Part 4 – 40th Anniversary Adventure

July 7, 2009

Our decision to switch the Louvre and Versailles would come back to haunt us today. We arrived at the Louvre bright and early as is our strategy and noticed that practically no one was around. Great, we would have the Louvre to ourselves. We were a few minutes early so we took some pictures of the glass pyramid and the machine that washes its glass panels.

As opening time approached we headed for the entrance only to notice a sign that said the Louvre was closed on Tuesdays. Rats. I had been so careful about scheduling which museum we would see on which day, taking into account who was open when. It never even entered my head when we decided to trade. To make matters worse, this was the fourth day of our four-day museum pass. That meant we would have to pay if we wanted to go to the Louvre.

We had other things we wanted to see, so the day would not go to waste. We got on the Metro and took it to the Arènes de Lutèce. This is the ruin of a Roman amphitheater. In its day it could hold 35,000 people but was used as a stone quarry for later building projects and now is a shadow of its former self. Still, its one of the oldest things in Paris and worth seeing. Where gladiators once died, it is now mostly used as a neighborhood playground. Kids were playing a baseball-like game when we were there.

A couple metro stops farther along was the market on the Rue Mouffetard. This street is one of the oldest in Paris and was the road to Rome back in the day. It may even have existed in Neolithic times. It is narrow and twisty and has been closed to traffic in sections. In those areas they have set up a permanent outdoor market. It is noisy and colorful and has stalls for fruit, butchers, bakeries, bags, chocolate, wine, etc. We stopped at one brasserie where I had a cafe-au-lait and Karen had a plain French cafe which is more like what we think of as an espresso. She drinks her coffee black but even she had to add sugar to this cup.

As we got near our hotel we noticed that they were having a street market by our metro stop. There were lots of vegetables and fish. I found a canvas pouch with a neck strap that fit my camera perfectly. Now I wouldn’t have to carry our backpack everywhere I went. It also had several other pockets that I could use to store my iPod, compass, and misc papers. Karen bought a lovely silk scarf. Karen: It was the kind of thing that I would never normally buy for myself – way too expensive and all that. It had subtle stripes of lavender and shades of green and gold with beautiful knotted fringe trim. The guy in the booth was quite a salesman and showed me how to form a loop and wear it fashionably. I felt very cool and Parisienne and the sale was made!!

We had been on the road a number of days now so we went back to the hotel, gathered up our unmentionables and headed to the laundomat, half a block away. A laundromat in a foreign country is another small adventure in its way. Not too much of a pain and only took us about an hour and an half. The cost for the hotel service was 7 euros for each t-shirt and the prices went up from there so we chose this route. The whole thing cost us about 8 euros so it was worth it. Besides, Karen went down by the metro and bought a small quiche and a meat pie from one of the street shops for lunch.

After a short nap we were off to Montmarte. We got off at a stop directly across from the Moulin Rouge. The neighborhood is pretty rough. Both sides of the street are crammed with porn shops and venues of adult entertainment. It was a cool and drizzly day and everything looked filthy and unappealing.

We headed up the hill a couple of blocks to the Café des Deux Moulins, the place where the movie Amelie was filmed. Amelie is one of my favorite movies so this was a required stop. This time Karen had the cafe-au-lait and I had a beer. The place is pretty nice but definitely capitalizes on the tourist aspects of being the movie site.

We rode the metro back a stop or two then found the stop for the Montmartobus. This bus just runs around Montmarte. We were going to use it to sightsee. Also on the bus was a feisty, clever, but very nice older woman who spoke English. She pointed things out to us and joked and when we told her we were Americans she said, “Well, nobody’s perfect.” We had high hopes for Montmarte with its reputation as an artists’ colony, but the reality was it was just a run down, low rent area. The lady showed us the best place to get off for our next stop, the Basilique du Sacré-CÅ“ur.

This cathedral is a relatively recent addition to the Paris skyline, not completed till 1914. I think it is the highest point in Paris and from its steps it presents a broad panorama of the city.

It is on these steps that we had arranged to meet Pierre Miendre of the French 3D club at 7:00.

I became acquainted with Pierre when he responded to a question I sent to one of my 3D mailing lists. From his email address I could see he was writing from France. I asked if he happened to live in Paris and he said he was only a few minute’s walk from Montmarte. I invited him to have a drink with us when we were there. I had no problem recognizing him when he arrived because we had had a video chat before Karen and I left for France. We showed each other our cameras at dinner and he gave me some copies of the monthly newsletter he is the editor of. Like many photographers, we forgot to take pictures of each other. Just as we got to the restaurant for dinner, there was a heavy cloudburst. The rain pelted down and tourists scattered to find shelter. We were happy to be inside. Pierre could also translate to help us order and communicate- nice for a change.

On the way back to the hotel we made our only screw-ups on the subway. First, we got on one going the wrong way. This was easily fixed, you just get off as soon as you realize it, cross over to the other side of the platform, and get back on. The other was a bit more tense but worked out OK. The platform was pretty crowded and when the train pulled up I got on and turned to say something to Karen but she was nowhere to be seen. I looked out the still open doors, no Karen. Just as the doors were closing, out pops her head from the next car. I gave her the OK sign and at the next stop she joined me in my car. We really did not want to get separated and made some quick plans for what we would do if that ever happened again.

Another late night. In bed by 11:00

July 8, 2009

Our last day in Gay Paris! But third time’s a charm, we finally got into the Louvre. There was a fast moving line at opening and we bought our tickets at an automatic machine. When we got the guide map we sat down and formulated a plan of action. We had prepared a list of many of the things we wanted to see at the museum but true to form, left it at the hotel. Not to worry, most of them were featured on the map. We circled them and headed out. First on the agenda was the Mona Lisa. Good thing too, by the time we got there the crowd was already 10 deep.

Still the room is enormous and when we arrived there were only about 150-200 people in the room. When we walked by the same room later on our way to another part of the Louvre there were probably close to 600 people in the room. People could barely move, let alone see any of the paintings. We were glad we made a beeline there first.We took our pictures with her. After all, it was most important to show we had been there. You can’t really see her anyway, not the way you want to. The railing is about 10 feet back and she is protected by a layer of bullet proof glass. At the other end of the room is a picture of The Wedding at Cana. This was one of Karen’s favorites.

Karen: The painting is enormous and filled with all kinds of action and color. It shows the time when Jesus performed the miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding when it ran out. You can see that would be a big bummer but according to the story I read, Mary was there and urged him to do it so people would start to see that he was no ordinary prophet. As I stood in the middle of the room admiring the painting, there was a couple next to me just standing and looking as well. Pretty soon the guy says to his wife,”Well, I see Jesus and that has to be Mary and St. Peter but there are way more than 12 men in this picture so which are the other desciples?” His wife says, “You idiot, this isn’t the last supper!” Well too much art can really confuse a person. It was still my favorite painting of all.

From the Mona Lisa we went from place to place. We saw the other two grand ladies of the museum; the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo.

The Louvre itself is very beautiful and the perfect setting for all this art. We enjoyed many paintings even though we didn’t know all of them. We tried to avoid Byzantine and other Christian art and also a lot of the Egyptian stuff. We saw lots though because we walked through some of those areas. High points included the Code of Hammerabi, Vermeer and other Flemish painters, and some very ancient and large winged Assyrian bulls.

We were in the Louvre from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and got thoroughly tuckered out. We bought a mug of the Mona Lisa and a magnet of the Venus de Milo for souvenirs.

Took the Metro back to our neighborhood for one last Café lunch on the sidewalk (wine and beer too). Ended the meal with crème brûlée and tart tatin. Our waitress was a real treat. She joked and talked with us the whole time. The people of Paris were very nice to us on the whole. I wished we could speak their language better. I got her to pose for a photo.

Then we picked up our suitcases and left for the train station. We waited about two hours then boarded the bullet train (TGV) for Rennes. First class was very comfortable and everyone was very quiet-maybe a little too full of their own first class-ness for our tastes. Got a glimpse of the countryside as we hurtled by. Looked a lot like Iowa. Arrived Rennes at 8:10 p.m. A nice man helped us find our way out of the station and to our hotel, Hotel Bretagne. Small room, adequate.

Checked out where we pick up car tomorrow, got some cash and had a “Norwegian” pizza (smoked salmon, olive, and tomato; it was probably really canned tunafish) wine and beer. Back to hotel for bed by 11:00 p.m.