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Published: September 9th 2012
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One thing we have learnt from travelling is that whatever plans you make you need to be prepared for change. It has been a rare day that the schedule has run as expected. Having said that it has been good to have some idea of what we might achieve each day. Today the plan was good but not what happened at all. Free bike hire and long queues had a lot to do with upsetting the order.
The day started completely to schedule with Toby going for a run. That was the end of the plan working. He was supposed to return with breakfast. He did bring back pastries, but no drinks. We ate the pastries then went to the cafe across the road for a cafe au lait. It was lovely to sit outside and feel we were living the French life.
We went back to the bike hire station and cycled along the Seine to the National Assembly. The Musee D'Orsay is just behind and Fiona wanted to see some more art, mainly impressionist. Once more we were thwarted by the bike system. We couldn't find anywhere to dock them and ended up riding on to St.
Aboriginal art exhibition
Thought we might give this art a miss Germain.We walked back to the Orsay and were shocked to see the biggest line we have seen so far. There was no way we were waiting so we changed plans once more and headed back to St Germain.
St Germain is a beautiful arrondissement where famous writers like Sartre used to hang out. It has the oldest church and 2 cafes that the literary greats are said to have frequented. Cafe de Flore looked lovely but we decided to go to the nearby Les Deux Magots, which doesn't mean maggots thank goodness. We sat outside in the square in front of St Germain.
Both cafes were very touristy, but there were no queues. That could possibly have been due to the exhorbitant prices. If this is where the artists used to hang out there is no wonder they were penniless. Harriet ordered the special hot chocolate and it was definitely worth the price. It was thick and rich and came in a little jug so that she could pour it herself.
We looked in the church and then did a spot of shopping. Louis Vuitton was just next door but we didn't like the stuff there too
much. Harriet wants a trunk but she can save up for it herself. Toby managed to find a lovely jacket in Ted Baker. Ironic that he should buy UK clothes from France. He was too tempted by a jumper too so he bought that as well.
Purchases in hand we wandered along the Seine to Notre Dame. We were very hungry so we bought a baguette and water and found a spot in a nearby park to eat. There was a monument in the park for the children of the area who were deported by the Nazis. 11000 were taken with 13 being too young for school. There names were on the monument. It was a pretty park but a sobering thought. We discovered there is another monument behind Notre Dame for all deportees and even though it wasn't a cheery thought we added it to the days plan.
Norte Dame had the same enormous queues as Musee D'Orsay. This time we braved it and went inside. It didn't take too long but it was hard to walk around as there were so many people. We had a bit of a chuckle at the dress code. In Italy
you had to have knees and shoulders covered to enter a church. In Paris you just weren't allowed to wear a hat. Inside we went into the treasury. You could see the reliquary where they display the crown of thorns that Jesus wore, but the crown is hidden away and only brought out once a month. This didn't do much to convince us of its authenticity.
We joined the queue for the bell tower. After 10 minutes it hadn't moved at all, so plans changed again and we headed to the monument for the deportees. It is built at the very end of the island and you have to be silent. It is concrete and has a single window looking out on to the Seine. There are quotes on the walls and in one part little dots for each person deported. They seem to be endless. The deportees were anyone the Nazis didn't like including Jews, gypsies, gays and members of the resistance. It was incredibly moving and definitely worth visiting.
Across the bridge on the other island in the Seine, Ile St Louis, we bought ice cream. Of course one wasn't enough and we had to visit
2 places to see which was the best. Bertillon is supposed to be the best, but Amorino won hands down for us. They served Harriet's cone so it looked like a rose and Toby and Fiona both had their ice cream in a bread bun- delicious!
Nearby was a bike station and we decided to cycle back to the hotel taking a risk that we would find somewhere to park them. There is an app you can use but we didn't have Internet outside of free wifi areas. The weather was perfect for cycling and we definitely saw more of Paris than we would have done using the metro.
We had booked tickets for Eiffel Tower whilst we were in Italy so we knew we had to be there by
7.30pm. We cycled from the hotel down the road to the tower and had aperitifs nearby. Then we went up to the top. Having the tickets meant we bypassed all the queues, which was a great feeling. We spent ages up the tower and watched the sunset. The views were wonderful. It was interesting to note how white Paris was, especially when we had spent so long in
Italy surrounded by red roofs. We didn't realise we were there till so late and were then too exhausted to cross town to the restaurant we had planned.
We spent ages walking the long way back to the hotel trying to find somewhere suitable to eat. We eventually settled on a place right next to the hotel. The food was reasonable and the service quick. Some other customers had brought their dog with them. Every time a waiter walked past, they tripped over the dog. According to Harriet the trend of the day was to trip over the dog. It certainly made the meal moe enjoyable to have a laugh and we forgot there ever was a plan.
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