She gets too hungry for dinner at eight
Feb 20th, 2002, 08:16 PM
#1
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She gets too hungry for dinner at eight
10 February days in Paris:<BR><BR>I left from work to catch my plane, and the fellow employees were amazed I could go to Paris for a week with a 21” rollon and a totebag. I sez I sez “if Alphonse was picking me up with the limo, I’d take a slew of stuff, but it’s me haulin’ this on the RER and metro, so I take what I can carry”.<BR><BR>I rented an eensy studio in the 18eme (it had a WASHER/DRYER!), 4th floor walkup, but it had everything I needed (ballroom dancing was out, though).<BR><BR>New station for the RER and TGV near CDG terminal 2 (the ADP bus stops there), lots of ticket machines that didn’t like my Visa card but the agent at the ticket office did. There’s an ATM right there to get<BR>euros.<BR><BR>Highlights:<BR><BR>Raphael exhibit at the Musee Luxembourg. Not worth the 8 euros entry fee for a couple of paintings and a few drawings. Maybe I’m just not a big Raphael fan.<BR><BR>North of the Louvre metro stop is a pedestrian underground walkway covered with a wild arch a la Guimard but silver bubbles and giant jewels in an arrangement that looked like my jewelry box blew up.<BR><BR>Forgot one has to bag one’s own groceries at Franprix.<BR><BR>Tried to visit the Zadkine museum but the door was locked and it looked pretty deserted. An exhibit at the d’Orsay “l’art de table” so I waited in line for 90 minutes. The exhibit was pretty cool - the whole history of the restaurant (invented in Paris by royal chefs who were obviously<BR>out of work after 1789), old place settings, menus , posters, and decor. Visited the Monets and the other Impressionists, then found some sort of back stairs that opened on to landings displaying furniture like Morris armoires and Frank Lloyd Wright mirrors - and a whole row of bentwood<BR>chairs that I hope came out in the quick photo I took. In the gift shop I found a giant pad of Italian construction paper and a Monet coloring book. Hauled it all over to the Pavilion at Les Halles for the exhibit<BR>of dresses from the movies. Now THIS was neato - a dress Anne Baxter wore in All About Eve, a dress from Nana...the best part was the film clips from the movies, showing the scenes in which the dresses were worn. For an old movie buff (the movies are old, not the buff) and a stitcher, this was hog heaven. Tried to visit the Pantheon but it was closing, so I found an artists’ supply store to buy Eiffel Tower masks and origami paper. Met Kavey, Pete and Rosie for dinner and had a great meal at Volcan (company AND food were fantastic).<BR><BR>
Feb 20th, 2002, 08:19 PM
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The Nissim de Camondo museum near Parc Monceau is glorious. The family collected 18th century works of art, porcelain, furniture, etc. and USED it. The kitchen had a two-layered copper sink which steam was piped in between the layers to keep the washing up water hot. Nice touch. It’s<BR>so sad that the family died out (the last of the line were victims of the Holocaust) and couldn’t enjoy this beautiful home and surroundings.<BR><BR>Chapelle Expiatoire near Opera Garnier is only open Thurs, Fri and Sat. This is where the bodies of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were sort of dumped until they were moved to St Denis, but the bodies of the Swiss Guard are still buried on the grounds. Like the Picpus cemetery, this makes one remember that no revolution is ever won without the incredible loss of life. It is a sad and dark place.<BR><BR>The internet led me to a couple of art galleries: photos of the people of western China (faces I’ve never seen before, not almond eyed exactly, not Semitic exactly, not Caucasian exactly, beautiful but alien; do they not emigrate to places I’ve lived and visited?); then an exhibit of<BR>Japanese paper. Okay so I’ve seen and bought some at Pearl’s Craft Supply, but NOTHING like this stuff. Thank goodness the manager was tied up on the phone or I’da bought hundreds of dollars worth. I’m still tempted to do it through their website.<BR><BR>The Pantheon - yudda thunk I’da visited by now, but this was my first time. Holy moley. This place is mouth-droppingly magnificent. The Fourcault pendulum is incredible (saw one in the daVinci museum in<BR>Milan, but this one hangs from a zillion foot long wire); the frescoes are huge, the statues are monumental. Then down into the crypts where the Curies, Malraux, Hugo are buried. Placards describe the lives of<BR>the people who are buried here - great women and men of France and the world. It is a building of respect and honor.<BR><BR>Parc de Bercy is too cool for school. Along the Seine are these sort of statues of people representing various countries, sort of mosaic and metal and enamel. Schoolkids were on a field trip to draw them (the girls were carefully crayoning, the boys were chasing each other and climbing where they weren’t supposed to). This was the original inhabited area of Paris, long before Lutece ever came into being. Over the last several years, excavations have unearthed pottery and tools and boats used by prehistoric man. This was the area where wine from all over France was delivered in huge hogsheads, so the old chais (depots) are still visible. There’s some sort of folk museum that’s only open to groups and by reservation housed in them. Beautiful gardens (not so lovely in February, but you can see the potential) and a recreated<BR>village with wonderful shops and restaurants. There’s a big exhibition<BR>hall where wine expos are held, and lots of wine wholesalers (some sell retail). A couple of pretty cemeteries close by and not too far to the Museum of Africa and the South Pacific (all those French colonies).<BR><BR>
Feb 20th, 2002, 08:20 PM
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Hotel Soubise is a gorgeous mansion with amazing paintings and furniture and architectural detail. There was to be a concert that night so I heard the flutist and pianist practicing. Upstairs are the archives - a document signed by Louis Quatorze; an order signed by Napoleon; a letter from Marie Antoinette to her sister-in-law asking that she look after<BR>her children, the last she ever wrote. And then the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen...a yellow cloth star with JUIF written on it. No photograph can ever come close to actually seeing one. I stood there, staring at it for several minutes with tears streaming down my face. Just a tiny little piece of cheap cloth...<BR><BR>Ile St Louis is wall-to-wall tourists, how the residents stand it I’ll never know. Found a wonderful epicerie with flavored sugars - oh no mon cher, not McCormick’s Colored Sugar, we’re talking lavender flavored and rose flavored and violet flavored. Happened by the church of St Louis<BR>and thought I’d swing through...lo and behold...a free concert by student musicians from the French version of Julliard. Strings playing Vivaldi, and two wonderful sopranos singing Purcell and Pergolese. <BR>There were at least 300 people in the church to hear the concert. I have the best luck finding free concerts...<BR><BR>Restaurant finds: Volcan, 10, rue Thouin, 5eme - good French food, decent prices, mostly French diners. La Barcarola, 275, rue Faubourg St Antoine - excellent Italian food, moderately expensive, the best raw<BR>oysters I have ever eaten in my life, written up in Le Monde, reservations recommended 01 43 72 24 76. La Bouteille d’Or, 9, quai Montebello. Corsican (??!!) food that was really good (don’t know if it<BR>was authentic Corsican, never having eaten any before), moderately expensive (lunch menu 22euros for 3 courses), get a table near the window for a view of Notre Dame.<BR><BR>Lots and lots of sales - at Printemps, things marked down as much as 70%.<BR><BR>Even in February, lots and lots of tourists. We empty-nester baby<BR>boomers are traveling ALL the time.
Feb 20th, 2002, 09:09 PM
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Thanks, Elvira. I will be in Paris for a long weekend in March, and you have given me some good ideas. You just confirm my opinion that you can never completely see a city like Paris or Rome in one, five or even 10 visits. Your sense of wonder on what must be your upteenth time is enchanting.
Feb 20th, 2002, 10:53 PM
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Elvira: I covet your luck (and flair for writing). Can't tell you how many times I've swung (no double entendre there) by to visit the Pantheon only to be turned away by the greve du jour. Still have something to live for: getting into the Pantheon while I'm alive-I'm not (as my children remind me)going there afterwards.
Feb 20th, 2002, 11:31 PM
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Is that why the lady is a tramp?<BR><BR>I so admire you. From the start you are flexible, and spunky. In order for me to leave from work to go on a trip like that I would have to die and start over as someone else. I envy your free spirit; unhindered by fears of solo travel and energized by your resourceful <BR>enthusiasm. I look forward to your future travelogues. r<BR><BR>
Feb 21st, 2002, 06:33 AM
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I think if people dont like a certain posting, they're entitled to say so (whether they put their real name and email address is another matter). <BR><BR>I dont think people should be slammed for not loving a certain posting, just because the majority of readers get all crawly-bum-lick about it.
