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Published: September 15th 2006
One of the reasons we choose France for this vacation was so we could reconnect with yet another of our exchange students. Paris was a double header as we met up with both Robin who lives in Paris and Elise who lives in Marsaille but was able to join us for our last week in Paris. We had not seen them since they left us about 10 years ago. They hadn’t changed much and only a few moments went by before it felt just like old times only this time they could pick up the check.
Reading our journals one might think we hosted all these exchange students just so we would have free tour guides and places to stay when started traveling….. (hmmm, maybe).
Even though we were on vacation it seemed like we were playing host quite a bit (the more the merrier). Elise joined us our last week in the city, and in the middle of the trip our friends Sally and Frank from Washington DC flew over for a break. Our little 50 sq meter apartment got pretty crowded but it was lots of fun being surrounded by familiar faces we hadn’t seen in a
Robin
Sunny day at the Paris Flea Marketlong while.
This journal would not be complete without a commentary on eating in Paris.
On the walk back to the metro after visiting the Pantheon we saw some very enticing little alleys with restaurants and shops. We decided we were cold and wet enough to have earned something. We spotted a small (most French restaurants are small, no chains over here thank God) crepery and stepped in. This was my first experience with drinking hot chocolate as it was meant to be. It tasted like they melted a chocolate bar into my cup. Heaven. The choice of crepes was difficult. Go for sweet or savory? Mike and I each chose something different and then shared a sweet crepe for dessert. Late one afternoon after visiting the Opera house we choose a bistro on a side street that was deserted. We asked the owner if she could explain the plate of the day and as she didn’t speak any English so not only did we have a great lunch but we had loads of fun playing charades as she tried to act out the our main course. Eating in Paris is part of the whole vacation experience to be
Elise
Dr. Elise to her patients. savored slowly and enjoyed.
Now back to the more the usual “wish you were here stuff”, here is my take on some of the usual tourist spots: THE LOUVRE
No trip to Paris is complete without visiting this mammoth of a museum. Anyone who tries to do the whole museum in one day has got to be crazy. Or they will be at the end of the day. It is a HUGE building that was built as a palace for the king of France. Mike and I experienced the pain of trying to do too much of a museum in too short a time when we visited London. We’ll never do that again. We were going to be in the city for 2 weeks so we knew we had plenty of time. We bought 1 year passes so we could visit as many times as we wanted for just a few hours at a time. The most famous pieces (Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo) were of course very popular and always surrounded by tourists. To me they were the least interesting. The Mona Lisa is very small and Venus not so impressive. My favorite pieces were paintings and
Flea-Market moment
Display at one of the Flea-market stalls. sculptures I had never heard of before and the life size portraits. As we usually do in large museums, Mike and I did a reconnaissance tour together hitting areas we both liked then made a plan and split up to be able to focus on areas our partner didn’t appreciate as much. I love museums that provide a floor plan but in the case of the Louvre it still didn’t help us find our way out. There are so many levels and stairs and floors in between floors you didn’t know were there. We finally just became resigned to it taking us 30 minutes to get out of the building.
NOTRE DAME
One of the places every tourist must visit seems to be Notre Dame Cathedral so of course we went. It was very beautiful, very large and very creepy in a religious sort of way. Lots of tourists hanging around and groups of gypsies hoping to scam the tourists. The architecture was impressive but not a big moving experience overall. We’ve probably just seen too many churches in Europe so we’re jaded.
RODIN MUSEUM & GARDENS
One of the smaller museums we visited was the Rodin museum.
Rodin is the sculptor who is most famous for his piece “The Thinker”. The museum is in a house with a large garden (for you Americans that means lawn) with most of his pieces outside. Even though the weather was a bit rainy and windy it was still a very nice walk. Some of the best work in the museum didn’t belong to Rodin though. They were pieces done by his mistress, Camille Claudel. She was first his model (many of his famous pieces use her as the model) and then his protégé. She was a wonderful artist in both sculpting and painting and I enjoyed her work.
ORSAY MUSEUM
The Orsay Museum was our favorite in the city. It started life as a rail station and is now a very well put together museum featuring more recent works of art (from 1900 forward). It is very open with lots of sunlight and open spaces, not very crowded and with all types of art. There is something for everyone in the Orsay.
EIFFLE TOWER
Very beautiful. We saw it many times in the distance but only went to visit during the evenings. The tower is lit up beautifully and every
Cheers!
Kathy, Robin & Mike hour the lights start twinkling like a Christmas tree. We thought it was much more dramatic at night. Standing underneath it seems much bigger than you would think.
As if our time in Paris was not more then one could ask for while on vacation, it was doubled when we traveled south to meet Elise’s parents and see the place she calls home. And, the fact that this place is known as Provence, well it just made it all that much better. We took the train from Paris to Avignon, where her parents where waiting for us. They live in the small village of Menerbes, and being a small village, it does not have a train station. It was quite a thrill to finally meet her parents, Ghislain and Marylene, after 10 years of waiting for this day. Being in southern France, with its sunshine and peaceful feeling, gave us the renewed energy we needed to start week 3 of our French vacation.
After a nice walk around the city of Avignon, we had some lunch and started the drive towards Menerbes. Ghislain was sure to give us the deluxe tour, stopping now and again for us to
The Thinker
Rodin Musee take in the history that saturated the area, not to mention its abundance of beauty. Their house itself has an interesting history, starting out originally as a stone farmhouse built in the 1700s. Elise’s family left Paris when she was just 6 years old and moved here, buying the old house and starting what turned into several years of renovation. Now it is not only their home, but also a Bed and Breakfast. It’s amazing what they have done with the place, every room having its own special touch with a comfortable, warm feeling. Ghislain and Marylene went out of their way to make sure we felt welcomed. I don’t think we could have felt any more at home, they took such good care of us; feeding us one delicious meal after another, with several bottles of wine always present. Mike was in heaven with each bottle that was opened. Marylene played tour guide, and took us to see a different village every day.
One of the highlights for both of us was when we visited an old stone quarry which was no longer in use. They would cut huge square slabs out of the side of the mountain
and over time it left a large cavern like place. It was like a man made cave, going deep into the mountain and opening up into this really big room, the size of a gymnasium. Over the past years, the city started showing famous art work, projected in large format onto the stone walls of the cave. On the day we visited, they were featuring the artwork of the French painter, Cezanne. This was a bonus for Mike, as Elise was the one to introduce him to Cezanne’s work while she lived with us. Now to see these magnificent creations displayed 20 times their original size projected on the walls, ceiling and floor; combined with isolated feeling you got from being in the cave, made for a very unique and surreal moment. Everyone should experience this!
Saying good-by to Ghislain and Marylene was not easy, and at this point we realized our time with them and in Provence was too short. We ended our 3 weeks in France with an overnight stay at Elise's apartment in Marsaille, with a beautiful view of the bay. Her and Michael made a big batch of Nachos Marsaille (don't ask), and we enjoyed
Room with a view
Elise's parents' B&B; they gave us the nicest room and view. a nice dinner with her and her fiancé. Wow, what a fantastic vacation we had; one we will never forget.
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