We took the Eurostar train from London through the "chunnel" (our first chunnel experience) and arrived in Paris early Friday morning. Our first stop was Notre Dame, which we had seen last time but not been inside, so this time we did the full tour.
After grabbing some delicious sandwiches and eating on a street bench, we walked by the Stravinsky fountain:
and then headed up to Montmarte. We got off the metro at Moulin Rouge and then walked up the hill to the Sacre Coeur Basilica. After climbing the dome for great views of the city, we continued down the hill through the "artist's square" and the quaint cobblestone streets of Montmarte, which used the be the neighborhood of struggling artists and writers of the early 20th century including Picasso and Hemingway. It is an adorable neighborhood and I would highly recommend anyone visiting the city to make the trek up there.
Sacre Coeur:
view from the Sacre Coeur dome:
Artist's square:
Montmarte:
Au Lapin Agile cabaret; frequented by Picasso, etc.:
After quick naps at the hotel we went to dinner at La Petite Chaise, the oldest restaurant in Paris. It was a delicious meal, followed by a night time stroll along the Seine.
The next morning we tried to beat the crowds by arriving at the Eiffel tower right when it opened; we failed. We waited in line about 1.5 hours only to find out once we got to the ticket desk that the lift to the top was closed. Dan and I had only gone to the second level last time because we hadn't wanted to wait in the line so we were a little more than disappointed that we wouldn't have the chance to get to the top this time either. As it turns out, while we were milling around on the second level, they did open the top and we were able to go all the way up. The views were amazing.
After the Eiffel tower, we visited our favorite grocery store, La Grand Epicerie, which we discovered last time with Phil and Tammy. Calling it a grocery store seems an understatement as it is the largest, most amazing grocery store I've ever been to. We got a delicious picnic lunch and took it over to Luxembourg gardens to enjoy.
Luxembourg palace; currently the seat of the French Senate:
Carpeaux fountain:
We stumbled upon a gay pride parade ;)
After navigating our way around the gay pride parade, we made our way over to the Louvre. We decided to do the Orsay museum instead of the Louvre since Dan and I have already been but Phil and Sue wanted to check out the building. After dipping our feet in the fountains we sat down for some wine and grapes in the Tuileries gardens.
love locks on Pont des Arts:
Louvre:
Tuileries gardens:
We had dinner that night at our favorite restaurant, L'Entrecote, on the Champs Elysees (well worth the hour wait), took a stroll up to the Arc de Triomphe, and took some night pics of the Eiffel tower.
The next morning we visited the Musee d'Orsay (free on the first Sunday of each month, and lucky for us, it was July 1.) It was a really interesting museum with some great impressionist pieces by Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir, Sisley, and a Degas nudes exhibit. The building itself is amazing, a converted old train station, with great views over the Seine.
After another picnic lunch in the Tuileries, we headed back to the train station. Here's where the trip got interesting. We arrived an hour before our train was supposed to depart but they did not open the immigration line until 30 minutes before the train was scheduled to leave. At that point, there were hundreds of people trying to jam their way through the lines, resulting in a huge mess. When we had finally made it up to the desk, at around 7:15 (2 minutes after our train was supposed to leave) after being assured the train would wait for us, they announced that there was a "suspect bag" in the security area and we were all pushed back out of line. Fifteen minutes later they let us back in and after proceeding through security we made our way to the customer service desk to see if we could get on the next train at 8:13, as ours had already left. They were fully booked but since so many people on the 8:13 train were still stuck in the immigration disaster, we were able to get 2 seats on the 8:13 train. We decided Phil and I would go and Dan and Sue would try to get on the 8:45 train. Luckily, Dan and Sue were able to get on the 8:13 train about 10 minutes later, and in Business Class. So, they enjoyed a lovely 3 course meal and drinks, while in our car, the people whose seats they had given away to us actually showed up, so we had to move and Phil ended up sitting in one of the jump seats between the cars for half the trip. Needless to say, Dan and Sue had a much more enjoyable trip. And, they ended up sitting across from the man and woman whose bag caused the "suspect bag" disaster! Turns out, someone had picked up their bag while they were talking to the immigration officer, walked it over to the security checkpoint, realized it wasn't his, and then instead of telling someone or bringing it back, had just left it there. Crazy! Anyhow, it ended up not being terrible as it only delayed us one hour but it was a stressful end to an otherwise great trip. Je t'aime Paris.
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