Paris 22 – 24 Sep 2011

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Paris 22 – 24 Sep 2011


22 Sep Thurs Paris
We arrived at Gare du Nord on time. It was a very crowded train station. There were lots of gypsies who asked if we spoke English and would we like to sign their sheet for Deaf people – looked like organised pick pocketing to me. Dave and I debated whether to catch a taxi or use the Metro. Pam was keen on the taxi so it would be door to door and less hassle with the bags. The taxi queue was huge. Dave wasn’t happy and after 5 mins in the taxi queue and only a little movement, we changed our minds to use the Metro. We had purchased a book of Metro tickets (thanks Sally) so just needed to validate and board.
Since the trip was going to be longer, Pam decided to use the toilet at Gare du Nord. This was nearly a big mistake leaving Dave to fight off the gypsies, while Pam waited in one queue to get change for the toilets (.75 euro or $1.05) and then another queue to get to the toilet itself once through the turnstiles. Luckily, the attendant took pity (was there a desperate look on my face?) and suggested I use the disabled toilet.
We headed off on the Metro. After changing lines 3 or 4 times and getting confused with pink versus mauve lines, we were given some help by a friendly passer-by and found our correct destination. However, Pam would like to note that our arms were a foot longer from lugging our suitcases up and down the many stairs. Hasn’t Paris heard of escalators or lifts?
We got to the St Germaine Quarter and after a bit of map reading which was quite a challenge as Dave couldn’t remember the name of our hotel street (and in any case it didn’t show the street on our map). Dave did remember that the street ran behind the Musee dÓrsay, so we managed to find Rue de Lille and number 93 Hotel dÓrsay.
The hotel room was lovely and in a good location. The weather was much warmer than London, and fine (about 21) – time to discard spray jackets.
We wandered along the Seine which was very close by. After about 30 minutes taking lots of photos along the way, we came across Pont Neuf. We found the little taverne recommended by Barry – Henry iV on the island at Pont Neuf. What an excellent place with great food and service. Our afternoon snack was substantial – we had a lovely platter of meats, terrines, cheeses and bread, washed down by a beer and sparkling white.
We waddled back to our hotel via the Seine to keep our bearings, our intent being to rest for a while then find a place for dinner. We came to the Pont Des Arts with all the padlocks attached to the sides of the bridge. Apparently it is famous for declaring love to your partner by placing the padlock and making a declaration.
On the way back to the hotel, we found a small supermarket in a side street, more like a 711 and purchased a few essentials – the beer that Dave had drunk from the hotel room bar fridge.
Pam fell asleep for a couple of hours and then it felt too late to start looking so we decided to forgo dinner despite Dave’s tummy rumbles.
23 Sep Fri Paris
Both phones seem to be ringing during the night or receiving messages on each night we had been away to date, so we made a mental note to switch them to silent from now on. We were 6 hours ahead of Perth time.
We walked to the local café, Le Solferino, and Pam had yummy scrambled eggs and Dave the croissants bread and marmalade. The coffee was way too strong for Pam even though decaffeinated. We need to find a jar of decaf at a supermarket, but we hadn’t seen one yet in our travels.
Our visit to the Musee dÓrsay was quite interesting. It is an old rail station (built 1900) converted to display art in 1986. We saw paintings by Eduard Gaugin and Vincent van Gogh and many sculptures and other paintings - even some glass works. It was very impressive though the rooms of the art of the more popular artists were very crowded. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed throughout the gallery. Outside the Musee dÓrsay were a row of brass sculptures, one of which was an aboriginal woman with a kangaroo at her feet.
Afterwards, we visited our first tourist shop and got our arty t-shirts, and a Paris apron for Helen.
Pam wanted to walk down Champs-Elysees as it was a fond memory from the trip in 2005. We started at the mid point – Place de la Concorde. It was very crowded even though not the peak tourist season. We decided against having the crepes which Pam, James and Betsy had enjoyed so much in 2005. We walked up through the gardens which didn’t seem to be quite as colourful and well kept as in 2005. We must check the photos for a comparison.
The walk was not that pleasant as it was hot and there were too many people but Pam was very keen to revisit the Arc de Triomphe. We decided to stop for lunch along the way so went into a few side streets to find somewhere a little less touristy. We found a café called Colisse Ponthieu which looked OK, but when we went in it had very few seats. They found us a table under a stairwell in the basement. It was warm and stuffy and we sat almost on top of a gentleman having his lunch there. In hindsight, we probably should have left at this point, but we were thirsty and hungry. It was a very popular place even if out of the way. Dave ordered Canard Confit which turned out to be very good. Pam’s tapas plate was awful with lots of fried battered seafood and tomato sauce. There was no cheap sparkling white, only an expensive small glass of real champagne. Then to top it off, Pam received a text from Quentin to say our house had been broken into again. Not a good day! After some texts and calls back home, we continued on but both feeling quite annoyed and down.
We came across some unusual sculptures with holes in the middle, the top and bottom held together by an arm carrying a suitcase. There were three as we walked through the garden and arcade, including one of van Gough.
We continued our walk up to the Arc de Triomphe, still very hot and heaps of tourists so we didn’t stay long. Instead of catching another Metro, we walked back along other side of the Champs which for some reason was shaded, less crowded and therefore much more pleasant.
We came across the Louis Vuitton store, which for some reason had a huge queue of people waiting to enter, and there were guards on door only letting a couple of people go in at a time. There didn’t appear to be any sale signs so we’re not sure whether it is just a tourist attraction for people to say they have been there?
Along the walk, several of the street side cafes were set up for chefs to do cooking demonstrations. We only stopped briefly to view these from afar. One place had a couple working their way through the biggest seafood platter I have ever seen.
We walked right down to the Louvre, but since we had both been there before and it was late afternoon, we decided against entry. We took some photos of the Louvre and the Arc du Triomphe Carrousel then headed for the hotel, only stopping for a short while at Le Pont Royal for a beer, yes Pam too - a beer named Pam's which seemed to have Pimms in it. After resting for a while we decided to have dinner on the restaurant boat we had seen. Alas, we had left it too late to book for a Friday night so instead we took the recommendation of the hotel concierge for a little place in 33 Rue de Lille, called Le Bistro de Paris depuis 1965.
The food was great and so was the service. The complementary starters were an olive tapenade and bread. We ordered salmon and potatoes, and magret de canard avec haricot vert (baby green beans). We were fascinated by another table who ordered fish which were served with heads, tails and skin. The waiter filleted the fish at the table, expertly removing the heads, outer skins and lifting out the backbone and finer bones. For dessert, Dave had the figs in a very rich sweet sauce, and Pam had a Crème Brulee which was served in the traditional large bowl – delicious. We had a lovely red wine from Domaine St Clair – Crozes Hermitage (39 euro oh la la).
On the way back to the hotel, we found a larger supermarket in a side street, so we stocked up on some things we needed for the next part of our trip – sunscreen, soap etc. It is great to be able to shop at 10:30pm.
24 Sep Sat Paris
Today we caught the train to Narbonne from Gare de Lyon. We arrived early which was good as we had a little challenge finding the numerical platforms with only alphabetical platforms in sight. After several French conversations, we found the train. It was two level and we were upstairs so we lugged the bags upstairs - the arms are getting longer again. We found the seats but only after accusing someone of sitting in ours, but we were in the wrong carriage!
Some people stand all the way on cheaper fares. The first station was more than an hour into the journey so quite a feat (or is that feet?).

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