We went to the airport in Madrid early on a Friday morning. We took EasyJet, a low fare airline and competitor of Ryan Air. Travelers are limited to one carry-on and one handbag per person. We learned the hard way that this did not mean one carry-on and one laptop bag, or one carry-on and one book bag. This meant on one carry-on and one little, tiny handbag. So we were stopped at the gate for trying to bring too many carry-ons on the plane. The woman who stopped us told me that I must put my book bag and its contents into the carry-on bag, and that Steve must do the same with his briefcase. I told her I could not do it. She told me again to put my book bag into my carry-on, and I told her again that I could not do it. I wasn’t trying to be difficult but there simply wasn’t room for it. So she told me I would have to check one of the bags and I would have to pay for it. That was perfectly fine with me, but I was afraid we would have to get out of line and go back to a baggage check desk somewhere to do it. As it happened, her colleague was able to help us right there at the gate. So, two suitcases and quite a few Euros lighter, we boarded the plane and headed off for Paris.
We quickly claimed our luggage at Charles de Gaulle, then found a train and headed into Paris. The train stopped at Gare du Nord, a huge station which, according to our map, appeared to be a short walk from our hotel. Unfortunately, the tiny road on which the hotel was located did not appear on our map of Paris, nor on other maps that we looked at while trying to find it. Finally, after quite a bit of walking, we found a lady in a pharmacy who was able to point us in the right direction. The hotel, a Best Western, was small but neat and clean. Best Western claims to have the largest international chain of hotels in the world. Don’t know if that’s true or not, but we did pass at least two other Best Westerns while we searched for our own.
Upon arrival, we went to our room and noticed it was a bit warm. The weather in Paris was unseasonably warm that weekend and, as it happened, the hotel had turned off their air conditioning the week before in anticipation of cool weather that did not come! Not much we could do about it at that point, so we opened the windows to let the cool air, and the street noise, in. We walked across the narrow street to a restaurant that the hotel clerk recommended, and we had a fabulous lunch. We both selected beef stew in wine sauce, and it was delicious! A taste of home!
We went back to the hotel for a quick nap, then set out for sights to explore. We ended up at the Louvre museum, which is open late on Friday nights. The Louvre is, I believe, one of the largest museums in the world and the most visited art museum. It is housed in a former palace, which was vacated when the French royal family moved to Versailles. Because it was late in the day, we choose to focus on just one of its many exhibits – Egyptian Antiquities. They were absolutely amazing, and took a full two hours to view. There were statues and artifacts and sarcophaguses and many other interesting things to look at. Our only regret was that all the signage was in French. When the museum closed, we went for dinner at a brasserie near our hotel and enjoyed delicious omelets, which are served not only for breakfast in Paris but all day long.
The next morning, we took off for the basilica of Sacre-Coeur which is to the northwest of downtown Paris. The basilica was built in the nineteenth century and sits on a hill with an amazing view of the city. To our surprise, there was a food and wine festival being held that day at the foot of the hill. Vendor after vendor offered samples of all sorts of food including sausages, breads, desserts and foie gras. In addition, full sizes of many foods and jars of foie gras and other goodies could be purchased to take home. The booths were divided by regions of France, and representatives of each region passed out tourist information. Steve tried foie gras from a couple of vendors and commented on how delicious it was. Then he asked me what was in it. When I told him it was goose liver pate, he said, “I hate liver!” and I replied, “Not anymore you don’t.”
We took the Metro into downtown Paris where we visited Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergerie. Sainte Chapelle is an eight hundred year old church which is currently under restoration. It has the most amazing stain-glass windows that illustrate 1130 figures from the Bible. Next to Saint Chapelle is the Conciergerie, a former palace and Paris's oldest prison, where Marie Antionette and later the leaders of the Revolution were held before their execution.
Then we hopped on the metro and went to L’Arc de Triumphe, an monument built to honor those who died in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. To our surprise, a parade was ending its journey down the Champs Elysee at the Arch. A military band led the parade, and what appeared to be local political dignitaries, along with representatives of the military, the fire department, children’s organizations (perhaps like our Explorers or Scouts), and dogs (fire or police dogs, perhaps?) marched to the Arch. We tried to Google the parade but had no luck, so we can’t really tell you what was going on.
That evening, we took a bus tour of the city at night, and a boat tour on the Seine. Both provided commentary in English, which was very helpful. We ended the evening by having dinner at a very nice restaurant on the Champs-Elysee.
The next day, we followed the Seine to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, a 12th century cathedral with amazing rose windows. I really wanted Steve to see this church because it is a contemporary of the cathedral we saw in Toledo but it is not nearly as ornate. We happened to walk in right at the end of Mass, and had the great fortune to hear the cathedral’s organ play its recessional. I am a great lover of huge organs playing beautiful music, so I feel especially luck to have heard this organ.
We walked quite a bit, then found a nice café to sit in and watch the world go by. Paris is a wonderful place to do that. We left late in the afternoon, took the train back toward the airport, but were diverted onto buses at one point because of construction. Not the smoothest transition, but we made it to the airport with ONE CARRY-ON EACH. We’ve learned our lesson.
We quickly claimed our luggage at Charles de Gaulle, then found a train and headed into Paris. The train stopped at Gare du Nord, a huge station which, according to our map, appeared to be a short walk from our hotel. Unfortunately, the tiny road on which the hotel was located did not appear on our map of Paris, nor on other maps that we looked at while trying to find it. Finally, after quite a bit of walking, we found a lady in a pharmacy who was able to point us in the right direction. The hotel, a Best Western, was small but neat and clean. Best Western claims to have the largest international chain of hotels in the world. Don’t know if that’s true or not, but we did pass at least two other Best Westerns while we searched for our own.
Upon arrival, we went to our room and noticed it was a bit warm. The weather in Paris was unseasonably warm that weekend and, as it happened, the hotel had turned off their air conditioning the week before in anticipation of cool weather that did not come! Not much we could do about it at that point, so we opened the windows to let the cool air, and the street noise, in. We walked across the narrow street to a restaurant that the hotel clerk recommended, and we had a fabulous lunch. We both selected beef stew in wine sauce, and it was delicious! A taste of home!
We went back to the hotel for a quick nap, then set out for sights to explore. We ended up at the Louvre museum, which is open late on Friday nights. The Louvre is, I believe, one of the largest museums in the world and the most visited art museum. It is housed in a former palace, which was vacated when the French royal family moved to Versailles. Because it was late in the day, we choose to focus on just one of its many exhibits – Egyptian Antiquities. They were absolutely amazing, and took a full two hours to view. There were statues and artifacts and sarcophaguses and many other interesting things to look at. Our only regret was that all the signage was in French. When the museum closed, we went for dinner at a brasserie near our hotel and enjoyed delicious omelets, which are served not only for breakfast in Paris but all day long.
The next morning, we took off for the basilica of Sacre-Coeur which is to the northwest of downtown Paris. The basilica was built in the nineteenth century and sits on a hill with an amazing view of the city. To our surprise, there was a food and wine festival being held that day at the foot of the hill. Vendor after vendor offered samples of all sorts of food including sausages, breads, desserts and foie gras. In addition, full sizes of many foods and jars of foie gras and other goodies could be purchased to take home. The booths were divided by regions of France, and representatives of each region passed out tourist information. Steve tried foie gras from a couple of vendors and commented on how delicious it was. Then he asked me what was in it. When I told him it was goose liver pate, he said, “I hate liver!” and I replied, “Not anymore you don’t.”
We took the Metro into downtown Paris where we visited Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergerie. Sainte Chapelle is an eight hundred year old church which is currently under restoration. It has the most amazing stain-glass windows that illustrate 1130 figures from the Bible. Next to Saint Chapelle is the Conciergerie, a former palace and Paris's oldest prison, where Marie Antionette and later the leaders of the Revolution were held before their execution.
Then we hopped on the metro and went to L’Arc de Triumphe, an monument built to honor those who died in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. To our surprise, a parade was ending its journey down the Champs Elysee at the Arch. A military band led the parade, and what appeared to be local political dignitaries, along with representatives of the military, the fire department, children’s organizations (perhaps like our Explorers or Scouts), and dogs (fire or police dogs, perhaps?) marched to the Arch. We tried to Google the parade but had no luck, so we can’t really tell you what was going on.
That evening, we took a bus tour of the city at night, and a boat tour on the Seine. Both provided commentary in English, which was very helpful. We ended the evening by having dinner at a very nice restaurant on the Champs-Elysee.
The next day, we followed the Seine to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, a 12th century cathedral with amazing rose windows. I really wanted Steve to see this church because it is a contemporary of the cathedral we saw in Toledo but it is not nearly as ornate. We happened to walk in right at the end of Mass, and had the great fortune to hear the cathedral’s organ play its recessional. I am a great lover of huge organs playing beautiful music, so I feel especially luck to have heard this organ.
We walked quite a bit, then found a nice café to sit in and watch the world go by. Paris is a wonderful place to do that. We left late in the afternoon, took the train back toward the airport, but were diverted onto buses at one point because of construction. Not the smoothest transition, but we made it to the airport with ONE CARRY-ON EACH. We’ve learned our lesson.
