Versailles and Musee D'Orsay

9/7/11  Wow!  A day that went according to plan.  I got up early, had petit dejeuner, and got ready for my tour pick-up for Versailles.  There was a little drama while I waited.  Some street guy came into the lobby and provoked our hotel staff.  The two men were yelling at each other, insulting, and the crazy man even pushed the hotel concierge and I almost got shoved.  Police were called, the combatants were pulled apart.  That Latin temper! 

Versailles was lovely though really not my taste in any way.  Way too opulent.  I would have been a revolutionary back then, a peasant not royalty.  Which would you have been?  The gardens are beautiful.  Our van was all Americans who are so much more friendly than internationals.  We all took pictures.  Our guide was a very nice young woman who knows everything about the Sun King and his successors, the Revolution, and French history in general.  The town of Versailles is very nice too.  Quieter than Paris, but old, well-maintained, lovely, lots of trees, old brick/stone streets, and trop cher.

After the Versailles tour, I ate the rest of my cheese with bread (just a quick bite in my room).  Then I walked over to Musee D’Orsay and spent the whole afternoon in the museum.  Of course my favorites are Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh.  But I was exposed to some artists I hadn’t seen before.  I took sit-down breaks, then saw another room I had missed.  And I bought souvenirs – a book about the museum for myself and lots of boxes of cards as gifts.  Lovely afternoon.

And I had enough energy to walk over to St Germain des Pres, find Procope Restaurant, and have a     lovely dinner at the restaurant where Benjamin Franklin dined when he was in Paris!  Since I had saved on lunch, I splurged on dinner – three courses, salad, beef and mashed potatoes, and crème brulee.  Delicious!  I had a nice walk home.  A hot bath.  Winding down. 

The desk clerk told me I had a message: my friend cannot come into town tomorrow, but wants my email address.  I’m not really surprised.  She is busy with her life, moving back to Paris after eight years in LA, enrolling her son in college.  It was nice of her to call and tell me, she could have just not shown up.   So tomorrow I will spend the day at the Louvre.  (I hope the museum has a lunch venue, I will need a food break during the day.)  C’est tout pour aujourdui.

The Islands in the Seine

9/6/11 Quelle jour!  Days just don’t go the way I plan them.  I had mon petit dejeuner dans l’hotel.  Then I set out walking to Ile de la Cite.  My plan was to cover the island, climb to the top of Notre Dame, then go on to Ile St. Louis, then to la Rive Gauche to find the little walk-only streets, then have dinner at Procope (where Ben Franklin used to dine).  It was very cold & windy this morning, so it took more energy to walk against the wind.  I stopped at a café for un café.   Then on to Notre Dame.  I was looking up at the top of the cathedral to see people up there where I planned to climb.  I didn’t see the low curb & stepped off and fell, skinning my right hand and left knee.  People helped me up and pointed out that the hospital was around the corner.  So, I went to the emergency room.  The staff there are tres gentils.  I was seen by a nurse and a doctor.  Diagnosis was just skinned palm and knee.  Palm cleaned & bandaided.  And released to climb to the top of Notre Dame.  So that I did.  But not all the way to the top, just to the second level.  I took pictures of the views of Paris from the viewing platform.  Then down to walk in the park.  I had taken my bread & cheese, so I had a little picnic in Square Jean XXIII.  Lovely.  Then I went to Ile St. Louis for a little walk around, crossed over to la Rive Gauche.  But I was tired, lots of sitting in parks, so I started back towards my hotel.  Another Paris surprise!  There on the bridge was a film crew, in the process of filming a scene!  I watched for a while, took a few pictures, then wandered back to the hotel.  After a little rest, I went out again to mail my last postcard (to myself), buy some bandaids, eat a nice salmon salad at Café Royal near my hotel.  It was very good.  Came back to the room, took a hot bath.  I have to accept that I cannot go all day & into the night.  I am exhausted.  And now both my wrists hurt a lot.  Tomorrow I have a tour of Versailles & truly hope to go to Musee D’Orsay in the afternoon.  I just hope some ibuprofen takes away the pain in my wrists, so I don’t have to go back to the hospital. 

Paris is such a young, energetic city.  I’m tired.  Actually Paris is extremely old, so much history, but I’m still tired.  Actually Paris is so old and still young and energetic.  I think it has always been on the cutting edge of creativity, art, literature, architecture.  New, modern sculptures and art immersed in the center of old architecture.  The Louvre is in the old palace built over 500 years ago.  And the entrance to the museum is a group of modern glass pyramids.  Old and new in the same space.  Paris is not stuck in its past. 

City Tour and Boat Tour

9/5/11  Much  better day today.  Amazing how sleep helps change the attitude.  Got up early today to go on a bus tour of the city.  Petit dejeuner ici dans l’hotel.  Then met the tour guide.  He had three other pickups, then our tour began.  We drove by so many palaces, government buildings, monuments I can’t name them all.  I took pictures of some of them.   Our first stop was Montmartre and Sacre Coeur.  I took some pictures of the view from the hill and of the exterior of the church (pictures not allowed inside the church).  Then I walked over to Place Tertre to see the artists.  And I let myself get taken by a street caricaturist (for 20E).  I felt really stupid about it.  Oh, well.   Then we stopped at Notre Dame, which was lovely.  Our tour guide took my picture for me in front of the cathedral.  Our last stop was for photos of the Eiffel Tower.  One of the more interesting sites was the Roman ruins in the Latin Quarter.  I really don’t feel the need to go up in the Eiffel Tower.  There are so many more interesting places to go.  And I really would prefer to see the rooftops of Paris from the top of Notre Dame.  After our tour, I bought a delicious brown bread, a block of reblochon fruitier cheese and a bottle of water, walked over to Jardins Tuilleries and had my picnic.  Then I found myself walking down Champs Elysses to the Arc de Triomphe (which we had driven by several times earlier).  I got a little lost getting from there back to the Eiffel Tower for my boat tour, but I found it eventually.  I had thought I’d do the boat tour at night when la cite is lit up, but decided to go at 4:30.  It was a nice trip & went a little further east than I plan to go, so I saw a little new territory.  It was a pleasant ride.  And every tour gives a little more information about Paris history.  I walked back along the river after the boat tour.  Had another public restroom experience.  This one was free. It was so modern, opened & closed the door automatically after each person, with a thorough cleaning between users.  Of course I took a picture!  I didn’t see a restaurant I wanted to eat at as I walked back from Tour L’Eiffel to the Louvre.  So I ate at Brasserie Louvre, very near my hotel and had a delicious shrimp salad.  Back to write about my day’s adventures & rest my hurting hips.  Lovely day.   Tomorrow I plan to go to Ile de la Cite again & take my time there.  And hopefully I’ll have energy to go to Procope in St. Germain des Pres for dinner

Mon premier jour en Paris

9/4/11  Before getting off the plane the lady sitting next to me opened a conversation, mostly in English.  She’s French, but had lived in LA for 8 years.  We made a plan to meet up on Thursday at 10:30 at my hotel.  That is something to look forward to!  So maybe I did make a friend on the plane. 

Customs was so easy, took less than 5 minutes, no lines, look at the passport, ok, move on.  My baggage made it on the same plane.  I managed, with a little help from pleasant helpful people, to call the shuttle service, which showed up after a little longer wait than the 10 minutes I was told.  So far, so good.  The  drive from the airport showed a large sprawling, 21^st century city, with ugly square buildings, graffiti, etc.  But we did get to the older part of the city, where the shuttle driver seemed lost.  After much going in circles, he finally started dropping us off at our hotels.  Mine, the Pavillon Louvre Rivoli, sounds very grand but it is my first disappointment.  It is very small, my room is tiny and a little shabby.  No air conditioning, which means open windows letting in all the street sounds and rain.  And it did rain in 3 bursts today.  Which is truly no big deal.  I had a full day of walking and seeing and eating and trying to speak French.  (And this was after really no sleep on the plane, but I’m trying to get on the local time.)

What did I do my first day in Paris?  First, I was too early for hotel check-in, so I left my large bag at the hotel and explored my neighborhood.  There is a huge statue of Moliere at the end of rue Moliere and the Comedie Francaise is around the corner.  A little plaza – Plaza Colette – is right there with a statue and fountain and several little restaurants.  (Here's where I'm trying to insert a photo of the statue of Moliere, but I haven't figured out how.)  I had lunch at Bistrot Café Royale, my first meal in France, escargots and a salad.  All the sidewalk seating is facing the street, so we can people watch while eating.  Loved the escargots by the way, dipped my baguette in the olive oil concoction, mmm so good and garlicky.  After going back to the hotel to check in, I went out to explore on foot a little further.  The Palace and the Louvre are within a few blocks of my hotel, but I didn’t go into the Louvre today.  I went on across the Pont Royale and into the Sixth Arrondissement – la Rive Gauche.  I ended up walking huge amounts of the Rive Gauche.  Just when I was getting too tired & discouraged, I heard music.  There in front of L’Eglise St. Germain des Pres  was a jazz band.  And across the street was Les Deux Magots, famous restaurant & haunt of Hemingway et al.  I was very tired & thirsty, so I stopped there, got a bottle of water, people watched, listened to the music, and refreshed myself.  And watched the rain fall.  By the time I finished my bottle of Pellegrino and felt better, the rain had stopped.  So again I went out exploring, and found les jardins Luxembourg.  Another little gift.  Tennis courts where a tournament was in progress.  Gardens where fruit trees (apples & pears) were espaliered in interesting fashion (I took pictures).  Men playing boules (I think it’s called).  I sat and people watched again, but was so very tired. I almost fell asleep on the bench, but I needed to pee too.  I imagined people finding this old woman passed out on a bench in the park, covered in pee. That image inspired me to go to the public restroom in the park – cost of 40 centimes.  Then, since I was so tired, I walked back towards the river, crossed the Pont des Artes which is covered with locks!  (Another picture)  I had an omelette at the Café Marly which is attached to the Louvre.  Back at my room, I was so discouraged, I wanted to get on the next plane & go home.  Everything about Paris seemed flat, plain, boring, disappointing, not worth the effort & expense.  I needed to sleep.  So I did. 

All those pictures I took, I have to learn how to share them - liven up my story.  Who out there can tell me how to load photos from my computer to the blog???  Help! 

Bon soir.

On My Way

Huit Jours en Paris 2011

I was without internet connection while actually in Paris.  So much for the world wide web.  Or maybe I just don't know how to work it.  But I did document the experience & will post my comments day-by-day as if it weren't ten days later.  This first comment is from the air en route to Paris.

9/3/11  My plane left LA today at 1:00pm PDT.  It’s an 11 hour flight and we lose 9 hours, so right now it’s about 4:00am Paris time and my body cannot sleep.  I want to document the trip every moment.  Arriving at Tom Bradley International terminal, I found the right line to wait in.  I was surrounded by real French speaking real French so very fast!  I’m afraid I won’t have the courage to try mon Francais en Paris.  Eh, bien.  Checking into the airline was very easy and very courteous.  Then I had several hours to wait.  So I bought a café au lait and a scone.  I immediately spilled coffee on my white shirt – a shirt I will be wearing for 2 days!  I managed to sponge out the coffee in the restroom.  The airplane is full of les Francais, I haven’t spoken to any Americans or other real English speakers.  So I wouldn’t say I’m making friends on the flight.  Oh, by the way, international flights offer so many amenities that American flights don’t offer.  Free, unlimited movies, two full meals without extra charge, pillow and blanket, a care package including eyemask, earplugs, socks.  I was told on one US airline, when I asked for a blanket, to bring my own next time. 

I had thought I would go to the Louvre as soon as I arrive at my hotel.  But with a sleepless night behind me, I think not.  I may just walk around the jardins Tuilleries and maybe wander over to la Rive Gauche.  And ask the concierge if they can “achete pour moi un billet de musees  pour deux jours.”  And then I can go to the Louvre when I am better rested.  Of course, I checked the weather online before I left LA and saw that it is supposed to be raining in Paris on Sunday.  Not the best weather for walking in a garden.  Eh, bien.  C’est la vie.  C’est tout pour maintenant.

It's about the Art

I got it all sorted out about clothes, pants are fine.  Parisians are chic but casual, or was it casual but chic.  I can do that.  And I have all my travel documents, plane reservations, hotel reservations, a couple of tours - Versailles, a bateau mouche dans la Seine, and a bus tour of la cite.  Today my to-do list includes buying some Euros, getting my watch fixed, buying a windbreaker (weather may be erratic).  So I'm pretty much good to go!

And I woke up this morning terrified!  What was I thinking??  A single woman going alone to Paris???  I love the language, mais je ne parle pas tres bien le Francais.  I had to talk myself back into enthusiasm.  It's not just the beautiful language, it's the art, the history, the concentration of beauty in the center of the city.  I long for that.  There are plenty of museaums here in Los Angeles.  They are spread out, each in a totally different part of the city and some very hard to get to.  And I don't take the time to visit them (though I have been to the Getty several times and LACMA many times).  But every day in Paris is a cultural adventure, a bit of art, a slice of history, a beautiful garden.  I will be immersed in beauty.  Ah, I've talked myself into it again!  Je voudrais vivre a la!  I want to live there!  It is totally about the art!

I leave in exactly two weeks.  I am excited about it, not terrified!

What do I wear??????

What's the point of having a blog if I never write??!  I've been AWOL for over a month and my trip is quickly approaching.  I'm obsessing about what to wear in Paris.  Pants vs skirts?  Pack a huge suitcase of everything I own so that I'm prepared for anything?  Or travel light, with a few basics crammed into a carry-on bag??  I so want to look chic in Paris, but I also want to be comfortable especially when I plan to do a lot of walking.  What kinds of clothes should I take?????

In my absence from blogging, I have been preparing for my Paris adventure.  I have been studying my favorite language, mais je parle un peu le Francais.  Quelque jours je pense que je parle tres bien, mais pas vraiment.  Eh bien.  And I have been reading books about Paris and about people who have moved there to live - expats and their adventures.  French Fried was about a couple from England who bought a farm in Southern France.  From that I learned many of the red-tape complications of moving to France.  French Lessons gave me some opportunities to think in French and a few new vocabulary words.  Me, Myself, and Paris was written by a California woman - like me - who goes to Paris for six weeks every year.  I've learned some of her favoite non-museum places to go.  Of course, all these books are in English, but I'm getting the spirit, history, geography, language of la cite'. 

Twenty-four more days till I leave!  So much to do!  What do I wear?