It is now 3 am on my third day in Paris, and a cab picks us up in 1.5 hours to go to the airport for our trip to Lisbon - so I'll make this quicck!
My first night in Paris I slept well. The pull out sofa was quite firm, and although we were in a busy part of town with construction going on across the street, the windows kept out the noise. Ahhh. I woke up around 9 and read / answered e-mails while others woke up. A little before noon we started our journey to Versailles.
Versailles isn't all that far from downtown Paris, and was quite easy to get to by metro / RER. On our first day we purchased a book of 10 Metro tickets, which have served us well. These tickets work inside Paris, but you have to get more expensive tickets to go outside (e.g. airports, Versailles, Pierre-Lachez, etc.). We got to Versailles a little later than expected because we debated our route and missed a few connecting trains, but no matter. We got there nonetheless. Jared got in free (for disabled folks!), and the rest was $15 for the Palace, free to walk the grounds. I thought the $15 was well worth it. The Palace was pretty much exactly what I expected - the audio tour was nice and unobtrusive, if not a little sparse.
We ate lunch outside the Versailles ground, in the town. I tried to eat a typical Parisian / French lunch of meat, salad, and fries. The meat was so gross. I tried and failed - enough meat for me. Ugh. I literally thought I was going to be sick. It wasn't the cafe's fault - it was just too greasy and meaty for someone who doesn't eat very much eat. We drank many espressos throughout the day - including a few on the grounds of the palace. The one shining moment of my lunch meal was dessert - chocolate mousse - super tasty but too rich for me to finish the whole thing.
The Hall of Mirrors was probably my favorite part of the palace (no surprise there). The geometric French gardens were impressive, but not my taste. The English style gardens that Marie Antoinette had built at her house were much more to my liking. As Tina said, they were "more relaxing." There was a lot of walking as the whole grounds are quite large. Looking back, renting a golf cart (which was an option) might have been nice! I was tempted to take a pony ride, but as the ponies didn't even come up to my waist, I felt pretty silly. Riding a horse around those grounds would have been amazing. Whether or not you like Coppola's "Marie Antoinette," the movie features Versailles and the grounds well (I think it is a pretty ovie - worth watching for the cinematography and colorist work alone).
After a full day at Versailles, we stopped in a Starbucks where Tina and Justin enjoyed a drink - then we headed back on the metro.
We ate late. Jared and I couldn't agree on where we should eat. Tina's customer (who lent us the apartment) had left restaurant suggestions, none of which were to Jared's initial liking. He finally settled on a place that was supposed to have the best burger in town, but by the time we reached the place - the restaurant has turned night club (circa 10:30 pm on a Thursday), and the staff told us that by the time we got a table, the kitchen would no longer be open. We ended up at one of the places on the list of recommended restaurants. I had a vegetarian tarte - which I loved. It had a pastry crust and zuchinni and goat cheese filling. Yum. Others had hamburgers. For dessert I had creme brulee - which was delish but too big. I couldn't finish it all. When can I not finish dessert? Apparently only in France.
I fell asleep easily but awoke at 4am to dissertation nightmares (super boring anxiety dreams) and couldn't get back to sleep. Jared spent most of the night (till 6 am working. He didn't tell work he was leaving - and as we are 9 hours ahead of Seattle, he has been staying up all night answering work calls and sending e-mails, working on briefs, etc.
PARIS DAY 3
We stayed in the apartment with Justin and Tina until we could check into our hotel, Hotel Cabourg ** (2 stars). The Hotel got terrible reviews (look it up!), but I booked it because a) it was super cheap ($57 Euros) and b) it was super close to where we were staying (so we wouldn't get lost going from one place to the next). The hotel was much nicer than the reviews lead me to believe. I had a sneaking suspicion that the Americans leaving the reviews were being too picky about a ** hotel in Paris. There was even a lift! We went up to the room and settled in. A nice full size bed (firm), 4 pillows, nice sheets, extra blankets, a safe, a beautiful desk which folded up into a vanity, a small window, and private bathroom with shower - what more do you need?
After dropping off our bags we headed back onto the Metro and headed to Musee d'Orsey where we spent the lion's share of the day. Ugh -I needed at least 2 more hours at the museum. Pre-impresisonsits (early Degas, Corot, Courbet), Impressionists (Monet, Renoir, Cassatt), and Post-Impressionists (Van Gogh) abound! What a wonderful permanent collection. So many famous works - and I even discovered a few new paintings, painters, and schools of art I liked. One painting really stood out to me: a Monet of a vase of chrisanthmums (spelling?) - something my grandmother would have loved. I also saw many paintings of which reproductions hung in my childhood bedroom. Pretty amazing. The only problem: MANET's OLYMPIA WAS ON LOAN UNTIL SEPT 1st!!! I MISSED IT BY 1 DAY!!!! ARRGGGH. Well, just a reason to come back, no? Once again, Jared got in free and I got in free as his +1. In general, Paris is exceptional about discounted or free disabled tickets. Museums are handicap accessible, but the METRO is NOT! I think you'd have to go to a high end hotel for wheelchair accessible rooms. While our hotel has a lift which takes us up to the 5th floor, we still needed to traverse 5 steps (narrow, steep, spiral staircase) to get to the room.
We took a break from all the art at the museum cafe and had a wonderful little lunch / snack in a beautiful setting. I wish I had more days in Paris - I wish I had more time for all the museums. I promised myself I'd come back to see more within the next 5 years. There is just too much to see and it is all so beautiful.
I loved the museum, and as I said, I really needed a few more hours to feel like I really got to see everything I wanted to see. A full day (10 am to 5:30 pm) was necessary.
After the museum, we walked around the gardens and then went into the most high-end perfume shops I have ever been in! One shop boasted 30 "brands" of which I knew 2! They had perfume for $12,000 euros! But most of the perfume was 90-180 euros. One of the reasons I love perfume is that any person can save money and get a taste of some of the most expensive perfume in the world. 90 euros is not too much for a once in a few years splurge. By contrast, I could not even afford a coin purse at some of the fancy leather goods / purse shops we saw. I saw a small leather boxy bag that looked like one I got from my grandmother for $7000 euros. Whew! High end window shopping is fun! Next time I come to Paris I will know more about perfume and will have a list of perfumes to try, questions to ask, etc. One of the shops did hand out a book on perfumes, which I took.
We finally found a Metro stop and headed back to the hotel for a nap.
Since this is getting long, I'll stop it here and finish tomorrow. I only have an hour before the cab picks us up for the airport at 4:30. Yikes!
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Jared's Reflections
Day 2 in Paris was up and down. The previous evening's double-espresso left me hurting in the morning. Not eating breakfast didn't help. The agenda for the day was somewhat ambitious: Versailles and Musee d'Orsay. As Elizabeth mentioned, hijinks ensued on the metro. We got to our first transfer station seamlessly, but missed the train as indecision gripped the group. Faced with two trains headed opposite directions, we chose not to choose. After careful study of the map, we correctly hopped on the next left-side train. At our second transfer station, we headed for the right side train as we were supposed to, but when it came, it stopped quite a ways down the track. As several riders-in-wait ran down the platform to hop on, the group again was paralyzed by indecision. Was this our train, or wasn't it? The station was host to several lines, and we weren't sure. Alas, it was. By the time we figured that out, the train was gone, and we were gifted another wait for the next train. By this time, it was well past noon. Elizabeth was getting grumpy that she was going to get shortchanged at Versailles and miss out the museum. I was getting grumpy because I was hungry. And tired. And not enjoying the day we seemed to be spending at Paris metro stations. We boarded the next train only to be greeted by a hobo accordion player, clarinetist, and vocalist. Justin and Tina stood at the entrance of the packed train car. The vocalist held his hand to Justin's face, shaking it to signify a request for change. Elizabeth and I had a seat at back and so avoided the affront to personal space, even if my ears (and nascent headache) were not so lucky. I think Elizabeth enjoyed the tune. I think I would have paid that trio not to play.
The train unloaded at Versailles and the throng of passengers headed right. I headed left. Having had enough of indecision's war on my hunger, headache, and general state of being, I unilaterally decided that we were going to eat before seeing the Sun King's palace. The cafe was nice, somewhat off the beaten path and chock full of locals. A good sign. The menus were only in French, another good sign. Tina and I ordered salads. Her the tuna, and me the tomato and mozzarella. I was quite pleased with the choice, even if somewhat disappointed that my Schweppes was tonic not soda water. And the espresso was essential! With a pep back in my step we headed for the palace.
The palace was amazing at first sight. Huge. And when I saw the site map, and saw that the palace was the tiniest fraction of the entire grounds, I was even more amazed. Inside was yet more amazing. The frescoes on the ceiling, the paintings on the wall, the sculptures, and the gardens, oh my! I downed a second espresso before we left the palace to explore the grounds in back. I was happy we didn't take the golf cart option. I think there was something to the effort of walking that put the magnamity of the place into proper perspective. Everywhere massive statutes and fountains. We must have walked miles, and still we experienced just a small portion of the whole. It was sunset by the time we left. There would be no museum today.
Dinner was another fiasco. I craved Indian food, but Elizabeth was wanting something more French. When in Paris, right? After an hour of dickering back and forth, hunting reviews on trip advisor and yelp and other sites, we basically defaulted to a nearby cafe when the hunger became overwhelming. I think it was 9:30 or 10:00 pm. I was in charge of directions, relying on my trusty smart phone. After walking up and down the same street twice, we found the spot but were rebuffed by the club-like atmosphere. Back up the same street, we went to the first spot that looked open with available outdoor seating. One table for four, tucked away in a far corner. After clanking my way through what seemed like scores of young Parisians, I sat, exhausted, only to be greeted by the malodorous fumes of those scores of young Parisians smoking their cigarettes. Ugh. Should we move inside, shouldn't we? Indecision was clearly the theme of the day, and it wasn't a good one. My algorithms clearly were turned upside down. Determined to right them, I made an executive decision, stood up and moved, clanking my way back through the tables and inside the cafe. I thought to myself: Elizabeth's good food ordering karma returned is a happy sign that my algos had been righted. An espresso for me as we left, and I was ready to go back to work.
Day 3 in Paris was much better. Justin's home made breakfast was a nice way to start the day, eggs and ham and toast. We got moving around noon, helpful to me since I had been up til 7ish. We were through at Mr Beard's cozy apartment in the city, it was a great place to stay. Elizabeth and I went to the Cabourg Hotel and Justin and Tina headed for Lisbon.
As Elizabeth mentioned, the hotel was far better than its two star rating. An afternoon nap was a perfect catalyst for our trip to the museum. The walk there was pleasant. Every day in Paris was nice, and this Friday was no exception: mostly sunny, mid-70s, manageable humidity. The Musee d'Orsay was great, and not just because of their disability-friendly policies. The Van Gogh paintings were stunning. To see all the famous works right before me was moving. I especially liked Rodin's sculptures, which dotted all three floors, and the neo-impressionism room, which looked like pointillism, where the paintings seemed to take on a different image when seen close than when seen from a distance. I also really liked the French propaganda room, where every painting was accompanied by the story of its commission by the French government as a way to rally around a revolutionary republic, or a monarchy, or a battle. And Millet's "Gleaners" brought back a flood of memories of my grandmother. Had I seen a print hanging in her house? Or did I associate the painting with her because I saw it first when with her? Either way, it was a nice recollection. The museum's cafe was nice. Feeling a bit sluggish by the early evening, I powered up with an espresso, Elizabeth had a salad, and we split a tasty peach gelato concoction. At the table next to us, a young Asian girl loudly proclaimed in reference to her arugula salad, "THIS IS DISGUSTING", much to the chagrin of her parents but my delight. Arugula is disgusting I thought. Elizabeth quite liked that salad however.
We stayed until the museum closed, and hit the gift shop on the way out. I procured my Paris mementos, a couple of boxes of blank cards with some of the famous paintings I had just seen on the cover. I did the same at the Picasso exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, and have gotten good mileage out of those cards, so figured it would be good to supplement the few remaining Picasso cards with some cards showing Monets, Renoirs, Degases, and others. I also got a Van Gogh note book, which has proven handy when work calls have required notetaking on the fly.
We moseyed our way back to the hotel, taking the route of the stereotypical Paris luxury shopping scene. The perfume store was off the hook. The 12,000 euro perfume Elizabeth mentioned could be had with two other bottles of similar scents for the bargain price of 27,000 euro. Down payment on a house, or 8 ounces or so of liquid scent? Back at the hotel, I catnapped for an hour before successfully convincing Elizabeth for a late night Indian feast in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. All three dishes were delish. Elizabeth judged the mutter paneer the best she's ever had. And the Tower was really impressive, especially as it lit up on the hour with crazy sparkles. Unfortunately we didn't make our way to the ticket booth until 12:05 am, right after the last elevator of the day had went up. Oh well, it was equally memorable to see the structure from beneath. And speaking of seeing the beneath, I have to mention the young woman at the metro stop who was wearing what basically amounted to a half of a pair of shorts, the lower half of her butt publicly displayed for the world to see. As I got to the top of the stairs to the platform, I just started laughing. Elizabeth did too. Later she'd remark on the wierdness of opting for such an outfit given that the woman had a blaring red scar on her right cheek. The heavy set, deadringer for the Simpson's Comic Book Guy, who was loitering at the stop ogling the young woman sure didn't mind.
Elizabeth talked me into skipping our hotel's metro stop to see the Moulin Rouge and assorted debauchery that accompanies the Place Pigalle quarter. Since I had resolved to power through to our 7 am flight to Lisbon, I caved despite my weariness. It was Friday night in Paris, the streets and bars were filled, and it was actually pretty neat to see the red neon windmill. I took a call from work at 1 am, luckily Elizabeth spotted a relatively quiet cafe, where I reboostered myself with another espresso. We then headed back for the hotel on foot, but not before thrice walking up and down the same seedy street and past two somewhat aggressive manstitutes. Thankfully they let me pass in peace. I was kinda worried they'd think I was looking for some action, and it certainly didn't help that Elizabeth purposefully fell back on the third pass so that I'd walk by them solo.
Back at the hotel around 2 am, the helpful desk attendant let us know that it might be impossible to reserve a 4:30 am cab to Orly (why didn't we tell him our departure time earlier that evening? we didn't have a good, or any, answer). On his fifth dial, he found us a cab. Whew! Close call. We'd be off to Lisbon in a couple of hours.
