Part 3 – 40th Anniversary Adventure

July 5, 2009

Today we planned to visit the Louvre. We got ready, had breakfast at the hotel and got on the Metro to the Louvre. We were there well before the nine o’clock opening time. But when we got there we noticed that there was already a long line. We looked around to see where the museum pass entrance was but couldn’t find one. When we saw a Louvre employee, we asked. She said the first Sunday of every month was free day, that our museum passes didn’t do us any good, and that we would have to stand in line like everyone else. At that point the line was already about three blocks long. We stood in line for a while thinking about things and decided that the museum would be just too crowded. I suggested to Karen that we swap the Palace of Versailles and the Louvre on our schedule. She agreed.

We took the Metro across the river and went to the station to catch the RER out to Versailles. But when we got to the station we were told that that line was under repair and we would have to go via Montparnasse. OK. Off to Montparnasse, which is one of the major train stations in Paris. It was a very confusing station. Buying tickets was a nightmare because you have to put coins in the automatic ticket machines and the ticket office was closed because it was Sunday. We only had bills. They only announce which platform the train departs from 20 minutes before it’s time to go. We ran into two other American couples who are also going to Versailles and we all worked as a team to solve the problems. English speaking tourists tend to find each other in these places.

We finally got there but when we did, we were in for a nasty surprise. Versailles has three train stations. The one we originally planned to arrive at, Gare Rive Gauche, was the one that was closed. It was the closest to the palace. But the one where we actually arrived, Gare Versailles-Chantier, was the one that was farthest away. Twice as far as the normal one and almost a mile from the front gate. The day was hot and it was just plain bad for a person with arthritic knees. We had to stop along the way and buy water, which by the way, in France costs as much as wine.

Our museum passes did get us right in however and we started the “royal apartments” tour. Remembering our Rick Steves audio guide we went from room to room looking at this and that. The big payoff of course is the Hall of Mirrors. One good thing about the Palace is they realize people need to rest frequently and there are benches everywhere to take a load off your feet. It really was a spectacular sight and an example of the lavish life that French royalty lived. You can see why the peasants were a bit miffed. Viva la Revolution!

While the museum pass gets you into the royal apartment tour, it does nothing else for you there. If you want to see the grounds or Marie Antoinette’s Village, you have to pay extra. I was for going back right then but the gardens were one of the things Karen really wanted to see.

After paying to get into the gardens we made our way to the tram which would get us to Marie Antoinette’s Village. What a ramshackle thing that was. There are speed bumps every 50 feet on the road and the tram vibrated and shook as every set of tires went over them. To make matters worse there were glass panels all around the cars whose sole purpose seemed to be to deprive the occupants of any breath of wind that may be blowing by. We remembered too late that Rick Steves had mentioned that very drawback with the tram. When we got to the end we learned that the ride did not go to Marie Antoinette’s Village, only got you within about a 15 minute walk and stopped at two sites that I can’t imagine anybody wanted to see ever. We stayed on the tram and went back to the palace.

They also rent golf carts and bicycles at Versailles and we really should have got one of those, especially the golf cart.

To make matters worse, when we left we could not find a bus to take us back to the train station. We discovered that we could have ridden one from the station to the palace, by the way. And we had to walk that whole mile back. By the time we got to the train station we were completely wrecked. My feet and legs were screaming and I thought I was going to faint about five times on the way. Physically, this was a day from hell. But the palace is beautiful and interesting. We would do things differently if we went back.

We were back in Paris by 5:00. We had a rest and cleaned up. We had dinner at the La Village Ronsard Restaurant, about a block from our hotel. Karen had Salad Perigordine, a mixture of pâté, tomatoes, and duck breast. I had sliced duck breast in honey sauce, and green beans. Just delicious. Home again to the hotel, refreshing air conditioning, and a night’s sleep that helped us recover.

July 6, 2009

Today, the Pompidou Museum of Modern Art was our artistic target. My planning schedule indicated that it opened at 10:00. We were running a little late because of our exhausting day yesterday and stopping to buy a phone chip on the way. When we got there we discovered that it did not open until 11:00, so we had to wait a few minutes before we could get in. Not to worry. I took a few pictures of the museum’s unique exterior and when the gates opened we went right in. There are about five floors in the museum. I’m not sure what’s in all of them. One, at least, is for traveling exhibits and costs extra to go to. It seems like there are only two floors that are the main part of the museum. The top one of these had the most Cubist sculptures and was the one we went to see first. When we got there, there was almost no one else on the whole floor and what a bonanza of sculpture there was. Just what I wanted to see. Duchamp-Villiers, Miro, Lipchitz, Calder, Picasso, all the biggies.

We were finding our sea legs about how much time to spend in museums and decided that modern paintings were not worth the wear and tear on our legs.

On the way back we stopped for lunch. I had a ham and Swiss sandwich which was okay but not out of the ordinary. Karen had salad avec trois frommage (three cheeses) which was just delicious. Salads were particularly interesting and had wonderfully fresh ingredients in unique combinations.

Next, Notre Dame. This is almost as big an icon of Paris as the Eiffel Tower and is a fine example of Gothic architecture. But to me it’s just a little plain. Some of the stained glass is very nice. In one of the apse chapels there are some models of the cathedral that give you a wonderful idea of how it was constructed.

The flying buttresses at the back of the building are marvelous but are very difficult to see because of the surrounding trees. We found some Ameriacans willing to give our camera a go and they took one of just a few shots of the two of us together. The wind was blowing and our hair was standing straight up but the breeze felt nice.

Two major sightseeing attractions in one day were starting to take their toll on us so we headed back to the hotel to rest for a little while. On the way we bought some sunblock and I got a small penknife that I had been trying to find since we got to France. Had I tried to take my normal one it would’ve been confiscated at airport security. I did not want to lose it because of its sentimental value. Small things like bandaids, sun block, and antiseptic that we bought in pharmacies were very expensive. I wonder what the French do for everyday health care needs!

After we rested up we still had quite a bit of time before sunset so we took the Metro back to the Isle de la Cité to see Ste. Chapelle. It was originally built in the royal palace complex as a place to enshrine the relic, Jesus’s crown of thorns, which cost more for the king to buy than the entire cost to build the chapel. The chapel is part of what is now the Palace of Justice, the home of the French police and as such has fairly tight security. They took my newfound penknife away from me, but returned it to me when we left.

Ste. Chapelle is an absolute jewel of Gothic architecture, perfect in every way. Because it is fairly small it does not have to rely on massive stonework so there is a much higher percentage of stained glass. There are two floors; the ground floor being the place for common people to worship and the upper floor for the aristocracy. The lower floor is still fairly nice with a painted blue ceiling with gold fleurs-de-lis. But upstairs, the beauty of the stained glass takes your breath away. They had small chairs all around the perimeter of the chapel for people to sit and take in the beauty of the windows.

What an action-packed day so far. But wait, there’s more!

We got on the Metro and rode it to the Arc de Triomphe. Our museum pass would have allowed us to go to the top, but it was 240 steps or about 50 meters to climb and not an elevator in sight. We decided to just look at it from the outside. It is much bigger than I thought it would be.

Back on the Metro, next stop the Trocadéro Park. But first, a stop at a brasserie for some beer, wine, and pâté. It had to be done.

A big party crowd was at the park waiting for the lights to be turned on. There had been some kind of concert or event at the fountain before we got there and workers were taking down the stage.

Our friends Doug and Lynne had told us this was the spot to look at the Eiffel Tower from when they lit it up at night and we took them at their word. They were right, the landscaped park provided a beautiful foreground for the scene. As the sky grew darker they turned on the lights, (around 10:00) and as it got darker still, they started firing off strobe lights all over the Tower. It was a very romantic end to a very full day.

Back on the Metro and home to our hotel by 11:00.