9th November Paris

Today yet another late start! Well, I am on holidays!!! Headed to the post office first to post some t-shirts, souveneirs and paperwork home because it is much cheaper from France than London. It costs 46 Euro for a 7kg box whereas in London it cost me 76 pounds to post home less than 4kg!

Today's first stop was the Musee de l'Armee to see the tomb of Napolean. I have to say that I have never been interested in the part of French history after the French Revolution, but I am in Paris and he is a significant character in the history of this country and I feel I have ignored him for too long. Well not anymore, yesterday I bought a Napolean christmas decoration at the Arc de Triomphe and today I get to meet the man...kind of!! Napolean's tomb is located in the central crypt of the Eglise du Dome Church at the Hotel des Invalides. Napolean died on the 5th May 1821 on the island of St Helena, where he had been in exile since 1815. In 1840 his remains were exhumed and brought to Paris, under the instructions of Louis- Phillipe who demanded that the English return the emperor to French soil. A state funeral was held and the remains laid to rest in St Jeromes Chapel. The remains were moved in 1861 when the tomb was completed. The tomb is made from red porphyry which is placed on a green granite base. A statue of the emperor, bearing the imperial emblems, is located at the back of the crypt. In 1842 the architect Visconti had to redesign the church's high altar to accomodate the tomb. The whole thing is really quite grand...and here I thought Marie-Therese of Austria's coffin was something!!!   

Next it was off to the Musee de l'Orangerie. This art gallery contains impressionist and post impressionist paintings and is the permanent home for eight Water Lilies murals by Claude Monet. It also contains work by Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso and Renoir among others. The Water Lilies were by far my favourite in this museum, the colours were so peaceful and tranquil and you really are transported to his garden at Giverny when you sit and look at them.

I chose to go to the Louvre today because it's Friday and on Friday the museum is open until 10pm. The Louvre is one of the largest palaces in the world and, as the former residence of the kings of France, one of the most illustrious. It houses a magnificent collection of ancient and Western art. It has become the globes most visited museum and contains 35,000 pieces of artwork. The Louvre's permanent collection includes masterpieces by the European masters of Da Vinci, Delacroix and Rubens and Greco-Roman, Egyptian and Islamic arts collections. I was able to wander through here for hours!!! As the night went on it became quieter in the museum and sometimes I was the only person in a room, it felt I had the palace all to myself. As I wandered through the vast collection of sculptures, I began to appreciate even more the genius of Michelangelo. I have seen so many sculptures both on this trip and previous trips, but as I walked around the Louvre tonight, they all seemed so ordinary and lacking detail. That is what I have come to appreciate about Michelangelo's Madonna and Child in Brussels, Pieta in Rome and the magnificent David in Florence, the detail. His work clearly defines the muscles and features of the human body, as I said...genius!  Napolean III's apartments are also on display...talk about extravagant!!! The Mona Lisa had her fair share of visitors again today although not as busy as earlier in the week. As well as exploring new areas of the museum I did revisit some of the highlights that I visited earlier in the week. I headed home exhausted!!! So much walking, my feet are starting to suffer. Need to rest up as tomorrow I am off to spend the whole day at Versailles.

8th November Paris

After another late start this morning (talking to Brenton today)...I headed out to the Le Marais area to see if I could find some boots. I have now realised that it is an almost impossible task as the largest shoe size here in Paris seems to be a 41...and in boots, I seem to be a 42! So I give up...I'm beaten! So I decided to get on the metro and head to Sacre Coeur. I worked out which metro station to get off at, but which direction I was to go in was anyones guess! It didn't help that I forgot my map of Paris and so ended up in the wrong place, wrong direction and probably the wrong neighbourhood!!! I did however eventually manage to find a metro station and kind of worked out which direction to go in. Was a bit annoyed with myself because it meant I had wasted time wandering aimlessly!!! Eventually I stumbled upon...or should I say staggered up to...Sacre Coeur. The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris is a Roman Catholic Church located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. It was designed by Paul Abadie with construction commencing in 1875 and it was completed in 1914. It is built of travertine stone which constantly exudes calcite which ensures that the basilica remains white even with weathering and pollution. Video and photography inside the basilica is forbidden but I can tell you that there is a large mosaic in the apse of the church called Christ in Majesty and it is among the largest mosaics in the world. The Blessed Sacrament is also on display and perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament has continued uninterrupted in the Basilica since 1885. Many people come from around the world to pray in this place of pilgrimage. I didn't climb to the top of the dome...too much walking and steps just to get to the Basilica...but the views over Paris from the church were still quite spectacular. It is a very busy place with sellers trying to sell their trinkets to tourists and there was even a group of young men singing (rapping) on the steps gathering a crowd. 

Because I was in the neighbourhood I decided to take advantage of my Paris pass and went to the Espace Dali. In the heart of Montmatre is the only permanent exhibition in France entirely devoted to the great master of Surrealism, Salvadore Dali. There are over 300 original masterpieces including the famous melted clocks, Alice in Wonderland, Romeo and Juliet and the well known Mae-West Lips Sofa.

Then I headed off to get up close and personal with the Arc de Triomphe. This time, unlike in 2001, I knew to use the underpass, rather than run across the crazy roundabout which surrounds the arch...where the only rule as you drive on the roundabout is 'every man for himself!!  The Arch of Triumph stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle at the western end of the Champs-Elysees and honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unkonwn Soldier from World War I and they were also setting up for commemoration ceremonies to be held on the 11th November. The monument stands 50 metres in height, 45 metres wide and 22 metres deep. It was the largest triumphal arch in existence until the construction of the Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang in 1982. Its design was inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus. I stupidly decided to cimb to the top! Apparently there is a lift...missed this...and took the 200+ stairs to the attic, where there is a  small museum which contains large models of the Arc and tells its story from the time of its construction. I then climbed the next 46 stairs to the top to enjoy the panoramic view of Paris and take a few pics. I stopped at the shop on the way down and bought a Napolean Bonaparte christmas decoration...I left Josephine on the shelf! I then went to the bottom and took some more pics. I then decided to walk down the Champs Elysees...why? I have no idea but I can tell you that my feet are no longer speaking to me!!! I walked past where they are setting up for the Christmas markets...really have to come here to these one year...and to the Place de la Concorde, the site where over 1300 people were guillotined including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Exhausted I got the metro from here and went to a Brasserie near my apartment for dinner. Had steak (first in weeks) and chips for dinner and then Creme Brulee for dessert. I am writing this blog post while I am eating my dinner! Heading home to bed soon!!!

7th November Paris:Musee d'Orsay

This morning I had a sleep in which was fabulous. I had planned to do a couple of things today but a sleep in was needed, particularly after 21 days of touring and early mornings. I Skyped Mum and Dad again and then Jess called in on her way home from teaching at Westside so I got to talk to her too. 

I headed off to the Musee d'Orsay today. When we were in Paris in 2001 it was closed for renovation work so I missed seeing it. I was probably most excited to see this place of all the things in Paris I was going to see...and it didn't disappoint. As I walked across the bridge to the left bank...surprise surprise there was a woman trying to pull 'the ring trick' on me! I can't believe they are still doing this. If you don't know what this is, what happens is a woman walks past you and as she passes she bends down to the ground, flashes some gold ring, picks it up and then tries to tell you that you have dropped your ring. When you tell her its not yours she offers it to you and tells you she can't keep it because it's not hers, not the right size, against her religion, blah blah blah. Then as you are walking away with the ring she starts to tell you the sob story about how she is poor, hungry etc since she gave you the ring maybe you could give her half the value of the ring...its worth nothing!!! I had heard about this scam but didn't believe they were still trying it. The thing I found most amusing was that they bend down in front of you...if you dropped it, it should be 'behind' you??? Well she didn't fool me!!

Ring lady behind me, it was off to the Musee d'Orsay. The Musee d'Orsay is housed in an old railway station, the Gare d'Orsay which was built between 1898 and 1900. It is the home of mainly French art dating from 1845 to 1915 and is best known for its collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces, including works by Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, Gauguin and Van Gogh. I decided to start at the top and work my way down, but first lunch! I was surprised to hear someone calling my name while I was in the line for the cafe, but it was a a family (Mum, Dad and adult daughter) from my tour who had also stayed a few more days in Paris. After a quick catch up they headed off to explore more of the museum and I headed for lunch. The art in this museum was awesome (yep, there's that word again). I was able to see many of Monet's work (there are 86 pieces in this gallery) including 'Rouen Cathedral', which I have a whole new appreciation for now that I have seen the real thing. I also saw Van Gogh's 'Self Portrait', 'Starry Night Over the Rhone' and the 'Bedroom in Arles'...I have these as prints at home from when I saw these on exhibition in Canberra! I also saw 'Whistler's Mother'...as in the Mr Bean movie ;) I loved this gallery and it was so wonderful seeing this amazing collection of work.

I then walked (crazy I know) back into Paris and had a wander through Galleries Lafayette which had a couple of new displays up for Christmas, one of which was Cinderella's pumpkin carriage, all lit up. Exhausted, I got a salad and vanilla eclair and headed home for dinner. 

6th November Paris

This morning I woke up early so I could say goodbye to the group who were going back to London...all my best new buddies. My room buddy was also leaving to go back to London today. I have to say that after the first two nights of the tour I was not sure how this room share thing was going to work out, or if it would work out...but it did and by the end we were great room buddies and I have made a good new friend. We pretty quickly worked out our routine, who showered when, which bed each of us would take etc. Some nights we would get into our pyjamas and talk for hours!!! The two others who chose the twin share option didn't work out and one of them payed the single supplement to get her own room, which meant the other woman got her own room without paying the single supplement. At first we thought we were going to rotate room buddies but that never happened, and although Neva and I offered to do that with the others, the other lady had decided she wanted her own room. We could have then rotated the single room, but we were happy to share with each other, and preferred to stay together...so we did.

It was really sad to say goodbye and some even shed a few tears. I can't believe how quickly the time went. It was also interesting to watch the group dynamics change over the course of the trip, and the people we spent our time with at the beginning of the trip weren't necessarily the same we hung out with at the end. Regardless, they were a great group and I was really happy to have spent the last 21 days with them. We also said goodbye to Gian Carlos our driver and Mr Trafalgar... the 'perfect' Patrick...our wonderful tour guide. I have been lucky enough to have some great tour guides, but none of them rate as highly as him. He went above and beyond to make our holiday a memorable one, and I can't wait to get home to have a look at the DVD he put together for us about our trip. If any of you reading this are looking for a tour...I would highly recommend Trafalgar.

Now that the group was gone, I went back to my room and packed my bags. Quick Skype call to Mum and Dad and then Andrew and Trish arrived so I got to see Miss Mia which made my day! I then checked out and was able to leave my suitcase at the hotel until the afternoon because I wasn't due to go to my apartment until 2pm. I decided to head off into Paris and pick up my Paris pass which I had to pick up at the Hard Rock Cafe. I managed to find my way on the metro and picked up my pass with no problem. It was in the same area in Paris that we had stayed in 2001 and I was even able to find the hotel we stayed at. I also found the Chatier restaurant where we had also had lunch one day in 2001. I remembered this restaurant because the kids had ordered a hamburger which at the time we didn't realise literally is a hamburger pattie and nothing else, they had been so shocked that it didn't even come with bread. I then walked (crazy I know) down to the Louvre to take a few pictures before going back to the hotel. I decided to get a taxi from the hotel to my apartment rather than negotiate the stairs with my bag. The cab driver didn't speak English but he was trying to explain to me that he had a new GPS, which he didn't seem to quite know how to use yet, but he did manage to get me reasonably close to my apartment and I walked the rest of the way.

The apartment owner Rebecca was there to meet me and she showed me around the apartment and how to get into the building. You enter two big green doors via a cobbled street. Through the green doors is another gate which opens onto a courtyard. The 'first floor' in Paris is what we would call the 'second floor' so I had to negotiate some narrowstairs up to the apartment but Rebecca was eager to help. The building itself is about 300 years old, but newly renovated inside. The apartment was just like the pictures. I was supposed to pay a 300 Euro bond but she only wanted 100 which was nice. Once she left i headed out for a walk to see what was in my neighbourhood. Just up the laneway is the Centre Pompidou, the modern art museum. There were also lots of shops and places to eat nearby. I then went to the grocery store to buy a few supplies and then headed back to the apartment for the night and got all my washing done...it's great to have a washing machine. It is so nice knowing that I don't have to unpack my suitcase for the next six nights!