Paris in the Spring

Our flight is not until 10pm so it gives us almost a full day to enjoy Paris. Our main priority is Pompidou Centre. Of course, from our hotel it is an easy 10 minute walk. (Did I mention that I loved, loved, LOVED the location of our hotel?)

Anyways, we stood in line for about 20 minutes to buy our tickets. Included in the price was admission to a temporary exhibition of Louise Bourgeois. Self-described as an "angry old woman", her works span seven decades from a traumatic childhood to cranky old age. Her sculptures all seem to convey an ultra-feminine, sensual style but in a primitive sort of way. The exhibition ends with "Seven in a Bed" which I have to be honest, my husband and I both stood looking at for quite some time wondering, "Is it a good thing or something destructive?"

Then, we went to the fifth floor modern art collection. This amazing floor takes a chronological look at the history of modern art representing most major artists in the first half of the 20th century. Artists including Chagall, Matisse, Joan Miro, Kandinsky, Dali, Picasso, Braque, Rothko and many, many more.

Be sure to grab the free pamphlet showing the different galleries and artists represented, otherwise it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of seeing so many amazing things.

Lunch was at Leon de Bruxelles for moules frites, crème brule and some lovely Belgium cherry beer.

After our wonderful lunch, we took the metro to St. Germaine and had hot chocolate at "da rosa" (62, rude de Seine) where I wanted to pick up some chocolates called "pimandes". My friend had just been to Paris and had brought these back for me and they are amazing. "Pimandes" are chocolate covered almonds with a light sprinkling of Basque chili powder. We realized we were getting pretty weary so we sat down in their lovely little dining area and had a couple glasses of wine.

Fully stocked with my beloved pimandes, we walked back towards the Marais district for one last falafel dinner. This time we tried the place across the street from "L’as du Falafels", called "Mi-Va-Mi" (23, rue de Rossiers) because we wanted to sit inside and eat and their interior is just a bit nicer and more welcoming. I had a shwarma (thin sliced cuts of grilled chicken; a little spicy and very greasy… delicious) while my husband stuck with the falafel (he said it was as good as "L’as du Falafels")

We walked back to our hotel where they were kindly holding our bags and they called a taxi for us. The taxi cost €55,00 and was totally worth it!

Another lovely day starts with a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) and a café crème at the bakery down the street from the hotel. From there, we walked to d’Orsay. It was around 10:30am by the time we got there and we waited in line for 15 minutes.

Who knew a former train station could be so beautiful?

We headed straight to the fifth floor for the Impressionists and pre-Impressionists. There’s no doubt that d’Orsay has a stunning collection of pieces by Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Degas, Cezanne and Delacroix. Works that I have read or studied about and there… wham! right in front you, are you actually looking at them. Surprisingly, I really loved the Post-Impressionism pieces. With these, it seemed like the harder you looked, the more you would see and appreciate. The beautiful balance of colors and in particular using complementary colors (red with green; orange with blue and yellow with purple).

Van Gogh’s pieces being shown in a more chronological way helped me imagine at what point in his life they were done; his works are so intertwined with his personal life.

D’Orsay also has a wonderful collection of Rodin sculptures on the ground floor. So we spent a fair bit of time here as well.

As a fan of "art nouveau", I was also excited to spend time in the decorative arts section on the mezzanine level. Stained glass by Toulouse-Lautrec, Riemerschimid’s brass candlesticks, Paul Bruno’s armchair, it's all here!

Once again, we were almost like zombies by the time we got out there. We desperately needed some fresh air and some food so we went to the crepe shop across the street from d’Orsay and got ham/cheese crepes to-go. With hot crepes in hand, we walked over to Pont Selferino (Selferino Bridge) and sat on a bench, enjoying the river scenery.

After our simple and delicious lunch, we walked through Tuileries toward Champs-Élysées. This being the weekend, of course it was pretty crowded. I went into the huge Sephora and looked around. Then I paid €1,50 to use the bathroom at Point WC (in the Galerie Champs-Élysées). They brand themselves as a "luxury" public washroom with each cubicle having a different theme and style. And there’s staff there disinfecting the toilets after each use.
We walked along Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. From there, we took the metro to Tracodero for some Eiffel Tower shots.

Our attempt to take a boat ride along the Seine was unfulfilled because of flooding. So we headed back to the hotel but not before stopping in at BHV department store on Rue Rivoli. I always love going to the kitchen section of department stores so that’s where we headed. We saw some great oven mitts in interesting designs, funky serviettes, pretty tablecloths and all kinds of kitchen gadgets.

We made our way over to the Louvre first thing this morning. At 9:15 am there were no lines… yay! There was a temporary exhibit on Babylon so of course we wanted to check that out.

This is a special project between the Louvre, the British Museum and the Staatliche Museum in Berlin. It first showed in Paris, then it was in October from June to October 2008 and it’s now showing at the British Museum until March 15, 2009.

At the Louvre, the exhibit goes through the history of ancient Babylon to pretty much modern day. It includes architecture, art, film, literature and mythology. Many of the pieces had never been shown together. Others have never been displayed outside of private collections.

This particular exhibition I thought did a beautiful job of really creating a story of the fascinating city of Babylon. Entering the first section, you can view many of the artifacts and archaeological discoveries made. The Code of Hammurabi of course was centre stage in the room. The lion tiles of the Ishtar Gates were beautiful. Cuneiform tablets, hand-written Talmud texts, engravings by Dürer and drawings by Blake. The exhibition ends with aerial photographs of the ancient city ruins after WWI and sketches done by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Since we had skipped breakfast, we were pretty famished at this point. We chose to have some pretty awful coffee and even worse sandwiches (soggy tuna sandwich, what was I thinking?) at the café in the atrium.

Feeling nourished and energized again, we explored the rest of the Louvre. Of course I wanted to start in the Denon Wing where the Italian Renaissance Masterpieces by Titian, Botticelli, Raphael and Da Vinci are housed (Mona Lisa there as well). I also love the Winged Victory of Samothrace and kept staring at it in awe.
We next went to the Apollo Gallery, where you can view the 140 carat Regent Diamond. Of course, having visited the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles the previous day, it seemed a bit anti-climatic.

Never mind. Having had our interest in the Eastern Mediterranean piqued by the Babylon exhibit, we went to view the Mesopotamian and Egyptian antiquities.

Sarchophagi and papyri. Figurines and amulets. Coffins and mummies. Statues and mural paintings. Alabaster reliefs and copper tablets. A complete feast for the eyes. Surprisingly, this section of the museum was almost completely empty.

By this time, our eyes were almost bleary from all the amazing things we had seen. I highly recommend going to the Louvre website before visiting to figure out your priorities. Before leaving, we went to the Gift Shop and bought a couple of books and magnets.

At this point, we decided to have a second (late) lunch / early dinner at Ladurée on rue Bonaparte. I may have had the best club sandwich ever with sliced hard-boiled egg, smoked chicken, romaine hearts and tomatoes. I also had a hot chocolate and a raspberry macaroon for dessert. To be totally honest, I would have better macaroons elsewhere but it’s a perfectly nice place to come just for the ambience. It’s a tiny bit pretentious but the service is still nice.

This morning, we decided over pain au chocolat and another café crème that we want to explore a bit of the Left Bank. So we walk in that direction but not before stopping by Notre-Dame to admire it in the morning light.

The St. Germaine area is already buzzing and I had just explained to my husband that the common scam is for a "gypsy" to approach tourists and ask if they speak English or whether they read English, or if they’ve dropped a gold ring. The words have just barely left my mouth when we are approached by a "gypsy girl" who asks, "do you speak English?" And we both reply, "non!"

We popped into Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore and enjoyed wandering the narrow cramped aisles. Before our trip, I tried to watch as many Paris/France-related movies as I could and of course, "Before Sunset" was one of my favorites, which is why I was particularly wanting to go to this bookstore. Some other wonderful French movies I enjoyed were, Three Colors (a trilogy): Blue, White and Red (highly recommend), Ratatouille (cute), Amelie (a must!), Paris Je t’aime (great), La Vie en Rose (about Edith Piaf’s life… I really enjoyed it) and of course Ronin.

Books I read before our trip included, "Marie Anotoinette" by Antonia Fraser, "Paris to the Moon" by Adam Gopnik, "The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum. A couple that I didn’t have a chance to read before our trip but are on my list, "Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky and "Luncheon of the Boating Party" by Susan Vreeland.

We then walked over to the Cluny Building (National Museum of the Middle Ages) and although I would have liked to have seen the famous "Lady and the Unicorn" tapestry and the sculptures of the Kings of Judah which are also a highlight, we decided to put a bookmark in it and look for lunch instead.

Lunch was at "Le Comptoir" (Hotel Le Relais ST-Germain, 9 Carrefour de l’Odeon in the 6th). This lovely art deco dining room serves brasserie fare which is so popular that reservations for dinner are booked months and months in advance. So lunch was our only chance to sample Yves Camdeborde’s cuisine. We started with a nicoise salad and ordered their entrecote (chunky thick steaks cooked rare, of course, served with potato wedges fried in goose fat). We shared a carafe of their house white wine. It was divine.

After our amazing lunch, we walked across the Seine towards the Louvre. The queue outside the Pyramids was daunting (today the Louvre is open late which may explain the long lines at 3:30 in the afternoon). So we decided to walk over to Tuileries Garden which is when the heavens opened up and it started to absolutely pour. We ran to the Tuileries metro station and headed back to the hotel.

That evening after our very heavy lunch, we had another light dinner of cheese, bread and wine back at the hotel.

We bought the Fortait Loisirs for €19,20 at the RER C station which included return train tickets and entrance to Versailles.
We took the RER-C train from St. Michel. Any train that starts with a "V" will go to Versailles. The train ride took just over half an hour. When you exit the Versailles train station, turn right then left at the first main road… only a 5-10 minute walk. There are little kitschy souvenir shops and cafes along the way. Outside the main gate, there are stands selling beverages and paninis, even a crepe stand. The options for eating once you enter the Palace are pretty meager (one cafe and one restaurant, I believe). We preferred having a picnic lunch in the gardens.

Unfortunately we headed out later than we wanted and arrived at Versailles at 11 am (guide books recommend arriving by 9 am to beat the crowds) where we were greeted with an insane line, coming out the building and almost reaching the main gate. We waited in line for over one hour but fortunately it was a sunny day and I can only imagine how miserable it would have been waiting in the rain (it started to rain later that afternoon).

The Chateau was completely packed and we could barely move in the Hall of Mirrors. After we toured the State apartments and viewed the Dauphine apartments, we went outside and walked through the Gardens where we sat and ate our picnic lunch.

Later we walked over to the Grand Trianon which has recently been beautifully restored. The Grand Trianon was built for Louis XIV as a retreat from the "hardship" of court life and also a place to be with his mistress privately. It is placed at the very far end of Versailles; a good 20 minute walk from the main Palace.

Unfortunately during our visit, the Petit Trianon (Marie Antoinette’s private hamlet) --- which I would have loved to have seen, as it's just so different from the rest of the Palace -- was closed for renovations. I have since read that it reopened in October 2008. Swiss watch maker Breguet donated a considerable amount to the restoring of the Petit Trianon to its former glory. Breguet has a long history with Versailles including being the favorite watch maker of Marie Antoinette herself. There’s no doubt that Petit Trianon has been restored so beautifully that even Marie Anotoinette would approve of. I hope to have a chance to see it soon.

The Palace is closed on Mondays so avoid going on Tuesdays and even Sundays if you can, as it will be even more crowded and crazy.

This morning we decided to head over to the 11th arrondissement for breakfast. We walked along rue Oberkampft. I had Café Carbon marked on my map but unfortunately just as we sat down, they informed us they do not serve breakfast and would not be serving food until 11am. Well, it was around 10 am, we were both suffering from low blood sugar and more than a little annoyed, we walked out of there. It’s too bad we didn’t have a chance to go again as this building is restored in belle époque style with high booths, mirrors, chandeliers and seems to epitomize ‘café culture’.

Walking along further, we had a nice simple breakfast at Gecko Café. Rue Oberkampf is lined with bistros, café and bars.

Our destination was Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise, it can only be described as "the celebrity cemetery". If you are French, talented and dead, you’re most likely going to be here. Alongside Delacroix, Proust, Edith Piaf and Colette are Oscar Wilde, Chopin and Jim Morrison. Finding a particular grave is not easy and even the maps you can buy are confusing, so the best thing is to just wander and be pleasantly surprised.

Lunch that day was at Café Gambetta in the 20th arrondissement. I had a sud-ouest salad with came with thick cuts of foie gras and smoked duck. My husband had lamb with penne.

After lunch, we took the metro (Gambetta station to Opera) to Opera Garnier in time to catch their 1:30 pm English tour. I loved the ceiling painting by Chagall; it’s so beautiful. Somehow it beautifully embodies the embracing of modern with the old, which Paris does so well. Chagall’s painting is so airy, whimsical and light next to the rich, dark opulence of the rest of the theatre. Our tour guide explained that many critics thought the painting was too modern in contrast with the architecture and for some time, there was talk of repainting it which of course would have been a travesty.

When we were finished admiring the opera house, we slowly wandered towards Palais-Royale. It’s often contrasted to the opulent Versailles, whereas Palais-Royale was more for people of all classes to mingle and enjoy. It was built by Louse XVI’s brother, the Duc d’Orleans who filled the enclosed gardens with cafes, shops, theatres and accommodations to raise money for rebuilding the burned down opera house.

On our way back to the hotel, we just barely made it in time to see the "Paris en Couleurs" at the Hotel de Ville. This exhibition marks the 100th anniversary of color photography with over 300 beautiful images of Paris streets taken between 1907 and the present day.

Before heading back to the hotel, we grabbed some bread at our local patisserie, cheese and and wine from a shop next door and called it a day.

Another day started with a hot cup of café au lait and today a pain aux raisins at a Jewish bakery near our hotel. Then we slowly made our way over to Place des Vosges. This beautiful square is laid out symmetrically with brick and stone facades. This was Paris’ first planned square commissioned in 1605 by Henri IV. One this particular morning, the square is almost empty with the exception of a couple of joggers and some small children with their well dressed mothers. We pick a café facing the square and have an espresso each.

We then walked over to Museum Carnavalet at 22 rue de Sevigne. Open 10am – 6pm Tuesday – Sunday. Admission is free. This lovely 16th century house goes through a chronological history of Paris. Some highlights include prints and memorabilia from the French revolution, items belonging to Napoleon, and Proust’s cork-lined bedroom. It was a great place to visit early in the trip because you can see scale model of neighborhoods and see paintings and other depictions of Paris at various times in history.

At this point, my husband says he’s really not feeling well so he will head back to the hotel to rest.

So I decide to walk over to the Pompidou Centre. I love this building; the inside-out concept (air condition, pipes, elevators and escalators are all on the outside) leaving the interior completely open and free. I knew that my husband would want to join me in going inside so I just sat at the café across the street and admired the exterior. The building is almost like a maze and I loved trying to "figure it out". From there, I made my way over to "G. Detou" (58, rue Tiquetonne) a tiny food shop crammed floor to ceiling with sweets and savories at prices more reasonable than the Bon Marche food halls. I stocked up some salty caramels and chocolates and made my way back to the hotel to see if he was feeling better to accompany me for lunch.

It turns out that he was feeling better, so together we headed to Chez Janou for lunch.

Chez Janou is a Provencal bistro serving mussels, scallop risottos and over 50 kinds of pastis on their menu. We shared a 50cl of white house win and I had the risotto with scallops (the scallops were plump and juicy; just the way they should be) while my husband had entrecote. We ended our wonderful lunch with a shot of pastis.

After lunch, we decided to walk off our meal by ‘hiking’ up to Montmartre. It was a beautiful sunny day and it took about an hour, as we walked and wandered through the very diverse 10th arrondissement.

Montmartre was of course swamped with tourists and touts. We didn’t go in but admired the extravagance of Sacre-Coeur from the outside. The place du Tertre at the top of the hill was alive with portrait painters and café staff beckoning customers. We picked up some prints of Toulouse-Lautrec posters as souvenirs for friends back home.

We walked back down to Blanche metro stop where we quickly popped into the Monoprix across the station to pick up some bath mitts (our hotel had these and I had to bring some home). Taking the metro back to Hotel de Ville where we ended up back at "L’as Fallafel" for dinner, eating inside this time. After another delicious meal there, we headed back to the hotel where we watched CNN and BBC for a while before dozing off.

We woke up early due to jet lag and walked over to Ile St. Louis, a charming area filled with beautiful architecture, narrow cobble stoned streets and a cute little food shops. The wonderful ice cream shop, Berthillon is here as well (I recommend the salted butter caramel… delicious!). After the Marais after, this might be my next favorite neighborhood in Paris. Of course, early in the morning it was completely free of tourists and so tranquil. With our cups of café de crème in hand, we walked the narrow streets and remarked that even the drain pipes looked charming here.

From there, we crossed over to Ile de la Cite to view the famous Notre Dame, a showpiece of Gothic architecture. Built during the periods of 1163 and 1334, the cathedral was plundered during the French Revolution. It was Victor Huge, the author of "Notre Dame de Paris" that revived interest in restoring the original beauty of the cathedral. Work has been ongoing since the mid-19th century.
Since we had such a gorgeous day, we decided to hear towards Luxembourg Garden, stopping for a quick grilled sandwich at a no name café in the Latin Quarter. At Luxembourg Garden, we got a hot Nutella crepe and sat with our feet up, people watching and eating our messy, delicious quintessentially French snack.

Fully revived, we moved on towards the Eiffel Tower, walking along the very pretty Boulevard Raspail. As we caught our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, the skies suddenly turned dark and there was a cool chill in the air. But I love my photos of the symbol of Paris looking dark and moody. I think I love the Eiffel Tower more when it’s looking brooding and temperamental rather than sunny and happy.

The lines to the top of the Tower were looking way too long. And my husband’s motto is, "life’s too short to stand in lines". So we decided to skip the trip to the top and at this point, we took a taxi back to our hotel.

Dinner that night was right around the corner from our hotel at the much acclaimed, "L’as Fallafel" which I must agree deserves all the praise it gets. There was a pretty long line but they’re extremely efficient as you order and pay while waiting in line.

What you get for your patience and €5,00 is a soft almost chewy pita stuffed with huge falafel balls, fried eggplant, red cabbage, spicy harissa sauce and a creamy yogurt dip. It’s completely messy, and delicious, and boy I wish I had one now.

A great first day!

Arrived at CDG (Charles de Gaulle airport International airport in Paris) around 7:30 pm. After hearing many horror stories about the long lines at customs, luggage that seems to easily get lost, we were very surprised to encounter all no lines at customs and after a 15 minute wait, our luggage came out and we were well on our way.

Since we had such little luggage, we decided to take the very economical RER B train into Paris. After we came out of customs, there were many well marked signs showing how to get to the RER train station.

After buying our tickets at the ticket counter (there are machines to buy the tickets as well, but we didn’t have any small bills; the ATM machine only giving us €100 bills) we took the express train into Paris (€8,20) arriving at Chatelet-Les-Halles about 45 minutes later.

From Chatelet-Les-Halles we took a taxi to our hotel, Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais in the Marais district, which we adored.
We paid €130/night which did not include breakfast. What the hotel room lacked in size, it made up with a fantastic location on lovely Rue de Vieille du Temple. The closest metro stations being Hotel de Ville or St. Paul. The lovely people working at the front desk were always so kind and helpful, we felt really spoiled.
Our room was the on the top floor and the ceilings had exposed beams, a cozy color scheme of creams, sage and dark wood and Roger Gallet bathroom amenities. Our only complaint was that one day, my husband stayed in the hotel room because he was sick and the cleaning lady entered the room without knocking. Later we requested a "do not disturb" sign from the front desk and all was well after that.

We chose the Marais area (Right Bank) over the more popular Latin Quarter (Left Bank) because we happen to love the area around Place des Vosges and the abundance of little cafes, art galleries, Jewish bakeries, narrow little streets that sort of define the Marais district. It’s charming and we have yet to find a neighborhood in Paris that we love more.

Another great thing about the location is that you can walk to the Louvre (20 minutes), Ile St. Louis (5 minutes), Notre Dame (10 minutes) and the St. Germain district is also only a 15 minute walk away.