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Published: April 24th 2007
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Japanese Bridge and water lilies, Claude Monet
Back in the 1980s, on a school trip I went to the Musée d'Orsay to find it shut. So after all these years, I get to see the famous paintings. Easter in Paris
We spent Easter in the Paris, for trip which ended up on a bit of a Monet scene, plus the sights, and, yes, the smells* of a railtour to the French capital.
{*not really justified in this: there was only one drain that minged in Montmartre!}
Having gone north for our last trip, for Easter we set our (metaphoric) compass for south and hit the rails again. After a stop to change stations on London (no longer necessary come Autumn) the Eurostar trundled through the south London suburbs before hitting the new line in Kent and the somewhat nippier 180 mph to the tunnel, and across the plains of Picardie - we sort of went under the city of Lille for about 8 seconds.
Arrival at Gare du Nord was on a warm April afternoon, and we went to the station entrance to catch the bus to the hotel. I was a bit wary of this bit, as my French is rusty and I had to be sure we got off at the right stop. But it wasn’t a problem, as all the stops were announced on an electronic display.
First trip of the evening was up the hill to Montmartre and a view across the city as the sky got dark and the city lights spread out before us.
The next day we visited Musee d’Orsay for the impressionists' stuff including Monet, Pisarro and Sisley, and a walk along the river Seine. Along the bank were some folk with picnics: wine and cheese doing it in style. After lunch at a smashing veg café near Notre Dame, we headed through the Latin Quarter and walked to Luxembourg Gardens and Montparnasse. Which was enough, so we got back on the Metro which took us straight back to the hotel.
On Monday we decided to go up to Monet’s Garden in Giverny in Normandy - it has been an aim to go there for years. We got so St. Lazare station, and found we had some time (a visit to the Arc de Triomphe and then Eifel Tower for cheesy pic of Lucky) before boarding the early afternoon express. 40 minutes later we got off at Vernon, and a bus waits at the station to take folk up to Giverny. Now being Easter, it was crowded, so we had
to queue for another three quarter of an hour. Despite that, the gardens are still magic, and the spring colours gave the place a real vibrancy. We found ourselves really taking it all in, despite the crowds. Giverny village itself is very attractive, having also the American impressionist museum, which we unfortunately we did not have time for. Going back, the day had really heated up, it felt like summer, and we were looking for shade on Vernon station at 6pm! Standing room only on the train back to Paris. Kasia had chance to practise her karate stances when a mature lady tried to push her aside on the overcrowded carriage.
In the evening went up Montmarte hill, and found a great little cafe run by a bloke from Madagascar, who did a fine line in some crepes and organic beer to the accompaniment of samba music, and in fact, in a certain light, and given a few linguistic tweaks, could be mistaken for
Stuart .
Tuesday we went to walk around the Marais, which includes a Jewish quarter - there must have been some threat of trouble judging by the presence of armed police on some of
the streets. But it was pretty quiet, we looked at the fashion in the windows (just looked mind, the stuff on display was for those of substantial pecuniary resources), and we picked up some
perogi at a Polish place (because we felt like some) and as it was getting really warm again, we set off for the Bois de Boulogne, a woodland just west of the city. We had a summery wander around and once past the lakes we realised that we were close to the Musee Marmottan, which has lots of Monet’s paintings (more than the Musee D’Orsay, as it happens) and a collection of illustrated medieval manuscripts to keep Kasia happy. So we had a look and were well impressed with our respective bits of art to check out - and, I might add the benefit of fewer crowds. This is because this museum is much less central and a bit of a fag from the nearest metro. In fact we spent 10 fruitless minutes searching for it before I checked the bus map and realised the 32 would take us almost door to door to the hotel. Which was nice. And buses work in Paris, because the
French do not b*gger around with bits of red paint on the road surface and hope for the best. They have proper segregated bus lanes, with big kerbs to stop cars, and they work. Half an hour later we were back in Montmarte - having set off a bit before five. Try that on the number 50 in Leeds - and marvel at the walking pace progress, listen enchanted to the drivel of “put the pie in the oven” or Minnie Mouse On Acid (that shrieking sped up dance "music"), courtesy of people’s mobile phones.
Eating out can be pricey in Paris, but one good tip is the set menus. We found a small Italian place in Montmartre that did some great food at a decent price, just before the crowds arrived.
Wednesday was our last day, and we set off for Saint Chappelle after it was recommended by our hosts in Balnaguard. So we went on the Metro via Les Halles, which despite all our navigation of the network before, defeated us with a myriad of exits. We chose the wrong one, ending up in the basement of the shopping centre. We kept going up escalators which
was a good move, as we worked our way from Floor -3 to 0. A walk to the island on the river got us to Saint Chappelle. Saint Chappelle is famous for the 14th century huge stained glass windows - with pictures from the whole of the Bible. (Equally impressive was the entrance fee - only after queue then an airport style security check of you and your belongings, then another queue, do you find out it costs €15 to have a visit).
With the rest of our time we went back to Montmarte to avail ourselves of the goodies from the local shops. Wine, cheese and chocolate! They had St. Nectaire cheese, from the Massif Central, which we got plenty of on our trip there a few years ago. Then back to the Gare du Nord and back to Yorkshire via a £3 pint of beer in London.
One thing that struck us is that Parisian are really friendly, and the atmosphere of districts like Montmartre, away from the tourist honeypots, is hard to beat. So much of the architecture is really fine, and the profusion of shops and cafes really gives it a pleasant relaxed air.
I'm not sure about summer heatwaves, but in Spring, it's a good place to be.
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