Just back from Paris...first day thoughts
 

A friend and I flew from DFW Tues Feb 27 on American's evening flight to Paris for five days and four nights. I always think it's neat when something happens in the world to mark the beginning of our trip but the stock market "adjustment" was not the hallmark I was looking for! Flight was fine except for the little glitch of a food service strike, breakfast was something similar to a Hallowen trick or treat bag consisting of packages of goldfish, mixed nuts, raisins, butter cookies and water crackers!
Upon arrival we expected rain the whole trip and were pleased to arrive to spotty showers and some blue sky in the clouds. We taxied to the 7th to the Muguet (3rd time there for me). We stayed in chambre quarante trois located in the front of the building with the window above the Muguet street sign. The fifth floor, of course is the best view, but we had a peek of the Eiffel Tower nightly for the sparkle and spotlight sweep. Madam Catherine greeted me warmly remembering me from past trips. Sadly, both poodles have died now. One two years ago and the other this year. The rooms were immaculate as always. We threw our stuff down and armed with my Bagallini tote from e-Bags, we headed to Rue Cler for lunch. I grabbed a croque monsieur and my friend a quiche. We ate those and headed to the supermarche shopi for the essentials, miel madeleines, h2o and snacks. Took all this to the room, freshened up a bit and went to Ecole Militaire. I got a carte orange(I took a 1x1" photo taped inside my agenda book for my carte ) Purchased both carte and weekly ticket which worked perfect for me. We arrived on Weds(the last day to purchase ticket for that week) and we stayed through Sun(last day it can be used in a given week) Took the 8 to Concorde and transferred to the 1 to the Louvre where I went just to the outer shops and Louvre gift shop to pick up items I waffeled on last year. I bounded up the stairs to pick up two sienna engravings I regretted not purchasing last year. They are housed in acetate sleeves with the "sample" engraving and multiple copies inside each sleeve as well. I finally decided on my two favorites and waited for someon to help me....waited...and waited. No one in that area so I picked up the two acetate sleeves and carried them to the closest counter, still no one to help me. Ok, I'm getting gamey in my coat, no sleep in 18 hours and my American impatience is kicking in! I reach into sleeve 1 and pull out the engraving I want, set it on top and wait more. :Madam"appears from a curtain behind the desk She looks at the engraving outside of the sleeve..."Alor" she exclaims with blood draining from her face. Knowing my faux pas in handling the merchandise, I put my hands behind me and wait for her to take charge. The tension shifts to calm and she pulls the other engraving for me to examine, I nod and the purchase is complete. Grabbing a fanta orange, I go back outside to SUNSHINE! We walk north to the Palais Royale for photo ops and slowly meander back to the Louvre for metro to the hotel. After resting a bit, I take the metro to th grenelle station to check out the Monorix. I go upstairs for fresh pineapple and Poilane bread. It had rained earlier and I was almost taken out by a blind man crossing the busy rain slick intersection. (Maitai Tom, I think it's your guy looking to trip a few Americans for revenge!) Headed back to Rue Cler for a light dinner and then crashed for the night.

THURSDAY SHOPPING AND D'ORSAY

To avoid long lines, we decided to shop first and then hit the musee. We stayed in our area of the seventh and ate lunch across from La Terrasse(sorry blanking on the name) I had a great creme de legume soup with bibb salad. We then took the 8 line to the Opera station and went to Lancel first. Then walking behind the Opera, went to Galleries Lafayette shopping like mad. Broke for lunch at Paul down the street(this is one of only two locations that serve meals as well as the bakery items)
On to Printemps! Many sacks later, we headed back to the hotel to lighten our load and got to the Musee D'Orsay around 3:30 . This was a perfect decision as there were only about 6 people in line (Thurs is their night to stay open late) so we were not rushed to hurry through the museum. We stayed over two hours trying to take it all in. Many people were inside, but with patience, I was able to photograph many paintings unobstructed(remember, no flash photography allowed in building)That evening we ate at La Terrasse(brochette de poulet avec haricot verts and sea bass for my friend splitting creme brulee for desert for a total of $51.00 euro)Two tables of americans near us, one really bashing Texans to their French friends for their drawl(yes. we are from Texas!) We slinked out of there using our best accents and walked off dinner in the area and then called it a day.

Must go work out of town for a few days but will finish report next week. Fri was a Marais day and Sat the puces at Clignancourt.

This is great, but please split your narrative up into paragraphs. Following one huge block of text like this is a bit of a hardship for those of "un certain age" who don't havea 20-20 vision. Thanks.

Great start, Artlover. look forward to the Marais part after spending time there.

artlvr--I'm eager to hear more, as I leave 2 weeks from to day and I'm eagerly reading every Paris post!

That was a lot of fun reading your experiences. Thank you!

I LOVE TEXAS!

The store clerk must have really pushed you impatience button, because IMHO Texan's are patient and very kind.

I'm Lovin' your report and can't wait for more.

Stupid question, what's up with putting a photo on train tix or what? Though I've been to France 3 times now I'm traveling with teenagers and just have to go with the flo. But next year in March I'll be with the Kids in France again(if not sooner, come on economy) and I'm staying an extra week in Paris (tellin' all my friends to join me there)and I'd like to know what your refering to when you said "I took a 1x1 photo"

Thanks, Theresa in Detroit

The Carte Orange metro pass requires a 1" X 1" photo. It allows a week of metro/bus travel within Paris. The pass is valid from Monday to the following Sunday, you can only purchase the pass on certain days (Mon-Wed., I think) and it is only good for the week you purchase it (can't buy in advance).

<i>Cartes Oranges</i> go on sale Friday for the following week (Mo-Su), and are sold through Wednesday. No tickets are sold on Thursday.

Can't wait for more. I'm &quot;homesick&quot; for Paris and living vicariously through your report. Looking forward to hearing about your Marais day.

Hello artlvr!
I'm loving your report. My sister &amp; I are leaving for Paris this Sunday and am glad to learn about the Carte Orange. It sounds like we need to get the digital camera out to take pictures of ourselves...how do we calculate if the Carte Orange is the best bargain for us, given that we'll be there Monday, departing Friday for London? Looking forward to reading more about your adventure....btw, fellow Texan here as well!

FRIDAY WALKING THE MARIAS

Friday was a walking day immersed in the marias. We took the 8 ligne all the way to Filles de Calvaire and emerged with the Cirque D'Hiver to our right. We first walked up a block to Rue de Saintonge to vist &quot;Dot&quot;, a salvage and reproduction store carrying hotel linens,serving pieces, glassware etc. This was the only mis-step of the trip. This place had been recomended by several boards but was just not what I had expected. It is one miniscule room with some good and mediocre antiques and reproductions. I kept looking for the magic coat hook to pull (like in Man From U.N.C.L.E.) to lead me to the good stuff. Never happened! I even read one post stating not to miss the downstairs. I never even saw stairs!

Oh well, with not much time lost we headed in a drunken pattern to Froissart(this is the marias remember! No straight Haussmann boulevards. Just lots of spiderweb pattern streets) My mouth began to get dry and my heart was palpitating. At the corner of Froissart and Filles de Calvaire is the imposing black facade with simple gold letters Z-U-B-E-R.....I looked at the beomoth and sighed...I was home. I am an artist specializing in murals and historical restoration. Zuber is the most prestigious maker of hand made woodblocked mural wallpapers in the art and decorating world. I pushed the door and entered. My environment changed immediately from noisy street sounds and sunshine to a quiet, dimly lit showroom with the sweet smell of old money. Excess is the word of the day here. This stuff is in the US capitol, many embassies, five star hotels,etc. Putti suspended in renaissance clouds were on the ceiling and Zuber fabrics dripped off the gilded antique chairs and tuffted stools.

Oh and those incredible murals! One side of the main room had wooden panels covered with a sample scene of their murals hinged as one would look at hanging rugs for sale. I was on holy ground! I got to hold some of the wooden blocks of soft pear wood used to make the elaborate designs. These blocks were carved decades ago and are kept in climate controled rooms . Each pattern is run for a certain length of time and then the blocks are allowed to &quot;rest&quot; for a few years. ( like Disney does with their movies!) I have some clients putting in Zuber murals this year and I had some technical questions for them.

I took it all in and then drifted back outside to the reality of honking cars, diesel and crowded sidewalks.

Ok, back to the walking!

We took the metro to Bastille and switched to the 1 to St Paul. Upon exiting we went the short distance to Rue Pavee,the first paved street in Paris and then to St Paul-St Louis eglise. Very ornate and beautiful inside. We toured quietly and used no flash for photos to not disturb the faithful praying.

Grabbed a snack at a brasserie and then went down towards Pont Marie and made a beeline for Berthillon. Salted caramel was my poison! Slowly walking back to the bridge in full sun and eating Berthillon salted caramel is a memory steeled in my mind....we shopped some stalls on the bridge and meandered towards the Hotel de Ville.

We followed the river to Rue de Pont Louis Philippe and clicked away at 15th century photo ops. Chez Julien with it's cute blue exterior and murals painted on glass is always a favorite of mine. Turned to the left and skirted around the back making our way to the front of the oldest church in Paris, the St Gervais(present building from the 16th century).

Arriving at the Hotel de Ville, we saw a line of people extending the entire side of the building waiting to see the Doisneau exhibit as this was the last two days to view it.

We then went to the BHV for some shopping starting with the incredible basement of hardware. I got the typical enameled signs &quot;sortie&quot;. etc.There is a taxi stand and metro stop just outside for easy access. We exited the store to rain, our first major episode of it and couldn't complain as it was nearing the end of the day. We took our tired feet back to the hotel to crash for the night!


Saturday--the Puces!

I will be out of town again the next two days, will finish report as soon as possible!

Anxiously awaiting more!

My mouth instantly started watering when I saw the words &quot;salted caramel&quot;--I guess I'm like Pavlov's dog!! Carry on!

Delighted to hear you like the Hotel Muguet as we'll be staying there in May. Been researching travel handbags and am curious as to which Bagallini model you bought.

SATURDAY LES PUCES CLIGNANCOURT

We got up early and taxied to Clignancourt. This was a treat for me as I have always used the metro.We were dropped off just under the periperique past the &quot;iffy&quot; section of jeans and t-shirts. Sunshine again today (the rain stopped in the night) Found many great things and all dealers were very receptive to us. We were able to barter a little on each item. I speak enough French to get by and one of the dealers leaned close to my ear and told me it has been hard lately and they miss the Americans due to the lowering of the dollar. I heard the same comments after 9-11. We were told Americans were a rariety for the year following.

We ate at a brasserie down from the large enclosed Marche building and then walked up towards the Clignancourt metro stop but caught a taxi to the hotel at a stand just across from the intersection with the metro.

The rest of the day was open for &quot;last chance excursions&quot; as this was our last full day. I got a taxi at tour-maurbourg taxi stand and headed back toward the BHV, I asked the driver to stop on the Alexandre bridge and I jumped out and took a million photos of the gilding reflecting in the brilliant sun. Did I mention it is sunshine in Paris in March!! LOL! Then it was on to the BHV for art supplies.etc,

We ate that evening at La Terrasse again. This time, &quot;Tom Cruise&quot; was there. Please tell me there are others who see the resemblence. He has been the night manager there for a few years. We asked him about the fire and he said they were closed for three months. (thanks MIchael for letting us know it just re-opened) The meal was great, we ate upstairs and with it being our last night in Paris I had not one but DEUX dips of berthillon caramel for desert! Mon Dieu....it was full of brittle pieces of scorched sucre-amazing!

Now to walk it off! Up Bordonnaise and down Bosquet and then the length of Rue Cler. After grabbing a few things at the Shopi it was back to the hotel.

We turned on CNN and found out we were ending our trip on an interesting note-the lunar eclipse. We opened our window and leaned out and found three families doing the same from the home balconies across the street. The night was warm, high 40s and it was Saturday night. One young woman leaned over to search the skies while talking on her phone. A couple from the top tiny window leaned out as well and another family lower down. It was a little cloudy, almost foggy with the next day's warmer air coming in. To be honest I never saw the moon but if viewing the lit tower from my window and seeing everyone outside enjoying the Saturday night in Paris is a consolation prize, then that is ok with me!

General notes-
I was anal as always and at all times had my traveling agenda with me. It had the trip divided into days with iteneraries listed along with a blown up map of that day's activities as well as a hybrid aerial google map! Also have a general metro map , conversion chart for yards to metres for fabric purchases and of course scads of copious notes from saavy travel board members! It was a great trip with no major flaws and way more sunshine and mild weather than we deserved!

&quot;...and I was almost taken out by a blind man crossing the busy rain slick intersection. (Maitai Tom, I think it's your guy looking to trip a few Americans for revenge!)&quot;

Citizen Cane strikes again. Tourists be on alert.

Great report!
((H))

I might have been the one to recommend Dot, sorry. I swear my client says they have great stuff downstairs??? I am going in a few hours to Paris, I might have to skip it. I too love BHV.

Susanna,
It was such a SMALL room (Dot) and their website is really pretty cool. I saw about a tenth of what is on the website. There was a &quot;back room&quot; they pulled backstock from but I saw no great stuff If one is going to the flea markets, I think this would be redundant. I found TOO much at the puces!
Theresa