Gotta hand it to them, there was smooching and hand-holding and general lovey dovey stuff EVERYWHERE! Can see why it has the reputation as the most romantic city in the world… But Gothling & I were just too enamoured with being in the place to worry about being stuck with each other…
We arrived early on the Wednesday morning and found our hostel in Clichy, a bit outside of the city centre, quite easily. I must say that I was initially a bit concerned about only knowing 6 or so words of french as so many people had told us how stern the French can be, and unwilling to speak any other language. Well – our first taxi driver was an absolute delight, fluent at english and happy to speak it! Full of helpful information and some tuition on some extra french words. To top it off, his daughter is the same age as gothling AND another anime/manga freak! What are the odds?
After dumping off some luggage, we headed into the city via the Metro, a service we made exceptionally good use of in both Rome and Paris. By
the time we left Paris, gothling could navigate the whole system at a glance, and had half the lines memorised. We headed directly for the tower, just for a squiz. We were blessd with some lovely weather. Not quite as warm as Rome but clear and very pleasant. Bit like a nice winters day in Mackay. So the Eiffel Tower is tall, and metal. Bit like the Habour Bridge only all in one direction. I was actually a bit surprised by the colour. As opposed to the old gun metal grey, it’s actually a nice pale coppery colour. Ha – who knew? AND we saw an idea that they should no doubt import to Australia in many places. As it was a little warm if standing in the sun for a while, they had these huge industrial fans spraying water mist over the crowds who were queueing for a good mile and a half to climb the tower. Great idea. The mist that is – not the climbing. Yeah it’s high and I’m sure it’s a great view. But it would have taken hours and we were more interested in getting up close and personal with all the sites rather than seeing them from afar.
We headed away from the Tower and into Central Paris, stopping for a spot of lunch along the way, before hanging out, with another HUGE ice cream, around some lovely gardens surroundings the Luxemburg Museum. There was a charming building in the grounds housing a an exhibition of local artists and some of the most amazing water colours around I’m sure. After such an early start, we were pretty worn out by this stage, so after just a little more exploring we headed back to the hostel. That evening we
got chatting to a group of lovely people from Spain on their last night in Paris after a 10 day holiday. They were some sort of ‘group’, still not sure on all the details. One girl, Alba, was quite good at english and loved the opportunity to practise, but with the rest we pretty much resorted to pictograms on the serviettes – surprisingly effective. We did understand however when the group leader invited us to jump on the bus in the morning and join them all in Spain!!?? Yeah well – very kind and all but uummm – afraid not… More of Paris to see and I think I might be in the poo if I phone the DWP from Spain next Monday saying “Sorry, could be a bit late…”
Next day, while enroute to the Louvre we were very excited to witness what could have been a scene straight from The Da Vinci Code. A little blue french police car came roaring down the road, sirens blaring, then fish tailed around a corner and through a red light with some excellent tyre screeching to add to the overall sound effects! Our immediate response – “Run Forest Run!” Some bloke walking across the road got the joke and bellowed a laugh and a clap, to which we bowed. Anyway –
The Louvre – another heady, exhausting, stunning collection of some of the most wonderful pieces of art on the planet. Venus de Milo is so much more graceful and refined in real life than any image will ever do justice to. Mona Lisa is nothing short of cheeky, and my eyes were delightfully weary from the classical, ancient, medievil and renaissance art contained in The Louvre. The building itself is
glorious and packed with history covering a good 400+ years. I loved the glass pyramid as an entrance. It says to me “Don’t assume you know what’s in here – we WILL surprise you.”
One really interesting bit was the excavations a couple of stories below ground level. Before The Louvre became the building it is now, there was a sizeable norman castle with an enormous mote. They’ve excavated part of what remains of the foundations and made a model of what they believe the castle looked like – very Walt Disney-ish. We emerged about 6 hours after we had entered. Tired but happy, and in need of sustenance.
A short metro ride took us into the very centre of Paris where we had an early dinner and meandered
around Notre Dame a bit. I think the meals were a little more expensive in Paris than in Rome, but with a little investigating of menu’s on display we usually found something reasonable without compromising on taste. Usually it just meant the loo’s were a little less ’swish’, (but still had soap, water and paper!) We didn’t get to go inside Notre Dame. The church was gearing up for the Feast of the Assumtion the following day so access was less than usual. To be honest, considering the crowds we saw cramming into the place when it was open, I’m really not that sorry.
The outside is a wonder in itself, and we had a glorious twilight view as we gently steamed past on a Seine River cruise.
Along with views of Le Pantheon, Eiffel Tower, The Louve and numerous other BIG ornate buildings. The river itself is not that attractive I must admit, although apparently it’s alot nicer than it use to be. Doesn’t stop the people though. Thousands were sitting along the walled river banks with wine and dinner, enjoying the summer evening. The highlight was definately the procession from Notre Dame to celebrate the Assumption. Catholic ceremony’s are still a big and serious thing in most European countries.
The Bishop and about 20 priests, followed by dozens of alter boys, nuns, a choir and hundreds of candle carrying followers, lead the way down the river bank to a waiting flotilla of about 5 large river barges. We past them going one way, then saw them again as they went under the bridge we were standing on after the cruise. I’m not a fan of organised religion at all, but it was nonetheless a lovely and moving spectacle.
As a total contrast, just a block away was another sort of spectacle. A large crowd was gathered in one of the squares to hear a live band who, apparently, were very good. We couldn’t understand a word they sang but the music sounded great and the crowd were certainly enjoying it! So we had a beer and a dance before heading back to Clichy. Nearly fell asleep on the Metro after that day, and it’s only a 15 min ride!
Day 3
dawned and we had a clear intention – Montemartre. I’d not heard of this area of Paris before, but in retrospect, we’ve all probably seen snippets of it on the telly and in movies. It’s where many of the great artists and writers of the 19th and 20th century, and now perhaps the 21st, lived and worked and ate and loved and cried and laughed and drank and some even died. Salvadore Dali spent the majority of his working adult life here and there’s a fantastic gallery with all his better, and much of his lesser known work. I’ve always been a Dali fan. When I get home I’m looking for some good prints of his work. (Can’t see an original coming any time soon…)
So Montmartre is a mesh of lovely old cobbled streets, charming old shops, cafe’s, restaurants and galleries. It waves it’s way up one side of quite a substantial hill, culminating at the top with yet another lovely cathedral, Sacred Heart Basilica of Montmartre (Sacre-Coeur). This is apparently the highest point of Paris and the view would definately suggest just that. It goes forever and one gets a bit of an idea of the size
of Paris, and some of the buildings therein, while sitting up there. We had a really lovely lunch, including escargo, at a little restaurant among the windy streets with a great people watching vantage, and were treated to some excellent ‘tiffs’ between the artists vying for the tourists attention to sell them personal 10 minute portraits. Once again – couldn’t understand the actual words – but that might have been a good thing! The steps, street and grass area in front of the church is another great spot for street performers with everything from painted and/or robed human statues to clever footballers and an Italian
musician who had a crowd of about 300 people bellowing various internationally well known songs across the whole of Paris from the hill top – lots of fun!! By now it was early evening, so we headed back to Clichy for a snack, a wine and bed. Having a fantastic day is so exhausting!
We decided the best way to get at least a glimpse of the rest of Paris over the last day and a half of our stay was to take advantage of a open top bus tour. Next morning we were hopping around the various bus routes and riding past the majority of the big
sites including the Arch de Triumphe, the Obelisk from Egypt, etc. I’ll have to review the video get the rest. By mid afternoon we wanted to check out an area called St Martin where there’s some vintage shops, which we eventually found. I was really hoping to bring home a dress from ‘Paris’, even if it was 2nd hand. Unfortunately, once you put the word ‘vintage’ on anything, as opposed to ‘pre-loved’ it seems you can charge the earth for it and not particularly care if its still dirty… There was some lovely things and we did pick up a couple of bargains from the 5euro rack, but had to balk at the beaded dress for 80 – next time… There is another really pretty area close to Notre Dame called St Michelle. More windy streets and interesting shops. A bit touristy, but fun nonetheless. Near here is a lovely
old book shop called “Shakespeare and Company”. Judging from the old photo’s I’d say it’s been operating since the 1930’s or earlier. They sell a few new release titles, but the interesting stuff is the lovely old books and knick-knacks that line walls. Upstairs is another couple of rooms where the books are not for sale, but visitors are welcome to take a book from the shelves, (some of which are made from the original beams by simply removing the plaster in between) relax on the soft old lounges and read till their hearts content. Poke your head outside the bay window and one can see the western side and spires of Notre Dame, people enjoying a meal in the restaurant next door and street musicians filling the air with glorious sounds. How much more Pari can one get??
After a nice Japanese meal nearby we headed back to Montemartre to get a glimpse
of Moulin Rouge by night. Which we did and have some great footage of what I’m sure are the two most expensive glasses of ‘house wine’ in the world! But hey – we were there. Was all worth it
Our last morning in Paris was spent around the main shopping district, but alas, twas Sunday and they were all closed – maybe just as well. We did enjoy a nice brekky and some window shopping though. It’s a bit of haul on the Metro to get to the airport, so we headed off early for our light to Midlands airport, then a bus into Derby, then a train to Leeds and finally a taxi home arrivng about 11pm. Thank heavens for flexi time and the option of late starts at the DWP. I made use of that ALL week!
So all in all, I think our little venture
to two of the most revered capital cities was a resounding success. Wouldn’t change a thing, and ever so grateful for being able to share it with my gothling.
Whatever happens, we’ll always have Rome and Paris.