Paris – Day 9

It makes us a little sad to write about our last full day in Paris.  We woke up surprised to hear the sound of piano coming through our open window.  Someone below us was playing amazingly well, and it was a wonderful way to start the day.

We had saved a visit to the Louvre for our last day since it was our backup plan if it had rained a lot any other day.  On our way to the Louvre we stopped by Le Duree for some breakfast pastries and macarons.  Earlier we wrote about the amazing macarons at Pierre Herme that we enjoyed on our first day, which many claim are the best in the city, so we figured on our last day we had to try the other highest-rated macarons in Paris. 

They didn’t disappoint and we’re actually a bit cheaper than those at Pierre Herme, but overall we felt they were a little milder in flavor and less creative in their flavor combination.  We’d rate Le Duree a close second to Pierre, but we really enjoyed their pastries, too!  I still miss such decadent breakfasts.

We arrived at the Louvre and were so pleased that it was such a beautiful day.  We we’re a little bummed to spend so much of it indoors, but it made for some great pictures outside.

Once inside, it was honestly a bit overwhelming.  Many of the main galleries were filled with so many people, and the paintings (at least in the Italian painter rooms leading to the Mona Lisa) were hung three or four high on the walls, so it was difficult to give each one the appropriate attention.  Lynne’s art history training wasn’t used to processing so much at one time.  We enjoyed the audio tour and would rotate with one of us listening and filling the other in while the other took photos.

Winged Victory, my favorite

We had a lot more peace viewing the Middle East and ancient items since it wasn't as crowded, and we found that the galleries on the upper levels had some breathtaking paintings and weren’t nearly as crowded.

We also enjoyed seeing the Napoleon III apartments, which ended our day (we literally got kicked out at 5:45pm), and the two areas that used to be courtyards of the palace which housed some amazing sculptures.  This visit made me realize how little I actually saw on my short three hour tour ten years ago.

Where’s Kirk?

On the way home we stopped by St. Germain church, a grocery store for some last minute gifts and snacks for the plane, and then we tried to find a final dinner place that was just right.  We were being really picky, and unexpectedly ended up back at Vins et Terroirs, since we loved it so much the first time.  We indulged in some great wine, salmon tartar, lobster bisque, beef bourguignon, steak au poivre, and, of course, tons of delicious bread and butter.

When we got back to the apartment, the pianist was at it again.  It was so beautiful, and we’d yell “bravo!” out our window and hear her laugh below.  It was the perfect soundtrack for our last night in Paris as we enjoyed a dessert of French cheese and chocolates in our little apartment. 

Paris – Day 8

Sunday morning in Paris began with a lot of rain.  It was Lynne’s birthday, so we slept in and then had a slightly less scripted day.  Fortunately the weather cleared up and stayed dry and sunny for the rest of the day.  On our way out we spent some time checking out cool French antiques at a neighborhood antique fair on our block.  Then we got on the metro and headed to Montmartre, since we heard Sunday was definitely the day to visit for the art and to see Sacre Coeur.  The interior wasn’t terribly impressive, but the exterior was beautiful.  We enjoyed the stairs and climbs of Montmartre, but it was crowded on the south side, so we climbed up and found a quaint cafe for lunch.  As we ate we enjoyed music from accordion players.

A lot or artists (Picasso, Van Gogh, Utrillo) used to live and work in this area, which used to be a bit seedier and poorer.  We were able to see some houses where they lived and worked, but one place I (Kirk) had to visit was the Lapin Agile.  While we weren’t really interested in a cabaret show at this bar/cabaret, I mostly wanted to visit it ever since reading/seeing (and loving) Steve Martin’s play “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” back in the mid 90’s.

Sunday was a great time to see all the local artists out on the square painting and drawing.  We saw some fantastic work, and I really enjoyed just standing around and watching them create. 

This is a shot of Rue Norvins that is a popular angle for artists

After spending more time wandering around Montmartre we headed southeast to the Marais district, one of the oldest in the city.  There we saw the Place des Vosges (pictured below), Victor Hugo’s house, the Musee Carnavalet, a street fair/parade, a restaurant/bar named “Indiana,” the Bastille, and the new opera.

After walking all over the city and seeing so many things, Lynne wanted to just sit and read, so we sat on the bench in this picture, in a quiet little garden amid the bustling city.  It was really nice and peaceful.

For dinner we walked a few blocks to try L’As Du Fallafel, a place that is all the rage.  It didn’t disappoint and the falafel and chicken were both excellent!  You can see the long line below, just to get take-out, but it actually moves quite quickly as they have some good operations management practices implemented.

After dinner we walked back to the Ile Saint-Louis because we had yet to try the highly acclaimed Berthillon ice cream.  It was as good as any I’ve ever had.  Our next stop was the Arch.  Yes, we were there just the night before, but this time we wanted to get some pictures of the city and Eiffel Tower at night, and thanks to our museum pass, it was free to go up it as often as we liked.

 

The eventually kicked us out and we were the last two people to leave the Arch.  For some reason it felt like our last night in Paris, but fortunately we had one more full day left to enjoy the city and continue to fall in love with it.

Paris – Day 7

Saturday morning (about 6 months ago now!), we got up really early to head to the train station, Gare St. Lazare, to catch the 8:20am train to Vernon.  We enjoyed cheese and snacks for breakfast on the train ride as well as a nice view of the French countryside (or at least as much as you can get from the train).  Once we arrived in Vernon, we hopped on a shuttle bus to Giverny to visit Monet’s house.

Giverny was amazing, a quaint picturesque village dotted with flowers, gardens, and houses that seem to cute for people to actually live in.

At Monet’s house we took a tour of the interior (no pictures allowed, and I even got glared at when I pretended to sneak a shot!), the gardens, and the water lily pond that inspired his Nympheas (which we saw two days earlier).

We spent a couple hours walking around the village, seeing the church where Monet was buried, strolling down the streets, and visiting the town’s impressionist museum.

We headed back to Vernon to catch our train and had a couple hours to kill, so we walked around the city, shopped at a street fair, found a cool painting we bought at a little antique shop, and tried some pastries we hadn’t seen in the Parisian shops.  We enjoyed seeing a more typical small French city and definitely enjoyed the lower prices away from tourists.

The train was incredibly crowded for the ride back to Paris, so we had to sit separately.  I (Kirk) sat next to a posh middle-aged French woman, and we had a great conversation and she recommended some good places for us to visit.  When we got back to Paris we went straight to the Arc de Triomphe.

I thought Lynne would enjoy walking the Champs-Elysees to see the shops and people watch, but neither of us enjoyed how crowded, dirty, loud, and overpriced it was.  We couldn’t find anyplace we wanted to eat, so we headed home.

We found a Thai restaurant near our house and figured it was worth shot to see how Parisians did Thai food.  It was a bad decision.  While we had amazing Vietnamese food earlier in the week, the Thai was quite inauthentic, bland, and over-priced.   Maybe if we had never had real Thai food, we wouldn’t have noticed, since it wasn’t like it was inedible, but it definitely left us wanting.  We walked home, still hungry, and enjoyed wine and cheese, cookies, and chocolate Madeleines.