Kirsten and I stopped in at Quick - a French fast food burger place that's sort of like Burger King. . . sort of. It was just alright but took the edge off the hunger. Dinner with Ingrid was at Le Grand Colbert which apparently is featured in a major scene in the movie Something's Gotta Give. The restaurant is very 1920s with fastidious waiters with perfect postures in tuxedos. However there was none of the surly attitude that sometimes accompanies places like these, everyone was very engaging and spoke such good English that I forgot where I was at times. The food was delicious, I had the spicy fish soup, braised beef with au gratin potatoes, and baked alaska flambe. We also polished off a bottle of wine and ended up staying there for over three hours!
Many thank yous to Ingrid for another great day!
Afterwards we sat out on the plaza out front and listened to the bells toll and watched the people while we waited for some of the people who were browsing the gift shop. Ingrid (who had joined us again today) took a picture of Kirsten and I in our Eskimo Joe shirts in front of the cathedral for my Mom who wants to try to get us in their catalog. So if you want to see us begin our modeling career, make sure you get on their mailing list!
After Notre Dame we walked across the plaza to the Concierge which is one of the original castles/palaces of Paris and is now used as their Justice Department headquarters and visiting now requires inspection by the French gendarmes. However, the main attraction here is Sainte-Chappelle which is buried within the Concierge walls. It was built by King Louis IX (St. Louis) to house his collection of holy relics including the Crown of Thorns which is now held at Notre Dame. Today the chapel is known for it's amazing stained glass windows. Sixteen windows surround the sanctuary stretching more than 100 feet high and depict over 1,100 different scenes from the bible. Definitely look at the pictures when Kirsten puts them up, it's indescribable!
From there the group split into several factions with one group heading up to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur and another went somewhere else. . . So Ingrid, Kirsten, and I went walking over to the Left Bank to go visit the Rodin Museum and Garden since the weather was nice. On the way though, we stopped in at the Flower Market that takes place on Ile de la Cite (where Notre Dame and the Concierge are located). Not so many flowers were being sold that we saw but there sure were a lot of birds for sale. Little budgies to cockatoos, grey parrots, and chickens and a giant rooster. The whole operation seemed to be run by gypsy types and it was a bit creepy so we didn't stay long.
Along the way to the Rodin Museum we stopped for a little breakfast at a little cafe called Malongo which seemed to be way off the tourist radar and provided a perfect place to sit and drink delicious tea and coffee with pastries and breads for dirt cheap prices (Edit: Apparently it's a European chain but still great and quiet). Moving along from there we also poked our heads into Ste. Germaine des Pres which is even older than Notre Dame. We weren't able to see much of it as they were also having mass but what we did see was quite beautiful looking. The bells outside also sounded very nice and the cafes that lined the little square out front were all packed with people who were listening to them - probably because they couldn't carry out a conversation without shouting.
Eventually we finally made it to the Rodin Museum and it was great. They had the actual Thinker, the Kiss, the Burghers of Calais, and the Gates of Hell, plus countless other statues, sculptures, and paintings in all sorts of mediums. The museum is mostly a garden with Rodin's larger works scattered around in a formal garden setting. The smaller pieces are housed in an old central building that looks like it was once a very lavish mansion. It's a great stop if you like Rodin's eye for detail. His hands and feet in particular are very expressive. This was my favorite museum.
Our last stop was the Marmottan Museum which was way out on the west side of town almost to the Peripherique. They're known for having one of the largest collections of Monet paintings anywhere, although it seems to be unknown or unvisited by most - probably because it is so out of the way. There was a line outside but it seemed only to be locals, I didn't hear anyone else speaking English the entire time I was there. The paintings were very nice and they had several that I recognized and there were a lot that I liked. Most interesting though were the more unusual Monet paintings that appeared not quite finished or actually had a lot of texture like Van Gogh which I hadn't seen before. It was fun trying to figure out the correct distance to stand away from the painting to see exactly what the tableau was that he was trying to convey.
We rode the metro back into the center of town and parted ways to change into our fancy pants for a nice dinner. Kirsten and I stopped in at Quick - a French fast food burger place that's sort of like Burger King. . . sort of. It was just alright but took the edge off the hunger. Dinner with Ingrid was at Le Grand Colbert which apparently is featured in a major scene in the movie Something's Gotta Give. The restaurant is very 1920s with fastidious waiters with perfect postures in tuxedos. However there was none of the surly attitude that sometimes accompanies places like these, everyone was very engaging and spoke such good English that I forgot where I was at times. The food was delicious, I had the spicy fish soup, braised beef with au gratin potatoes, and baked alaska flambe. We also polished off a bottle of wine and ended up staying there for over three hours!
Many thank yous to Ingrid for another great day!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Day 4: Walking with Ingrid
Kirsten's sister Ingrid, who took the train in from London for the weekend, met up with us this morning. We grabbed a quick breakfast at a bakery down the street from our apartment before setting off for the Musee D'Orsay to see their collection of Impressionists works. Unfortunately when we got there. . . you guessed it, we were again deterred by the length of the line. Long lines seem to be a common thing in Paris.
Being mildly discouraged we walked over to the Musee de l'Orangerie which is a smaller museum with a later opening time but has a nice collection of Impressionist works including eight enormous murals by Monet of his water garden. It was quite mindblowing to think about him creating these huge paintings, especially while he was going blind.
From there we walked along the Seine to the Place de l'Alma where we stopped at a small cafe for a lengthy lunch. I had a croque monsieur that was pretty good but was made better when I put on some of their very spicy horseradish mustard on it.
After our lunch we went down the street to the Musee d'Art Moderne which was surprisingly free and not crowded. They had a few famous works there that I recognized and a few more that Ingrid pointed out as being famous that I didn't recognize. And of course no modern art museum would be without a few odd exhibits. In this museum's case there was a room full of dots painted on the walls in different colors and a ten foot tall portrait of a woman peeing.
From the museum we swung north to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees. The Champs Elysees was very similar to Michigan Avenue in Chicago minus the tall buildings. It's a very wide street with lots of traffic and high end stores. The lights in the trees were very nice though. The Arc was beautiful and much larger than I had imagined it to be. It was also great to see it all lit up because it was already night time when we left the museum.
After walking the length of the Champs Elysees we headed back into the thick of Paris looking for a restaurant to eat at as earlier attempts at making reservations had failed at the particular restaurants Ingrid was interested in taking us to. We finally settled on a little place called L'Arbre A Cannelle in the Passage des Panoramas, an old shopping arcade, that was superb.
Being mildly discouraged we walked over to the Musee de l'Orangerie which is a smaller museum with a later opening time but has a nice collection of Impressionist works including eight enormous murals by Monet of his water garden. It was quite mindblowing to think about him creating these huge paintings, especially while he was going blind.
From there we walked along the Seine to the Place de l'Alma where we stopped at a small cafe for a lengthy lunch. I had a croque monsieur that was pretty good but was made better when I put on some of their very spicy horseradish mustard on it.
After our lunch we went down the street to the Musee d'Art Moderne which was surprisingly free and not crowded. They had a few famous works there that I recognized and a few more that Ingrid pointed out as being famous that I didn't recognize. And of course no modern art museum would be without a few odd exhibits. In this museum's case there was a room full of dots painted on the walls in different colors and a ten foot tall portrait of a woman peeing.
From the museum we swung north to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees. The Champs Elysees was very similar to Michigan Avenue in Chicago minus the tall buildings. It's a very wide street with lots of traffic and high end stores. The lights in the trees were very nice though. The Arc was beautiful and much larger than I had imagined it to be. It was also great to see it all lit up because it was already night time when we left the museum.
After walking the length of the Champs Elysees we headed back into the thick of Paris looking for a restaurant to eat at as earlier attempts at making reservations had failed at the particular restaurants Ingrid was interested in taking us to. We finally settled on a little place called L'Arbre A Cannelle in the Passage des Panoramas, an old shopping arcade, that was superb.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Day 3: Perfect Paris
It was agonizingly difficult to get out of bed this morning and as such neither one of us was ready to leave the apartment when Becca came by to round us all up. They were planning on hitting up Pere LaChaise Cemetery followed by the Montmartre area. We didn't want to hold anyone up so we told them to go ahead without us and that we would meet them in Montmartre. As it turned out some of the people in our group were in even worse condition and we were well on our way when we found out that they had just left for the cemetery. Alas. And we never did find them in Montmartre either so it ended up being just the two of us for the day.
We did end up walking around all day, we saw the Centre Pompidou with all of its exposed ductwork and piping. It was very cool looking but not as colorful as we had expected it to look. From there we walked over to Ile de la Cite where Notre Dame is located but the line was very long so we put off going inside for another day. The outside is very nice looking with the flying buttresses and the gothic arches.
We continued walking over to the Ile St. Louis which was very quiet and then over the Seine onto the Left Bank (Rive Gauche) to the Latin Quarter. We stopped for a crepe and a mint tea each at a little stand by the Sorbonne before catching the metro up to Montmarte.
Montmartre is a very hilly, very old neighborhood with the Basilique de Sacre Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) as it's centerpiece at the top of the hill. We wound our way through the neighborhood and up the hill into the Basilica gardens. Saw several stray cats and managed to mostly avoid the tourist crowds going up the main stairs until we got to the entrance of the church. There we had to fight our way in and then took a shuffling tour around perimeter of the sanctuary as the church has a service going for twenty four hours a day every day and has been doing so since it was consecrated in 1919.
The inside of the church was very nice but difficult to really get a feel for due to the crowds. It seemed to be very well lit and the sculpture and art pieces varied wildly by time period and by artist. It was very eclectic and very different from most other large classical churches I have been in. The organ, however, sounded dismal and we found out later it's due for a major rehabilitation.
Back outside we walked around to the side and saw a sign saying that the dome was open so we went down the stairs to the crypt, paid a man five euro and then climbed a spiral stone staircase that was barely wide enough to accommodate my shoulders up to the roof. Then we clambored over a marked trail on the roof to the dome where more switchback and spiral stairs were encountered until we got to a viewing ring about halfway up the dome. The view of Paris from up there was spectacular (and very cold since it was outdoors). We admired the view for about an hour before climbing back down.
Back in Montmarte we walked around a bit more, passed a tiny little vineyard and then had a very good meal at an Indian restaurant called Taj Mahal that was advertising a very generous prix fixe meal. We both had the lamb rogan josh - one of our favorites.
After that we decided to walk off our dinner all the way back to our apartment. It took us about thirty minutes and ended up being almost half of the city! It's very walkable and human scaled!
Kirsten called it a night at that point but I ended up meeting with Tim & Becca since their apartment is just around the corner from ours. They had a late dinner and I had a nice Belgian beer (biere) at Le Cafe Marie Stuart. A perfect way to end a perfect day.
Tomorrow we meet with Kirsten's sister Ingrid who came in from London. It should be neat to get her perspective on Paris and she also promised us dinner at her favorite restaurant. I'm excited!
We did end up walking around all day, we saw the Centre Pompidou with all of its exposed ductwork and piping. It was very cool looking but not as colorful as we had expected it to look. From there we walked over to Ile de la Cite where Notre Dame is located but the line was very long so we put off going inside for another day. The outside is very nice looking with the flying buttresses and the gothic arches.
We continued walking over to the Ile St. Louis which was very quiet and then over the Seine onto the Left Bank (Rive Gauche) to the Latin Quarter. We stopped for a crepe and a mint tea each at a little stand by the Sorbonne before catching the metro up to Montmarte.
Montmartre is a very hilly, very old neighborhood with the Basilique de Sacre Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) as it's centerpiece at the top of the hill. We wound our way through the neighborhood and up the hill into the Basilica gardens. Saw several stray cats and managed to mostly avoid the tourist crowds going up the main stairs until we got to the entrance of the church. There we had to fight our way in and then took a shuffling tour around perimeter of the sanctuary as the church has a service going for twenty four hours a day every day and has been doing so since it was consecrated in 1919.
The inside of the church was very nice but difficult to really get a feel for due to the crowds. It seemed to be very well lit and the sculpture and art pieces varied wildly by time period and by artist. It was very eclectic and very different from most other large classical churches I have been in. The organ, however, sounded dismal and we found out later it's due for a major rehabilitation.
Back outside we walked around to the side and saw a sign saying that the dome was open so we went down the stairs to the crypt, paid a man five euro and then climbed a spiral stone staircase that was barely wide enough to accommodate my shoulders up to the roof. Then we clambored over a marked trail on the roof to the dome where more switchback and spiral stairs were encountered until we got to a viewing ring about halfway up the dome. The view of Paris from up there was spectacular (and very cold since it was outdoors). We admired the view for about an hour before climbing back down.
Back in Montmarte we walked around a bit more, passed a tiny little vineyard and then had a very good meal at an Indian restaurant called Taj Mahal that was advertising a very generous prix fixe meal. We both had the lamb rogan josh - one of our favorites.
After that we decided to walk off our dinner all the way back to our apartment. It took us about thirty minutes and ended up being almost half of the city! It's very walkable and human scaled!
Kirsten called it a night at that point but I ended up meeting with Tim & Becca since their apartment is just around the corner from ours. They had a late dinner and I had a nice Belgian beer (biere) at Le Cafe Marie Stuart. A perfect way to end a perfect day.
Tomorrow we meet with Kirsten's sister Ingrid who came in from London. It should be neat to get her perspective on Paris and she also promised us dinner at her favorite restaurant. I'm excited!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Day 2: Bonne Annee!
So after sleeping in, I got myself up and downstairs to meet up with the rest of the group to do a little grocery shopping at the market down the street. Cereal, milk, strawberry jam, croissants, coffee, and a few bottles of wine for the party later tonight.
After a brief lunch back at the apartment and putting the groceries away, Kirsten and I joined the rest of the group down at the entrance to the catacombs. If not for the long line snaking around the park you might miss it as it's just a shed with a small sign out in front. However, the line was long and ended up being a pretty lengthy wait.
The catacombs of Paris were filled back in the 1780s when the Cemetery of the Innocents (which was located essentially where we are staying now) began disgorging it's bodies into the local water supply and into people's basements and began causing some serious disease problems in the area. The catacombs themselves already existed as limestone quarries and were beginning to show some evidence of subsidence. The brilliant idea was struck to move the bodies into the quarries to help stabilize them and to rid the city of disease. After the city had moved the Cemetery of the Innocents they then proceeded to empty dozens of other cemeteries until the 1860s.
The workers did not maintain whole skeletons but rather constructed sturdy bulkheads throughout a portion of the quarry using only femurs and skulls. Presumably the rest of the bones were used as filler for these bulkheads because we didn't see anything but femurs and skulls.
The actual catacombs are pretty far from the entrance as we had to descend quite a ways underground and then walked for about fifteen minutes through the quarry (or mine) before we reached the catacomb area (or ossuary). All in all it was a very cool experience and I'm glad we did it.
After that we returned back to our apartments to change for the party and get a little food. Kirsten and I stopped at a little bakery and picked up a couple of croque monsieurs which we heated up in our oven. They were excellent although we couldn't exactly place what the cheese was that they used. The New Years Eve party was at Shelley, Tony, and Susie's apartment which was the biggest out of ours with a nice kitchen, dining room, and living room. At about quarter to midnight we walked down to the Seine and stood on Pont Neuf to ring in the new year with thousands of other revelers. We drank champagne straight from the bottles we passed around and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle and fireworks go shooting off across the river. It was a great end to a pretty great year.
We finally returned to our apartment after 2am and went to bed pretty much immediately.
After a brief lunch back at the apartment and putting the groceries away, Kirsten and I joined the rest of the group down at the entrance to the catacombs. If not for the long line snaking around the park you might miss it as it's just a shed with a small sign out in front. However, the line was long and ended up being a pretty lengthy wait.
The catacombs of Paris were filled back in the 1780s when the Cemetery of the Innocents (which was located essentially where we are staying now) began disgorging it's bodies into the local water supply and into people's basements and began causing some serious disease problems in the area. The catacombs themselves already existed as limestone quarries and were beginning to show some evidence of subsidence. The brilliant idea was struck to move the bodies into the quarries to help stabilize them and to rid the city of disease. After the city had moved the Cemetery of the Innocents they then proceeded to empty dozens of other cemeteries until the 1860s.
The workers did not maintain whole skeletons but rather constructed sturdy bulkheads throughout a portion of the quarry using only femurs and skulls. Presumably the rest of the bones were used as filler for these bulkheads because we didn't see anything but femurs and skulls.
The actual catacombs are pretty far from the entrance as we had to descend quite a ways underground and then walked for about fifteen minutes through the quarry (or mine) before we reached the catacomb area (or ossuary). All in all it was a very cool experience and I'm glad we did it.
After that we returned back to our apartments to change for the party and get a little food. Kirsten and I stopped at a little bakery and picked up a couple of croque monsieurs which we heated up in our oven. They were excellent although we couldn't exactly place what the cheese was that they used. The New Years Eve party was at Shelley, Tony, and Susie's apartment which was the biggest out of ours with a nice kitchen, dining room, and living room. At about quarter to midnight we walked down to the Seine and stood on Pont Neuf to ring in the new year with thousands of other revelers. We drank champagne straight from the bottles we passed around and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle and fireworks go shooting off across the river. It was a great end to a pretty great year.
We finally returned to our apartment after 2am and went to bed pretty much immediately.
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