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Published: September 7th 2012
Buttes Chaumont Park
The waterfall tumbles into a large cavernLate last year there were thoughts of perhaps experiencing the Orient Express Tour but at about $10,000 per person the 7 day journey seemed perhaps a tad too luxurious. Scrap that idea. Then the light bulb came on. Why not create our own Orient Express tour following the route on the various European rail company services. Paris to Istanbul. The route was laid out, costing no where near $10,000 but did we want to go to Istanbul again?
We arrived at Orly airport somewhat South of Paris, as in the Eiffel Tower, so the first task was to get to our hotel. It was not really a task. For 9.32 Euros we purchased a metro pass and took the 7 minute Orly – Val shuttle train to the metro connection. Then it was just 2 transfers and we were at Botzaris station next to an entrance to Buttes Chaumont Park which turned out to be only about 2 blocks from our hotel the Adagio Paris Buttes Chaumont, part of the Accor Hotels group. (
www.accorhotels.com) The Buttes Chaumont area seems to be a largely residential area and the number of children and young families is striking. Despite seeming to be a
Charterierre
A magnificent dining room. Be early or stand in line. residential area there are lots of shops, restaurants, and interesting corners on nearly every block. Reaching street level from the metro there is a real feeling of neighborhood and a sense of “being home”.
Our hotel was located and booked with the assistance of Mr. Google. Some reviews were good. Some not so good, particularly the ones that spoke of the late night noise and groups of African youth “hanging about”. A little apprehensive about what our accommodation might actually be we found the hotel, which is a two bedroom apartment-hotel, was part of a large residential apartment building. (
www.adagio-city.com) The gangs of youth hanging about were children playing in the streets and the late night noises were like the evening sounds of any neighborhood. I suppose if one was looking for a 5 star hotel in a “hotel district” this does not quite cut it. But we are in Paris and this is a Parisienne neighborhood. Pretty much the experience we were seeking.
Getting here had been a long day, everyone was a little tired so after checking in it was a stroll about the neighborhood until we decided on a sidewalk restaurant to
Palace of Versailles
The definition of excess oppulence sit at for a couple “bevies” while we watched people and traffic. An ideal location for people watching, near our metro station, at the intersection of a couple of arterial roads. We contributed to the economy by dropping 49 Euros for food and beverages, a quiche, a 5 cheese cheese tray with baguette, and salad, and 4 pints.
Monday we spent most of the day looking about and exploring Buttes Chaumont Park. The park was developed in the late 1800’s in an old quarry and garbage dump site. Some signs of quarrying are visible in the rocks but there is no garbage lying about. There seemed to be a small army of workers tending the plants and grounds in general. There is a small waterfall in the park and at the bottom of the waterfall a large cavern has been formed. Being in the park the city of Paris seemed to disappear.
Monday evening was a metro trip to meet a Vietnamese acquaintance who had invited us to join him for supper. He was meeting an old friend from Vietnam that he had not seen for 30 years despite a lot of searching. Amazingly, in the end, it
was Mr. Google who helped to locate the old friend, who had been living in Paris for the past 30 years, through contact information in Los Angeles. Dinner was at a restaurant called “Chartiers”. The food was relatively simple, nicely presented a la carte, not pretentious, and value priced. Dinner and deserts for 7 people for 139 Euros.
The food may have been basic and simple but the room was magnificent. On two floors with at least a 25 foot ceiling with chandeliers and other lights shining off mirrors and the decorated walls. We ate early, about 6:30PM, because our host had said reservations were not taken and there was always a line up. No line up when we arrived to a seemingly empty restaurant but within 15 minutes the place was buzzing and people were pouring in. We left about 7:30, with a little subtle urging from the servers. Every seat was full and the lineup was long enough to fill it again. At least 200 seats.
It had been warm but a little cloudy on Sunday when we arrived and on Monday but it seemed to have a pattern of clearing mid to late afternoon and
L'Escargot
The house speciallty Tuesday morning was sunshine and clear and we were off to the Palace of Versailles by train for only 3.25 Euro, one way, which turns out to be less expensive than some of the return trip “offers”. The trip takes less than an hour and in the Versailles train station we bought tickets for entrance into both the palace and gardens of Versailles for 25 Euros. One should plan on a full day, 6 to 8 hours to tour both the Palace and the Gardens. Both are magnificent, obscenely extravagant, and luxurious. No wonder the peasants revolted.
Words fail to describe the opulence and extravagance of the palace whether thinking of the sheer size of the place or its décor. Sheer excess. The gardens too by size, arrangement, and structures are sights to be seen. Smaller, more obscure, and less opulent buildings meant for mistresses and as a places to house people “out of the way” away from the palace are only slightly less excessive than the palace.
The Palace and Gardens of Versailles are definitely well worth the cost which compared to the opulence is minimal. Put it on your To Do list and plan for at
L'Escargot
A gem of a find least a full day.
On our return we asked “Bonko” the front desk clerk/duty manager at our hotel for recommendations for a good restaurant nearby. He told us that many guests had recommended to him a small restaurant at the end of the block, turn right, and about two blocks along, called the “ L’Escargot “. If this little gem is not yet on Trip Advisor or similar sites it will soon be. Just a chef and one server, the front half of this small space is a bar, the rear a restaurant. A truly unique menu, I almost ordered the kangaroo, (yes, hop, hop kangaroo explained the server) but settled for the lamb which he recommended as the house specialty. The lamb specialty was a baked, falling off the bones tender, juicy, lamb shank with rice and secretly spiced zucchini. Delicious, and as I looked about the room it seemed like nearly everyone else was enjoying this dish. Obviously the specialty. Kangaroo? Well maybe some other time.
The server told me they have no internet presence or website yet but if you go to Paris they are located at 52 Rue de la Villette, in the Buttes Chaumont area.
In Australia they say something about “going walkabout” so since our train didn’t leave Paris until 8:00PM and hotel checkout was 11:00AM, it was Walkabout Wednesday in Paris. We left the hotel and made our way to a connection with metro line 6 and rode it to the end of the line. Much of this route is above ground and at one point it provides one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower. From the end of the line in Northeast Paris we walked, and walked, and made our way to the banks of the Seine, got up close to the base of the Eiffel tower, decided the lineups were too long and walked and wandered the surrounding neighborhoods while making our way to the area around the Louvre. Then we walked back across the river, found a metro stop and made our way back to the hotel to retrieve our luggage, then on the Gare d’Est where we reservations on board the City Night Train to Berlin leaving at 8:05PM.
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debbie
non-member comment
wow
again, you invite us on your journey and make us feel like we are right there thanks and have a great trip