When I was reading 84 Charing Cross Road the author once asked someone who traveled to England a lot if literary England was still able to be found. The man commented, "Oh it's there, you can find it." I myself can vouche for this since moving here but I wondered if something similar was true about Paris. Can you still find traditional, cliche Paris? After my visit there last month I can safely say yes. You have to look for it, but it is there.
John and I took the Eurostar from its new station at St. Pancras International Train Station. For those of you who aren't aware, the Eurostar is the train that travels under the English Channel to Paris via tunnel in two and 15 minutes. It was really amazing, the tunnel under the channel, 26 miles, took no more than 20 minutes to get through. Checking in was like checking in to an airport, having your passport checked and our luggage x-rayed. The seats were incredibly large and the space to spread out was expansive. We weren't served food but could go and buy stuff from the food carriage, just like a regular train. When we arrived in Paris my first view was of the Sacre Cour Church, it almost looks like a middle eastern temple.
We got ourselves some tickets for the Paris metro and made our way to our hotel. The Paris metro is very different from the London metro/tube. First, the trains don't actually have metal wheels. They have huge car-like rubber tires. The trains also don't sit people along the side in one long row facing each other but in seats of two on each side facing the front or back of the train. The metro was also dirtier than the London tube. Everyday the tube has minimal rubbish that is gone by the morning. I have never seen graffiti in the tunnels and only rarely on the actual trains. In Paris, the metro tunnels were covered end to end with graffiti, as were the trains. It was very grimy all over as well. There were also constant beggars and performers who would shanghai trains with small kareoke machines trying to earn a few cents and Euros.
Our hotel was small but very nice and smelled all over of mojitos. I loved going out into the hallway everyday just to smell mint and lime. The nice thing about it was that it was three metres from the metro station. We were able to come and go with ease.
The first stop on our tour of Paris was Pere Lechaise Cemetery. Not that John and I are morbid or anything, it was just the furthest out from the center of the city so we decided to get it over with. We were able to visit Heloise and Abelard, the famous medieval lovers who were separated by Heloise's uncle, who had Abelard, considered one of the founders of the Sorbonne, castrated. He became a monk so that she might marry again, but Heloise became a nun rather than be separated from him. They wrote letters during their religious travels until they died and were buried together in Pere Lechaise. I have always thought their story was an amazing testament to the power of true love.
Next we decided to visit Jim Morrison. I always swore I would never visit him should I come to this cemetery, but with all the little graffiti arrows on other graves pointing the way to Jim, see my pictures on MySpace, I couldn't resist. He is tucked away in the middle of three small mausoleums. Next, we visited some of the other famous graves Chopin, Moliere, Proust, and Oscar Wilde. Now Oscar's grave was definitely wild. There was so much graffiti all over it that it was hard to make out his name. There were also numerous lipstick kisses covering the tomb that it looked like one big pink pocked rock. The cemetery had many more famous graves but John and I wanted to get more done that day than visit dead people.
After visiting the dead we decided to go to the spot where the Bastille stood. Apparently there use to be some ruins left of the old prison, but now there is really nothing but a monument left. We took a picture of the monument and headed for the Paris Opera. Actually, it is known as the Opera Garnier, after the man that built it, but it is the actual opera house where Gaston Leroux based his novel, Phantom of the Opera. The opera house was amazing, unfortunately we got there ten minutes to closing so we didn't go in, but even the outside was incredible. The front was made up of numerous monuments and statues dedicated to different composers, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach. While in the neighborhood we spotted a crepe stand. There are tons of them all over. I decided I wanted to have a crepe. While in France do as the French do. All I have to say is . . . . . .wow! It was fantastic!
After that we went to the Place de la Concorde. This was the actually place where a statue of Louis XIV was torn down during the revolutions and then the guillotine stood. It was where thousands sat and watched executions all day during the reign of terror. Apparently at one point there was so much blood in the streets that cattle being driven through the town refused to cross the way. Now there is an obelisk from Ramses II of Egypt on the spot. It was put there because the government thought no one would remove it should there be another revolution. Looking down from the Place de la Concorde you can clearly see the Champs Elysees and the Arc du Triomphe in the distance. You could also see the Eiffel Tower in the distance standing proudly over all of Paris.
At this point I was a little tired of being on trains so asked John if we might walk to the Eiffel Tower. We walked past the American Church in Paris, down cobbled streets, across busy intersections directed by police, and finally reached the Eiffel Tower. There is a beautiful garden that surrounds the base of the tower and I couldn't help but take pictures of it. So far, April in Paris was everything I had imagined and more. The weather was perfect, the trees and flowers in bloom, and John by my side. And yet, when I said I was heading to the top of the tower, John said he was only going halfway up. I said that if I was going to go up, I might as well go all the way up, . . . . darn it! So we separated and I headed up the elevators.
I met a few Americans from Georgia on the way up, a couple from Atlanta. The woman and I spoke about our teaching careers on the last elevator trip up, constantly, keeping eye contact to avoid looking down. We walked around and looked at the different views. The only problem with the Eiffel Tower are the lines. Lines to get on the elevators to go up, and lines to go down. We finally got tired of lines, and the noisy Italian rugby players singing songs such as Volare, and took the stairs from the second level down. I met John at the bottom and we decided to walk back to the closest tube station and have dinner.
There were two restaurants on either side of our hotel. We decided to go the smaller of the two. I remember hearing once that if you try to speak in French to the French they are much nicer to you. Having taken French for several years in high school I was a little rusty, but tried my best. The waiter we had was great. He was humourous and helpful. We had a smoked salmon salad with a great sauce. Then came our steaks with gorgonzola sauce. I LOVE gorgonzola now, let me tell you. But the steaks . . . well, just be prepared that when you say medium rare in Paris, . . . it is a VERY different medium rare . . . more like rare rare. We ate it anyway, not too bad really and then ordered a creme brule for our dessert. Now most of you know, creme brule is my favourite dessert. I can say without a doubt that in that little French cafe, I had the creme de la creme of creme brule. It was sooooooo rich and creamy, the right temperature, and don't even get me started on the taste. YUM!
After that, as we were exiting the restaurant, such friendly people inside by the way, some three young adults with backpacks ran past us. They were speaking French and seemed to be in a rush. No sooner did we see them turn a corner when all of a sudden a waiter and host from the other restaurant ran out after them. I indicated to the two men quickly to turn the corner rather than go straight, realising that I was witnessing the classic Paris cliche of running out on a check. We waited a few minutes, but did not find out whether they were ever caught.
Next day we got up early and made it to the Louvre around opening. The Louvre is amazing. Not just the works of art, but the building itself. You have to remind yourself that it was a palace at one time. It still maintains that regal quality every time you look up at one of the magnificent ceilings or walk through one of the glamourously decorated doorways. We are talking statues and paintings in every nook and cranny that have nothing to do with the collections, they are part of the architecture people!
It was funny, I hadn't planned on going on a Da Vinci Code places of interest hunt, but I ended up doing it, just because I was there and why not. We found the inverted pyramid. We even found the other 'Madonna on the Rocks', I have now seen both since the other one is in London's National Gallery. I could have walked around the Louvre all day. Seeing works of art I have dreamed about my whole life was one of the most amazing experiences. I cried a little when I saw the Mona Lisa, just because, there she was, right in front of me, finally. And don't even get me started on the Venus de Milo. She is huge, but so breathtakingly beautiful. I am only sorry I could only show certain pictures of her on my MySpace, but well, I understand their rules on nudity and respect that. She was perfect.
After that we walked along the streets of Paris to the Cite, the oldest part of Paris. It was there that Abelard instructed young scholars and is considered one of the founders of the University of Paris. It is also where Quasimoto lived, which brings me to our next major landmark, the Cathedral of Notre Dame. What an amazing bulding! Not only outside, but inside as well. I am the only I know of who has been to Paris and bothered to see the inside. Let me tell you, John is not overly impressed much by cathedrals, having lived near York, Canterbury, and Westminster most of his life, but I heard a sharp intake of breath from him to match my own as we walked inside. It just goes up, and up, and up. Beautiful! It is the same size as Westminster in width, but is much taller in length. It also does not have many memorials, or tombs on the inside like Westminster. This gives it the element of space and vastness which left both John and I in awe. We did not have time to climb up the towers, that will have to wait for the next trip.
Once we did the inside, we decided to walk around the outside. I wanted to get a picture of one of the many gargoyles, but John by far took the best picture.
Once John had perfected this picture we decided to head for the University of Paris. When I was a young teenager and first studying French, I seriously dreamed of going to the Sorbonne and living in Europe. Actually, I think that is where my dream was first born. Right around that same time I started reading a lot of English classics like Wuthering Heights and Lorna Doone, not to mention Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. I think from an early age, my heart was not in LA, but in Europe. Anywho, enough of a tangent, for the above stated reasons, I wanted to see the Sorbonne/University of Paris. Unfortunately, due to security reasons, you cannot enter and walk around unless you are a student. So . . . I took a picture of the doorway and the Place de la Sorbonne. Oh well. I was there darn it!After that it was one landmark after another, don't even get me started on my feet. We saw the Pantheon, burial place of Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, and Marie Curie, who I did my 9th grade biology report on. We also visited the Palace du Luxembourg and its beautiful gardens. Next was the Church of St. Sulpice, we literally were walking somewhere else when we spotted it. Yep, another trip down Da Vinci Code lane. I have stood on the Rose Line people! But the cathedral itself was beautiful. It actually had a statue of the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus riding in on a stone cloud that billowed over the edge of the nave of the church.
Next we went to the Musee de Orsy. It is a museum converted from a train station. All the major impressionists and post impressionists were there. I got to see more Van Gogh, Seurat, Monet, Manet . . and many others. I also got to see Toulouse Latrec and Whistler's Mother. It was incredible. I would love to go back again.
Finally it was time for our grand walk down the Champs Elysee. Yep, a grand walk it was, took FOREVER from the Place de la Concorde. But, we enjoyed it. At least John did, catching a not so funny pic of me looking in the Cartier window. Still quite haven't forgiven him for that. Men!
Nope, didn't put it up, we all know this is what you really want to see a picture of, isn't it? ;-)Next we headed over to the Red Light district of Paris, in order to see the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergere. It was very uncomfortable to walk down the street, I guess I still am a sort of prude, but I have seen Moulin Rouge! I just wish Amanda, who loved that silly movie with me, was there to see it with me as well. I even took a picture pretending my arm was around her. I hope she knows that I have prayed for her in Westminster, St. Paul's, St. Sulpice, St. Martin in the Fields, and Notre Dame. I will continue to pray for her through all the major cathedrals of Europe if that is what it will take. I love you baby sister.
Around this time it started to get dark so we decided to head over to the Eiffel Tower again for a river cruise. We made it on to the boat and got to witness the light show the Eiffel Tower puts on every night. The first ten minutes of every hour, the tower sparkles like champagne. Sorry about the angle . . .
The boat trip was very cold, but worth it. To see the city in lights was an experience. It truly is the city of romance. John and I decided to keep it simple this night when it came to food. I wanted all the cliche foods, bread, cheese, wine . . . and so did he. We simply went back to our hotel after purchasing these in a local shop, and had a french food snack. The bree was almost too rich but soooooo delicious. We had french chocolate for dessert, which was also lovely.
Next morning we had a while before we got on the train so we decided to just sit and enjoy Paris for once, instead of walking our very sore feet and bodies from one spot to the other. We walked along the Seine and talked, held hands, . . . did all the romance stuff. Along the banks we looked a the different art works that were for sail and observed a few painters at work, another cliche checked off the list. We then went to the Trocadero and sat out on a bench. We finished off the bread and cheese while kids played in the gardens and people sat enjoying the weather. John and I discussed what we had seen and admired. I really loved visiting Paris, I checked off quite a few of dreams on my list, but I decided that London was the place for me to live, not Paris. London is home, Paris is just a fun place to visit. I can't really pinpoint what about Paris made me not want to live there, maybe it was the traffic, the beggars, or maybe it just was that French people don't believe in escalators on their underground system. I was cussing like a sailor every time I saw stairs on the third day!!!! :-) I know, I am teasing. I am a Londoner after all, I walk EVERYWHERE!!!!!
We just knew we wanted to get home to London and our cat. We do plan on going back, taking side trips, we have pretty much done all the major points of Paris. Now it is time for Versailles, Mont St. Michel . . . oh lots of French places! Look out France . . we will be coming back!
