Paris at Easter – Springtime!

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Easter Sunday 21st April

Today we joined our coach for travel to Paris, arriving about the middle of the day. In the afternoon we did a Paris Bicycle Tour, in the Marais area and over to the right bank of the Seine. It was a lot of riding through back streets without too much to see most of the time. We did ride over onto Île St Louis and looked across at Notre Dame, with its collapsed roof and burnt scaffolding where it was being repaired, before the fire. We also visited Place des Vosges, which is a beautiful (and crowded) square. This bike tour wasn't a patch on the Fat Bike Tour that we did on a previous St Edward's school trip, which took in a number of iconic sites and ended with afternoon tea in the Tuileries Gardens (see the 2015 blog).

Our group had been booked in to attend Easter Sunday evening Mass at Notre Dame – this of course was no longer possible. Some of us made our way to St Eustache church, near Les Halles, for the evening Mass. There was a recital on the Grand Organ before Mass, which was impressive. The organ and a choir also featured during the Mass. My cold was troubling me in the cold church, and I had a terrible coughing attack and had to go out from the pews at one stage.

After Mass we rejoined the group for dinner at Montebello Restaurant, which is across the river from Notre Dame. We have been there before on school trips. This time we were very disappointed – it seems the groups menu has been reorganised and it was very inferior. It ended up a fairly late night by the time we had returned to our hotel, although we had found a nice direct bus route rather than taking the metro and having to change.



Monday 22nd April

This morning we went to the Louvre, which I have visited twice before, but there is so much to see one could never be bored there. Each time one can see different sections. This time I learned about the history of the Louvre itself, saw some classical Greek sculptures, some middle eastern items, French sculptures, and the highlight was touring the apartments of Napoleon III, which were pretty much as outrageously sumptuous as the Place of Versailles itself. So much for abolishing the monarchy's wasteful lifestyle.

We then had a delightful lunch in the Tuileries Gardens, under the shade as it was quite a hot day. The group divided after lunch, with some walking up the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. Since I have done that about three times already, I elected to spend some time in the gardens then return a little early to the hotel to start this travel blog!

We headed out again for an early evening cruise on the Seine, followed by a very special dinner at the Eiffel Tower – that is to say, in a restaurant IN the Eiffel Tower. This was a high class meal in a high class establishment, with great views of course. An excellent inclusion in our tour. It was another very late return to the hotel. We had to change twice on the metro – I wish I had done my bus research again, because it turns out we could have taken a direct bus again from near the tower to the corner near our hotel!



Tuesday 23rd April

Today was a free day to spend as one wished. I accompanied a few others in the morning to the Fondation Louis Vuitton, at the edge of the main part of Paris. This is an extraordinary Frank Gehry designed building, opened as a modern art museum only a few years ago. We went as there was a special Impressionists exhibition showing, featuring paintings from the Coultard Collection. This meant one could see works from a variety of Impressionist Masters in one place at one time, including Monet, Van Gogh, Turner, Seurat and Gaugin. This exhibition was very interesting. The modern art in the other galleries there were not our cup of tea, so we breezed through those.

I then made my way to Helmut Newcake, a bakery and patisserie entirely gluten-free. I was able to have a baguette for lunch for the first time since having to go GF – it was delicious! I followed with a GF éclair and took a cake away for later as well. A little pricey, but how great to be able to have some proper French bread and treats for a change. I have found it quite difficult this trip to get gluten-free food in restaurants (let alone bakeries!). A mention of coeliac disease usually elicits a response of 'impossible!' – very disappointing. I had learned to say instead 'allergic to wheat'. This doesn't seem to cause the same rejection. Mostly I just have to pre-choose a restaurant which serves naturally gluten free options, like buckwheat pancakes, omelettes or salads without pasta or croutons. Gets a bit boring though.

Later in the afternoon the group headed off to Montmartre to see the Basilica Sacre Coeur and to wander around the artists' quarter. I am planning to buy a painting and did see one that I liked, but it was too expensive. I will have another look when I return to Paris in a few days. I was able to find an omelette for dinner. The group rejoined and we then had a another fabulous treat in store – a show at the Moulin Rouge. We made our way inside for the 9pm show, which was, of course, spectacular, including such things as a perspex swimming pool containing snakes which rose up out of the stage, amazing support acts, and of course more headdresses, beads and feathers than you could poke a stick at. Of course the Can Can also featured. Another late night back to the hotel, following another great day in Paris. Tomorrow we head to Amiens for the Anzac Day service on Thursday.

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Photos

One of the Four Captives
They represent the countries defeated in battle by Louis XIV of France