PARIS IN THE FALL

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All good things come to an end and we left Nice and the sparkling azure blues of the Mediterranean under blue skies, sunshine and better than warm temperatures on Friday, October 3. That’s only a couple of weeks ago but with the regular routines of living and working day to day it is already beginning to seem like ages ago. Our stop here in Nice on this last quick blur of our tour was just too short. The hazard of jamming too many places into too few days but it certainly gives you some ideas for “next time”. So many places, so many sights, and just not enough time.

We didn’t actually just ‘leave’ Nice, it was more like we ‘raced away’ on board one of Frances high-speed TGV trains. At 300 km per hour you cover a lot of miles in short time. These trains are modern, comfortable and even at these speeds, quiet and vibration free. There was a glass of water sitting on the table between our seats and as we sped towards Paris there was not even the tiniest ripple on the surface. The only indication of movement in this little glass of water was as the train went round curves and the rail cars leaned into the curve the water ‘tilted’ to maintain its level.

Passing through the Antibes / Cannes region we marvelled at the orange and yellow hues of the hillsides and the seemingly strange juxtaposition of green pine trees interspersed with the fronds of palm trees on these strangely colored hillsides. (Antibibes and Cannes would be another couple of great places to visit, but . . . . next time ?)

As we sped North towards Paris the changing landscapes and passing villages held our attention. So did the darkening horizon and increasing cloudiness of the skies we rolled North under. As a few sprinkles of rain showers splattered on the window there was no doubt that we were no longer in/on the Cote d’Azur region of Southern France.

At the speeds of the TGV train with its infrequent stops it wasn’t much more than five hours after leaving Nice that we were rolling into one of Paris’s major rail stations, Gare de Lyon. As we stepped from the train onto the platform crowded with hundreds of others getting off our train and boarding other trains we were met by French soldiers patrolling the platform and station armed with sub-machine guns. Probably neither a good time, nor good subjects for a photo op. It has been two or three years since I have seen this level of security at international airport terminals. I’m sure the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would be impressed.

Planning for this trip we had learned that the Paris metro system offered a variety of passes for tourists which provided access to buses, the metro, and the RER, a regional/suburban rail service and had decided our first thing to do in Paris was to get these passes. Besides being a good way to get around Paris for the next few days, our hotel was two metro stops from Gare d’lyon and apparently located within 50 metres of a metro stop. Finding where to purchase the passes was the first challenge. From one end of the station to the other on the level we had arrived on and no offices or signs indicating where the passes could be purchased. The information centre gives us direction to go down the escalator one level and turn right. Seems simple and straight-forward. Gare d’Lyon is a large transportation hub serving the national rail service, the RER trains, and the metro and as we walked this lower concourse passing stores and shops we turned a couple corners and soon saw signs giving directions to the RER and Metro services. Had we missed something along the way or should we carry on ? We carried on, around a couple more corners and this is seeming more and more like the wrong way when around one last corner and ‘voila’ a large open area with ticket machines and a transit office.

Passes purchased, directions confirmed and we are on the RER for one stop where we change to the metro and two stops later we surface from the Phillipe Auguste metro stop to a traffic circle, the intersection of three roadways. We are no longer in Nice. It’s cloudy, windy, threatening to rain, and it feels like winter. Dry autumn leaves are blowing about and it’s cold !

With the hotel supposedly within 50 metres you’d think you could probably see the hotel sign from here, but no. As Maggie is turned on to help us out we begin to walk around the circle checking the road names. Each roadway entering the circle seems to have a different name and Maggie is being busy talking to her satellite friends and finding the appropriate maps from her memory so I ask a somewhat bored looking shop-keeper for directions. He points across the way to an oddball street that intersects one of the roads joining the circle about 20 meters from the circle itself. We walk a short block and sure enough, within 50 metres there was the hotel. Located away from the main roads and right next to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery it would probably be a quiet hotel.

We were soon settled in our rooms and I made a quick scouting trip of the area a couple blocks around the hotel in search of restaurants, cafés, bars, or other likely places to eat. It seemed we had landed in an area that didn’t seem to offer very much. A couple of bar/restaurants that seemed to be closing, not opening, about 6:00PM, and a couple of very small bars that didn’t seem to offer much hope. So after returning to the hotel and reporting my findings, or lack of, we decided to call upon Maggie to see if she had suggestions. Her display lit up with several restaurants plotted within one kilometre, the first supposedly being only 50 metres away. I hadn’t seen any !

We had figured we would follow Maggie and check out a couple of her suggestions. Her closest suggestion 50 metres away was a small restaurant called ‘Souris’. I hadn’t noticed it earlier as the whole front had been shuttered and Souris didn’t mean anything to me. Still doesn’t now that I know the word means ‘mouse’ in English. It was obviously just opening as we walked in but it smelled wonderful. Very small, only about 24 seats and the server and chef who welcomed us in were so friendly that we decided to stay and take a chance. Turns out it was a good choice and very soon it was obviously the choice of the local area residents.

The next morning, Saturday, we were tourists in Paris. If you’re a tourist in Paris what are you going to see? Well, obviously, the Eiffel Tower so onto the metro to a stop somewhere near the Eiffel Tower and with the large prominent landmark to guide us we were soon at ‘tourist central’ on the square at the base of the tower. Hundreds of people taking pictures of hundreds of others with the tower in the background. All the souvenir vendors, and all the tour busses were here too.

I had thought that being in Paris, at the tower, one should of course buy a ticket and ride to the top of the tower. After all, it’s one of the prime attractions in Paris and what a view you might have. Well, it seemed like a good idea except that all those people taking pictures of other people, and hundreds more who had already taken pictures seemed to have the same idea. We weren’t prepared to spend two hours plus in a line-up just to buy a ticket then another line to actually get onto an ‘Up’ elevator so we took a walk along the Seine past the Louvre, the Tuileries Gardens, and the George Pompidou Centre in the Beaubourg neighbourhood.

Along the way we decided that we would take one of the ‘hop on, hop off’ tour busses to sort of get oriented and get a better idea of where all the ‘sights’ were in relation to each other. Back at the Eiffel Tower where all the tour busses stop we had to decide which tour bus we would take. We settled on, or stumbled onto, the Big Red Bus tour for €19. So we were barely in the door of the bus when we were on our way. I guess the driver was a couple minutes behind schedule. Anyhow, we managed to find seats, although not together, on the upper deck. Crowded, squawking kids, and headphone jacks that didn’t work so we couldn’t hear the tour ‘narrative’ we decided to get off at the next scheduled stop. Maybe a bit of a communication challenge but we were somewhat unceremoniously dropped off, or ushered off, at the next available curb spot. We decided to try and follow the tour route in order to catch the next bus but where we were, and the tour route map, didn’t seem to match. We were not impressed with the Big Red Bus. Next time you’re in Paris, take the other bus !

We soon found ourselves walking along the Champs Elysées passing all the upscale and trendy shops and boutiques to the Arc de Triomphe in the middle of that massive traffic circle through which traffic flows amazingly well. As I walked along this lively broad boulevard I thought of all the images of this street that I have seen in different movies. A couple in particular made me think that Paris in the 1940’s must have been very different and very difficult. How lucky we are !

Near the Arc de Triomphe we hopped on the Metro again for a ride to the Latin Quarter. Here in the university area the streets were alive with buskers, and people walking all about. Restaurants, sidewalk cafés, the ever present souvenir vendors, and shops of all kinds. We stopped into a small restaurant on the corner opposite the metro stop and had a late lunch while we watched people. After our lunch we joined the people we had been watching and wandered about poking into here and there and also scouting the restaurants for a possible Sunday night dinner spot. Soon it was back on the metro for our return trip to the Citea Phillipe Auguste hotel, our temporary home.

Sunday, while Beth and Al were off the visit the Louvre Heather and I decided to do our own ‘hop-on, hop-off’ metro tour. One of the metro stops I had noted on the metro map was ‘Pigalle’. This had reminded me of my old high school French teacher, Mr. Howard. I didn’t learn much French in his classes but I did learn ‘Pigalle’. Seemed like he was always making some sort of reference to it so I decided in memory of Mr. Howard, or out of just plain old curiosity this would be one of our stops.

We took the metro from Phillipe Auguste, the stop near our hotel, and surfaced at Pigalle. Perhaps Pigalle is Paris’s red light district ? The streets were lined with ‘peep shows’, sex shops, some souvenir shops, and other interesting places. When we had surfaced, right across the street from us was the Moulin Rouge cabaret. An interesting neighbourhood of the Mountmarte district of Paris and we walked along the street to the next metro stop where we went underground again.

The next stop we popped up at was Anvers. If you’re wanting to see where these stops are, here is a link to the Paris Metro. You may have to cut & paste. We’re travelling mostly on line #2, the route colored in blue.

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/f_plan_ang.php?loc=reseaux&nompdf=metro&fm=gif

Here we found ourselves at the heart of the Mountmarte district and the imposing Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, perched atop the highest point in Paris. The cathedral had its start as an idea about 1873 with construction beginning in 1875 and the first foundations being laid in 1884. Construction was not finished until 1914 and was not formally consecrated until after World War I. The cathedral is build of travertine stone from a French quarry and because this stone constantly exudes calcite the cathedral remains white despite weathering and pollution.

Without having to stand in line-ups for hours, and no tickets to purchase, we climbed up to the cathedral and had a dramatic view of all of Paris from a height even greater than the Eiffel Tower. A most impressive panoramic view.

From the highest point in Paris we went underground again on the metro and our next stop was Jaurès, about half way back to where we had started from early this morning. We had popped up at this stop intending to find a place for lunch but as we walked past the restaurants and cafés we began to notice that there did not seem to be any women in them. Having noticed this it also became apparent to us that there actually weren’t many women about anywhere. It seems that every metro stop seems to be a new neighbourhood with a different culture. Perhaps it was a cultural thing that the women did not seem to be present here.

Eventually we did find a nice little restaurant and like everywhere we’ve been in Paris the servers are friendly and welcoming. And most speak better English than my French. A nice lunch and large hot cup of delicious café au lait and we were off to the Arc de Triomphe.

What a magnificent structure ! Commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 and not completed until almost 30 years later it is 49 metres high, 45 metres wide, and 22 metres deep.
Beneath the Arc de Triomphe is the tomb of the unknown soldier. For this monument I would stand in line and buy a ticket. But no line-ups and €9 later Heather and I are climbing up the spiral staircase to the top of the Arc inside one side of the arches. About half way up I commented that we should have been counting how many steps and that we should count them on our way down.

The view from the top of the Arc is another impressive view of Paris, particularly of the Champs-Elysées. We began our way down the spiral staircase on the other side of the arch and again forgot to count until about half way down. There are a lot of steps. In fact there are 284. The Wallace Monument near Stirling, Scotland commemorates William Wallace, also known as Braveheart, and has 246 spiral steps to its top. I thought that was a lot when I climbed it a few years ago.

From here we walked down the Champs-Elysées to the Marais district. This is one of the oldest areas of Paris and is full of narrow little streets and medieval squares with sidewalk cafés. Again it is another world and culture within metropolitan Paris and the Jewish influence is clearly evident. Although one of Paris’s oldest neighborhoods it is also full of trendy new fashion boutiques and galleries.

After following the Marais walking tour route we made our way across the Seine to St. Michel in the Latin Quarter where we would meet up with Beth and Al for dinner. After meeting up we began to wander the narrow streets and lanes and ended up at one of the restaurants that had been scouted out last night. Seemed like it might be an OK place but by the actions of our server I soon began to think this might not be such a positive experience. Like, what was this guy on ? Practically bouncing off the wall he took our orders without writing anything down. Then when he repeated the order it was totally messed up. After about three tries he was still trying to make sure Al had salmon and not the steak he had ordered. It was the same with my order but fortunately Beth and Heather had ordered the same thing and it seemed to be the only one he could remember. It was a busy little kitchen and when our server returned with the orders he had messed up still. Back to the kitchen and even the chef seemed to be getting frustrated with this guy. Ours didn’t seem to be the only orders the chef was having to redo. Finally, after some delay, and a couple more false starts he got it right. What an idiot ! Wish I could remember the name of this place so you could avoid it. And the food turned out to be OK, nothing special, but just OK.

That was how Sunday ended up and we were back to the hotel. Tomorrow would be a busy day. I had a couple missions to accomplish early in the morning. Hotel check-out was 11:00AM, and we had the Eurostar train destined for St. Pancras Station in London to catch.

Monday morning I was on the metro about 9:00AM headed for Rue de Rennes where at #65 I had to fulfill a commitment to return to Surrey with some special chocolates. Time was at a premium and after negotiating a couple metro transfers I surfaced from the Saint Sulpice station on the purple #4 line. Luckily the exit I chose brought me up to the street with the shop I was looking for right across the street. Unfortunately it was 9:45AM and the shop didn’t open till 10:00AM. It seemed unlikely that I would be back at the hotel in time to help pack up and check out.

Mission accomplished a few moments after 10:00AM and it was back on the metro to the hotel. As I exited the stop near our hotel I ran into Heather at the top of the stairs from the station. We were checked out, baggage in storage, and with a couple hours to kill before we had to make our way to Gare du Nord, we had earlier decided we would tour the Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

The entrance to the cemetery was only a block away. Seems strange that a cemetery would be a significant tourist attraction but it is. Many famous people have been buried there. The cemetery was established in 1804 by Napoleon and it is the largest cemetery in Paris and one of the more famous in the world. There are over 300,000 bodies buried there and some of the monuments seem most extravagant. I guess if you can’t take it with you some of the residents were going to leave it behind in the form of some of these extravgances.

We wandered through the cemetery and yes, we found rock star Jim Morrison’s grave. We also came across Chopin’s grave and in a place as crowded as this, several others. There was also an area at the crest of the hill where a number of monuments have been erected commemorating events such as airline crashes and bombings in which large numbers of people have died.

We left the cemetery and hoping off the metro at a random station we found ourselves in what seemed to be Chinatown. The smells were wonderful, the restaurants crowded, some with line-ups outside the door and that’s how we decided where to eat. Two side by side restaurants had line-ups and which ever had seating available first would be our choice. Less than five minutes and a large group of people left one restaurant, and we were in. What a good choice. The menu was in French but we were able to figure out which bowls of soup we wanted and the broth was aromatic and delicious. The wontons stuffed with a fragrant spicy meat mixture. And lots of them in the bowl !

After lunch it was time to head back to the hotel, meet up with Beth and Al, collect our luggage and head off to Gare du Nord which we had discovered could also be reached from our favourite metro line, #2, which had also gotten us from Gare de Lyon to our hotel. We had about an hour to pass so we visited one of the cafés in the station and we were soon boarded and watching the countryside pass by as we headed for the tunnel under the English Channel.

It was a dramatic feat of engineering to build a transportation tunnel under the channel but strangely enough you hardly noticed entering or being in the tunnel and in just a few moments the cars were driving on the wrong side and we were in the United Kingdom.

Finally, we may have found a London Hotel. The Alhambra Hotel is located only about a block from the St. Pancras / Kings Cross rail and tube stations. Since Kings Cross is on the Picadilly line it has direct service to all Heathrow terminals. (Very convenient) Like most London hotels the Alhambra is in a building 100+ years old and although it has the narrow hallways, the rooms are clean, comfortable and reasonably priced. The hotel is currently undergoing some renovations and redecorating.
After checking in and getting settled it was off for dinner. London has some excellent Indian food restaurants and we found one just a couple blocks away. The food was good, and one of the best things about Indian food is that vegetables have a prominent place. After Spain and Portugal where potatoes seemed to be the only vegetable, and France where they seemed invisible, a feast of vegetarian oriented food hit the spot.

The next morning, October 7, and it was on the road again, or should I say tube, to Heathrow for our flight back to Seattle. British Air is a great carrier. There is no shortage of service and complimentary food and beverages. U.S. Customs cleared and it was onto the Quick shuttle bus for the final leg of our adventure. Three hours later after clearing Canadian Customs, quicker than the driver had ever experienced, less than 15 minutes for about 18 passengers, and we were home in our own house thanks to our friends Hans and Bobsy who picked us up from the Campbell River store shuttle bus stop.

So that’s it for 2008. Except for about 1500 - 2000 digital photos, and a whole lot of video that will keep us busy over the winter.

Like Bugs Bunny says, “That’s all Folks !”

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Photos

TGV leaving Nice
Very fast, smooth, comfortable

Guess what ?
Paris's most famous landmark

Les Bateaux
River tour cruise boats

Arc de Triomphe
Massive, and a lot of stairs and concrete

Latin Quarter
Lots of cafes and shops

Latin Quarter fountain
Near the Saint Michel metro stop

Night in the Latin Quarter
Paris is truly the City of Lights

Pigalle
The Moulin Rouge cabaret

Sacred Heart Cathedra
Atop the highest point in Paris and magnificent views.

View from the top
The view from the cathedral

Arc de Triomphe stairs
the spiral stairs wind round and round

Arc de Triomphe
The tomb of the unknown soldier beneath the Arc

Champs -Elyees
As seen from the top of the Arc de Triomphe

Marais Walk
There is a walking tour through the oldest area of Paris

Old & New in Marais
This building is from Medieval times

Pere Lachaise Cemetery
The largest cemetery in Paris. Home to some of the famous

Jim Morrison's grave
Modern rock stars and classical composers share the same ground

Chopin's grave
More attention than more modern musicians