Preparation:
The main focus of this trip is to visit historic sights and various museums. Shopping is way down on the list, especially with the $ being so weak. I unfortunately did not have as much time as I would like to read up on art before the trip. My BF received a DVD series as a gift a few years ago on Impressionism. The series consist of 4 DVDs, each has 6 45-minute lectures. It was very well done and we started watching the series about 4 weeks before our trip. Due to time contraints, we were only able to get through 16 out of 24 lessons before our trip (but we have every intention on finishing it on our return).

Now on to the trip itself ...


Day 0, Feb 26, Dallas, 55F

How can I " Pack as Fodorites pack - light" when it's so cold in Paris?

We had a late afternoon flight out of DFW, so we did our packing during the day. The forecast high temperatures for Paris was 30sF. I found it impossible to pack 1 week's worth of winter clothing into a carryon. Well, I actually did, but that had left me with no room for the gifts I was bringing to my friends in London. My BF faced the same dilemma, with gifts for his London relatives. We ended with 2 rollaboards, 1 duffle bag, 2 day bags (between the 2 of us) and we had to check our luggage.

We flew American Airlines cattle class nonstop from DFW-CDG. Our flight left ontime despite being a completely full flight. It was a 767, still has MRTC, but unfortunately no individual seatback video. Our first meal was a choice of beef stew or chicken with rice. It was rather edible. Just before landing, we were served breakfast which consisted of a hot croissant (welcome to Paris!), yogurt and a bag of raisins. I found the service mediocre though nothing really to complain about. Armed with a neck pillow and eyeshade, I was able to doze on and off for about 6 hours. Poor BF was unable to sleep during the entire 10-hour flight, except for maybe 30 minutes.

We arrived at CDG 4 minutes behind schedule.

Day 1 - Feb 27, Sunday, Paris, high-32F, partly sunny

Unsavvy travelers and Precious time wasted

Our plane touched down at CDG at 10:04am. I had high hopes that we would make it to the organ concert at St. Sulpice (11:30a-12n), as our hotel is located right around the corner from St. Sulpice. Our plane seemed to be taxiing forever, and when we finally came to a halt, we found ourselves in the middle of the field rather than next to the terminal. We waited for our turns to be bused to the terminal. By the time we got through immigration it was 10:50am. Being unsavvy travelers who checked luggage, we wasted another 25 minutes before our bags appeared on the carousel. After we went through customs, we spent another 10 minutes looking for an ATM to get some euros. By then it was 11:30am, and we opted to splurge on a cab (I had already given up my hope on the organ concert). 35 minutes later, we arrived at our hotel - Hotel de Saint Germain, 50 rue du Four. I will give a review of the hotel at the end of the Paris part of the trip report.

We settled into our room and collapsed on the bed. My BF had been up for almost 24 hours, and since we had bought tickets for a concert that night at Opera Garnier, we opted for a nap before heading out.

Three hours later, we reluctantly peeled ourselves off the bed. First stop, Place de la Concorde. It was a rather strange sight when we arrived: they were maybe 5 or 6 couples in wedding attire (along with their wedding parties) taking pictures in Place de la Concorde. Stranger still, they were all Chinese. It appears to me that this is a pre-arranged group activity, but what is unclear to me was whether they are Chinese living in Paris, or Chinese from China who came to Paris for wedding portraits. Either way, I agree that Place de la Concorde (esp the fountains) is rather picturesque, but the thought of having one's wedding portraits done on the site where thousands had lost their heads a few centuries ago, was rather a turn-off for me.

Next we headed up to Madeleine. As we did not have anything to eat since our arrival, we were in search for some food. We passed by Laduree and saw a line, so we went towards Fauchon (I had a vague memory that Fauchon has a tearoom upstairs?), but Fauchon was closed (it was a sunday). We went back to Laduree and waited in line. By then it was after 5pm and most people were having afternoon teas. Surprisingly, the customers were mostly French and very few foreign tourists. We both ordered tea, club Laduree sandwich (a club sandwich, really) which was delicious, and we shared a dessert called Saint-Honore Rose-Framboise - which is a puff pastry with raspberry and rose-flavored cream. Total damage: € 48,30.
Refueled, we walked to Opera Garnier for our concert that evening.

I wanted to attend at least 1 or 2 concerts/operas during our trip, but after checking out numerous websites, very few concerts were offered during our stay in Paris. This concert was called: PRÉSENTATION DE L'ATELIER LYRIQUE, Concert d'airs et d'ensembles d'opéras de Mozart.

With the help of a friend who translated the website for me, I gather it is a concert by "young" opera singers performing various arias from Mozart's operas, with music played by a chamber orchestra. As this is a concert by "unknown" artists, the price was rather affordable - € 20 per ticket. I bought the tickets online and got seats on the first Loge - the best seats in the opera house.

We arrived about 1 hour early, as I had never been inside Opera Garnier and wanted to enjoy the interior and the Chagall ceiling. When we were finally ready to head to our seats, I realized our seats were not together, rather we were in 2 different boxes that are next to one another. During the intermission we were able to switch seats and sat together. The singing was very good, for the most part, and we enjoyed the 3-hour long concert very much.

We were dead tired after the concert, so we decided to head back to the hotel and skip dinner.

I had brought a pedometer along - total mileage for Day 1: 3 miles

Great report YK! I have done that AA DFW-CDG flight. I remember wondering when the plane was going to stop. I saw us roll past the terminal that we were scheduled to go into. We kept going and going and finally parked next to Terminal 1 !. Then we walked down onto the tarmac and boarded a bus. I think the collapse of terminal 2E is the culprit for this. Glad to here there is still MRTC. I am most disappointed that AA is getting rid of this. I had stopped flying AA a few years ago because the staff was so rude. However I finally went back to them and loved MRTC. I was planning on being an AA client again but now am not so sure. Was coach empty on your flight? It was about 70 percent empty on mine.

Hi yk,

A very nicely formatted and well done report.

More.

I think the report is great so far EXCEPT your use of acronyms such as "MRTC"...I suspect not everyone knows what this stands for...

Great report - looking forward to reading more!

MRTC = More Room Througout Coach
LRTC = Less Room Throughout Coach

AA rolled out MRTC a few years ago by pulling rows out of their aircraft allowing for greater pitch. They have now changed their minds and are adding back seats which has caused customers to coin the phrase LRTC.

Nice! I'm glad that the trip worked out (so far) -- looking forward to the rest.

Any thoughts on the Time Out vs. Fodors guidebooks?

Fauchon does have a restaurant/tea room -- at least as of 2002, when I had lunch there. I can't remember much of it though. Surprised that Laduree didn't have more tourists.

Thanks, yk, I've been enjoying your report so far.

I have to say, I really like the pedometer idea!!! I'll have to remember to take mine when we head to the UK. Great report! Thanks!

Nice report, thanks. But 48 euro for tea, two club sandwiches, and one dessert? That's around 60 smackers. Holy Moly!!!!!! It's been some time since we were in Pairs, but...club sandwiches--Holy Moly!!!!!!

Well, Laduree is pricey. But at least the price includes service and taxes....



A pot of tea is probably about 6.50. The club sandwich must be pretty pricey. Around 13-15, maybe?

Actually I think that the tea room at Hevin may be a little more reasonable.

Still I think that tea in London is prohibitively expensive. Did I pay 35 pounds per person for tea at Browns last year? I shudder thinking about that now....

I think that the trick is to not think about a Euro/US conversion or pound/US conversion. You'll only make your blood pressure rise.

Hopes of attending an organ concert 90 minutes after you land at CDG from DFW? Going to the opera on the night of arrival with a BF who hasn't slept in 24 hours? Other than I hope your BF is still speaking to you, I'm not sure what to say. The pedometer is just a bit obsessive for me.

I'm still trying to see how the word "vacation" comes into play here. You just got there and, already, I'm exhausted. Since there's more to come, I'll keep an open mind (and a pillow handy).

yk, I thought your intials rang a bell. You wrote a great trip report on Hong Kong a couple of months ago. Belated thanks for that. If it's any comfort, I was freezing in HK a week before you were freezing in Paris.

Looking forward to hearing a lot more about your latest trip.

Anselm

Nice report, so far! Looking forward to reading the rest. . .

Well, NYCFS, it's yk's trip, not yours.

I think that yk is probably more energetic because I think that she is (much?) younger than you are.

I love the idea of a pedometer, yk! I've often been curious about how many miles we log in traipsing around Paris streets. I can just see myself checking the mileage and saying, "hmmm, this deserves another glass of wine..."

We too went to the Opera Garnier, same seats as you. Isn't that a gorgeous place? BTW, I can't sleep on planes very much either, so your BF has my complete sympathy.

YK-
Loving your report. We leave for Paris next Friday and I'm trying to figure out how to pack for the cold into my carry-on as well.
Did you arrive into Terminal 1 or 2?
If it was 1, where did you finally find the ATM?

Kristina--it wouldn't surprise me if you had to pack for both warm and cold for next week! We were in Paris for the third week in March 2002 and had almost four seasons worth of weather in just a few days.

yk, thanks for your report. We took a last-minute trip to Paris over Valentine's and were going to book the Hotel de Saint Germain (noted the great rate you got in one of your posts) but ended up renting an apartment instead. We've stayed at the Fleurie (their sister hotel) so I'm looking forward to your review.

Thanks for the report yk.

Most times I arrive in Paris (on Air Canada) the flight is parked on the tarmac and we are bussed in. I HATE it! If you arrived in T1 (gag!) there is an ATM to the immediate right of the exit and also a couple in the basement where the shops are.

I'll be in Paris next week myself and am hoping for warmer weather.

Look forward to the rest of your report.

Regards Ger

Ger, the good news is that Air Canada has moved back to Terminal 2A. It's still CDG, of course, but at least there's room to swing a cat when you check back in for your flight home.

Anslem

Thanks AnselmAdorne, that is REALLY good news I am flying from Toronto via Montreal, which is bad enough, and then connecting on to Montpellier. Even the THOUGHT of transiting through CDG T1 was exhausting me.

regards Ger

I'll be flying Air Tahiti next week to CDG. My itinary says we arrive into T1 but when we depart for home it's from T2. Isn't that odd?
BTW, what's so bad about T1?

Kristina , the bad thing about T1 is that it's been reorganised for ages now and still is not ready....the building is pretty ugly , and far from T2 which is the 2nd CDG airport and has as many terminals as A,B,C,D,E,F...you'll have to take a bus from T1 to T2(it goes to all terminals and ask the driver , he'll tell you where to get off).I would recommend 90minutes at least for transit without stress ! When you ask the driver , smile as much as you can , it does help in ANY country !!!!

Sophie-
Fortunately, we do not have to transit between the 2 terminals. We arrive into one and go home from the other a week later. Thanks!

Wow. Did not expect all these generous comments. I'll try to answer some Qs before moving on to the next part of the trip report:

MorganB - the flight DFW-CDG was completely packed (I was in economy) - and I think the B-class was full too. our return flight LGW-DFW was less full, maybe 60%?

Intrepid - I apologize for using acronyms and assuming everybody knows what I'm referring to. I'll try to avoid doing that in the future.

111op - I have to say, I like Fodors more. It's much lighter, and has more description for sights. Timeout has more info on restaurants/shops though.

RufusTFirefly - Yes, Laduree was expensive, and we knew that. We were tired and hungry and there was really nothing else open where we were. Even though it was just a sandwich, it was very filling, as neither of us were hungry when the concert that night. I thought about trying Hevin, but it is closed on Sundays as well.

NYCFS - Let's just say you & I travel very differently. You may want to skip the rest of my trip report, as it gets more exhausting as the week went on... FYI, my BF hasn't broken up with me yet.

AnselmAdorne - thanks for your comments on my HK trip report. It was a very brief trip, only 1 week (in reality, I was in HK for 4 full days). I went because a good friend was getting married there.

mermaid - yes, Opera Garnier was wonderful. It was well worth the € 20.

Kristina - I actually had no idea of which terminal we arrived in. We finally found the ATM by asking the info desk. (But you can try checking CDG's website, or Rick Steves' guidebooks - I meant to look that up before the trip but never got around to.)

mvor - I don't know if I'll recommend Hotel de Saint Germain. Will write my review later.

Ger - I have to thank YOU for posting about the Caravaggio exhibit you went to in Naples. That was one of the highlights of my trip.

A disclaimer about my pedometer:

I thought it would be interesting to see how much walking I do on my trips, and that's why I brought it along.

I believe pedometers work by "counting" (sensing) how many steps one take - and then "translating" the steps into distance. Therefore, it is not that accurate. A 6-foot tall person with longer strides will cover 1 mile with fewer steps than a 4-foot tall person. I am only 5'2", hence I assume my pedometer probably over-estimates the actual distance I walked.

Day 2 - Feb 28, Monday, Paris, high-30F, sunny

We braved the cold, but everything was closed!!!

Part I
Breakfast: We ventured out to a cafe/bar just a few storefronts down from our hotel on rue du Four called "Le Parisien". It was expensive! Never again. 2 cafe au lait and 2 plain croissants set us back € 11,40!

We then walked to Pont Neuf and Ile de la Cite. We stopped by Square du Vert-Galant, then to Place Dauphine which I missed on my previous trips to Paris. (For those of you who check out the European Crossword Puzzle thread, Place Dauphine was once a clue.) It is indeed a picturesque square, and would have been evern nicer if the houses on the E. side of the square had not been demolished.

Next, we went to Conciergerie, and planned on visiting Sainte-Chapelle afterward. Unfortunately, Sainte-Chapelle was closed (no reason given). Disappointed, we headed over to Notre Dame. The Notre Dame Towers were closed, as well as the Crypte Archeologique. We toured Notre Dame and continued East to Memorial de la Deportation. Yes, you guessed it right, it was closed (daily from 12-2pm) as it was 12:15pm when we arrived. Hungry and frustrated, we decided it was time to take our lunch break. We consulted our guidebooks and decided to try Brasserie de l'Ile St-Louis at 55 quai de Bourbon, right across the bridge on Ile St-Louis. Ha, that was closed too (for the winter season), until the first week of March. Finally, we headed to Trumilou at 84 quai de l"hotel de Ville, which, to our relief, was open for business.

We both chose to have their € 17,50 prix fixe lunch. For starters, we both had pate with green salad. For the main plate, I had pike fish with mushroom sauce, while BF had beef & potato stew. Dessert we had fromage (me) and flan (BF). The prix fixe plus 1 beer and 2 coffees came out to € 42,50 total.

We left the restaurant a little after 2pm and headed back to Memorial de la Deportation. It was smaller than I had expected, yet just as somber. Despite the cold weather, I decided that no trip to Paris is complete without some Berthillon ice-cream on Ile St-Louis. As luck would have it, it was closed until 3/4/05 - by then we would be London.

yk,
Thanks for the great report! I'm looking forward to the rest I too sympathize with your boyfriend's not being able to sleep on planes. My husband drops right off, can wake up to eat, and fall asleep easily again. He can truly sleep anywhere. I, on the other hand, can wear ear plugs, take a sleeping pill, and wear a sleep mask. I still do not sleep.

Sandy

yk,

Thanks for the great walkabout and eatabout. I can picture it.

yk... I'm loving your report thus far.

I plan to take a pedometer on the next trip, to have a guestimate on how much we walk whilst on vacation. I think we walked five miles in the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart alone!

Keep it coming please!

Day 2 - Feb 28, Monday, Paris, high-30F, sunny

We braved the cold, but everything was closed!!!

Part II
I decided we should head to Montmartre next, as I was rather confident that Sacre-Coeur would be open. We took the metro to Anvers and walked up the steps. We (as well as other tourists) were immediately mobbed by hawkers selling cheap souvenirs. After a quick visit to the church (we decided not to climb the dome), we walked over to Place du Tertre. Again, we were mobbed by "artists" wanting to paint our portraits. We finally escaped the touristy section and strolled down rue Lepic, passing by Moulin de la Galette (of Renoir fame) and down to Moulin Rouge. BF wanted to visit Musee de l'Erotisme, but that was vetoed by me.

We took the metro back to our hotel (it was 4:30p) and rested for 30 minutes before heading back out again to visit more churches - St-Germain-des-Pres & St-Sulpice. On the way to St Sulpice, we passed by Pierre Herme (right across from Ira's favorite Hotel Bonaparte) which was also closed. After checking out the Delacroix in St Sulpice, we went to Au Bon Marche. Before reaching Au Bon Marche, we passed by La Maison du Chocolat (19 rue de Sevres) which was open! I popped in and bought a small bag of champagne truffles.

After a quick walkaround at Au Bon Marche (nothing was on sale), we went next door to La Grande Epicerie. We contemplated getting a cheese assortment plate but decided against it as it was a rather huge portion for the 2 of us. We then walked all the way back to Pont Neuf and took the 8pm Seine cruise offered by Les Vedettes du Pont-Neuf (€ 10). The commentary (done by a live person) was way better than the recordings played on Bateaux Mouches. One hour later and frozen solid, we walked back to St Germain in search of dinner. The day before, I had spotted a Leon de Bruxelles on Blvd St Germain which is open until 12MN, so we headed there. BF commented that it looks like a "Chili's" - ie a chain restaurant - and I told him it is in fact a chain.

Our server was not the friendliest. He was rather annoyed that we could not speak or understand French. Either way, 1 beer, 2 moules et frites and an excellent creme brulee later(which is recommended by Patrick, I think), we left with a full stomach. (Total cost for dinner: € 34,80.) It must have been at most 25F when we left...

Total mileage for Day 2: 11 miles

yk - thanks so much. But how do you find the time to give such a long and detailed report? It is much appreciated!!!

Day 3 - March 1, Tuesday, Paris, high-37F, partly cloudy

In search of Impressionism

After yesterday's over-priced breakfast experience, we happily ate at our hotel for € 8 (and a lot more food). First on our agenda was Musee Rodin at Hotel Biron. En route to Musee Rodin, I was delighted when we happened to pass by Christian Liaigre's showroom (61 rue de Varenne). The store was not open yet, but I managed to get a good glimpse of his minimalistic furniture through the glass. We spent much longer than I had expected at Musee Rodin, and I picked up a book on Rodin at the gift shop before we left. Our second stop was Napoleon's tomb, followed by Musee de l'Armee inside Invalides. This was my first time to Musee de l'Armee, but as we were in a time crunch, we only had time (1 hour) for the WWII exhibit. It was excellent, but we had to move on and rush to Musee d'Orsay.

I had previously looked up on Musee d'Orsay's website to see if they offer guided tours of the museum. They offer a "Masterpieces" tour daily at 11:30am, but for February & March they were also offering a "The Impressionists" guided tour on Tuesdays @ 2:30p and Thursdays @ 4pm. The 2:30p tour was what we were rushing to catch.

When we arrived, I was dismayed when I saw a sign posting "2:30pm guided tour - From Van Gogh to Matisse". I asked the lady at the info desk and found out the website information was incorrect. "The Impressionist" tour is only offered on Thursdays at 4p. Since we would be leaving for London on Thursday, we would not be able to catch it afterall. We contemplated what to do next. We could either:
a) Stay at Orsay and tour the museum on our own, or
b) Come back on a different day in the morning and take the "Masterpieces" tour

We agreed on option (b) and decided to head to Musee Marmottan instead for the afternoon. While walking to the metro from Orsay, we passed by Richart (258 blvd St Germain). I went in and purchased a small box of herb-flavored chocolates. I have to say, one of the sales associated was most unpleasant.

This was my first time to Musee Marmottan and we were so glad we went (especially after the Impressionism DVD series). It was relatively uncrowded so that we were able to enjoy the paintings without having to maneuver between the crowds (something we would soon find out over the next few days). One highlight was seeing Monet's Impression, soleil levant (Impression, sunrise). Another highlight was seeing Monet's later works, his Lillies & Japenese Bridge, which have evolved towards abstract expressionism. Other Impressionist artists paintings hang upstairs on the second floor. One of which I recognized as Gustave Caillebotte's Rue de Paris, temps de pluie (Paris Street; Rainy Day) - though it was a smaller version which Caillebotte painted as a study for the actual painting, now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

[A side note: I believe Monet's Impression, sunrise was part of the Turner/Whistler/Monet exhibit in Paris at the Grand Palais. Thanks to 111op, he mentioned that he did not believe that painting went on to the T/W/M exhibit in London (which I was planning to go), but rather it would stay in Paris and return to Marmottan; and it did.]

75 minutes later and a Musee Marmottan book from the gift shop, we left for our next stop: Arc de Triomphe. As we were walking towards the La Muette metro station (where Musee Marmottan is), I noticed a Cote de France store (3 Avenue Mozart) right across the street. I was tempted but decided to pass as I was feeling guilty already as I had bought Richart chocolate earlier in the day. In retrospect, I probably should have gone in and got some more chocolates...

Am eagerly looking forward to more report. I don't mind the pedometer thing (my friends have one). Plus, it was nice to know you could walk from Bon Marche (which I assume is in the 7th) to Pont Neuf among the other things you did in one day. It's a good way for me to get perspective on how far apart places are.

yk, don't let a certain few (who seek every opportunity to spin and project their own negativity into my words) influence your interpretation of any comments made by me. (Some, so-called males, enjoy beating up on girls. I suppose it makes them feel more manly.)

Yes, you and I do travel differently, but that wasn't always the case. I have plenty of packed-itinerary notebooks from my days of taking limited corporate vacation time.

Your desire to see an organ concert soon after you landed actually made me smile. It reminded me of numerous trips I made in my 20's, when every moment in a foreign country counted. I love great musical concerts, too.

I once packed nine cities in Italy into a seven day trip. So I'm quite familiar with the adrenaline rush that comes from loving to travel and seeing it all.

You're very lucky to have a BF who seems to enjoy keeping up with you. A good man is hard to find, let alone one who enjoys organs and operas.

Keep up the fun writing. You're dropping some of my favorite Parisian names.

Hm.... I'm not sure what was so negative about saying that yk and you travel differently. And I think that she is (much?) younger.

Perhaps you're reading too much into a little innocent comment, NYCFS?

Which day is the museum closing day in Paris? I thought Monday, but I could be wrong. Is that why everything was closed? If I remember right, the Louvre is different and its closing day is Tuesday. Orsay also closes on a different day (Wednesday, maybe?).

Would be interested in hearing more about what you thought about the chocolates -- I think that Richart is overpriced, but the chocolates are extremely beautiful.

Yes, "Sunrise" was part of the T/W/M exhibition. I'd never been to Marmottan and so I was glad to see the painting at T/W/M. A (much larger) "Sunset" by Monet was also shown -- I forget from which museum (will need to look at the catalogue to find out).

A question in another thread prompted me to research whether the painting would travel to London, and I found out from Marmottan's website that it would not.

Your experience with Berthillon brings up some interesting memories. One trip my mom and I attempted to visit the store two or three times, and it was closed each time. (I think that I finally figured out that the closing days are Mondays and Tuesdays (?)) Then I can't remember if it was during that same trip or a subsequent trip that we finally made it in and sat down (this was in 2002 when they had a seating area still, whereas this seemed to be gone when I was there last year). We had our ice-cream and then my mom got pick-pocketed at the Pont Marie Metro.

The next day we went to the police to make a police report. I guess that was an interesting experience. I've the police report filed away somewhere.

Looking forward to the rest of the report.

Would also be interested in hearing the scoop about the Richart sales associate.

Have not visited the physical store in Paris -- just had my friend pick up a box for me last year. But have visited their store in NYC across from the St. Regis Hotel.

I was in Pierre Marcolini in Paris twice. The first time I walked in, the female sales associate was also quite rude. You mean you can't distinguish between pralines and truffles? I felt that I had to dig a hole right there and crawl into it.

The second time was much better. I was given a few chocolates to try free of charge (when each one is about one euro this is a pretty generous gesture). So I was happy to buy more chocolates than I was intending to buy.

And now -- a confession of my ignorance. How does the pedometer work?

You couldn't reallly have walked 11 miles, could you?

Just curious, did you take notes the entire trip ? I guess I am in partial agreement w/NYCFS in that I am missing out on the vacation here. I know we all have differing ideas as to what that means & in my younger days I suspect that I, too, have tried to cram too much into too little time. However, you state on here that you have been to Paris & London several times, so what is the rush ? As far as the walking, I am sure the first time we went to Paris we put in some serious mileage. For example,"...right there is the Eiffel Tower, let's just take a walk by the Seine..." Two hours later, you're still walking. (LOL) I am very much enjoying your detailed descriptions, but I must inquire, was the trip, fun ?

Sounds like a lot of fun to me, but then walking in Paris--just walking--is one of my favorite things to do. And as I've learned from traveling with various friends, lovers, relatives what have you--one person's fun might be another person's hell.

I don't really take many notes when I travel--although both my husband and I like to draw funny sketches of things we see or that come to mind when we see something. When we get back, we look at the sketches and then reminisce over everything we did and voila--it all comes back and makes a nice day-by-day trip report.

yk, I feel like I'm in Paris with you (beats the office here in SF).

My mother recently asked me "How do you manage to lose weight every time you take a vacation and still eat and drink like you do?"

Well, of course it's the walking. You are indeed lucky to have a boyfriend who can keep up. What a great trip. Thank you for sharing.

SAnParis -- As yk stated, though she's been to Paris a few times, "My BF, OTOH, has only been to the UK twice and never been anywhere else in the European continent."

I think that people's travel styles are quite different. Most of my friends can never understand my insane trips.

Personally I think that age does have something to with it. Though I was, in a way, making fun of NYCFS (there's a history here that I don't want to rehash), I think that there's a certain truth to it. I don't mean to be disrepectful of the (other) seasoned travelers here of course. But personally I'm always surprised by how well my mom manages to keep up with me when we travel together. But then, I guess I do make allowances for her, but frequently, not enough. I can still sort of hear her asking me why I had to drag her out to Terraza del Casino for dinner at 10:30 when we had already been walking for a whole day and it was pouring rain outside.

And I could never understand the "why the rush" argument myself. In a way, this is your moment. If not now, then when? Experiences build upon previous experiences. If you defer experiences, sometimes you're just missing out. Once you've done something, you can always revisit on a future trip or try something new.

I don't believe that one must slow down in order to savor. For some people it's true. For others, the fun is in the chase. But the thing is to realize that if you need to slow down, then do, and if you can't do everything that you've planned out to do, then don't and there's no need to fret.

Anyway, that's my take on this whole issue.

Thanks for this report. I can't sleep on flights but I'm not tired after because I'm too excited and I never take naps and couldn't travel with anyone who does. There is not a right way to travel..only yours, keep it coming

I understand your point 111 (& I have had my share of run-ins w/NYC as well). The first time I went to Europe, I realized that I would some day be back & to enjoy, no savor, the time I did have on that particular trip. I have been back many times since & have taken to renting apartments & kind of immersing myself in the time & place which is what I enjoy. We still do our share of wandering, and planning, but have found that being spontaneous (to some degree) often provides the best times & memories. There is something to be said for taking time to 'smell the roses'. I'm not that much older than yk (42), but I am very curious as to why this whirl-wind trip was really fun for her. Part of the enjoyment of being in Paris, particularly, is sitting in a cafe & watching the world go by. I am really just trying to understand. And the funny thing is, she may not even have the answer herself, as these things are seldom easily explained.

Obviously I can't speak for yk, SA, and I'd be curious to see what she has to say as well.

As I said, my guess would be that she had to do some things because it was her bf's first trip to Paris. So that had to be taken into consideration.

But of course, your question as to whether the trip was truly fun is a still a very fair question.

As I did say, sometimes the fun for me really is in the chase. Just two weeks ago, I was in five cities on the same day (a Saturday) and I went to three art museums that day. Was it fun? You bet. (I posted the link to my blog here, which you can get by clicking on my name if you're interested.) In a way, I was curious to see how much I could cram, and so cram I did. I had given some thought to the trip and what I wanted to see, and when I actually did it, it was really quite an exhilarating experience. Should I have spend that entire afternoon in a cafe in Brugge? Perhaps. But then I'd have missed out on seeing a van Eyck altarpeice in Gent.

So I guess another related point is this -- priorities and compromises come up in travel decisions. Some will choose to be in a cafe. Others will be on the go. Unfortunately there's always a time constraint. Also I think that it's harder to be spontaneous given a time constraint.

But then I guess there's the next trip.

One thing though -- since discovering Fodors I've realized that my planning has become more obsessive. I don't know if that's good or bad.

111 - I don't think we'd have any trouble traveling together. By the same token, I guess I'm pretty fortunate to have a spouse & daughter who operate at the same pace as I do. (Which is probably still faster than most). After our first trip to Europe we actually started planning "recooperation days" for lake of a better term. So we, in fact, plan to do nothing at least several days in our trip. Oostende was one of the places we did this a couple of years ago, & was a great find that we may not have encountered otherwise.

Well, I didn't know what slowing down meant until this friend told me her story of traveling with her French boyfriend -- I don't know if she's exaggerating or not.

Background: She's a pretty slow traveler herself.

They went to Venice for 9 or 10 days (i.e. weekend to weekend). She said that her boyfriend couldn't function without coffee and couldn't go out until late afternoon. Supposedly they had to rush in and out of St. Marco during the last day or two.

Her boyfriend drove her insane (figuratively) -- they're still together, of course.

The funny thing was that she had asked me if I wanted to join them for a long weekend, as interested as I seemed in taking long weekend trips. Being prescient, I passed. First it would be strange to be in Venice with a couple. And second I knew that their travel style would drive me nuts .

By the way, SA, I offered that story to say that I'm sure that you and most people here don't travel like that. That travel style is geuninely s l o w.

A run-in with SAnParis? Hmmm...I don't recall. I don't keep a (mental) list of username skirmishes but I don't EVER forget the truly ugly or the certified nut-cases. Regardless of my opinionated nature, I admire contrary opinion, especially if it's presented intelligently. I'm a firm believer in to each his own.

All tasteless ageism jokes noted and pink-slipped, the issue of breathing-in-life and taking-more-time has little to do with age (although I admit the concept is mature). Speaking of youthful vitality, Fodorites familiar with my posts know I'm a black-belt in tae kwon do and kickboxing is part of my trainer workout. I'm fitter than most nubian princesses and macho wannabe's in their 30's.

My veteran travel experience taught me that slowing down is the smarter choice. Safer, too. If a dear friend came to me and asked how I felt about her trying to catch a concert the day of her arrival, I'd present her with the pros and cons of that decision and stress the question, "Will you be able to stay awake in a dark theater listening to classical music after missing a night's sleep?"

Two significant events in my life changed my got-to-see-it-all approach to travel. I've written about them here before. The first occurred in Florence, when I fell badly onto ancient concrete and ended up in the emergency room with a severely sprained arm. I had just finished parking the car, unpacking, and had to get my travel partner to the Accademia before it closed. There was no other time on the packed, three-day itinerary to see David.

I had no clue how tired my body really was. I was SO high from the excitement of sharing what I knew with a dear friend, I thought I could fly. Who knew you needed to lift your feet up to walk and clear uneven pavement when you believed you were airborne?

I was in my 30's and had to wear that damn sling for five days. The pain was excruciating and it seriously altered the rest of our trip together.

While in the emergency room (all day), I met a lovely expat nurse volunteer who acted as translator for all the moped accidents. She told me the most common ailments in the emergency room (second to mopeds) were sprained ankles. She said too many people don't realize how tired they are and, while looking up at things and walking at a fast pace, they twist their ankles on ancient, uneven pavement and fall. She pointed out a couple at the other end who, like me, had just arrived in Florence to be greeted by an accident. The man with the sprained ankle was in his 40's.

Sounds like yk and her boyfriend were lucky. They were spared one of life's mishaps. The lesson here is that traveling safely is the smartest and most enjoyable way to travel. (Of course, accidents happen when you're rested, too. But what's the point in testing your threshold? Can anyone really "see" and "feel" all of Paris in four days?)

The second event that changed my way of looking at travel (and life) was the death of my mother. Life is just too damn short and you can't "feel" much if all you're doing is running from one place to the next.

Great report YK. Enjoying it. I am also one of those that packs in a lot on my vacation each to his/her own.

As always, I guess a big mystery in life for me is how self-proclaimed "mature" folks can be so immature.

But at least I'll have something to look forward to when I age. I'll get few good laughs.

But if nothing else, I hope to age a little more gracefully.



Anyway, my (sincere) sympathies to your accident, NYCFS.

NYCFS: "Will you be able to stay awake in a dark theater listening to classical music after missing a night's sleep?"

It's definitely an interesting question to be asking. Not the ones I'd be asking.

I'd probably be asking what's the program, who's playing/performing, and what the venue is.

For example, if Martha Argerich is playing a solo recital somewhere, there's no question in my mind that this absolutely cannot be skipped.

And if the piece is Messiaen's "Turangalila," it's hard to imagine how anyone can fall asleep in this bombastic monster.

But the answer is a Wagner opera, I'd tell the friend -- "You'll sleep better in a hotel room."

111op - Just remember this, one day you too will be mature. No one escapes it unless they die first.

There are those both young and old that go at a fast clip as YK. There are others who are young and old and take a more leisurely approach to travel.

What bothers me the most is your superior attitude because you are younger.

Madison, I know that very well. Thanks.

I think that if you read my posts carefully, you'll see that I'm directing my young/old comments towards NYCFS. In fact, I explicitly wrote, "I don't mean to be disrepectful of the (other) seasoned travelers here of course."

But well, if you can't read between the lines, then I can't help you there.

One thing I do hate -- being lectured to by someone who's not a parent (or my boss ).

But I'll leave it at that -- don't really want to get yk's excellent thread deleted, and it's her thread.

By the way, my receding hairline reminds me daily of the inexorable march.

But well, maybe the silver lining is that I no longer have to spend money on haircuts.

the Memorial de la Deportation has the weirdest opening hours. it seems they dont want people to visit.

i went 3 times during my week in paris and always managed to arrive when it was closed.

Again, to answer some questions before I move on to the next part of my report ~

111op - I believe Orsay is closed on Mondays. I think all the places we tried to visit were closed that day was because of winter break, rather than being a Monday. I haven't tried the Richart chocolates yet. We finished the La Maison du Chocolat in Paris. I liked the champagne truffles (not too sweet) but they put too much cocoa powder coating on, which I feel that overpowers the champagne flavor.
About the Richart sales associate: there were 2 associates when I walked in the store - Ms A & Ms B. Ms A was very courteous and answered my Qs (I was looking for pre-packaged chocolates). Then Ms A disappeared. I was picking up a box of the herb-flavored chocolates when Ms B asked, "Can I help you?" in an annoyed tone, as if I shouldn't have touched the pre-packaged box (maybe I should NOT have done so.) No smiles throughout the entire transaction.
Regarding the pedometer - mine works by sensing each "jolt" of the body and counts that as a "step". It counts the # of steps I walk and translates that as distance. If you read my post earlier about my pedometer disclaimer, you'll see that my pedometer probably over-estimates the actual distance.

SAnParis - Yes, I did bring a small spiral notebook with me and jot down notes at various time of day (like waiting for a meal, or riding the Metro). As 111op has pointed out, it was my BF's first trip to Paris, and that's why I wanted to pack as much as possible into the trip. Unlike most other posters here, my BF & I don't have the time or resources to travel to Europe all the time. Esp the fact that my BF has never been to anywhere else in Europe, I doubt we will be returning to Paris anytime soon (maybe 5, 10 yrs down the line). Who knows what will happen in the future? Maybe he will get cancer and die before he has a chance to return? If I were traveling to Paris by myself, I might take a slightly more leisurely approach, but I've been known to be always rushing from point A to B. And to answer your question, yes, I did enjoy the trip, despite feeling exhausted.

NYCFS - As the concert at St Sulpice is free, I think of it as a nice "bonus" if we could make it. Sometimes miracle does happen, like if our plane were to arrive early.

"Will you be able to stay awake in a dark theater listening to classical music after missing a night's sleep?"
I had actually scheduled in "nap time" on our first day's itinerary, as I know myself very well that I will fall asleep if I don't take a nap. I would have picked a different evening for the concert if I had a choice, but unfortunately there were very few concerts being offered during the time we were there, and going to one (esp at the Opera Garnier) was better than not going at all.

"Who knows what will happen in the future?"

Well, I guess some positive thinking is in order. You can always spend the honeymoon in Paris.

But I think that it's true that Parisians can be very persnickety when people handle their merchandise. Usually my immediate reaction is -- "I need to buy something or buy more" (unless they really piss me off ).

Did the Richart chocolates come with instructions? I think that I kept those somewhere. For best results you're supposed to eat the chocolates in a certain order (they get more intense). The whole ritual is great fun (not that I really ate the chocolates in the prescribed order -- it was impossible anyway as I was sharing the chocolates).

I'm disappointed though that you didn't make it to the Cote de France store. I'd have been wanted to know how their chocolates turn out -- if I should make a special effort in the future.

And what did the bf think of the trip? Did he enjoy it?

111op- I was annoyed at myself about Cote de France too. Well, for one thing, at that moment I wasn't absolutely sure it was the store I had read about on your blog (I didn't write the name down). Secondly, my BF wasn't too thrilled about me buying all these chocolates (maybe he's concerned about me gaining weight?) I suppose you will now have to return to Paris and try out Cote de France.

The Richart chocolates are still in the box, I haven't opened the box yet.

BF enjoyed the trip, though he did voice at some point during the trip that he wished it weren't as hectic. I replied him with my "cancer" theory... Not very nice of me to wish him getting cancer, you know.

yk, there's no need to worry about gaining weight from the chocolates.

First Robert Linxe said so himself. I had this link on my blog:

http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/News/Eat_chocolate.shtml

Quote: There are health concerns, too. "It will increase cholesterol!" Linxe says. "If chocolate has all that fat, it will make you feel sick! You can eat 15 of my chocolates and feel fine."

And anyway, I'm still fairly slim (still slim enough to wear size 28-29 pants anyway) even after all the chocolates I've eaten.

yk - I'm loving your report. I haven't been to Paris in years, so it's fun for me.

However, your title is misleading. "freezing cold"???

I was in Quebec City for Winter Carnival in January - the highest it got was 23F and the coldest day had a high of 7F. Most days were around 12F to 15F, not including the windchill and not counting the lows which were in single or negative digits.

Now, THAT was a cold vacation!

Keep it coming!

Karen

yk - Did you calibrate your pedometer? I'm pretty sure all "real" pedometer let you input your stride distance.

kaudrey - yk and I have been to Montreal (we're related) in -16C (3F) temperature one Christmas. Now, that was pretty cold.

As far as the discussion about pace is concerned, I travel a little differently than yk. I hate to plan too much things in advance. But guess what? I still ends up walking around too much.

For example, 3/4 a day at Versailles (including walk from the V-C train station to the palace, the two tours of the palace and walk all the out to the Trianons and Queen's Hamlet). And then back to Ile de Cite to see Notre Dame, etc; and then go up to Montmarte - you know after getting of the Metro, one still needs to walk.

Or how about going to Tour Eiffel twice in a day, plus walk from Bastille to Les Halles, and walk through the grounds of Invalides. Most of it not even planned.

Heck, that's what travel is about. It's natural for one to see the most (or want to see the most) during a trip.

rkkwan - My pedometer is a cheapo one, got it free with cereal box. There's no calibration option.

kaudrey - Yes, I've been to Montreal in December, and it was unbearably cold. I remember having to go from one store to the next so that I would not get frostbite. But now that I live in Dallas, anything less than 50F is cold for me

Now let me try to move on to the next segment...

yk, I'm really enjoying your report, and I'm sure it was fun! I, too, used to have your travel style - and still love to be "on the go" on trips. I'm MUCH older than you, so absolutely was forced to slow down. Now I still go fast in the daytime, but the evening ends early! Keep this coming, as it's great fun to read, and I like your writing style. And by the way, you are lucky to have a BF who likes the same things you do.

Day 3 - March 1, Tuesday, Paris, high-37F, partly cloudy

Part II

Unexpected surprise at Arc de Triomphe

My last section left off when we were leaving Musee Marmottan for the Arc de Triomphe. (Yes, we took the metro.) 238 steps to the top. For those of you who have been there, you'll know there is a small "landing" area 3/4 up the steps. My last time there, it had a display about history of the Arc & Napoleon. This time though, there was an actual exhibition going on titled "Memoires en couleur de la Grande Guerre 1914-1918", which roughly translates as Memories in color of the Great War (WWI). Interestingly (to me at least), even though B/W photography was available at that time, color photography was a new invention (by the Lumière brothers) and almost all journalists used B/W photography for WWI. The few photographers shot pictures in color were hired by the French army mainly to take color photos for political propaganda purposes. These photos, in the form of color slides, were on display and they were of excellent quality. It was a very strange and rather unsettling experience to see color photos of soldiers in WWI, as one usually associates color photos with more recent events. Another interesting tidbit - color photos at that time required one to be taken over several seconds, therefore all the photos were "staged" unless the object was stationary. To quote a line from the exhibit,

"Paradoxically, what colour adds in veracity and living testimony, the image loses in spontaneity."

After enjoying the exhibit, the view from top of the Arc (and the ice cold wind), we walked down Ave des Champs-Elysees. I was amused to see the sidewalk cafes still had outdoor seating, equipped with heating torches and blankets on the chairs. We hopped back on the metro again and set off for Eiffel Tower.

We arrived just before 7pm and caught the sparklers going off. We took the elevator to the top - despite the temperature being low with freezing windchill - the Tower was packed with tourists. Due to the cold temperature, we only lingered there for 1 hour, and the 8pm sparklers went off as we left.

For dinner, we decided on Le Pre Verre (8 rue Thenard), only to arrive and be turned away as we did not have reservations. Our plan B was Le Balzar (49 rue des Ecoles) but there was a huge line outside. We proceeded to plan C, Le Bouillon Racine (3 rue Racine) and finally got in. Quoting Fodors guidebook, it is a "lushly renovated Belle Epoque oasis". We shared a starter plate of 12 escargots which were plump and juicy. For main dish, BF ordered the suckling pig (which came out more like meatloaf), while I ordered the lamb shank (which had no flavor). BF had chesnut mousse with Jack Daniels for dessert, and I had creme brulee again. The creme brulee was interesting, as it was described on the menu as "creme brulee with waffle". I interpreted it as creme brulee, with waffle on the side. It came out as a piece of waffle, with creme brulee baked on top of the waffle! All that plus 1 glass of wine and 1 tea came out to € 71,50 total.

We walked back to the hotel, checked my pedometer: total mileage for Day 3 - 13.7 miles

yk: I am so glad you enjoyed the caravaggio exhibition! I will be in London in April and am booking tickets for a Wednesday evening tour. You just can't get enough of a good thing.

Re your "hectic" itinerary - meet your sister I am like the energizer bunny when I travel. Hubby usually has to retire for a nap at some point, but I just keep going until my feet bleed.

Keep it coming. I love Marmottan. If you haven't been already, make sure you visit Giverney on the next visit.

Regards Ger

Day 4 - March 2, Wednesday, Paris, high 36F, snow

Something old, something new

Part I
After another breakfast at our hotel, we set off for Musee du Louvre. It had snowed the night before, so we stopped at Pont des Arts for a photo op, while remembering the Impressionist artists who once painted the bridge. We hurried to the Louvre as I had planned on taking the Louvre "Highlights" guided tour. Somehow I thought the tour starts at 10:30am and we arrived at 10:10am huffing and puffing. We got our guided tour tickets (€ 5, in addition to the price of a regular admission ticket) and sat in a room to wait for our tour. 10 minutes later, the room was still empty except the two of us. Brilliant BF then noticed on the ticket - 11:00am tour! I guess I must have remembered 10:30am because I know I always run a little late, and I wanted to be sure we got there on time. With still another 30 minutes to spare, we returned to the pyramid entrance and took some more pictures. Our group ended up being about 30 people, and we were each given a headset so that the guide could speak via a microphone and we could hear him clearly.

The reason I wanted to take the "Highlights" tour was because both elaine & 111op recently took it and had a rather positive experience. The following was a recount of our 90-minute tour:

#1 History of Louvre and the Louvre foundations
#2 Stop at the Grand Sphinx - one interesting trivia: Champollion was made director of the Egyptian section of the Louvre when it first opened (I pointed that out to BF, as would be seeing the Rosetta Stone in London in a few days, which was deciphered by Champollion).
#3 Venus de Milo
#4 Reception room built by Henri II (which now houses Greek/Roman statues)
#5 Henri II staircase
#6 Henri II Apartments (which now houses Greek/Roman exhibits)
#7 Apollo Gallery and the French Crown Jewels. I could not take my eyes off the Regent diamond, weighing in 140 carats. Another piece of jewelry is a set of emerald necklace & earrings once belonged to Marie-Louise and recently bought by the Louvre in 2004
#8 Winged Victory of Samothrace
#9 Giotto painting
#10 Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks. Our guide pointed out that the Louvre has 6 of the 12 known paintings by Leonardo.
#11 Mona Lisa

I was deeply disappointed with the tour, as I had expected quite a bit more than what we were shown. I felt like I really didn't see any "highlights" except for the Big 3 and the crown jewels. From what I recall, my tour covered much less than 111op's tour (which he described in detail on his blog).

I think the tour would be a good idea for someone who is visiting Louvre for the first time and has only 90 minutes to spare.

Day 4 - March 2, Wednesday, Paris, high 36F, snow

Something old, something new

Part II

We went to Cafe Mollien (inside the Louvre) for lunch, which was another disappointment. I ordered the "daily special" sandwich, which arrived in its plastic package which I could have bought from a self-service cafe for much less.

After lunch, as we both felt we really hadn't seen anything yet, we rented the Louvre audioguide for another € 5. The following is a list of "yk's highlights" which we saw (in no particular order):

Ain Ghazal neolithic statue, Code of Hammurabi, Winged bulls of Sargon, Michelangelo's Slaves, Canova's Psyche and Cupid, Napoleon III Apartments, a few of the Flemish Primitives including van Eyck's Madonna and Chancellor Rolin (another European Crossword Puzzle thread clue), Hieronymus Bosch's The Ship of Fools, Rubens' Medici room, Rembrandt, Vermeer, the other 4 Leonardos, and Caravaggio's Death of the Virgin.

For some reason, it took me 3 attempts walking up and down the Grand Gallery before I could find Caravaggio's painting.

Upsets:
I was very mad at myself when I later realized we did not see Uccello's The Battle of San Romano. I had no idea how that escaped my mind.

Further disappointments:
Several of the rooms which hang large paintings were closed, specifically salles 6, 75-77 of Denon wing. As a result, we did not get to see Veronese's Feast at Cana, David's Coronation of Napoleon, or Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. We only got to see Vermeer's The Astronomer only, as The Lacemaker was on loan.
(Another tidbit: The Astronomer and The Geographer are thought to be pendants, and the model for both paintings was believed to be Leeuwenhoek, inventor of the microscope. Vermeer and Leeuwenhoek were close friends.)

I had originally planned on staying at the Louvre until 3pm or so and then head over to Marais. However, it kept on snowing and snowing all day. The thought of walking in Marais on a cold, snowy day somehow didn't seem too appealing. Evidently, every tourist in Paris felt the same way. I could not believe how crowded the museum was. We stayed there until 5:30pm.

I remember seeing good reviews for Le Pre Verre.

It sounds like your guided tour experience is a bit more similar to Elaine's. Maybe I was just lucky. I described my experience here:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?J2DA222AA

I wouldn't say that you covered much less -- less from the Italian School, maybe? And you saw "The Slaves" on your own whereas we had guided commentary. To get to Mona Lisa from the Giotto painting, you basically need to traverse the long gallery, and I'm a bit surprised that the guide didn't bother to stop and comment on any of the works en route....

Or maybe she just used a different route.

Also it sounds like you had a big group -- surprised that you were let into the Apollo Gallery. We were told that only groups fewer than 20 (?) are allowed in.

Obviously with a larger group you'd just tend to move more slowly in general, so maybe that was why you did less as well.

It's been a while since I made it to see art from Holland and the Low Countries. I guess the next time I can try to squeeze this in, if I'm still interested in Flemish painting then.

How did you find the Rolin painting? Did it have incandescent colors made possibly only by the use of oil as medium for painting?

Also haven't seen the Napoleon III apartments or any of the ancient stuff.

Sounds like you hit all the Louvre highlights! (Well except for a Roman mosaic ("Seasons"?) and some silver (I forget the name), which I've not seen either.)

Well, I guess in a way you did miss the French School -- next visit.

And no Ingres -- shame on you!

By the way, the Louvre museum puts out a guide called "Destination Louvre." It's quite good. 7.50 euros, if I remember right.

111 - so where is your blog address again ?? Perhaps my eyes are just crossed from so much reading this morning..

SA, you can find the trip reports I've written here:

Feb art hop: http://makeashorterlink.com/?I29031A8A

Jan (Paris):
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N2824598A

I used makeashorterlink to shorten the URLs and to disguise my blogger ID, but anyway, feel free to click through the blog and leave comments.

Both were long weekend trips.

Thx very much. SA

yk..loved your report. I also have enjoyed the dialogue re slow vs fast travel (an awkward phrase but I think you know what I mean). I only have a comment about the Louvre. The first time I went I ws a student. I was determined that I get full value from my ticket. I therefore spent most of the day there and I think it spoiled my visit. There were so many wonderful works that I kept thinking about what I was missing not what I was seeing..to use a chololate analogy, I kept nibbling as I wanted to taste as many different centers and then just made myself sick. Subsequently I have had wonderful experiences- I never visit more than one gallery on any different day. I feast on that and leave replete.

Very enjoyable report, yk -- I admire your stamina!

A slightly OT note here in case you ever find yourself in New England (CT, specifically). There is a wonderful collection of impressionist art at the Hillstead Museum in Farmington, where they also hold the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival in the summer. <http://www.hillstead.org/>
The collection is shown in the beautiful house for which is was purchased, and is preserved as it was in 1900. A lovely way to spend a spring or summer day!

111op- Between Giotto & Mona Lisa, we went through the Grand Gallery, where we made 1 stop - stop for Virgin of the Rocks.

"How did you find the Rolin painting?"
Not sure what you meant by that. The painting was one of the highlights mentioned in my Fodors guidebook, and it rang a bell because you posted a crossword clue about it. It is located in the 15th c Netherlands section in Richelieu Wing (Salle 4, 2nd floor, to be exact).

"And no Ingres -- shame on you!"
Actually, we did see the French paintings (just the 18th c section) and we did see the Ingres room. He just didn't make my "highlights" list.

SB_Travlr - I used to live in NE area, though never been to Farmington. Will surely keep that in mind if I ever find myself nearby!

Day 4 - March 2, Wednesday, Paris, high 36F, snow

Something old, something new

Part III

After lingering at the Louvre for over 7 hours, it was time to go, but not before a quick stop at the museum shop. I got a Louvre highlights book, while BF got a book on History of the Louvre.

What's better than a cup of hot chocolate on a cold snowy day? We headed over to Angelina (226 rue de Rivoli) where we waited for about 15 minutes for a table. When we finally got seated, we were unlucky to be seated next to 2 very annoying New Yorkers. We tried to ignore their conversation, but that was difficult as our table was only 6 inches from theirs. I probably will get flamed for saying this, but I didn't like Angelina's hot chocolate. It tasted like melted chocolate, and I do agree that the Starbuck's version is quite similar in taste.

As we could not tolerate the NYers for another minute, we left in a hurry for our next item on the agenda. I had read about an exhibition at the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation on HCB & Alberto Giacometti. I know very little of either person, though there are quite a few Giacometti scupltures in Dallas at the Nasher Sculpture Center. I thought it would be a nice change of pace for us - taking a little break from antiquities for something more modern. On Wednesday evenings, the HCB is open until 8:30pm and free admission after 6:30pm.

Fondation HCB is located in Montparnasse area, 2 impasse Lebouis, Metro: Gaite. On arrival, my heart sank as there was quite a line outside. It had stopped snowing earlier but started to drizzle. Fortunately, we only had to wait for about 5 minutes before we were let in. The illustrations for the exhibit were in French, so we had to do some guessing along the way. HCB & Giacometti were friends for many years and they have influenced each other's work. My favorite was in one gallery, one wall hangs photographs of Satre, Matisse, Diego Giacometti, and Stravinsky by HCB. On the opposite wall hangs sketches of the same characters by Alberto Giacometti. HCB's famous "Behind the Gare St. Lazare" was also on view, with Giacometti's sculpture "Man walking across a square" nearby. All in all, it was an interesting exhibit.

In case anyone wants to catch it, the exhibit closes on March 26 at Fondation HCB, but will travel to Kunsthaus in Zurich, May 13 – August 7, 2005.

It was time for dinner, and we once again consulted our guidebooks. We really wanted to go somewhere very close to our hotel, as our feet were getting weary. Our first choice, Claude Sainlouis (27 rue du Dragon) was full. We then looked for our second choice, Le Montagnard, at 24 rue des Canettes. When we found 24 rue des Canettes, it had become a different restaurant: Boucherie Rouliere. As we were tired and hungry, we decided to go ahead and try it rather than look for another restaurant. The restaurant was quite full, which we thought was a good sign. The menu (French) was written in chalk on a blackboard, and neither waiters speak much English. We were able to decipher the menu with the aid of our guidebooks. We ordered (you French speakers can help me with a better translation)
For starter:
Millefeuille de tomates et artichaut
Terrine de Canard "maison"
For main course:
Cotes d'agneau grilees, poelee de haricots verts, frais ailles
(lamb chops with green beans and ?)
Brochette d'onglet de boeuf, poelee de champiginons
(beef kabobs with mushrooms)
For dessert:
Mi-cuit au chocolat (something like chocolate souffle?)
Tiramisu
All the above plus 1 beer, 1 coffee & 1 tea came out to € 73,50 total. The food was really excellent, except the meat was a little rare for us (even though we asked for medium). I think the French tend to cook their meats rarer than Americans. We chose not to have their beef tartare, which seemed to be quite a popular dish among the locals.

For some reason, I did not record anymore of the daily mileage for the rest of the trip. But I can say that the average for the next few days was 8-9 miles each day.

yk, two questions for you. I am going to be in Paris next month.

1) It is my understanding that a number of paintings at Marmottan are in Washington DC. Did this affect your experience of the museum noticably? I am obsessed with Monet and really plan to go, but I wonder if I will only be disappointed in not getting to see the full collection.

2) Any idea what the name/company of those Impressionist DVD's are? That would make a nice XMAS gift for me.

Thanks.

Sorry ... one more thing ... did you like T/M/T, and was getting tickets a problem? I plan to go soon.

Thanks.

JoeTro-

"It is my understanding that a number of paintings at Marmottan are in Washington DC. Did this affect your experience of the museum noticably?"

As I have never been to the Marmottan prior to this trip, I have no idea which paintings I was missing. The nicest thing about the Marmottan was the lack of crowds. It was a nice change to be able to enjoy the paintings without having to stand on my tiptoes.


"Any idea what the name/company of those Impressionist DVD's are?"

It's called "From Monet to Van Gogh: A History of Impressionism" put out by "The Teaching Company". The lectures were given by Professor Richard Brettell.
www.teach12.com


"did you like T/M/T, and was getting tickets a problem?"

Yes, I enjoyed the T/W/M. I will write about it later in the trip report. I bought the tickets online from Tate Britain's website and had no trouble picking the time I wanted to go(but this was before the exhibition actually opened in London). If you do want to get them online, check out
http://www.london2for1.com/2for1/attractions/turnermonet.asp
You can get them for just £7 instead of £10.

Thank you for sharing- will follow your tips. The pedometer will justify the chocolate, bread and cheese! LOL Interestingly our Ped said for our 5 year old to draw a journal which will help her remember the trip when she is older.

Re the van Eyck/Rolin painting -- I just meant to ask if you enjoyed seeing it and if it was really such a big deal.

By the way, I didn't like Angelina's hot chocolate either -- too rich for me (and I like chocolate).

Re the menu -- can't understand it completely, but it's a pretty simple menu, I think.

frais ailles -- still don't know what this is (fresh something, I think).

Millefeuille -- literally, a thousand leaves/pages (it's basically a tart with thin pastry layers separating the fillings -- it also comes up in desserts)

Mi-cuit -- I'm guessing this means "half-cooked" (or "half done"). In this context, I'm going to guess that it's one of these omniprescent chocolate desserts where the center is melted chocolate.

Could be wrong. Poelee comes up a lot; I forget now what this is. Guessing a puree, but I'm probably wrong.

What I mean by the menu being simple is that you can pretty much read what each food item is (champignons, etc.) and have a reasonable guess as to how they're cooked (with basic French like mine).

Yes, I now realize that you did make one stop in the long gallery to see one of the other Leonardos. I guess your guide really didn't do a good job with presenting the Italian school -- ours at least pointed out the Cimabue, the Giotto, the Uccello, the Caravaggio, two Raphaels in addition to the Leonardo (oh, and the Boticelli frescoes in the beginning).

I guess I was lucky.

Poelee just means pan fried -- I believe a 'poele' is a type of frying pan.

I haven't come across 'ailles' before -- I hope somebody else translates it!

Day 5 - March 3, Thursday, Paris->London, high 36F, snow flurries

25-hour Birthday

March 3 was BF's b-day. We woke up to cold weather and snow again. After another breakfast at the hotel, we checked the time: 9:30am. We planned on going back to Musee d'Orsay today for their 11:30am guided "Masterpieces" tour, so we had 2 hours to spare. As this was our last day in Paris, I decided we should try Sainte-Chapelle again. My first and only visit to Sainte-Chapelle was a jaw-dropping experience for me. We walked there from our hotel and arrived just after 10am. Sadly, it was still closed (no explanation given). Where to next? As BF likes history stuff, we went back to Crypte Archeologique underneath Notre Dame Square (which was closed back on Monday). From a distance, the Notre Dame Towers appeared to be open as well, but with only 45 minutes to spare, we chose the Crypte. BF enjoyed the brief visit - actual Roman remains and foundations. We then hopped on the RER-C line to Musee d'Orsay.

The "Masterpieces" tour was € 6 in addition to the regular admission. Despite several signs "advertising" the tour, our group had only about 15 people. (BTW, I was amazed that many people, 30, were in the Louvre tour. The info on the English tour was only available on the French version of Louvre's website, and I wondered how people found out about it.) The Orsay tour turned out to be excellent and I would recommend it to anyone. Below is a brief recap of the 90-minute tour:

#1 History of Orsay - as we all know, Orsay was a train station before it was converted to a museum. I did not realize it was also a 400-room hotel as well, attached to the station. The Musee d'Orsay holds paintings and objects from 1848-1914. 1848 marked the fall of Louis-Philippe and beginning of the Second Empire.
#2 We stopped in front of a huge painting by Thomas Couture titled Les Romains de la Decadence (Romans in the Decadence of the Empire), which our guide used as an example of historical/classical painting prior to Impressionism.
#3 We moved to Courbet's Enterrement a Ornans (A Burial at Ornans) who was one of the realism school painters.
#4 Manet's Olympia - need I say more?
#5 Manet's Emile Zola - our guide pointed out the B/W photograph of Olympia
#6 Monet's La pie (The Magpie) - Monet's use of various colors like blue, violet, cream etc instead of black for painting shadows.
#7 Carpeaux's La Danse sculpture that was part of Opera Garnier's facade
#8 Model of Opera Garnier area
#9 Degas' Le Foyer de la danse a l'Opera de la rue Le Peletier - Degas was a season ticket holder of the Opera. That explains how he could attend the rehearsals, visit the backstage etc.
#10 Renoir's Bal du Moulin de la Galette - Aren't we glad we walked past Moulin de la Galette just a few days ago?
#11 Monet's Rouen Cathedral series - Orsay has 5 of his 30 cathedral paintings, but one was on loan
#12 Van Gogh's L'église d'Auvers-sur-Oise (The Church at Auvers-sur-Oise)
#13 Cezanne's still life pictures - as precursor to cubism

After the tour, we had a light lunch at the museum's self-service cafe, then headed back to the galleries for a more detailed tour ourselves.

Again, a list of "yk's highlights":
Manet's Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe and Rochefort's Escape, Caillebotte's The Floor Scrapers, Whistler's Whistler's Mother, Cezanne's Modern Olympia, Degas' sculpture of the 14 year-old dancer, and Van Gogh's Starry Night. Obviously, it is impossible to list them all.

A few disappointments: there were an extraordinary number of paintings on loan. A few that we surely missed are: Henri Fantin-Latour's Studio in Batignolles in which Manet (as the teacher) was surrounded by Monet, Renoir & Bazille etc. Also missing was Degas' L'Absinthe and Renoir's Nude in the Sunlight.

With a Eurostar train to catch later that day, we left Musee d'Orsay at 4pm.

Monet's Rouen Cathedral series - Orsay has 5 of his 30 cathedral paintings, but one was on loan

yk, I just saw the one on that is on loan, it's in an Impressionism exhibit in Hong Kong. They have two of the of the series on display. One is a painting of the cathedral at the end of the day, a sunlight effect, which is from the Musée Marmottan Monet; the second is a slightly different view in shadow, which is from the Musée d'Orsay.

It is a wonderful show. It's running at the Hong Kong Museum of Art until April 10th.

Anselm

Day 5 - March 3, Thursday, Paris->London, high 36F, snow flurries

25-hour Birthday

Part II

We decided to walk from Musee d'Orsay back to our hotel. On the way, we passed by the Left Bank branch of Laduree (21 rue Bonaparte). I popped in and bought a box of macaroons as a gift for my friends in London. I sent BF back to the hotel while I did some more shopping errands.

Stop #1: Pierre Marcolini (89 rue de Seine) for some chocolates. The sales associate was extremely nice and helpful. I was looking for a pre-packaged box (easier to travel) and I decided on a box of tea-flavored chocolates. When I asked for it, the associated informed me that she didn't have a pre-packed one available, so I would have to pick-and-choose from the collection and she would pack it in a box. With so many flavors to choose from, I was rather overwhelmed. She made some polite suggestions and even gave me one sample to taste (at € 1 a-piece, that was a rather generous gesture). As I was paying, I noticed a plate of chocolates next to the cash register. The sales associate indicated they were samples to try, so I took another one. All in all, a very positive experience.

Stop #2: Pierre Herme (72 rue Bonaparte) for pastry. I decided as this was BF's birthday, this definitely justified for some exquisite pastry. Again, I was overwhelmed by the selection: everything was so pretty! In the end, I chose Sabine (a lemon-y cheesecake) and Yu (a chocolate-apple-chestnut tart). In retrospect, I should have gotten the pH3, which I had read about in the following NYT's article:
http://tinyurl.com/4vgfv

Our Eurostar train was scheduled to leave at 7:19pm, which gave us plenty of time to take the metro to Gare du Nord. We arrived at Gare du Nord around 6pm, but took me awhile to realize Eurostar was located on the 2nd floor. We went upstairs and found the ticket office. I had booked the tickets online previously and had requested the tickets to be picked up at the window. There was a rather long line at the window, so I tried to use the self-service kiosk. However, the computer was unable to locate my reservation, so we ended up waiting in line.

We got our tickets and passed through immigration in a breeze. (Note: our passports were stamped by both the French and the British.) As it was snowing in Paris & London that day, the Eurostar trains were delayed. The 6:16pm train was delayed by more than 30 minutes. I was overjoyed to find TWO stores at the waiting area which we did not have a chance to visit previously: Hediard and L'Occitane! I ran into L'Occitane. Unfortunately nothing was on sale, and they had sold out their Shea Butter hand cream anyway. BF & I did buy some cookies from Hediard, which we would give to our colleagues as souvenirs.

Time to say au revoir to Paris as we boarded the Eurostar train, which was 15 minutes late.

I think I will pause here to give a review of our Paris' hotel, as well as a few thoughts on Paris, before moving on to London.

yk, I didn't read your last post carefully enough, otherwise I would have noticed your reference to Degas' L'Absinthe and Renoir's Nude in the Sunlight. The Degas is also in Hong Kong. We also saw a Renoir called Woman, Torso in the Sun, which I think is the Nude in the Sunlight you mention.

Anselm

Review of Paris hotel - Hotel de Saint Germain, 50 rue du Four

http://www.hotel-saint-germain.com/

Early on in the trip planning, I had decided on staying in the 6th (in my previous trips, I had stayed in the 5th, 7th, and near Opera Garnier). It was difficult to find a hotel in the 6th that would fit our budget (~$100/night) as the $ was weak. After perusing multiple threads on this forum, I found Hotel de Saint Germain which fit our budget. We were eligible for their promotion: Stay 3 nights (inclu Sunday) and get the 4th night free. At € 105/night normally, that came out to € 79/night on average.

Upon check-in, we were assigned room 65. The desk clerk nicely informed us it is on the 6th floor, but the elevator only goes up to the 5th floor (hint: the room is in the attic). The room was tiny, which I had expected, but tinier than I had imagined. It measured about 10 feet x 10 feet, while the bathroom was about 6 feet x 3 feet. The room also smelled of cigarette smoke. Luckily I had packed a green tea-scented travel candle, which lessened the cigarette smell. The double bed was larger than a full-size but smaller than a queen. The bathroom was so small that it barely could fit one person inside. If one were overweight, he/she may have difficulty fitting inside and be able to close the door (no, I am not exaggerating.)

More importantly though, the room was clean and the bathroom fixtures were rather new. The room also has all the basic features: TV, telephone, hairdryer, mini-fridge, and safe. The bathroom amenities included shower gel, soap, and shampoo.

Our room faces the street, but with the windows closed, we barely heard any street noise, even in the morning. However, the hotel is located on top of a metro line. Each time a subway train passed by, I could feel the vibration. The elevator was also rather noisy, but fortunately it wasn't used much in the middle of the night.

We chose to eat breakfast at the hotel, which was an extra € 8 per person. We thought it was a reasonable price, as the breakfast included: fresh squeezed OJ, tea/coffee, and a bread basket (1 roll, 1 croissant, 1 chocolate croissant per person). There was also an unlimited supply of plain yogurt, cereal, and fruit.

Bottom line: Would I stay there agin?
Maybe, with the promotion. Definitely not, without the promotion. I certainly enjoyed staying in the 6th, as a lot of sights (and chocolate shops) are actually within walking distance. The hotel is also within close distance to several metro lines: 4, 10, 12. But maybe next time I will give Hotel Tiquetonne a try.

I have taken pictures of the room of the hotel, and I will post a link to the picture at the end of my trip report.

Best and Worst lists for Paris
and
Oh, the Places we didn't Go!

During the Eurostar trip, I asked BF for his Best & Worst lists for Paris, and I wrote down mine also.

BF's Top 5:
1. Louvre
2. Orsay
3. Marmottan
4. Concert at Opera Garnier
5. Eiffel Tower

yk's Top 5:
1. Opera Garnier
2. "Masterpieces" guided tour at Orsay
3. Shopping experience at Pierre Marcolini (72 rue Bonaparte)
4. Dinner at Boucherie Rouliere (24 rue des Canettes)
5. Marmottan

BF's worst 3 (he could only come up with 3):
1. Shopping experience at Richart (258 blvd St Germain)
2. Waiter service at Leon de Bruxelles (131 blvd St Germain)
3. Hawkers & con artists in Montmarte

yk's worst 5 (not necessarily an awful experience, but also major disappointment):
1. Urine smell in metro stations
2. Hawkers & con artists in Montmarte
3. Louvre "Highlights" guided tour
4. Angelina
5. Lunch at Louvre

You may laugh at the following list, which is a list of places/shops which we did not get to go or see. I somehow thought I could fit more into our schedule.

Places:
Marais, esp Place des Vosges
Beaubourg & Centre Pompidou
Sainte-Chapelle (we tried, twice)
Notre Dame Towers
Jardin des Tuileries
Jardin du Luxembourg
Fondation Cartier (a Jean Nouvel building)

Shops:
Mariage Freres
Colette
Jean-Paul Hevin
Christian Constant (chocolate store)
Michel Chaudun
Debauve & Gallais (we passed by but it was closed)
Berthillon
Fauchon
Hediard
Au Printemps
Galeries Lafayette

Next up: London

yk, I'm thoroughly enjoying your trip report. You make me feel like I'm almost along with you. Two years ago visiting the Orsay, we were fortunate to see the Fantin-Latour but missed Caillebotte's Floor Scrapers which I really wanted my kids to see as we have a framed poster of it hanging in our home. I guess these little "misses" just gives us more excuses to return!

That's funny. I just quicky skimmed the stuff that's new, and when I read the review of your hotel, my immediate reaction was "You need to give Tiquetonne a try, and it's cheaper."

I think that you spent too much of a snow day in the Louvre -- could probably easily have squeezed in one other thing on the right bank that day -- Pompidou, perhaps (as the Tuileries garden would probably be a bit forlorn, but it might be fun).

Don't know Fondation Cartier, but another one of Nouvel's well-known buildings is the Arab Institute, which is well worth a visit.

By the way, I looked up my Larousse dictionary -- ail is garlic, yes. ailler is the verb form (to put garlic on something). So aille (there's an accent on the e and this is actually the participle) -- it just means that garlic has been put on. That's how I would translate it.

I think that I need to go take a guided tour of the Orsay now.

AnselmAdorne- The Orsay did post signs at the missing paintings to say where they were. I need to make sure my friends in HK go see the exhibition (and save them a trip to Paris).

KathrynT- I'm with you. That's what my dad had always told me, "You have to leave some sights unseen so that you can have an excuse to return!"

111op- Thanks for looking up ailles. Another life mystery solved! On our arrival day our taxi passed by the Arab Institute. 2 things caught my eye: the building itself (I didn't realize it was a Nouvel's building), and a line of visitors waiting at the entrance in the cold to get in. (I think it was the "Pharoh" exhibit, maybe?)

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Louvre. The weather was so bad that day that I didn't think we would enjoy any walking outside.

Oh, there's an "s" too? But I guess that's the agreement with the noun before (the participle in this case is an adjective -- like garliced lamb chops, or whatever). But in this case it's helpful to get the accent on the "e" (which tells you it's probably a participle).

I actually never went inside the Arab Institute, but last year I made it to see the facade (I then walked to the mosque and the hammam (sp?) where I spent an hour or two). The "cells" are supposed to be controlled by sunlight (sometimes they get smaller to admit less light, etc.). It's an interesting concept but I've also heard that this fails rather miserably in practice.

The Institute supposedly has a restaurant (Ziryab?) that's quite good, but I've not tried it.

Okay yk you owe me 60 euros!!!!

With all this talk about yummy chocolates in your report, I just happened to be walking by the Maison de Chocolate near Madeleine.... .Normally I exercise great self control because the chocolates are horribly expensive and I dont really need to be eating sweets. But with your trip report fresh in my mind I couldnt resist! I walked in and was immediately greeted by all SIX sales attendants who were all lined up behind the chocolates in identical outfits. Clearly there was less traffic than usual due to the mega strike on thursday. I quickly selected a 600 gram assorted box and went to the register to pay. After paying I turned around and the sales attendant was there, handed me my bag , wished me a good after noon and opened the door for me. I exited with a chorus of aurevoir's from all 7 employees. It was really quite impressive.

Thanks again for the great report! Keep it coming

MorganB, you're wealthy. (I usually buy about 250 grams, but I guess I visit multiple chocolatiers.)

Their chocolates are excellent.

I think that you should have picked your own box -- each assistant could help select 100 g.

MorganB- Maybe Robert Linxe of La Maison du Chocolat should send me a free box of chocolates as a token of thank you!
600gm box - that is one big one! Want to share some with me???

Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this report--both the you-are-there narrative and then the best & worst listings and hotel report.

If you ever want to stay in the Marais, Hotel du Septieme Art has rooms for 75 euro that are a tad larger than what you described. Great location, too.

elle -- is this a hotel with movie references? Is this the "Septieme Art"?

I seem to remember reading about it somewhere. Where in the Marais is this?

Thanks.

Yes, this is the hotel with a cinema theme. Each room has movie posters and the black-and-white tiles in the bathroom have images of cameras or those slate-thingy-things (can't remember the word!) that directors use when they yell "Cut!".

We had two posters in our room--French posters for American movies, one for a Marx brothers film and another for Rita Hayworth. There are other film memorabilia touches in the hotel, which adds a little bit of character, but basically it's fairly bare-bones. It's a good value, though--especially if you're not spending much time in your room.

The best thing about it is the location. It's on rue St. Paul, not too far off rue Saint-Antoine. It's right at the intersection of rue Charlemagne, across the street from a really great Italian wine bar and restaurant, L'Enoteca. It's also just down the street from the Village St. Paul antiques complex.

I'd stay there again if budget was an issue.

Interesting. I definitely remember reading about it somewhere, but I seem to think it's pricier. Anyway, I'll keep this one in mind for the future. I'm happy with my own budget choice, Tiquetonne, but that's not to say there's no room for trying something else (and it can be booked too).

FWIW--In 2004, the Hotel du Septieme Art offered rooms at 75euro and 95 euro. I think the 95 euro rooms have a bathtub, whereas the 75 euro ones just had a shower.

yk: Did you buy chocolates from Maison? If you didn't I don't know why you didn't.

111op- if you read my trip report in more detail:

"Before reaching Au Bon Marche, we passed by La Maison du Chocolat (19 rue de Sevres) which was open! I popped in and bought a small bag of champagne truffles."

Oh, I remember that now.

I don't have a photographic memory, you know.

Day 5 - March 3, Thursday, Paris->London, high 36F, snow flurries

25-hour Birthday

Part III

To recap, we got on the 7:19pm Eurostart train at Gare du Nord headed for London. I slept through the entire trip, except when the train entered and exited the Chunnel. We turned out watches back 1 hour - hence BF got to celebrate a 25-hour birthday! As we were approaching London, I pulled out my Tube map to see how to get to our hotel - the Waldorf Hilton on Aldwych. Unfortunately, even though the hotel is right across the river from Waterloo station, there is no direct line. Our choices were:
a) Walk across Waterloo bridge with our luggage in freezing temperature, or
b) Get a cab

If we were 5-10 years younger and the weather better, we would have walked. But ever since I passed age 30, I decided that a little luxury once is a while is warranted. The ATM was much easier to locate at Waterloo station compared to CDG airport. However, with the delay in getting £, everybody got ahead of us in the queue for the cab. We waited for at least 10 minutes before it was our turn. I assumed if we had walked, we would almost be at the hotel by now. However, there is nothing like arriving in style in a cab.

The hotel room was absolutely fantastic, which I will give a review at the end of the trip report.

It was around 10pm when we checked in, and we hadn't had dinner yet. I decided on trying Malaysia Kopi Tiam (9 Wardour Street) which I had read about from TimeOut (listed as budget eat). It was located in the Chinatown area, in fact, right next door to a Japanese restaurant which I used to frequent. By the time we got there, it was 10:40pm and the restaurant closes at 11pm. We went in and I asked if we were too late, they said no, so we sat down. It was a very no frills, budget kind of place and I was feeling a bit guilty bringing BF there for his b-day dinner. The food was very good though. We had roti canai for appertizer; he ordered lamb curry over rice, and I had a Laksa noodle soup. That plus 2 teas, even at a budget restaurant, still cost us £18.

We strolled back to our hotel, passing through the crowded Leicester Square, and then through Covent Garden.

We got back around 11:30pm with 30 minutes remaining to celebrate BF's birthday! I opened up the box of Pierre Herme pastries (remember Sabine and Yu?) and sang Happy Birthday.

Day 6 - March 4, Friday, London, high 42F, snow, sleet &rain

Turner/Whistler/Monet exhibition at Tate Britain

Today was the day we have been waiting for: the T/W/M exhibit. If you still recall from the beginning of my trip report, we added London to our Paris trip partly because of the T/W/M.
Before we left from our trip, I had bought online tickets for 10am entrance.

We left our hotel around 9am in search for breakfast. (Unlike Hotel de Saint Germain which offers breakfast for € 8, the cheapest room service breakfast at the Waldorf is £15.95, yikes!) The weather was extremely bad with heavy snow and icy-cold wind. We walked down The Strand and saw a small deli shop on a side street. Exeter Deli on Exeter Street. BF had a breakfast sandwich (came with eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, and dripping with fat) plus coffee, while I had a toasted tomato sandwich and tea. Total cost: £7.50

We continued on The Strand and got to Embankment station. It was just after 9:30am and we each got a 1-day travelcard. We got off at Pimlico station and followed signs to Tate Britain.

We picked up our tickets from the pre-paid tickets desk and I paid an extra £3.50 for the audioguide. It really was a most excellent exhibition. We started off with Turner, who was fascinated with light and water. He was quite famous by the time Whistler and Monet started painting, and both W & M saw T's work on exhibit in London when they were living in London.

A few works that really made an impression on me:
- Turner's The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons - the color of the flames is so brilliant that the frame of the painting is going to catch fire any moment
- Whistler's Nocturnes, especially the Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket - the critic John Ruskin wrote, "I have seen, and heard, much of Cockney impudence before now; but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face."
- Turner's Lake Lucerne series - Turner was using watercolors to paint a series of the same scene at different times capturing the different light (sounds familiar?)
- Whistler's By the Balcony - a lithograph of his wife, Beatrice, lying in bed looking out the balcony from their room at the Savoy. She was dying of cancer. A very moving work
- Monet's San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk

Interesting facts I learned from this exhibit:

Whistler, angered by the critic John Ruskin, decided to sue him. In the end, Whistler won the trial, but became bankrupt. He ended up having to leave London to go to Venice where he took on a commission to do etchings.

Monet only went to Venice once in his life, and he was reluctant to go in the first place. It was his wife Alice who got invited to go and he tagged along. He was so captivated by Venice that he swore to go back. However, Alice passed away and Monet never returned.

London was so polluted in the late 1800s that many people died. It was really smog instead of fog. Yet, because of this smog - Monet transformed it into beautiful paintings of the Thames and his Houses of Parliament series. Whistler, disgusted by the pollution, decided to paint at night time when darkness disguised the ugliness and came up with the Nocturnes series.

I could not leave the exhibit without splurging £25 for the catalog.

This exhibit is on view at Tate Britain until May 15, 2005.

Day 6 - March 4, Friday, London, high 42F, snow, sleet & rain

British Museum and afternoon tea

We left Tate Britain around 12 noon. (Side note: at that time, the ticket office was selling timed tickets for 1:30pm entrance, so the exhibition was not sold-out.) I wanted to go to the British Museum next, and we decided to grab lunch at the Wagamama branch (4a Streatham St) close to British Museum.

Believe it or not, even though I had lived in London for 1 year and had visited 10 times, I have never eaten at a Wagamama. We shared a duck gyoza as appertizer; BF ordered a stir-fry udon with shrimp, and I had curry chicken katsu over rice. Above plus one OJ came out to £20.45.

My last visit to British Museum was over 10 years ago. Back in the days of my youthful ignorance, I had no idea what I saw during that visit (nor noticed any significance of any of the artifacts). Now, older and wiser, I wanted to revisit, as well as see the Norman Foster Great Court, which is new since my visit.

As we walked over from Wagamama to the British Museum, The snow had stopped and the sun was actually out for a few moments. I quickly snapped a few pictures before heading inside.

The Great Court was absolutely spectacular. I must have stood there for a good 10 mintues admiring it. We then followed the crowd to the Rosetta Stone, which was deciphered by Frenchman Champollion. A few rooms down was the Elgin Marbles - the only room that I had a vague recollection. Sadly, the room housing the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos was closed. We proceeded upstairs to the Egyptian mummies section. I was most fascinated by the x-ray and CT scan pictures of the unwrapped mummies. We were then in search of the Lindow man, who died a violent death some 2000 years earlier as a human sacrifice. His face was so disfigured that I thought he looked more like an alien on X-files. Somewhere in the museum, we ran across a few Ain Ghazal neolithic statues again. There were 3 of them placed in the same glass case. Back in the Louvre, there was only one. I could not resist telling the British Museum statues, "Your buddy is over at the Louvre all alone by himself!" (In case you have no idea of what these statues look like, here is a link with pictures: http://www.imarabe.org/temp/expo/jordanie-us/jordanie11.html)

90 minutes later, we decided we had enough museum for the day. It was time for tea! No trip to London is complete without a stop at Patisserie Valerie. The Patisserie Valerie in Soho has been my favorite hang out place since my college year in London, long before they opened up the second floor. Having said that though, we opted to sit upstairs as it was brighter and airier.

I have always had a piece of cake (flavor varies depending on my mood) and a pot of Earl Grey. However, against my better judgement, I decided to try their cream tea set (£5.25), which includes 2 scones and 1 pot of tea. The scones were rather disappointing (complete with raisins, ewwww!). Note to self: stick with pastries next time.

After tea, we returned to our hotel room for a quick change. We had made plans to visit one of BF's cousins. We spent a wonderful evening with him and his family.

111op : I was to lazy to pick them out lol. Since I only make a rare appearance in upscale chocolatiers I usually go for it and break the bank. Next time I might get less and focus on my fav's since I have had a sampling.

yk: Sounds like you have enough chocolates as it is! I am nibbling away on them. Trying to keep my daily quota to two pieces. They are amazing. I love the raisin ganache flambe with rum!

Day 7 - March 5, Saturday, London, high 39F, cloudy and rain

Caravaggio: The Final Years exhibition at the National Gallery

Before I start writing about the exhibition, let me diverge and write a little about me & Caravaggio.

I don't think I know who Caravaggio was until 1.5 years ago. (Again, please excuse my ignorance.) While at the Uffizi Gallery in November 2004, I was struck by the horrorific image of his Medusa, which burned in my memory.

Fast forward 1 year. I was reading some airline magazine with an article on Malta. In the article, it mentioned about Caravaggio living there where he painted one of his most famous work Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. I even used it as a clue in the European Crossword Puzzle thread. Two weeks later, the NYT had a review on the Caravaggio: The Final Years in Naples. (Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/arts/design/12chri.html) Ger (OReilly) saw the exhibit in Naples in Jan 05 and wrote positively about it. I found out from the NYT article that the exhibit would open in London in February, and hence prompted my interest in going.

I bought tickets online in advance for the 10:30am entrance. When we arrived, the place was already buzzing. We picked up our pre-paid tickets and stood in line to be let in. While in line, each person was given an exhibition guide, which contains a 1-page description for each paintings. As there were only 16 paintings on exhibit, the guide wasn't a very big production. (Side note: there were 18 paintings in the Naples' exhibition. Two did not travel to London.) As I skimmed through the guide, I decided not to get the audioguide (£3.50).

We got in and we were immediately struck by 2 thoughts, "Why is it so dark in here?" and "Boy, it's crowded!"

This exhibit focused on the last 4 years of Caravaggio's life, from the time he fled Rome (from a murder he had committed) to his death. He fled to Naples, then to Malta (where he was initially knighted but then imprisoned for brawling), then on to Sicily and back to Naples. He was actually on his way back to Rome to beg the Pope for pardon when he died of fever. His later works were much darker (both literally and figuratively).

The exhibition started off with his 2 versions of The Supper at Emmaus. First one was painted in 1601, and the second one painted in 1606 soon after his flee. It was an excellent compare and contrast with the 2 paintings being side by side.

Every painting made a strong impression on me, especially the last few works: Salmoe with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, The Denial of Saint Peter (normally resides at the Met in NYC), The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula, and David with the Head of Goliath in which Caravaggio painted his own portrait as Goliath.

Even though a lot of his paintings were of religious subjects, Caravaggio was considered as a "realist" because he used real people as models for his characters in his paintings. Just like his Death of the Virgin at the Louvre, which was rumored that he used a dead prostitute's body found in the Tiber river as his model for the Virgin.

After the exhibit, we watched a 20-minute movie which gave an overview of Caravaggio's last 4 years and clips of his Beheading of Saint John the Baptist in Malta, which was not in the exhibit because of its sheer size.

It was a most excellent exhibition, despite only 16 paintings. As the movie pointed out, it is unlikely an exhibition like this will ever be hosted again. Most of the paintings are amassed from various locations in Italy, though not in the usual suspects location where a traveler will normally go. I was grateful to be able to see this.

For some strange reason, I did not get the exhibition catalog (£25) and I have been regretting that decision ever since. Luckily, it appears that I can order it directly from National Gallery's website, for an extra £9 for overseas delivery!

Two minor complaints about the exhibit:
1. It was really dark inside. I don't know why. We could barely read the exhibition guide under the dim lights.
2. It was really crowded despite timed-tickets for entrance. One word of advice: if you plan on going, try to go on a weekday.

The exhibit is on view until May 22, 2005.

Day 7 - March 5, Saturday, London, high 39F, cloudy and rain

19 paintings in 60 minutes at the National Gallery

We were on a tight schedule. I initially had planned on taking the 11:30am free guided tour at the National Gallery - assuming it was a "highlights" tour. We waited for our guide to show up, who then informed us that she would be showing us 5 paintings in the 60-minute tour. BF & I looked at each other, and we bolted out of the group.

We picked up a map and rented an audioguide (they are free, but donations are suggested.) The map contains pictures of 30 paintings (and their locations) which the NG considers as its "highlights". As we had made plans to meet up with another cousin of BF for lunch, we only had 1 hour to spare. 30 "hightlight" paintings in 60 minutes? That would not be possible, so we tried our best. With our speedy legs, we ran from one room to another, in search of the "highlight" paintings and listened to our audioguides. I felt a great sense of guilt as we sped past all these other great paintings without even stopping for 1 second to admire them. Next time, I promised myself, I will spend more time in London and the NG.

We managed to see 16 "highlight" paintings, plus 3 other ones that I was interested in. I would not list all of them, but here is a shorter version:

- Uccello's The Battle of San Romano - it was then when I realized we missed the one at the Louvre!
- van Eyck's The Arnolfini Portrait - let me say one more time, no, she's NOT pregnant!
- Botticelli's Venus and Mars
- Bellini's The Doge Leonardo Loredan - I thought he had chestnuts hanging down his cloak? But those were actually buttons
- Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks
- Holbein's The Ambassadors - and we checked out the distorted skull on the foreground
- Vermeer's A Woman standing at a Virginal and A Young Woman seated at a Virginal - these 2 paintings are very interesting. The first one showed a woman waiting for her one true love, while the second one indicated promiscuity.
- Rembrandt's Self Portrait at age of 34, Self Portrait at age 63 (nice contrast between the two), and Belshazzar's Feast.

It was time to go, and we returned our audioguide with a heavy heart. Maybe we'll have time to return to the NG after lunch???

yk, I am loving your report and all the comments it is generating. 5 weeks til my first Paris trip. I have read so much and you are so descriptive, I feel as if I am walking (quickly) in your shoes. Thank you!

Day 7 - March 5, Saturday, London, high 39F, cloudy and rain

A Taste of Royal London and National Gallery (again?!)

We visited BF's cousin and his family and stayed for lunch. They live near Westminster, so we got to get a quick glimpse of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Before long, it was 3:30pm and we wanted to return to NG. While walking back, we noticed a big crowd at the Horse Guards. People were lining up for their 4pm changing of the Horse Guards. Since we were there, we might as well stay to watch. After it was over, I concluded that it was not worth it, as it was basically a bunch of men and two horses marching around.

We rushed back to NG and headed for the Impressionist section. We chose not to get the audioguide again as we had no time. We saw a few Monets, including his Les bains de la Grenouillère, Manet's La Musique aux Tuileries and a few Van Goghs. We quickly walked over to the Spanish section in search of Velazquez's Rokeby Venus, however, it was no where to be found (I assume it was on loan somewhere?). 45 minutes flew by and we had to leave. I quickly picked up a "Masterpieces" book from the museum shop before rushing back to our hotel.

(For anyone who is interested, National Gallery's website has lots of good information on its collection. It has a "Painting of the Month" feature which goes over one painting each month in great detail. It also has a section on "Collection Highlights", the one we were trying to accomplish in 60 minutes. I recommend anyone planning to visit NG to check out its website: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk)

What is the rush? We made plans to visit one of my very good friends who now live in Sevenoaks for dinner. We grabbed the box of macaroons from Laduree and a bag of gifts I had brought from the US and set off for Charing Cross. Because of the weather, the British Rail service was rather poor. Despite multiple hurdles, we made it to Sevenoaks and back, after an enjoyable evening with my friend and her family.

DH and I were in London from 2/17-2/25. Silly me, I packed clothing for normal London weather. No one told me that a blast of air from Siberia was headed that way. The wind blowing off the River Thames was like an icy knife cutting through my thin jacket. The pubs were all the warmer and cozier though and we had a great trip despite the weather.

yk, thanks for your interesting and informative review of the Caravaggio exhibit. Now I want to go see it! I might try for a day trip on the Eurostar and try to take in Kevin Spacey's play as well. You are really costing me some cash

Day 8 - March 6, Sunday, London->Dallas

A day of Mishaps

One of BF's cousins in London suggested us to visit the Courtauld Institute for its Impressionist collection. We seriously considered it, as Courtauld is located right across the street from our hotel. The only time we possibly could go would be today, our day of departure.

Our flight was scheduled to leave LGW at 2pm, which meant we would have to be at the aiport by 12noon. The latest we had to leave for the airport from central London would be 11am (with taking the Tube to Victoria station plus the 30-minute ride on Gatwick Express). As I consulted my guidebook, the Courtauld opens at 10am. If we were to go, we would only have 45 minutes, and would cost us £5 each to get in. We elected to skip it this time, as our tired bodies were begging for more rest.

We slept in, then leisurely went out to a nearby cafe for some breakfast. Before long, it was past 10:30am. We hurried back to the hotel and checked out. I consulted the Tube map during breakfast: to get to Victoria station via Tube, we would need to catch the Circle/District line from either Temple station or Embankment station.

On the map, it appears that Temple station is quite a bit closer to our hotel, but I was a little hesistant because that was a route we have not taken before. I asked the hotel concierge, who reassured me that the Temple station was indeed a lot closer than Embankment, and it would take us 5 minutes to walk there.

With our luggage in tow, we set off for Temple station. The 5-minute walk translated to 10 minutes, and when we finally found the station entrance, it was closed! Apparently, Temple station is only open Monday through Saturday. I checked my watch: 11:15am!

We hailed a cab for Victoria station and arrived there around 11:25am. We headed for the ticket window for Gatwick Express (GE) tickets. The woman informed us that if we run, we could catch the 11:30am. Since the GE runs every 15 minutes, I figured we would just take the 11:45am. To my horror, the GE woman said the next scheduled GE was at 12noon, and we had already missed the 11:30am. On that particular day, they were performing some track maintainence work and the service was reduced to every 30 minutes.

We got on the train and I began to panick. The 12noon train would get us there at 12:30pm, and I wondered if we would be allowed to check-in so late. (Several years ago, I was *almost* denied boarding at LHR because I was late. They finally let me on after I begged and begged, and also because I did not have checked luggage.) I suppose, in the worst case scenario, we would be charged for a new ticket and got to stay in London for 1 more day? To add fuel to the flame, when the train finally departed, the conductor announced, "Today's trip will take 35 minutes instead of the usual 30 minutes." Despite my worries, I still managed to fall asleep during the train ride.

We were the first passengers to alight the GE. To our dismay, our flight (American Airlines) was departing from the North Terminal, which required us to take a connecting train from the South Terminal (where we were). Of course, being a Sunday, the train ran every 6 minutes instead of the usual 3 minutes. Time check: 12:40pm.

We got off the connecting train, ran to the departure boards to see where AA's check-in desk was located. We ran to the desk...


"Going to Dallas/Fort Worth?" the man asked.
"Yes!" I replied breathlessly.
"May I have your name please?"
We replied and he handed us our boarding passes.
That was one big miracle!

We went through about 5 different security checks and got to our gate at 1:15pm, which was time to board. Sadly, we did not have time to do any last-minute shopping at Gatwick.

The return flight was uneventful. We were served lunch (chicken or beef) soon after take-off, and an afternoon snack just before arrival. I was hoping for some tea and scones with clotted cream (which I got when I used to fly British Airways), unfortunately, all we got from AA was pizza! Welcome to America!

Our flight arrived 10 minutes early.

I will post a review of our London hotel next.

Glad you made it home okay ... just FYI, the Courtauld is excellent! Maybe the best thing is that it is usually not very crowded. I definitely recommend it next time you are there.

Review of London Hotel - The Waldorf Hilton, Aldwych

This is probably one of the best things happened to us during our trip. I knew from the very beginning that the way to go in London is to bid via Priceline in order to keep our budget around $100.

With the help of biddingfortravel and my perseverance, I finally won a bid for $105/night at the Waldorf Hilton, after bidding for 3 weeks. (The lowest rate I found from Waldorf's website was about 3x what I paid.) I know a lot of posters here get 4* hotels in Kensington area for $80 on Priceline, but I really wanted to stay very close to central London.

The Waldorf underwent a £24 million renovation in summer of 2004. We were speechless when we entered our room (#242). We were greeted by a ?sculpture/coat rack object just inside our door. The room was huge, about 3 times the size of our room at Hotel de Saint Germain. It has a large work desk, complete with nice touches such as US & Europe electrical outlets and US cable port (for computers). The bathroom is a frosted-glass bathroom. There is also a heated towel rack as well. Bathroom amenities are provided by Molton Brown. Bedroom has a wall-mounted flat screen TV. Other amenities include bathrobe, slippers, hairdryer, safe, iron & ironing board, free in-room coffee/tea and bottled water, and evening turndown service.

Our room has no view, but it did not matter to us. The room was very quiet. We had absolutely no complaints at all about this hotel.

I did take some pictures of the hotel room, and I will post the link later.

Photo link

I have to say, I really enjoyed the trip despite how hectic we were. I was very glad we saw as much artwork as we did.

Here is the link (I hope it works):
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=psftrk3.19mwn9nn&x=0&y=-m18guq

I believe you have to have an ofoto account in order to view it.

I don't know about anyone else but, after reading this thread, I'm ready for a vacation. One week of leg and feet pampering at Four Seasons Hualalai Resort and Spa ought to suffice.

yk, you have just coined a new phrase for me: the yk-travel-minute. Most people don't exert themselves in their everyday job nearly as much as you did on this vacation and report. As far as I'm concerned, YOU'RE HIRED!

Congratulations.

NYCFS- Oh good, does that mean I can quit my current job and work for you? As far as this trip report is concerned, just say that I have obsessive-compulsive disorder...

That's all folks!
I am happy to answer any other questions you might have. BTW, I just realized you actually DON'T need an ofoto account to view my pictures.

One thing I forgot to post, which I will do soon, is the total cost of the trip, in case someone is interested.

YK - Thank you for sharing all 111 of your photos with us. I loved each and every one of them. They brought back fond memories of my trip to Paris and London last May and the excitement I'm feeling for my trip to Paris the end of April.

Your photos are beautiful. How were you able to take pictures inside the d'Orsay? I just had my camera strap wrapped around my hand with no intent of using it and security came up to me and said no picture taking.

Your hotel room in London was beautiful. In London I stayed at the Milennium Knightsbridge Hotel and though the room was nice it was so small. Noting like yours.

Cost of trip

I am using
€ 1 = $1.34
£ 1 = $1.93

Per person:
Plane ticket + Eurostar $594
Hotel
Paris (4 nights) $211
London (3 nights) $191
Transportation
Paris (1 cab ride, 1 boat ride, metro) $65
London (2 cab rides, Tube, train to Sevenoaks, Gatwick Express) $59
Paris Opera Garnier concert $26
Museums
Paris (Carte Musee, guided tours, audioguide) $94
London (exhibition tickets, audioguide) $41
Food
Paris (4B, 5L, 3D) $265
London (2B, 1L, 1D, 1 tea) $62

Grand Total $1608 per person

Obviously, the above does not include souvenirs, which I bought very little except chocolates and museum books. Just museum books alone I spent about $125 (not including the £34 Caravaggio catalog that I ordered online yesterday).

Madison - I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. Non-flash photography is allowed at the Orsay. Enjoy your trip to Paris next month - I bet it'll be a lot warmer than my trip!

Thanks yk for a very interesting report. You have inspired me to revisit some of those galleries in London.

BTW, I also did not pick up the Carravaggio catalogue in Naples and I kicking myself! I am planning a visit to that and the Turner exhibition over the next couple of months. I also notice that there's a Frida Kahlo exhibition coming to the Tate in the summer.

Regards Ger

MorganB- Do you live in Paris? Somehow I thought you live in the US. BF did not enjoy Caravaggio exhibit as much as I did, so if you go and don't like it, please don't come asking me for a refund

Ger- You can always pick up the catalog when you go (again) to the exhibit. Or you can order it online so that you can read it over before your visit. Thank you again for inspiring me to go to the exhibit. BTW, was the exhibit in Naples very dark? I would love to hear what you think about the London one when you go.

YK, I enjoyed your trip report so much! I can no longer go at breakneck pace, but I remember back in the day when DH would beg me to stop.

Ain Ghazal was new to me, and I had no luck with your link, so googled my own. Fascinating!

And you’ve inspired me! I’m spending a week in Paris and finding that the T/W/M exhibit will still be in London has given me a brainstorm! I’m going to check out the possibility of buzzing over for the day, possibly seeing that and the Tate Modern again. Whoo hoo!

Links to Caravaggio exhibit reviews
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/observer/story/0,,1426098,00.html
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14933-1495457,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/editor/story/0,,1427434,00.html (a review of reviews)

Links to Turner/Whistler/Monet exhibit reviews
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/observer/story/0,,1411540,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,,1408108,00.html
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14936-1474697,00.html
http://crossword.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/02/09/baturn09.xml&sSheet=/arts/2005/02/09/ixtop.html

yk;

Loved your pictures, especially those of the food -chocolates, desert, the overpriced sandwich.

Only one thing I missed; I had hoped to put a face on you and your heroic boyfriend who kept up with you on your activity-packed trip. now I must picture you both with very short legs; having worn them away with all of the walking you did.

nukesafe-

Some things are better left to the imagination. Though BF's legs are quite a bit longer than mine!

Just read the rest of this. Exciting finish.

I see that the Richart instructions are alive and well.

I don't know the National Gallery all that well -- due for a revisit. But I recently saw a Thomas Struth photo of the Bellini Doge painting (actually it's right next to what seems like a former altarpiece, and the altarpiece is the center of the photo) at one of the NYC art shows.

Still haven't made it to the Foster Great Court either -- I guess that will be another trip.

And you had plenty of time, yk. I once had the experience of dropping off a rental car about ten minutes prior to a Chicago -> LA flight (connecting on to Asia). It was pre 9/11 and they let me gate check my suitcase. That was the only way I could have made my trans-Pacific flight (I had to make another connection and that was delayed, so I drove to the airport). I gambled and made it!

111op-
The other time when I was *almost* denied boarding was at LHR, pre-9/11. I took the Tube, and it was stuck at some station for a while. I got to the desk about 50 minutes before take-off. The British Airways check-in agent yelled at me (I'm serious) for being so late and really wasn't going to let me check-in. Finally she caved in, but said, "You have to run, and I mean run to the gate NOW!" The plane was parked at the farthest gate, which would normally take 20minutes to walk. I ran the entire way.
The plane arrived in PHL around 4pm, and I was due to go back to work that night at 7pm. I wasn't sure what I would do if I missed the flight...

I guess sometimes it's just the luck of the draw. As you probably remember and know, I'm still indignant with Air France for my Paris to Berlin mishap in 2003.

By the way, I did eat at a Wagamama a few years ago. I actually liked it. I also know the Patisserie Valerie to which you refer. I'm not sure if I like it as much as you do though. It's a chain though.

Here's a link to the Thomas Struth photo:

http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=21005&searchid=8696

(Notice the Bellini Doge on the right.)

Apparently it's on display at Tate Liverpool. I wonder the copy I saw must be another print. (Presumably multiple prints were made -- not quite sure how photographers handle their prints.)

yk: I have lived in Paris for about 4 1/2 years now. I moved here from Dallas so I go back from time to time to visit friends which is why I have taken that AA flight. Dont worry about the Carravaggio tickets I am a fan of his work.

You sure did cut it close at the airport! I now target 2.5 to 2.75 hours before the flight to be at the airport. That way if there are unexpected delays I dont have to do a mad dash! I actually missed a BA flight from CDG to LGW because of a traffic jam at 530 in the morning. That was the only flight that connected to the LGW-DFW flight so I had to wait till the next day and go on standby. When I got to london they pulled my luggage because they said the plane was oversold. They then made me wait for over an hour till they did inventory control on the seats and then put me back on the plane. I was most stressful as I was trying to get home to my family for xmas.

yk: the lightling was subdued in the Capidemonte, but certainly NOT dark. It was fairly busy, but nothing near as bad as special exhibitions I have attended in Toronto, where it resembled the last game of the world series!

I was hoping to go on Good Friday, just before my flight home to Victoria, but as the first showing is at 1030, it would give me only 90 mins., then a dash back to Paddington, train to LHR, get to the airport 60 mins before flight, pick up bottle of Irish Whiskey and mags for hubby; a bit insane I think, but I am still toying with the idea

regards Ger

111op, I missed your mishap from Paris to Berlin, but next time take EasyJet - that cost me about 8 Euros plus tax.

yk, wht a great trip report. I'm glad the Priceline hotel worked out so well.

Ger- I don't know about you, but 16 paintings didn't take us too long a time to get through. We were done in maybe 40 minutes or so (maybe longer if we had gotten the audioguide). And then there is the 20-minute movie. There was a line waiting to get in though. I suppose if you get there early and be at the front of the line (National Gallery opens at 10a), you should be able to be done in less than 90 minutes.

MorganB- I'm jealous. Would you like to trade houses some time? The Caravaggio reviews I have posted above were all very positive, do take a look at them if you decide to go. The NYT also has a review back in Dec 04 (on the Naples exhibit), but it's now a premium article. I can give you a link to that if you're interested.

111op-
< Yes, "Sunrise" was part of the T/W/M exhibition. I'd never been to Marmottan and so I was glad to see the painting at T/W/M. A (much larger) "Sunset" by Monet was also shown -- I forget from which museum (will need to look at the catalogue to find out). >

BF & I were watching another lecture on the DVD series, and Monet's Sunset on the Seine, Winter Effect was mentioned (with an image shown). BF & I debated whether we saw it or not (I said yes and he said no). Of course, I won. It was at the T/W/M exhibit, and I think that's the one you were thinking about (above quote). The painting usually resides at Petit Palais.
[Thank goodness I bought the catalog so that we could settle our argument!]

Thanks for the tip, WillTravel. I flew Air France, and they made me pay $300 for the next flight to Berlin. I was before I started reading the Fodors forum (just a month or two before, I think).

Did the catalogue list "Sunrise," yk?

By the way, you can't always trust what the catalogue says either. A few years ago, the Met in New York had an important exhibition on Chinese art from the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The catalogue was printed before the dispute in Taiwan over whether these priceless art treasures could travel -- in the end, the famous Sung landscapes didn't travel to the US, but they were all listed in the catalogue.

The only way you'll know for sure is to fly to London and look for the painting yourself.

111op-
Yes, Impression, Sunrise is listed in the catalog, even though it didn't travel to London. I'm quite sure all 3 exhibitions have the same catalog. I'm confident that the Sunset painting was in London though.

I think that you're right -- the curators from Toronto, Paris and London wrote the catalogue collaboratively (using English or French) and then the catalogue was completely translated into English or French as necessary (at least that's what I remember from reading somewhere).

Interestingly, I noticed that the English version from the Tate in Paris was more expensive (at least 1/3 more expensive) than the French version, so I ended with the French version even though I'd have been much more comfortable reading English.

I thought that the catalogue specified which paintings would actually be present in the museums, but I'd need to check at home later.

< I thought that the catalogue specified which paintings would actually be present in the museums, but I'd need to check at home later. >

Hmmm... Interesting. I didn't notice that last night when I was looking at the catalog. Now that I'm flipping through the catalog again, it did list that the Sunset painting was only on exhibit in Toronto & Paris. But somehow I thought I saw it in London??? I guess I'll have to fly back to London before May to verify it.

I forgot to check my catalogue.

Your boyfriend may be right after all.

How did the rest of the chocolates turn out? Do you have a personal ranking?

yk, thanks for the rest of your terrific report (I especially enjoyed your best/worst lists) and for the review of the Hotel de Saint Germain. After reading your comments, I'm glad that we decided to rent an apartment instead. It's a shame that you missed the Courtauld but now you have the beginning of your to-do list for next time.

111op- haven't had the rest of the chocolates yet. (We finished the Maison du Chocolat while in France.) I still have another 3lbs to lose before I can have the chocolates. (BTW, I just finished the Del Rey ones last week.) I haven't decided if I want to share the Richart ones or eat it all myself.

mvor- the more I think of it, the less I like Hotel de Saint Germain. but I think it is one of the cheaper hotels in 6e. The location is great!

You've a lot of self-control. I think that I can eat a 250 g box in a day if I don't exercise my self-control.

But I can easily eat about 10 of these in a single setting....

Did you like the ones from La Maison du Chocolat?

I need to pay the Marcolini store in NYC a visit.

yk, I read your review of Hotel de St Germain and just want to make on observation. I read all the comments on Paris hotels and can say that the complaints you had about this hotel (small rooms, elevator noise, smoke)can be found in other hotels costing twice as much. (the sound from the underground metro is not often mentioned, but I have read it regarding Hotel Monge and a few others). Also, you had a minibar which is a nice bonus and less frequently found, even in 3* hotels. In fact, I tend to automatically exclude a hotel if it has no minibar (like them not for the contents but for my personal use). I think you had a good deal.

Travelnut-

I do think Hotel de Saint Germain is a good deal for 6e, which is where I wanted to be this trip. (I checked out plenty of hotels in 6e and Hotel de Saint Germain has the lowest rate in that area.) The room has a mini-fridge, but not a mini-bar though. 2 years ago I stayed in 7e at Hotel Kensington. The room was small but not as small as Saint Germain, and the room rate was lower there. But then, it is in 7e, which is not as convenient. But compared to Hotel Tiquetonne (though I admit I haven't stayed there yet), it seems like Tiquetonne is by far the best deal.

111op-
I bought the champagne truffles from La Maison du Chocolat. I like them more than the champagne truffles from Teuscher because they are not as sweet. But the Maison truffles have quite a thick coat of cocoa powder covering, which, to me, overpowered the champagne flavor.

Great trip report yk!!!

Thank you!

I leave for my first trip to Paris in two weeks and report has helped me.

One question: what type of shoes did you wear to do all that walking??? May have to buy some before I leave!!

Kelbert

yk, I really enjoyed looking at your pictures. Paris with winter light looks somewhat different than with summer light.

Kelbert- Despite all the talk on this board about not wearing sneakers, I wore my "hip" dark blue Skechers sneakers on this trip. They go well with my blue jeans. I have worn those Skechers in my last 6 European trips. I also brought along a pair of flat black loafers - for the concert at Opera Garnier and for our visits to friends & relatives.
BF wore a pair of Bass leather shoes, and also snow/hiking boots for the few days that snowed.

WillTravel- Thanks for your help with Priceline for London. Yes, this is my first time in Paris during winter. It certainly has a different feel to it. I still have pictures from my 9/03 Paris trip as my screensavers - warm, sunny days with flowers blooming...

Jesus, yk, what a control freak you are! But I am a bit disappointed, because you didn't itemise the price of each course you had at a restaurant: what a lack of professionalism. How will you be able to reflect on that romantic time you had in Paris with such an important piece of information missing? As for the waiters at Léon de Bruxelles, how dare they be "annoyed" at the fact that you don't speak or understand French? What are they expecting? Of course, you must have been too busy comparing prices and jotting down all the paintings you saw in museums to indulge in a few minutes a day to learn how to say the basics in French.

Hi Art_Vandelay-

Yes, I forgot to take my medications for my Obsessive-Compulsive disorder during this trip. I do appreciate you taking the time to read through the entire thread though! I will keep in mind to learn some French at the end of my usual 12-hour work days for my next trip!

I'm getting the impression that my favourite line from 'Desperate Housewives' might be an appropriate motto for the Fodors messageboards: 'Please don't mistake my anal retentiveness for actual affection.'