Katie Day 9 Leaves Paris

With the Katiebug all packed up and off to the airport by 8:30, I was left to my own devices. I instantly missed my Paris companion and felt sad for a while after she left. I busied myself with busy stuff and waited until I knew she would be on the plane, then I trotted down to the Metro and hopped on. I made my way back to the Champs Elysee to go to the bookstore again because I gave Katie the French book we bought. I replaced it and explored the bookstore for a long time while it poured rain outside. I found a section with English books and hung out there for a while just reading all the covers and writing down names of books I want to read. I did buy a Virginia Wolf book of short stories called Carlyle’s House and Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. I spent some time in a café and quickly read the short story book by Virginia Wolf, which I liked very much. I must read more of her. I trudged around in the rain and finally made my way back to the Latin Quartier via the Metro. I spent more time in another café near the Pantheon drinking wine and read some more in my French book and a travel book I bought for Walks in Paris. I studied up on the Latin Quartier.

Just missing my baby girl.

Katie Day 8The Last Day

We got up and out to our little café on Rue Moufftard and then off to the Champs Elysee to cruise. We spent some time in a big book store looking at everything and bought a French book. We ate lunch in the Vesuvio Café and hung out practicing our French. Katie has fallen for the jambon a formage sandwiche ham and cheese sandwich on a baguette. Then we walked down to the end of the avenue to the Arc O’ Triomph. Wow is that thing huge! We went to the top!!!! 284 steps mind you! And then 284 down! It was so cool to go up there and see the city. We got lots of great photos of Paris. And the Eiffel was like right there! I didn’t know it but the Arc O’Triomph is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for France and it has an eternal flame. That Napoleon, the little rascal---he loved his monuments!

Katie wanted to eat her last dinner at Isle d’Crete so off we went.

Katie in Paris Day 7

Our daily routine is now established as a walk down Rue Moufftard to the little café we found that we like so much and have a café au lait with a croissant. We linger at the table, which is the habit of the French---Europeans in general-- discussing our plans for the day and practicing our French. Katie has quite taken to the language and tries to put it in use as often as possible. She readily addresses the waiters and clerks in the stores in French. She made conversation the other night with the owner of Isle d’Crete and was even impressed with herself. I think the little fellow behind the counter preparing our food was smitten with Katie a bit. He smiled a lot and spoke broken English to her. I think he wanted to impress her. She thought this was sweet.

We hopped on the Metro just around the corner and made our way over to L’Opera near the Galleries Lafayette. Our plan for the day was to go to the Garnier Opera House for a tour and do some shopping while we were near les grand magasin the department stores. Katie was in need of a new dress for Heidi’s wedding shower this weekend. We walked around and went into several different department stores shopping (it was less crowded today)and trying on clothes. She actually found a cute dress at H & M for a very reasonable price and I found a trench coat I liked. (I really needed to add to my coat collection.) I also fell in love with this little French Beret with leopard spots in black and white.

The Garnier Opera House Le Palais Garnier was well worth the visit. The building is magnificent inside. The opera house was built on the orders of Napoleon III as part of the great Parisian reconstruction project. The project for the opera house was put out to competition and won by a young unknown architect named Charles Garnier. The construction project, which lasted 15 years, began in 1860. The building is as magnificent as any palace and also has a hall of mirrors that mimics Versailles. Unfortunately we were not able to go inside the auditorium as rehearsals for La Boheme were underway and it was closed to the public. I tried to get us tickets to the opera but they were completely sold out three weeks ago. Next time I have the opportunity I will buy tickets well in advance of my trip. I believe seeing a performance in this beautiful Opera House would be a thrill. The crystal chandelier in the auditorium weighs 8 tons!

We hopped by on the Metro and went back to the hotel to get ready for our night at the legendary Moulin Rouge. We got there early and had dinner at a little brassiere across the street. The Moulin Rouge is the most famous cabaret in the world since 1889. The show was spectacular with lots of feathers, rhinestones, sequins, fabulous sets, original music and beautiful girls. We drank champagne while the singers and dancers paraded around on the stage. They did not miss anything. They had live ponies in the show; a pool of water that came up out of the floor with huge boa constrictors in it and a show girl jumped in to swim around with them; a great ventriloquist who had a little dog in the act; and of course, the can-can dancers. The show was well worth it and we were so glad we went.

The plan for the last day is to take it easy and go to the Champs Elysee.

Katie in Paris Day 6

We were so tired after two straight days of non stop touring that we slept a little late and then found the best little cafe for breakfast with the best croissants ever. We ordered cafe au lait and ate croissants to our hearts content. It was raining pretty steady so we decided to go over to the Galleries Lafayette for a while. First though we spent the morning in the laundry mat near the hotel. I had worn everything at least three times. Doing laundry in the laundromat here costs sooooo much. We did three loads and it cost us about 30 dollars! Unbelievable.

Spending some time shopping in Paris is a must. I could spend sooooo much money. The clothes are so cool and everyone here uses accessories to make a fashion statement. The Galleries Lafayette is extremely crowded---no kidding, it is like Christmas Eve every day of the week. The later in the day, the worse the crowd. In some stores, it is so crowded you cannot even look at anything. You are elbow to elbow at the racks and shelves and the lines are 10 or more people deep waiting to check out. It is totally crazy. At my insistance, Katie got a black trench coat because that is all the rage here. EVERYONE has on a trench coat. They are just so classy. I thought she really needed one to spruce up her wardrobe! We stayed until well after dark walking up and down the streets looking in windows. We took the Metro back across the city and collapsed after picking up some of our favorite Greek food at Isle d'Crete.

Katie Day 4

Well, it’s Saturday in Paris and we spent the day at the Louvre. I went back down Rue Moufftard this morning and got quiche and croissants for breakfast. Then, off to the Metro and the Louvre. The first thing we did was go find the Mona Lisa before it was so crowded you couldn’t see it. After that we walked through all the Italian paintings; all the French paintings; all the Dutch paintings; and some of the collection of sculptures Napolean took from Rome; the king’s apartments; and the collection of art and furniture from the monarchy; and the remains of the medieval castle that once stood on that same site; we saw more than we can ever describeto anyone. We came home at 5:00 exhausted but happy. We had dinner out at a little Bistro in the Latin Quartier and off to bed. It’s Versailles tomorrow!!!!!

Katie Day 5

King Louis XIV of France transformed the hunting lodge of his father, Louis XIII and installed his court and government at Versailles. The Palace and Gardens of Versailles count among the most prestigious monuments of the world’s artistic heritage and is truly the finest and most complete achievement of 17th century French art. The French were extremely opulent and the Palace is no exception. The royal apartments are extremely luxurious. No wonder the common people revolted. The royal family and the court were forced to leave Versailles in 1789 during the first days of the French Revolution.

We started out the morning taking the train from the Gare L’Est station and arriving at Versailles Rive Gauche station. We walked a block or two and voila’ the Chateau de Versailles loomed ahead. The estate is HUGE! We spent lots of time in line waiting to go inside and the a long time in another line to get the audio headsets so we could stroll around the Chateau on our own----along with thousands of other people! The place was CRAZY crowded! The Hall of Mirrors was stunning as was all of Chateau. The amount of extravagance is mind boggling!! These people did everything in guilted gold or some kind of precious stone or in Carrerra marble! We went to the Petit Palace, the small estate of Marie Antoinette where she had her own small palace so she could be away from the French court and all the protocol associated with it. She had a Theatre built there as well as a French Pavilion and a Temple of Love. Then she built a small village, called a Hamlet, near the Petit Palace, which was a place for her and her children to amuse themselves. She had a small cottage there; it had a grist mill; and some other buildings. It also had extensive gardens complete with a working farm.

We also went through the Grand Trianon Palace. Not sure who used this one. It was quite big and was considered a get away place for the King and his friends. It had two wings, one for the King and one for the Queen. Lots of drawing rooms for playing cards and entertaining. Quite beautiful. The outside of the palace had red marble columns which could be seen from afar.

We had a great time until the weather turned sour and we got caught in a big rain storm while we were out touring the gardens and the Petit Palace. We went to the Hamlet in a real downpour and had to sit there and wait it out. Thank goodness the Chateau had a little tram that ran from the Trianon Palace and Petit Palace up to the main Chateau---it would have been an hour walk in the rain otherwise! We were soaked but still enjoyed every minute of it.

If you are interested, you can go to www.chateaudeversailles.fr to see more about the chateau and more photos.

Katie Day 3

I got up this morning and walked down Rue Moufftard while Katie caught up on her sleep. I stopped at the fromagerie and got us a variety of French cheeses and some crackers; I went to the Boulanger and got some freshly made croissants (they were still warm); I stopped at the Pateressie and got a quiche. When I got back to the room, Katie was up and dressed. We sat down at our little table in the room and ate our breakfast of croissants and cheeses. Then we set out to the internet café and spent an hour or so making calls on Skype and touching base with family. After spending way too long dallying in that place, we meandered our way down Saint Michel Boulevard and went to Saint Chappelle. It was a lovely church with some of the most beautiful windows I’ve ever seen. We then walked to Montparnassee thinking we would go shopping at the Galleries Lafayette. However, we did not care much for this area. We ate lunch and opted to take the subway over to the other Galleries Lafayette in the L’Opera area of Paris. In about 10 minutes, we were making our way past the famous Saint Lazare Train Station and in the midst of thousands of shoppers. We shopped until well past dark and took the subway back to our hotel. Tired as we were, Katie wanted a take away Gyro from Isle d’Crete. So we walked down Rue Moufftard and got her a plate and took it back to the room. We had a little picnic dinner at our table in the room.

Another wonderful day in Paris. We just pinch ourselves!

Katie Day 2

We slept a little late and relaxed a bit in the morning before we got out. We walked down to Notre Dame again and caught the BatoBus, a boat that cruises down the river and stops at all the main points along the way; the Louvre & Musee D’Orsay; Hotel DeVille; and our goal for the day Tour de Eiffel. We spent a couple of hours walking around the Eiffel viewing it from every angle imaginable and taking photos. It is always the most interesting place in the world. Today they were filming something and had about 3 dozen old cars around the area. We also saw a photo shoot with a professional model. We rode the boat back and got off at the Louvre. We walked through the Tuileries and ate a snack of chocolate crepes and caffe under some beautiful trees. We then sat in the reclining chairs around one of the fountains and relaxed for a while. We got back on the boat and cruised on down to Notre Dame again and walked around looking at everything. We tried to go to see Saint Chappelle but they were already closed. Then we went back to the Latin Quartier and had dinner again at Isle d’Crete. Katie has fallen in love with this restaurant too!

Katie Arrives Day 1

Katie arrived safe and sound on Luftansa Airlines early in the morning around 7:00 and got to the hotel by taxi a little after 8:00. She looked so smart and Parisian!!!!! We unloaded her luggage and walked down to a little café at the end of Rue Moufftard (a very famous street in the Latin Quartier) and settled in for a caffe and a croissant. The croissants are always so fresh and light!!!! Yum, yum. We sat and leisurely had breakfast catching up on everything. We pulled out our maps and pamphlets and talked about everything we wanted to do over the next few days. We then took off for the Pantheon which is about one block from our hotel. We walked through the Pantheon and went down into the crypt. The church was first built on this site in 507AD . Then later in 1744, Louis XV pledged to build a church I honor of Saint Genevieve and in 1755 a gentleman by the name of Soufflot was given the task of building the new church. He wanted to outdo St. Peter in Rome. It is now a national monument and many famous people are buried below. Voltaire; Rousseau; Victor Hugo; Marie Curie; Joan of Arc and Saint Louis, King of France are just a few of the famous individuals who lie in the Pantheon.

We later walked down to the Jardin de Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens) which is a huge park kind of like Central Park in New York and had a picnic lunch. We stopped at a patisserie on the way over and bought jambon e formage ham and cheese sandwiches. The French definitely know how to relax and enjoy a park. We blended nicely as we reclined in our chairs in the park and relaxed.

After forcing ourselves out of the chairs, we walked down Saint Michel Blvd and arrived on the Left Bank at Notre Dame. We walked through this beautiful church and admired the huge stained glass windows adorning the building. I’ve been to Mass here on several occasions and the acoustics are just fabulous.

We walked back to the hotel and went back to the Latin Quartier and had dinner at Isle d’ Crete again! The day was definitely a good one.

BACK IN PARIS

My trip from Garmisch on the train to Paris was uneventful and relaxing. I hated to leave Garmisch as soon as I had to but Paris was waiting and Katie was arriving! I arrived into Gare L’Est (the East Train Station) and was pleasantly surprised to see that the train station looks exactly like one would imagine a French train station to look. I have been in Saint Lazare train station before but it was not as quaint and nostalgic as Gare L’Est. I had no problems getting a taxi and getting to my hotel Hotel Vendome. I had to stay in this little hotel near the metro stop of Cardinal Lemoine two nights because the French Officer’s Club in the Latin Quartier was full and I couldn’t get a room.

Hotel Vendome was somewhat of a disappointment as it was slightly close to a dump. Maybe just a step above it. As usual in these old hotels, elevators were an afterthought and the lift was a tiny box barely big enough for a small person like me to fit inside with a piece of luggage. The French Officer’s Club on the other side of Paris has a lift so tiny that I could barely fit inside with my backpack on my back! The room was small and kind of stuck in the corner of the building. I had asked for a garden view because the web site mentioned it. Well, I got a garden view. I had two lovely windows that opened up to some kind of little courtyard that had a bunch of dying plants and gnomes sitting around. Not much of a garden and definitely not a view! However, I just had to bite the bullet and wait for the much nicer little studio apartment at the French Officer’s Club.

I spent the first night walking around in the Latin Quartier going to all my favorite places. I ate dinner at Isle d’Crete, a fabulous Greek deli with a few tables to eat family style. The gyro plate is to die for and I devoured one along with pita bread and hummus and a glass of red wine! I then walked down to the crepe stand and got my first crepe of the trip!!!!!! And then I stopped at one of my favorite cafés in the square and had a cappuccino. Ooooh what a night! Isle d’Crete is my favorite place to eat in the whole world! I’m in heaven.