August 7th, Paris, Rain & ....Bikes???

We woke up to the pouring rain! And Tim had scheduled us to do a 4 hour bike ride tour around Paris. It was rain or shine, non-refundable. I am not a happy camper. I didn't know I was doing this till Paris, don't have the clothes to do it comfortably and IT'S RAINING!

So we head out to the Gare d'Austerlitz to the meeting place via the metro. There are things I like a lot better about the NYC subways but there are things about the Paris on that I wish we would implement.

I am hoping we won't find the place but unfortunately, we do. I finally realize that I really can't do this today. Shades of Ireland. It is not that I haven't biked since my small mishap on Inishmore, I have but it was the Smell the Roses portion (about 8 miles) of one of Mike's rides on a York rail trail. The idea of 4 hours in the drizzle on wet unknown streets with cars and wet leaves...no.

So I went off to walk to the museums under my trusty unbrella. Juggling a camera, unbrella, Michlin guide, map (soon a very soggy map) was an interesting experience. But it was worth it. I walked along the left bank of the Seine all the way to the Museed'Orsey.

Childrens park along the Sceine with sculptures 

The Seine

Notre Dame is so pretty from the back!

 

And the side

 

My plans were to go to Musee D'Orsey but I got there and the line was so long, the guys would have been finished with the ride before I got in. So I kept walking. I have wanted to go to the Musee de l' Orangerie, so that was my next stop. On the way, as I crossed the river outside the Musee D'Orsey and there were really cool drawings on the pavement.

 

In addition, the walls of the river bank held murels by an artist called Reza. Below are the ones on the left bank.

 

These are some of the ones on the right bank.

 

I love taking pictures of the bridges across the Seine.

 

To get to the Musee de l' Orangerie, you go through the Jardin de Tuilleries....don't do it in the rain! All the walking paths turn to mud and in today's case, puddles to big to get around. I got to the Musee de l' Orangerie and it had a line too. I stood in it for about 15 minutes when I realized I was not going to get into in very fast. But I took some pictures of the Place de Concorde.

 

So having been unsuccessful twice in a row, I headed for Hotel des Invalides. The Pont Alexandre is gorgeous. I can only imagine what they spend in gold leaf to keep it up. I got a couple of good pictures (in my opinion) of it.

While crossing the bridge, I heard that sound we have all heard in the movies of the police car in Paris...it really sounds like that! But in this case it was an ambulance. I think their ambulances look more like power repair trucks.

 

 

The Hotel des Invalides is really quite impressive as you approach it. I on the traffic medium to get this picture. I heard something behind me and turned to find 2 oriental kids had climbed on it to get their pictures.

 

One of the things that appealed to me as I approached the building is that there is a moat. No water these days but they had hung pictures honoring today's French armed forces.

 

 really had no interest in seeing the Musee de Armee but I wanted to see the churches. So I walked around and saw the Church des Invalides which was the soldiers’ part of a 2 church solution for the King to share the same church. The wall behind the sanctuary that you are seeing is actually glass and the cross on the other side. It is a beautiful church but I wanted to see the other half. So I head around to the other entrance, after all, the King can't use the same door as the common folk!

They wouldn't let me in...well, to be exact, they wouldn't let me in without a ticket. And they didn't sell one only for the Dome church, which happens to also be Napoleon’s tomb; you had to buy the one for the whole place for 9.50 euros! I decided it wasn't worth it.

 

 

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So with about an hour left before I needed to meet everyone, I headed to my favorite monument, probably in the world. It is the Peace Monument and when you look straight on at it, you see the wonder full glass panels and the circular columns with the word Peace in a multitude of languages. What you don't realize if you have never been there is that it faces the Ecole d'Militarie (Military School)! On this day, there were extra signs for Nuclear Disarmament. It was a 4 day protest to correspond with a fast going on in the UK.

 

 

I saw this monument for the first time in 2006. What really disturbed me this time is that people have tried to smash the glass that the words are written on. There are several panels of 2 ply safety glass and people have tried to smash many of them. What has happened to the glass is that there are spider webs all through 2/3rds of them. Who could smash a concept of peace??? But it also impresses me that despite all that, it hasn't crumbled.

 

So it was now time to find the Metro...but I couldn't! I was all over. I thought it was in front of the Eiffel Tower...no...I walked, I asked questions in my really poor French. No Metro! I did however, get a good look at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower. I have always wanted to look at in it's glory but never had any desire to climb it. So this was the closest I had ever been.

When I finally did find the Metro I was looking for, it was actually the RER train, it didn't go to the train station because of maintenance. So I headed to the one they pointed to (they said 400 meters, it seemed like a lot further). When I found it, it was elevated. The first such I have seen in Paris. But I will say, getting a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower over the house tops as you ride off was really cool.

A train switch later I met up with Tim and the kids and it was off for ice cream.

On the way to ice cream, we passed the Managerie and Elisabeth and I had a good time trying to catch a decent picture of the 2 ostriches.

 

 

I love ice cream in Europe where the chocolate is dark chocolate! Incredible!

The question was now where. Since we were right across from the Latin Quarter we walked across the bridge and over to Boulivard de St Germain des Pres. It was cool to walk the boulevard although I would have like to explore some of the side streets that meander around the area. But we walked to the Eglise de Sainte Germaine des Pres where the oldest part dates to the 11C. They are starting a renovation which is badly needed but oh, when they finish it, this will be such an incredible place to see. Under a considerable amount of wear and tear, it is an unbelievable church with murals high on the walls above the pews, and incredible detail.

Then we headed to our Paris home. But we still had more adventures for the day yet to come

 

We decided to combine dinner with seeing Sacre Ceour. The apartment is just south of Montremont in the Pigalle district, so Sacre Ceour is walking distance although a bit challenging for the old lady in the group since it is up a really steep hill.

We climbed by the back streets up to the top, through the teaming Place du Tertre and made a brief stop at St. Peter's of Montremont before circling around to the front of Sacre Ceour. The kids and Tim headed to the Dome but I had had enough climbing, so I went to see the church. Mass was going on so we were all quiet as we walked around the really beautiful perimeter. The ways of the cross are actually on the inside wall behind the altar.

 

I got this picture while I waited for them. There was a guy with a guitar leading a song on the steps. When everyone got back, we decided on dinner first then the guys would see the church. We went to a little place that we had passed on our initial climb and that had been recommended. I got to have Steak Tartare, something rarely if ever seen in the States. Tim tried Gravlax for the first time in a salad.

 

Then back around for the kids and Tim to see the church. I just sat in the back while they did which was really good because my cell phone rang and the guards were not pleased, chasing me out.

 

The view from the top looking out on Paris

 

The view up the hill from the same point.

A beautiful old carousal at the bottom of the hill.