I believe you have Pompidou to thank for not letting them demolish the Gare d'Orsay. He presided over a period of a lot of renovation and modernization of Paris, although some not so attractive perhaps (ie, Montparnasse Tower). If I'm remembering correctly, it wasn't just his idea, but a reaction to a public protest over too many demolitions of older buildings in favor of modernization -- for example, Les Halles was demolished and the new shopping complex built around that time and I think the public were po'd over that. However, I don't believe its use at a museum was planned at that time and that didn't happen for about 10 years (Pompidou had died in the interim, d'Estaing or Mitterand probably were responsible for that museum project, I don't recall the history).

Mike,<BR>Keep it coming! We have so much in common. We, too, are going to Paris in September this year. And guess what! My husband also is looking forward to the sewer tour. Why? Becuase he is an environmental engineer in Orlando who happens to work on waste water. Boy, I bet you guys have a lot of crap in common. hahaha. Like I said, don't stop! We are very interested!

WHILE IN PARIS BE SURE TO SEE THE CATACOMBS VERY DIFFERENT<BR>MILES OF UNDERGROUND PASSAGEWAYS<BR>FILLED WITH SKULLS AND BONES ARRANGED VERY NEATLY

Yes, Mike, keep it coming please. What restaurants did you and your wife eat at? I love hearing about food and different restaurants/bistro/brasseries.

OK another installment: On this day we decided to sleep in (after we forgot to set our clock the night before). We took the metro to Montmarte arriving at Abbesse station about 1100. From there is is but a few short blocks down an interesting street to the tram up the hill to Sacr&eacute; Coeur. It was here at the bottom of the tram we encountered out first sidewalk toilet in Paris. These are really neat. You enter by putting in your ,35E, take care of you needs and when you leave the unit locks, washes it self with high power spray and then blow dries for the next occupant. Everybody needs to try one of these. As an older citizen with a short attention span (so to speak) I sure wish we had these in the US. Back to the tour: You will remember what I said about steps earlier. Well here is the granddaddy of outdoor steps. I did not count them. I just looked up and forked over a metro ticket each for a ride up the hill on the tram. Sacr&eacute; Coeur was all it promised; stark white beauty glistening in the sunlight. Inside was as beautiful as promised too. I left the wife sitting in the chapel, resting, while I went to investigate the tower. I went downstairs to get into the tower, found it was another couple hundred stairs and 5E so I passed. By the end of this day I would not regret that decision. Montmarte is just that; a small (MOUNT)mountain and the area is full of up an down streets and steps. From the Chapel we followed a walking tour from one of our guide books and went next to a very old church (maybe St Phillips or Philippe). Then we went on to the artist colony in a pleasant little square. We ate lunch in a neat caf&eacute; I do not remember the name we just took pot luck. We followed the tour for the remainder of the afternoon. We saw the steps so famous from so many movies (Rodin, Amilee, and others). The rest of the day was spent wandering up and down streets in Montmarte looking at items in the tour book. We finished up at the Moulin Rouge but did not go in. From outside it was a disappointment. We took the metro from there to St. Germaine where we again took pot luck in a restaurant up an alley, shopped a little and then took the metro back to Rue Cler and our hotel.

For TCC-loves paris and all of those concerned with eating I promise to gather (if I can) the names of the eateries we frequented and put it all together in one message. It will be limited as we generally just did walk ins to interesting looking (or convenient) places. We were seldom disappointed. I am not a big gourmet food fan so my food talk will be as bland as my usual diet but I will offer it up later on.

This is the second time I posted this tonight. The first time it did not take??? Additionally, I am not sure but what I am talking to myself, but here goes another day's journey around Paris. Actually this one will be fairly short as the agenda was light.<BR>This day we went to Musee Marmottan - in the 16th. This was probably the most difficult place to reach that we experienced and it was not bad at all. This is a great little museum of art. Located in a mansion in the 16th this one is about a 5 or 6 block walk from the metro stop (if you do not go down the wrong street as we did). If you are a impressionist fan do not miss this museum. It is well worth the time going and coming. The walk is not long and there is a nice park with (someone said) the last hand cranked carousel. <BR>The museum is mainly Impressionist and Post impressionist paintings and there are maybe 100 painting total. Monet was well represented and there are a scattering of each of the others to be seen. We spent about 3 hours there total including time in the museum shop which managed to make a dent in my credit card.<BR>A walk back to the main district around the metro revealed a sizable little community with surprisingly nice shopping and some nice looking restaurants. The one we picked was crowded but full of locals from the shops and offices. We experienced a nice lunch and the least friendly waiter of our entire trip. However when I pointed it out to my wife she reminded me that he had only sounded curt when I asked if he spoke English, which he did not. She also pointed out that he was VERY busy as the place was extremely crowded.<BR>This day we were &quot;museumed&quot; out and chose to building gawk. We traveled to the 6th on the metro and toured Bon Marche department store and enjoyed the ceiling extraordinaire there. This building was built or designed by Eiffel (I cannot remember which). The remainder of the area had much interesting architecture so we wandered the streets for a while and then went back to the right bank to the area of Samartine's and shopped there for a while. All in all a very relaxing day (but I had a crick in my neck from gawking at the beautiful buildings. More later if anyone is reading.<BR>

I'm reading and enjoying! <BR>Thanks Mike

Great writing, great reading! Merci.<BR><BR>BUT, you didn't pay 35 Euro for that public sidewalk toilet, did you?<BR>35 cents is far more likely, I'd say. ;o)

Ursula<BR>Believe it or not the Euro normenclature is like this 1,35E instead of $1.35 like is used in the states. AT least that is always the way I saw it in writing so the ,35E was correct and yes it is about 35 cents American and worth every cent of it.

I have gotten out of order on the days and left out a day or rather a partial day. This was a Sunday so it would have been our seventh tour day. This morning we were up and at it again. A quick metro ride to the St Germain area and a short walk form the metro station to the Muse’ de Cluny. This museum is in a centuries old monastery right in the heart on the St Germain arrondisment and just steps from the Sorborne. The stone work is beautiful but the real treat is inside. Imagine our surprise to find we had arrived on “free Sunday” so we paid no fee. The museum is chock full of icons, sculptures, artifacts, old church furnishings and tapestries. There is a very famous set of tapestries in one of the upstairs rooms that are fascinating for their beauty and for the condition considering the age. All of this info is in guidebooks but it is definitely one not to miss. (they had nice restrooms also (modern) (I may make restrooms a topic one night. I remember eating lunch at a restaurant on the main drag in St Germain but do not think it was memorable. We were but a few short blocks from the isle de cite so we walked there spent more time at Notre dame, availed ourselves of the public restrooms below the square (previously mentioned). We visited the bird market on the Isle and then walked to the other island (St Louis) and then crossed over to the Right Bank. We took a walking tour along the river back to about the area of Samartine’s stopping to observe the exterior of City Hall. From there we caught the metro back to our area, ate dinner in the neighborhood and tucked it in for the night.

Mikex,<BR><BR>I was very happy to read your report on the Musee Cluny. This is one of my favorite places in Paris to visit. I could just set for hours and look at the tapestry of the Dame and the Unicorn! There are so many wonderful things to see there including the building if you love medivel history. You don't hear many people here at fodors mention Musee Cluny but I love it and am happy you enjoyed your visit!

Mike, keep writing. On the topic of cemeteries, Montparnasse is relatively small, as compared I think to Pierre Lachaise, (and it's flat) and there are some &quot;tombstones&quot; that will make you smile. Ask at the gate for the free map. If you go on a Sunday, you can walk another block to the Edgar Quinet metro stop for the outdoor art market where the artists sell directly to the public, and some of it is excellent.

<BR>Just topping this for more! ;o)<BR><BR>Mikex, I must have overlooked the comma, with your ,35E. It really irritated me somewhat, as I have never seen like this, but rather 0,35E or 0.35E.<BR>I would definitely put an '0' in front for better understanding.

Mike, I admire your &quot;sticktointiveness&quot; in posting your experiences and recollections. Thanks for helping me keep our memories of Paris alive!

Ursula, you are probably correct it might should have been 0,35E. If you will reread my first post, I do not claim to be a urbane globe trotter. I am just a working stiff grateful for all the help I got in planning my trip. I am just trying to help someone else benefit from the hours my wife and I spent planning our trip. Even with the little mistakes we made it turned out to be a dream trip come true. Keep reading folks. I still have a few more days to cover. Then if I haven't burned out I may give some observations on the common myths about Paris.

Mikex, please keep on posting. I'm planning to be in Paris in March and hopefully your experience will help with my plans. It's very generous of you to share with us.

What a day this was. We (or at least I) were rested and felt like doing things a little different. Our first outing was the metro to the Arch de Triumph. The wife took one look at the steps and said “no way.” She stayed in the arch while I did the 300 or so steps to the top of the arch. Paris form the top is beautiful. The fun thing here was to look down on the “round about” that circles the arch and watch the traffic. It is like watching bumper cars at the beach. (later on our way to the airport we experienced being among them and it was really like bumper cars). Just below the roof is a small museum and gift shop. <BR>From the Arch we walked toward the Louvre on Champs-Elysees. This was quite a trip. We walked for many blocks along this district and of course the wife had to shop the stores. We also stopped at a sidewalk caf&eacute; and had lunch. We continued strolling after the shopping district past a nice park and then to Place de Concorde with the obelisk, fountain and a grand view of the Eiffel tower. One picture we got was the obelisk with the Eiffel tower in the background.<BR>Next in line is Tuilereis Gardens. I cannot say I was particularly impressed with that end of the gardens. We walked about half way through and then went out to the street and shopped for souvenirs as we made our way toward the Louvre area again. This time we worked our way to the opera. We stopped in and too some pictures both inside and out. What a grand building. Then we went back to PrinTemps and Galleries Lafayette. One interesting footnote, near the Opera was an organ grinder but instead of a monkey he had a dog and a cat. Big deal you say! Well the dog and the cat were in a small bed together and both were sleeping peacefully. We ate dinner in the area and it was not memorable.<BR>

Digression: I want to cover a few points while they are on my mind.<BR>Rude French people: They were in hiding while I was there. I cannot believe I scared them all away but I must have. All of the others were so frightened that they were extra nice to me and to my wife. They helped me with directions, spoke English, were attentive when we wanted help in shops and department stores and just generally were as pleasant folks as I have encountered in any US city large or small.<BR>Dog poop on the streets: Again, I must have scared all of dog lovers so badly that they kept their dogs indoors and let the poop on newspapers. One of the things I have not mentioned is that in the morning while my wife got ready for the day, I would go for walks. Usually theses were only two or three miles but I did this almost every day we were there. I tried to go a different way each day and except for Sundays tried to finish on Rue Cler at the bakery where I would get our breakfast pastries. On Sundays I found another bakery that was open in another direction. I saw no dog poop worth mentioning.<BR>Pickpockets and Gypsies: They abound on the streets and in the subways. I carried very little money and two pieces of plastic in a money clip/card holder in my side pocket. Whenever I was in a crowd I always put a hand in my pocket. My Wife did carry a backpack purse but was able to tuck in the zipper pulls. In crowds she always carried it close to her body. I carried a backpack but we had combination (small) locks through all the zippers. This is a bit inconvenient when you need the camera but the precaution was worth the effort. I also wore a money belt in case I needed extra money or ID. <BR>

Mikex, great report. Love your sense of humour so keep it coming. Toni