Two Days in Paris

---

Monday, August 3 (part 2)
Place de la Concorde, Jardin deTuileries, Musee L’Orangerie, Angelina’s, and Les Invalides
The metro drops us at Place de la Concorde about 12:15, and we climb the stairs to our first real sight of central Paris. Turning 360 degrees, we can see the Egyptian Lexur obelisk (which is 3200 years old), the Jardin deTuileries, fountains, and the Eiffel tower in the distance. It’s difficult to believe we are really here. Jackie leads us through the gardens to Musee L’Orangerie, famous for its 360 degree Monet mural rooms. There are 2 rooms, each with 4 versions of his garden at different times of day. The water lilies are familiar, just much larger than I’d imagined, but I like the willow tree studies even more. Once we see these two rooms, we tour the galleries downstairs where we see works by many other artists.
All the art has made us hungry, so we walk across Rue Rivoli to Angelina’s. The Jeanbins had introduced Jackie to it last year, and it is mentioned in some guidebooks. Its 2 claims to fame are it’s Mont Blanc, a dessert made with crème and chestnut paste, and its hot chocolate, which is just that- think melted dark chocolate slightly thinned with cream; that’s it. Jackie, Jeff and I order the hot chocolate, Dean, a Perrier, and we also order a Mont Blanc and an L’Africain (a chocolate mousse creation)-to share. Much more of a dietary splurge than a well-balanced meal!
Fueled with chocolate and caffeine, we walk to Les Invalides. It is a large museum. The temple houses Napoleon’s tomb, along with those of several other prominent French military figures. Since we buy our tickets near the tomb that is where we start. There are many very grandiose memorials in the style of Washington, DC (only with more gold leaf). Inside the museum itself are interesting exhibits about the military and wars that France has been involved in. We spend most of the time in the WWI and WWII wings. They are comprehensive, with English explanations near most displays. It is interesting to see WWII from a French perspective, and I had never really been positive about the causes of WWI, and it is explained it very well.
Our last wing is the armory, which stores and displays weapons from all periods of history. We see exhibits of at least 30 suits of armor, including knights on horseback, before we walk out the back hall, with windows to the storerooms on either side- there must be hundreds of individual suits of armor for men and horses, guns, swords, pikes. It could have been the costume room for Lord of the Rings. Amazing. The museum is closing down as we leave.
We walk through a park where people are navigating a rollerblade obstacle course, playing the French version of bocce, and just relaxing before we board the metro for the ride home. There are two stops we can use. We exit at Porte Maillot, but come up in the middle of a traffic circle with no apparent crosswalks. Finally, we find our way home, very glad to take off our shoes and relax for the night.

Tuesday, August 4- Latin Quarter and Paris Sights
We split up. Jackie and Jeff are visiting the Latin Quarter. While Dean goes to the pool, I walk to the Monoprix grocery store that Eric and Sabine recommended, and do our shopping. On my way back, I see our alternate metro stop and make a mental map so I can find my way back.
When he returns, we leave to tour central Paris and get a feel for the city. We exit the metro at the Louvre and walk through the courtyard with the famous glass pyramid. We are able to see some of the sculptures from the walkway before we exit onto the Quai du Tuileries, and walk along the Seine stopping at a sidewalk café for lunch. We cross Pont Neuf onto the Ile de la Cite, into the Place Dauphine- a quiet green park on the tip of the island with lovely views of the river. From there, we cross the bridge again to the left bank’s Place St. Michel, a busy square with a huge fountain, surrounded by branches of the French version of Barnes and Noble which are full of students buying books. The little streets of the Latin Quarter look interesting, but we know the kids are in this quarter; we head back to the island.
On the island, we walk by the main sights, noting the long lines at Ste. Chapelle and Notre Dame, and then we cross another bridge onto Ile St. Louis, a more residential, exclusive shop-filled area. We cool off with a delicious glace before we board the metro for our last stop: Champs-Elysee. We decide to walk its length from Place Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe. The first part runs through green parkland, then we reach the busier shopping mecca: car dealers, clothing, perfume, jewelry, and restaurants. You name it. It’s there! We take a few pictures at the c before descending the metro and going home. When we arrive, Jeff and Jackie are sitting in the hall. They had ended their exploring a bit early, and we had the key so they were just chilling. We traded stories of the day, and had a pasta dinner before saying good night.

---

Comments

[Maria]

Paris Adventure
Cyn: We traversed these same places in Paris in 1995 - in January -- in freezing temps! Not nearly as enjoyable, so maybe we'll get back there some day. Your descriptions really create such a vivid "picture" of Paris. Enjoy!!!