Paris - Been There Done That Bought The T-Shirt...

Paris. City of lights, city of beautiful women, city of good cheese and wine, city of baguettes, city of dog poo, city of rude waiters. Is that all, well how about the Pantheon, Centre Georges Pompidou, Sacre Coeur, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Place de Concorde, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Napoleon's Tomb, the Seine River, Eiffel Tower......did I mention the Eiffel Tower?

Quick Tips:

Tips for Paris justify another journal in it of itself. Suffice it to say our over-arching suggestion is to buy a baguette (skinny loaf of crusty white bread) and some brie cheese, load up some other goodies and utensils, maybe a bottle of wine and plastic wine glasses (if you're that organized) then take your significant other (if you're with one) to one of any park benches facing the Seine river. You'll score big points with him/her. I got lucky myself.

Best Way To Get Around:

Driving is the best way -- if you're lucky enough to have a relative with a Citroen or Renault to motor you around town. Even so, though, domestic cars are so small you'll be hard-pressed to fit American physiques abreast in any back seat. But who's complaining, there's always the punctual Paris metro with a station always within walking distance. Just be careful and watch the dog poo on the sidewalks regardless of your mode of transportation. I think there's an embargo on pooper scoopers in Paris.

My brother-in-law loves ice cream, so he insisted on taking us to what he calls the best ice cream in Paris. At first I wasn't too enthusiastic about the thought of taking an excursion across town, away from our normal planned itinerary I had hoped to stick with (much like Chevy Chase in the movie European Vacation). This excursion turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for me. Not only did it turn out that this supposed ice cream shop served some of the best ice cream I'd ever had, it also was smack dab in the middle of a small island on the Seine River. Not an island like you'd normally think and actually just more than a mound of real estate with the Seine splitting around it. Nevertheless, the island, known as Ile St Louis, is actually a tourist destination for many due to its charm. Its like the City of Paris in miniature. We saw quaint restaurants and at least two hotels there. Kind of reminded me of the old-world charm of the walled city Rotenberg, Germany I'd seen being raised moons ago. Anyway, we waited in line at Berthillon's which gave us plenty of time to choose from the multi flavors. I had a cup of three balls of sorbet which were unbelievable. The pear sorbet was more like pears than pears themselves, the green apple was great, and the wild strawberry ("fraise du bois") was among the best things I have ever tasted. Fantastic. Beyond words. Bertillion is a mandatory stop for all but the most cursory visits to Paris.

We did one dining splurge - and I mean splurge - while we were visiting with my brother-in-law. We had passed by several interesting and posh looking restaurants and ooohed and ahhed in wonderment. That night, my brother had us pick from a list of starred Michelin restaurants. The Les Glenan would take our money that night. I couldn't begin to give directions to this place, other than we took their business card and knew it was near the French Parliament buildings. Before getting there we decided to each order a different dish, just in case one was a "bomb" so to speak. The restaurant was just like in the movies; black coat waiters with white towels draped over their forearms. Some waiters were standing against the walls scanning the tables for the next customer to raise a hand for service. These guys were at your table faster than you could get your arm stretched. I think they know you need service even before you begin to raise your hand and catch you as you bob your head away from your dinner guests at your table. My meal started with a really wonderful appetizer of foie gras (my favorite) which was served warm and completely melted in my mouth with each bite, then a main course of trout covered with crispy deep fried something scallions. The many flavors were complementing each other and the trout had great texture. Finally I had a cold apple-creme brulee thingy. It tasted good, but I think it would have been better hot. My wife started with a Carpaccio of Tuna appetizer, then moved on to a main course of Tagliatelle with Langostineos, finishing off with a fruit pastry. Her brother started with a terrine of salmon with fresh butter lettuce and a wonderful light sauce of oil and balsamic vinegar, then a Flambe Beef Tornadoes, and finishing with ice cream similar to our Berthillion's ice cream experience, in fact it could be that they supplied ice cream throughout the restaurants in the city. Wouldn't surprise me as delectable as it was earlier. In summary, this was one of the best meals I could remember ever having. We were set back just shy of 1000 Francs for the three of us - and with no wine!

My brother is fascinated with military history, so naturally he wanted to take us to the place where Napoleon was entombed. The Hotel des Invalids has three noteworthy aspects: the building itself, the military museum, and the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. The building is quite impressive, as are most Parisian institutions. It's recognizable from anywhere in the city as its shining golden dome is unique and sparkles like a comet. There is a grand courtyard with a wonderful collection of amazingly ornate cannons arrayed around the edge.

The military museum is suitably impressive, full of magnificent suits of armor, swords, cannons, helmets, and on and on. If you are a war or armaments buff, this place is a must-see; for the rest of us it is still pretty cool. The crypt containing Napoleon's tomb is worth checking out, but the tomb itself is mostly noteworthy for being Napoleon - the giant chunk of granite in which he is entombed is huge, but is somehow very unexciting. I couldn't help feeling that it was enormous, but nothing else.

My brother drove my wife and I to the Louvre on our second day in Paris. It was my one official request while we were there, especially since there was no Air Show in town like the last time I visited Paris. We ended up getting there about 2:30. Since we hadn't really eaten yet and the ticket price goes down at 3pm at the Louvre, we decided to eat at the cafe under the pyramid first. The pyramid sits in the courtyard of the u-shaped Louvre building.

Anyway, it was a bad idea, for two reasons. First, the cafe under the pyramid is just about the only place in Paris to get bad food. The second reason is that at 3pm the ticket lines instantly grow to epic proportions, especially on Wednesdays when the museum is open late. So we had some really bad sandwiches, which wouldn't have been so bad had the french bread been crispy, and then waited in a really long line. After the huge line we had to wait around at the baggage check because it was filled to capacity. All this to save about $3.00 vs. entering before 3pm. Definitely not worth it, but my brother-in-law was treating so I didn't let it get to me. Note, once we got inside we found there was good food to be had at the Louvre in the cafe on the 2nd story of the Richelieu wing. Not only is the food good, it is a really pleasant room. Superior in all regards to the cafe under the pyramid. Also, without being admitted to the museum there is a cafe under the arches of the Richelieu wing called Cafe Marly that has excellent people-watching potential and draws a nice stein of Heineken. However, the prices are suitably inflated.

Naturally, one of the first things we asked the concierge when in the Louvre was for directions to the Mona Lisa. We didn't feel like fumbling with the fold-out map. After about four left-then-right gestures, we stumbled our way upon it. Kind of knew it as we had to knudge our way through the crowds in the room it was contained. Speaking of contained, it was in a glass container box on the wall and looked to be blast proof (kind of like the presidential limousine glass). I could go on and on about all the beautiful masterpieces we were able to see, but suffice it to say we didn't even get through 3/4 of the museum. Towards closing time we decided to cut our losses and left it open to maybe come back towards the end of our stay in Paris.

Could I even make a Paris journal without a Notre Dame entry? Fortunately, the week we were there, my brother-in-law said they had just completed renovation of the cathedral towers which were closed just a week prior. Notre Dame is an amazing experience. It is a beautiful, lofty building, and really feels like God lives there. It is an interesting contrast to go from the rather intimate confines of an American church to the airy interior of Notre Dame. There was a sign at the main door entrance that asked for appropriate attire to be worn inside. I remember making a joke to my brother about not having our bathing suits on, so I guessed it was okay to enter. It was a much-needed laugh in an otherwise austere, respectful place. Once we got inside you could hear the whispers of people echo throughout the airy interior. My wife lit a candle toward the back of the cathedral then sat down for a few minutes to reflect on things. It was quite a religious experience. We also spent some time exploring the catacombs and excavations under Notre Dame. Certainly worth a look for archaeology buffs, but it didn't do much to excite me.

I combined these two Paris attractions because we experienced them essentially at the same time. My guess is that the Champs Elysee used to flow through the Arc until modern day roads sprouted up. My brother took our life in his hands by driving through the traffic circle around the Arc then darting through to the other side of Champs Elysee. At the moment it reminded me of a go-kart ride I once experienced as a kid. Cars (little ones) were all around, always approaching our car's trajectory, leaving little room for error. I couldn't stop thinking that I'd be the first to go, since I was on the passenger side as cars merged onto the traffic circle. We found a metered parking spot off the main Champs Elysee and strolled down the promenade up to the Arc. I found out that there is a great photo op from atop the Arc. One of the pictures here and one in the overview are from the top of this famous landmark. I also didn't know the flamed tomb of the unknown soldier was burning under the Arc continuously. Plan for long walking along the Champs Elysee promenade along either side of the avenue and bring comfortable shoes. My wife was admonishing herself for that oversight. This is definitely the fashion capital of the world and its right here on this avenue. The avenue is lined with designer clothing boutiques. Great for window shoppers, although we saw quite a few tourists carrying bags with designer names on them.

A spot that I never heard of, but very near and dear to my brother-in-law's heart is (big kudos to him for pointing this one out to my wife and I) the Memorial de la Deportation. This a really moving memorial to the French men and women who were deported from France to concentration camps in Germany during World War II. It is really striking. Down a narrow staircase lies a stark, open courtyard of granite. There is virtually no adornment, and it is somewhat confusing in its austerity. From the courtyard leads another uninviting staircase down into darkness. Here is the true memorial. We entered into a room with antechambers on each side and a long hallway behind bars leading off in front. Each of the antechambers has the names of concentration camps carved in them with quotations engraved in the walls. The hallway at the back of the main room contains the Tomb of the Unknown Deportee and 200,000 crystals each lit with a light and representing the 200,000 French "deportees." Carved into a plaque on the floor is engraved the rather chilling statement (translated from french by my brother) "They went to another part of the earth, and they didn't come back." One thing I found a little surprising is that there was no mention anywhere in the memorial of Jews. Everywhere it refers on to "deportees." Granted that the Germans executed homosexuals, enemies of the German state, and other groups as well as Jews, the Jewish people did make up the lions share of the "deportees", so it is a bit surprising to see that aspect of the deportation left out. To be honest, we saw my brother feeling a bit glum when we went into the memorial. I found it so moving that I had to spend some time just sitting and thinking before we could go on. I think it was the right thing to do. My wife's brother spent 7 years in a concentration camp in Vietnam once the South fell to the communists, so I could see how a memorial like this could have meaning to him. It was the saddest part of our trip, but necessary nevertheless.

Next up on our whirlwind tour of Parisian museums with my brother-in-law was the Centre Pompidou. What a fantastically ugly building! Wow! I'm sorry but this place made its name by its modern architecture, and I just dont get it - from any angle. It seems the builder is being rewarded for putting the pipes and ductwork on the outside where it becomes a decorative element. As you can tell, I'm not much of a modern art architecture or sculpture lover. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it. Most of this museum was filled with modern artwork from artists I never heard of. Thank god we didn't spend much time here, because we wanted to be able to experience a river boat ride on the Seine before it began cooling off for the evening (we were there in October). We popped into a cafe across the street from the Pompidou for a late lunch, where I had the largest club sandwich I have ever seen. Or rather, I had about half of the largest club sandwich I have ever seen. It was so big that when the waiter put it down in front of me a couple of women across the aisle from us started laughing. Perhaps the cafe owners were trying in some weird way to respond to the Pompidou: "If you can build the ugliest building on the face of the planet, then dangit, we can build the biggest club sandwich."

The Seine River flows through the city of Paris and particularly unique, are the many points along the way, near both bridges and metro stations, where one can board sightseeing vessels to get some of the best views of the world's most romantic city. We walked along the river until we got to the Pont du Neuf and boarded one of the sightseeing boats that offered a one hour cruise up and down the Seine. I think it was 14 Francs per adult. The view of the city of Paris from the Seine is completely different from the perspective of the city on land, especially the view of Notre Dame as it looms up from its place of prominence on the Island, the spiky fingers of its flying buttresses starkly silhouetted against the sky. The boat tour took us upriver past the Louvre and under the Alexander bridge to the Eiffel Tower and then turned around to voyage all the way to the Cathedral before turning around and heading back to its berth. We saw many barges along the way that were docked along the banks of the river and adorned with potted plants and flowers over the edge of their decks. This was something we've never seen before. French pride was showing in style.

The same day we toured the Museum de Invalides, we took in the Rodin Museum. Its just down the road, after all. And a lovely spot it is too. In fact, I think the garden at the Rodin Museum is the best thing about it! The world is full of people, and each of those people have somewhat different tastes. That includes me, and my tastes don't seem to extend favorably towards Rodin. I looked at the pieces and tried to embrace their primitive qualities, their rawness, and so on. Sorry, no luck. I just don't like Rodin. The Thinker is interesting in that it has become such an icon, the same can be said for The Kiss. But other than that...I dunno. On the other hand, I liked the work of Camille Claudel, Rodin's apprentice and lover according to the plaques in the museum. There is a room devoted to her work, which I highly recommend. I was taken by her L'Age Mure (see the picture), a copy of which is also in the D'Orsay Museum. While wandering around the gardens at the Rodin Museum we ended up in several people's vacation photographs. I had the funny realization that with all the time I've spent in museums and hanging around statues, I will soon be able to take my place among the untended list of the most inadvertently photographed people in the world.

We discovered a gem of a place for anyone wanting to sample food while walking around and shopping. One of the best places to hang out and enjoy lunch or dinner is the district of Mouffetard around Rue Mouffetard and Rue Descartes. They have a local market with all the goodies your stomach could desire. Veggies, fruits, cheeses, meats, and more. The back alleys of these two streets are filled with various ethnic restaurants from around the world ranging from local French cuisine to Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, German and Greek. It's perfect to have a Spanish appetizer, a slice of pizza as main course, and some French chocolate crepes for dessert. Small shops are lined up in the alleys and specialize in tarts, sweet as well as sour, and yummy pastries that look as fantastic as they taste. I think this is the place I would have dinner every day, should I live in Paris. One could come here for a month without having to go to the same restaurant twice for snacks or meals.

I dinstinctly remember having some of the best crepes in my life on the way to Ste Chapelle. My brother had driven us to one of those innumerable places around the latin quarter for a lunch snack. I remember particularly the silky, zesty orange vanilla sauce that covered the crepes. Heaven! Afterwards, we drove and parked near-by the Notre Dame and then walked over to the Cathedral Sainte-Chapelle. Sainte-Chapelle is lovely, certainly ranking among Paris' must-see attractions. Though not unknown by any means, apparently it doesn't hit the radar screens of many visitors - this was the first time we'd been here and we were the only ones there for quite a while. It is a relatively small chapel, but the stained glass windows are beautiful. We were in the chapel for about half an hour enjoying the views and the sense of space. I suggest anyone coming here to bring a pair of binoculars to give you a close up view of the intricate detail in the stained glass windows.Unfortunately, without a really wide-angle lens the place is basically unphotographable from the inside. I had my back to the wall and couldn't get the whole stained glass experience captured on one shot. I tried, but I failed. I did get a few shots of the magnificent color of the stained glass windows from the inside.