Rodin – The Luxemburg Gardens – The Musee d'Orsay

Walking the streets on Sunday morning is different than any other morning of the week. It is almost as if everyone is sleeping in with a hangover from partying too hard on Saturday night. What are the chances of that? It was very quiet and almost no traffic at 9:00 on Sunday morning. Even the neighborhood bakery was closed.

NO Pastry today - Bummer

Me and my Baby at the Luxemburg Gardens

Chief Inspector Linda

We took advantage of the great weather and quite streets to hike to the Luxemburg Gardens where some of the Paris hardcore health fanatics were running on the track that was the perimeter of the gardens. Walking through the gardens was a wonderful way to start the day. We did notice that although the French People are much thinner than Americans, their pigeons are fatter than ours. Perhaps they are feeding their McDonalds to the pigeons?

Can he take off?

Our next destination was the Rodin Museum. After a mandatory coffee stop, we arrived and were able to walk right. It is important to note that most people pronounce Rodin as Rodan, the principle character in the 1959 cinematic masterpiece, in which a giant flying reptile destroys Tokyo, and battles with Godzilla. If you are expecting to see Rodan, you might be disappointed. This museum is full of mostly bronze statues. They are marvelous statues though, and a great collection of Rodin's work as well as some works done by his friends and students.

Linda, Thinker, Eiffel Tower

Burghers of Calais

Rodin Museum

Our next stop to round out the afternoon was the Musee d'Orsay the former train station that now has more impressionist, post impressionist, neo impressionist works of art than you can shake a stick at. (Actually I am pretty sure that shaking a stick at the paintings is not allowed and would get you thrown out.) In addition to the paintings and sculpture they have a great collection of Art Nouveau furniture that fills several rooms.

Musee d'Orsay

We stopped back at the apartment for supper and a brief rest, and then headed to the Eiffel Tower to watch the sunset. We went up as high as they would let you walk, up to the second level. It is plenty high enough and has a great view. Even better, for some reason the elevator line has a much longer line. I am sure some of the same people were still waiting in line by the time we came down.

At the Eiffel Tower

That's it for today, off to bed to rest up for our final couple of days in Paris.

Good night.

More pictures from today at this PicasaLink.

Stephen and Linda

Montmarte and Les Halles

We (well I did) slept in a little later this morning. After breakfast we hopped on the Metro and headed up to the Montmarte area to see the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) Basilica. When you head to any French town, city, or district that begins with “Mont”, you should not be shocked or surprised if you have to walk up hill for a bit. This is the case with Montmarte, but in exchange for a little bit of climbing you get great views.

Sacre Coeur

We took some pictures of the view of Paris, the people hanging out in front of the church and then visited the Sacre Coeur cathedral. It is pretty nice, but what makes this cathedral special is the exterior and the location. There are cathedrals in Paris that no one visits (like Saint Eusache) that are much more impressive than Sacre Coeur, even in its run down state.

Sacre Coeur

We walked around Montmarte and explored, stopping for lunch in a park, and a coffee in a restaurant. The crowd was about what you would expect in an artsy area on a beautiful Saturday, but it made it fun rather than a bother. It was kind of like being at a fair.

Montmarte

Montmarte - Ghost Town

We hopped back on the Metro to the Beaubourg/Les Halles district toured Saint Eusache cathedral, grabbed and headed over to the Pompidou Center. We didn't quite know what to expect, not sure if it was a commercial building or some sort of public display. We were quite pleased to find out that it was the “Pompidou Center – the National Museum of Contemporary and Modern Art”. To say that it was impressive would be quite an understatement.

Saint Eusache

Beaubourg/Les Halles

Pompidou Center

Pompidou Center

The Pompidou Center building itself is kind of fun. When you go to visit the museum you ride up in escalators that are in clear plastic tubes on the outside of the building. You get quite a view just riding up to the museum.

After several hours we headed home to the apartment exploring Les Halles on the way, had a homemade omelet and salad for supper, and called it an evening.

More photos on Picasa at this Link

Hope you are doing well,

Stephen & Linda

Cemeteries and Catacombs

We decided to travel a little farther afield to day, taking the Metro out of the center of the city. Our choices were oddly connected in theme, while in opposite directions.

The Metro

 Our first stop was the Pere-Lachaise cemetery, a noteworthy attraction for both the famous people buried there and for the spectacular monuments. You feel more like you are walking through a small city than a cemetery. It is probably one of the few places in Paris where there isn't a lot going on after 9:00 at night.

Pere-Lachaise

Holocaust Memorial

Jim Morrison

We found a few famous folks which is kind of a challenge, the organization of graveyards is pretty chaotic almost everywhere and Pere-Lachaise is no exception. It is a good thing that the people you are looking for don't move around too much.

After touring the cemetery for a bit and having lunch with Gertrude Stein, we grabbed a coffee and Orangina at a bar and then caught the Metro to the Catacombs across town.

Catacombs

The Catacombs were originally limestone quarries. In an effort to consolidate space and reduce health risks from dead bodies piling up all of the cemeteries in the center of the city were dug up and the bones were relocated and stacked up in the catacombs. The skeletons from countless folks are piled up down there in all sorts of patterns. There aren't many rules at the attractions in Paris, this place did have one – in the areas with the skeletons no flash photography. Which makes for pretty crummy color photos, but they are OK in Black and White. We figured that it is not out of respect as the operators claimed, after all the dead folks have already been dead, forgotten, relocated, and turned into a tourist attraction, how much respect does no flash really afford them at this point. It is our opinion that they simply don't want to take a chance on waking up the dead.

Boo!

 There was also a lot of information (mulch-lingual) about the formation of the limestone deposit when the area was under sea. Apparently there was a variety of snail that was over two feet long in the area, from which there were several fossils found. Just think if they were around in France today, eating these snails would be like Thanksgiving!

Biggest Snail around

After supper we finished off the day with a walk along the river at sunset. We walked back past the cafes and restaurants with their Friday night crowds. It was great.

Sunset

Friday night

We hope you are all well.

More Pictures at this Picasa Link.

Stephen & Linda

Our Second Day in Paris

Bonjour Friends and Family,

We started our second day in Paris with a great little breakfast and coffee at the apartment. Linda walked to the patisserie around the corner and bought a melt in your mouth French pastry and a baguette. We dressed in shorts and short sleeve shirts as the temperature for Paris was forecast to be in the 80s.

Like an Eagle hunting Mice

Linda found another market on the map that looked like it might be worth a visit. We decided to walk to see it first. After walking a few miles we turned the map over and decided that the market that we were searching for was the same one we had seen the day before. We were however, down by the river Seine close to the Grand Palace which was where we were planning to head after visiting the market anyway.. We could see the Arc de Triomphe and headed in that direction along the Champs Elysees. This is where the Tour de France ends its last stage, so it was exciting to be on the street. We stopped and had a coffee and hot chocolate along the street on the way up to the Arc. We looked through some of the shops on the way back.

Champs Elysees

After eating lunch in the park, we headed to the Musee de l'Orangerie, where we saw incredible art. Featured artists included Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Picasso, Rousseau, Renoir, and lots of other French artists. There was a special Debussy exhibit that told of how he composed music to books, poetry and the writings of his friends. It is not a real big museum, but it features art from one of our favorite periods, so we had a great time.

Jet Lag caught up with us, so we came back for a little nap and got recharged. We had stopped at a local grocery market on the way back to the hotel, so we cut up a large salad for dinner and then headed out to see Paris in the evening.

Salad is on the way.

We got some great recommendations from our friends so far on this trip, area to stay, bakeries to buy pastries (haven't been to the place with Macaroons yet but we are not going to miss it). We decided to try one more of the recommendations, a nighttime cruise on the river to see Paris all lit up. It was incredible. We got off the boat and walked back to our hotel at 11:00 at night. It gets dark late here in the summer. The restaurants were packed and the tables out by the sidewalks were filled with people eating, drinking, and having a great time. Paris is a little more lively at night than Mission Viejo. 

At night

At night

At night

It's off to bed to get ready for another day (will post this in the morning). Pleasant Dreams!

More photos at: Picassa Link

Stephen & Linda

First Day Touring Paris

Bonjour friends and family!

Living room, fireplace, Espresso, French Pastery

We started our first day with some wonderful pastries from the bakery down the street. Linda got some rolls that were just out of the oven – French pastry doesn't get better than this. After our breakfast & coffee we headed out with no particular destination. It turned out to be a church and museum day.

We stopped at Saint Germain des Pres (Catherdal) first, our neighborhood is named after it. We then found our way down to a market a couple of blocks down. We then found our way to the catherdals Saint Sulplice and Sainte-Chapple, each of these famous for different reasons. Saint Sulplice was mentioned in one of the Dan Brown books because of the meridian line marker – it was supposed to be part of an ancient religious plot. Sainte-Chapple has some of the most spectacular stained glass anywhere – pictures can't do it justice. I might have to see if I can touh some of these photos up when I get home to get closer to what they looked like.

St Germain

St Sulplis

We then made our way to the Palace of Justice (court house), Notre Dame, and then Musée Du Louvre. It is just real special to be able to see things like the Mona Lisa, Hammurabi's Stella, Artifacts from Babylonia, Assyria, and Egypt, and the famous paintings that you see in books for your whole life.

Sainte Chapple

Love Locks

Linda in the Lourve

We got back home had supper and crashed. Jet lag was really catching up to us at the end of the evening (so we are writing the next morning and getting ready to go out again in a few minutes!).

Hope you are doing well, there are more pictures on picassa at this link.

Stephen and Linda

Arrived in Paris 2012

We are off to Europe again.

Our trip to Paris for sightseeing and to Provence for bike riding began well; we made to Paris without any problems.  We caught the flyaway bus at the Irvine train station which turned out to be a great deal, and actually really convenient.

Waiting for the Fly Away in Irvine

The connection from London to Paris was a little rushed, but we made it some time to spare.  It is probably best, it kept us from buying coffee and hot chocolate at outrageous prices and getting our change in pounds (which we won't use again for the rest of the trip).

LAX

LAX

Our connection in Paris went well, we caught a regional train in Charles de Gaulle Airport to the heart of Paris, and then caught a metro to within two blocks of the apartment where we are staying.

RER - Regional Train

The building that we are staying is was apparently built in the late 1700s, but the apartment itself is pretty up to date, dishwasher, stove, refrigerator, microwave.  It is in an area called St. Germain or the 6th district.  I think we are really going to like it here.  After we got settled we headed off to the ATM for some cash and the grocery store for some food.  Since it had been several hours since we had real food, it tasted pretty good.

Apartment in Paris

Apartment in Paris

Apartment in Paris

 We are going to head off to bed, possibly sleep in tomorrow, possibly wake up at 3:00 am, in any case we are real tired now.  I will finish off with some pictures & hope that you are all doing well.

Stephen & Linda

On our Way Home Tomorrow Morning

Hello again everyone!

Tomorrow morning, we are ON OUR WAY HOME! This will be our last entry in our travel blog (unless our neice Lynn-z forgets to pick us up at the airport, then there will be a special edition!).

We have had several days of exploration in Rome, and haven't had a lot of time for writing the blog.

We did finally get the hot water in the B&B shower working after only two nights of cold water showers. It was part of the experience. The place where we are staying is very new, and everything else seems to be working fine. They even have a coffee maker that we can operate ourselves so there is coffee when we get up without fail!

Lighting Candles - Hoping for a hot shower

Lunch

We all sorts of things in Rome, the catacombs, the Trastevere and the Vatican. We saw more churches than we can count and several great museums. Rome is an amazing city with an incredible amount of history everywhere you look.

Don't fall in the water! 

Trevi Fountain

Palatine Hill

Here are a couple of pictures from the last couple of days, but there are lots more pictures at the links On Picassa; Link to Oct 1, link to Oct 2, Link to Oct 3.

Hope you are doing well, and see you soon!

Stephen & Linda