The City of Light and even more so now that it's The Christmas season of Advent in Paris. Here it is the end of November and we've been blessed with the most extraordinary weather. Mild temperatures, dry and even sunny at times.
There were going to be four of us so we opted to rent a beautiful old apartment called appropriately, 'Perfectly Paris' for the space and convenience and chose the area of village-like Montmartre in the 18th Arrondissement (or district) which is the highest geographical area of Paris. It is home to many artists and students and small shop owners. The people here are friendly and jovial and welcome you to Paris with open arms.
We took the train to Paris from Düsseldorf. Why? Because it costs about the same, but there are no annoying security checks, luggage inspections or restrictions on liquids or food that you can bring with you. There's free wifi on the train too and a food/bar car if you want to buy lunch.
We arrived at Gare du Nord train station and took a 10 minute taxi ride to our late 19th century apartment just steps away from the iconic Abbesses Métro Station with its scrolling Art Nouveau ironwork frame. Our apartment was amazing! Up one floor along a wide circular wooden staircase to our French blue door. We were welcomed by our apartment assistant Georgina from the Perfectly Paris organization. And it WAS perfect! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms with tub and shower, a full kitchen, full dining room and full living room all tastefully decorated with beautiful cranberry quilts and tapestries, as well as Old Parisian maps, and stylish, but comfortable furniture with Cluny tapestry pillows throughout. It was fully stocked with travel and photo books on France, Paris and other European countries, as well as a good array of other books, DVDs and games.
We settled in and then left to explore the city. Here are some of the many highlights:
1) Le Metro - this is the densest subway system in the world with 16 lines and currently 303 stations and counting. It is also one of the oldest and as such it is unfortunately not accessible for people with a disability as there are A LOT of stairs up and down. There are some escalators too, but most of them go up, not down, and there is the occasional elevator...but don't count on it. If we ever wondered why the Parisians are so slim, one of the reasons is because they do a helluva lot of walking. We clocked way more steps here in this city than in London.
Each Metro line is colour coded like Toronto and has many transfer points and zones. The farther you travel, the more you pay. Toronto is trying to do this as well, making it more expensive for people outside Toronto to come in to work, but making it cheaper for people who live in the city to get to work. This is fair, as people outside of Toronto do not pay taxes to supplement the subway upkeep and improvement costs even though they use it. The Paris Métro is also integrated with the RER lines, like our GO trains except you can use the Métro tickets on the RER.
The stations themselves are sometimes very similar on the same line except for the colour of the tiles, or sometimes, very different with artwork. Like Toronto, the Louvre Museum stop has statues representing what's in their museum like The Venus de Milo.
Some lines like line 1 have solid glass partitions along the entire platform. The train must stop in an exact spot that lines up with the
2) Surviving the Louvre - Lord, this thing is HUGE! You can't see everything in one or two or even three visits, so don't even try to. Why? You'll be too tired, that's why. Just to get into the place is a challenge. We entered through the Métro where you arrive at a department store complex underground, much like the Eaton Centre except these are high end stores like Le Printemps or the chocolate store, Maxim's. You keep walking until you hit your first security line. Bag scan, body scan through a machine, then a pat down and wand scan from security. You are free to go until you reach the glass pyramid area where the second scan of your bag and person takes place in case they missed something. Then up the escalator and just before the exhibits, the third bag check and ticket check before you can enter.
This is the time to choose just one area to look at. We chose the Denon wing that held the Mona Lisa and was mostly Italian paintings. Wander around and take photos which are allowed. We smelled the Mona Lisa area before we saw it as dozens of people were in front of the painting holding up their cameras or iPhones high to snap a photo. This being Europe, the smell of ripe underarm pits hung strongly in the air. Get in, look, and get out was our motto. There were other things to see. Besides, she's under glass, creating a glare, and you cannot get within 20 feet of her as there is a metal barrier. So, move on.
3) Napoleon's Tomb (aka Les Invalides) - You have to see this place; it's the biggest, most spectacular mausoleum that I've ever seen. The massive gilded doors at the entrance tell you you're somewhere important. Love him or hate him, Napoleon left his mark, not just in Paris, but France itself and in the constitutions and systems of countries all over the world. One oddity was Napoleon's taxidermied white horse. Bit of a shock since in all the hero paintings of Napoleon, this stallion is on its hind legs, mane flowing, looking pretty majestic with Napoleon on his back. In contrast, the stuffed horse in front of me was beige, skinny and short...I guess to fit its rider. Still, a little disappointing. Not so, all the old cannon lined up in the courtyard, aged to a patina of verdigris and all facing outward. You could just imagine Napoleon lining them all up and shooting a volley of grapeshot down the streets of Paris, or wherever else he was afoot.
There were going to be four of us so we opted to rent a beautiful old apartment called appropriately, 'Perfectly Paris' for the space and convenience and chose the area of village-like Montmartre in the 18th Arrondissement (or district) which is the highest geographical area of Paris. It is home to many artists and students and small shop owners. The people here are friendly and jovial and welcome you to Paris with open arms.
We took the train to Paris from Düsseldorf. Why? Because it costs about the same, but there are no annoying security checks, luggage inspections or restrictions on liquids or food that you can bring with you. There's free wifi on the train too and a food/bar car if you want to buy lunch.
We arrived at Gare du Nord train station and took a 10 minute taxi ride to our late 19th century apartment just steps away from the iconic Abbesses Métro Station with its scrolling Art Nouveau ironwork frame. Our apartment was amazing! Up one floor along a wide circular wooden staircase to our French blue door. We were welcomed by our apartment assistant Georgina from the Perfectly Paris organization. And it WAS perfect! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms with tub and shower, a full kitchen, full dining room and full living room all tastefully decorated with beautiful cranberry quilts and tapestries, as well as Old Parisian maps, and stylish, but comfortable furniture with Cluny tapestry pillows throughout. It was fully stocked with travel and photo books on France, Paris and other European countries, as well as a good array of other books, DVDs and games.
We settled in and then left to explore the city. Here are some of the many highlights:
1) Le Metro - this is the densest subway system in the world with 16 lines and currently 303 stations and counting. It is also one of the oldest and as such it is unfortunately not accessible for people with a disability as there are A LOT of stairs up and down. There are some escalators too, but most of them go up, not down, and there is the occasional elevator...but don't count on it. If we ever wondered why the Parisians are so slim, one of the reasons is because they do a helluva lot of walking. We clocked way more steps here in this city than in London.
Each Metro line is colour coded like Toronto and has many transfer points and zones. The farther you travel, the more you pay. Toronto is trying to do this as well, making it more expensive for people outside Toronto to come in to work, but making it cheaper for people who live in the city to get to work. This is fair, as people outside of Toronto do not pay taxes to supplement the subway upkeep and improvement costs even though they use it. The Paris Métro is also integrated with the RER lines, like our GO trains except you can use the Métro tickets on the RER.
The stations themselves are sometimes very similar on the same line except for the colour of the tiles, or sometimes, very different with artwork. Like Toronto, the Louvre Museum stop has statues representing what's in their museum like The Venus de Milo.
Some lines like line 1 have solid glass partitions along the entire platform. The train must stop in an exact spot that lines up with the
2) Surviving the Louvre - Lord, this thing is HUGE! You can't see everything in one or two or even three visits, so don't even try to. Why? You'll be too tired, that's why. Just to get into the place is a challenge. We entered through the Métro where you arrive at a department store complex underground, much like the Eaton Centre except these are high end stores like Le Printemps or the chocolate store, Maxim's. You keep walking until you hit your first security line. Bag scan, body scan through a machine, then a pat down and wand scan from security. You are free to go until you reach the glass pyramid area where the second scan of your bag and person takes place in case they missed something. Then up the escalator and just before the exhibits, the third bag check and ticket check before you can enter.
This is the time to choose just one area to look at. We chose the Denon wing that held the Mona Lisa and was mostly Italian paintings. Wander around and take photos which are allowed. We smelled the Mona Lisa area before we saw it as dozens of people were in front of the painting holding up their cameras or iPhones high to snap a photo. This being Europe, the smell of ripe underarm pits hung strongly in the air. Get in, look, and get out was our motto. There were other things to see. Besides, she's under glass, creating a glare, and you cannot get within 20 feet of her as there is a metal barrier. So, move on.
3) Napoleon's Tomb (aka Les Invalides) - You have to see this place; it's the biggest, most spectacular mausoleum that I've ever seen. The massive gilded doors at the entrance tell you you're somewhere important. Love him or hate him, Napoleon left his mark, not just in Paris, but France itself and in the constitutions and systems of countries all over the world. One oddity was Napoleon's taxidermied white horse. Bit of a shock since in all the hero paintings of Napoleon, this stallion is on its hind legs, mane flowing, looking pretty majestic with Napoleon on his back. In contrast, the stuffed horse in front of me was beige, skinny and short...I guess to fit its rider. Still, a little disappointing. Not so, all the old cannon lined up in the courtyard, aged to a patina of verdigris and all facing outward. You could just imagine Napoleon lining them all up and shooting a volley of grapeshot down the streets of Paris, or wherever else he was afoot.
4) Cluny Museum -
5) Orsay Museum - This museum is mainly known for their vast collection of Impressionist paintings, including Realism and post-impressionism, and many sculptures as well.. The collection is housed in an old Parisian train station that they were about to tear down back in the day until someone had the bright idea to turn it into a light filled museum. Imagine seeing all your favourite pieces in one place arranged sporadically: Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Sisley, Toulouse-Lautrec, Monet, Cezanne, Manet, Pissarro, Matisse, Bazille, Boudin, Rodin Seurat, Guillaumin. Also, Whistler's Mother was a big draw. The main thing to remember about the impressionists is that their paintings were full of light, they used short brush strokes and pure, unmixed colours. There were many statues too in the main hall to gaze upon. It was awesome!
6) Orangerie Museum - An Orangerie is like a giant greenhouse full of light used to grow oranges, along with lemons and warm, sunloving trees. They grew oranges to mask the stench of the palace close by. We had to line up for this one, but not for very long. The highlight were two huge oval rooms depicting vast canvases in a circular pattern as Monet painted his waterlilies. One room shows them by day, and the other in shadows at dusk. We sat and gazed in wonder at the range of blues, turquoise, lavenders and purples before us. It had a calming effect. I think they could have added some appropriate classical music for a better experience. There were also many Renoir paintings and a whole exhibit on American painters folk art. There was an American Exhibit from the 1930s too with the iconic portrait of American Gothic by Grant Wood.
7) Rodin Museum - Have to say, this gem was my favourite museum because it was so different from the others.
8) Notre Dame Cathedral -
9) Sainte Chapelle - Lovely little chapel that leaves you utterly gobsmacked with its beauty. It is basically a skeleton of stone with walls of medieval stained glass in brilliant colours reaching almost to the ceiling. Look up and the same ceiling is a sea of lapis blue with golden stars painted on its surface. The pillars and walls are also painted in gorgeous reds and blues with golden patterns of fleur de lis or castles or diamond grids with roses. The altar area stretches up in a series if arches with singing angels while painted wooden statues of ancient kings line the walls beneath the windows. Look down to an intricate tiled floor with patterns and designs.
The best part about Sainte Chapelle is that we came at night time as well to hear a classical concert of Pachebel's Canon and Vivaldi's Four Seasons in the darkened chapel with only the golden dome at the front which lit the harpsichord, three violins and one cello to perfection. An emotional highlight was when the lead violinist stepped down to the centre aisle and slowly walked the length of the chapel while playing the most exquisite music from his violin. We all agreed it was like magic.
10) Sacre Coeur Basilica -
11) Galleries Lafayette -
12) Christmas Windows -
13) The Roue of Paris (giant Ferris wheel) - This giant wheel was at la Place de Concorde where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were assassinated by the guillotine along with thousands of the nobility during the Reign of Terror in the late 17th century.We didn't have a long wait and a bonus was that the young pod operator said I spoke French really well, which I don't, but what a flirt! We secured a pod for the three of us and up we went, oohing and ahhing over the view of Paris by night. The highlight came when we were at the top and the Eiffel Tower suddenly started to twinkle and sparke with thousands of lights. It was awesome!
10) Sacre Coeur Basilica -
11) Galleries Lafayette -
12) Christmas Windows -
13) The Roue of Paris (giant Ferris wheel) - This giant wheel was at la Place de Concorde where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were assassinated by the guillotine along with thousands of the nobility during the Reign of Terror in the late 17th century.We didn't have a long wait and a bonus was that the young pod operator said I spoke French really well, which I don't, but what a flirt! We secured a pod for the three of us and up we went, oohing and ahhing over the view of Paris by night. The highlight came when we were at the top and the Eiffel Tower suddenly started to twinkle and sparke with thousands of lights. It was awesome!
14) Café Angelina -
15) Arc de Triomphe -
16) Champs Élyssées -
17) La Défense and le Grand Arche -
18) Gourmet Food -
19) Salvador Dali Museum -
20) Decorative Arts Museum - this museum of art and design is actually part of the west wing of the Louvre, but the entrance is different.
21) The Left Bank - Called the Left Bank because it is the left side of the Seine River that runs through the city. It is also on the side of the Louvre for easy reference. What this area is known for is the long parade of artists selling their artwork. Many decades ago, most of it was probably original, but today, most of it is mass produced
22) The Latin Quarter -
23) Montmartre -
24) Tuileries Garden - We cut through the gardens on our way to somewhere else. It was deserted, but had statues around. I'm guessing it's a really nice place in spring and summer with flowers and fountains.
25) Cemetary of Montmartre - Wow! Eerily creepy with those tall and narrow hut-like stone mausoleums over the dead; all packed closely together with only a narrow footpath between them. Each had an iron door with an ornate metal grid. Many doors were rusted shut from disuse, but if you peeked inside, there was a stone or wooden pulpit to kneel on and say prayers for the dead with a small stained glass window to look at for inspiration. Even more creepy! Most graves dated back to the 1800s, but there were some recent burials too. When a family's rent runs out, bones are dug up, cremated and scattered over a designated area. You can choose 10, 30, 50 years, or in perpetuity. However, the ancestors are expected to maintain the grave because the ground does heave with frost and stone cracks and windows break. One heartrending grave was the statue of a mother in grief over the grave of 20 year old son. Wild cats slink in and out of the mausoleums, making them their home. As the light started to fade, there's a decided chill in the air and my sister and I both agreed it was time to leave the world of the dead and join the world of the living.
No comments:
Post a Comment