Springtime in Paris and Provence – April 2015
May 10th, 2015, 04:43 AM
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2010 - It was very nice and I think the evening dining option is just for guests. We had dinner there one night and there was only one other couple in the restaurant. We did not see anyone eating there on any of our other 4 nights - but April was pretty early in the season and I think only 3 other rooms were occupied.
TDudette - thanks - I was out of town last week and hope to get back to this soon. We've tried a few different bottles of Bordeaux since we've been back but they don't seem to be nearly as good and they for sure are much more expensive. Maybe our taste buds were excited to be in France and they thought the wines there tasted better than they really were.
TPAYT - Yep the French have the right idea alright. Unfortunately none of the pics of the moon over the rooftops turned out well - and we weren't in the right position to see it over the Eiffel Tower. I've never been able to get a good shot of the moon.
TDudette - thanks - I was out of town last week and hope to get back to this soon. We've tried a few different bottles of Bordeaux since we've been back but they don't seem to be nearly as good and they for sure are much more expensive. Maybe our taste buds were excited to be in France and they thought the wines there tasted better than they really were.
TPAYT - Yep the French have the right idea alright. Unfortunately none of the pics of the moon over the rooftops turned out well - and we weren't in the right position to see it over the Eiffel Tower. I've never been able to get a good shot of the moon.
May 10th, 2015, 05:17 AM
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We are still going through way too many Paris pics but were able to pick out a few of our favorite Provence pics. As you can see, our weather was perfect and it was beautiful.
https://john183italy2014.shutterfly.com/pictures/569
https://john183italy2014.shutterfly.com/pictures/569
May 11th, 2015, 06:44 AM
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Thanks for taking the time to post these photos! Looking through them reminds me of our trips to Provence where we enjoyed the beauty of the region and suffered the high July temperatures! You were there at the perfect time!
May 12th, 2015, 01:16 PM
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TDudette - thanks. I have no idea about the best wines staying in France but what we had there was good.
Adelaidean - It was a lot of fun - and the 10 days went by so quick.
2010 - I think we were very lucky with the weather - I agree with you - it was perfect.
Adelaidean - It was a lot of fun - and the 10 days went by so quick.
2010 - I think we were very lucky with the weather - I agree with you - it was perfect.
May 12th, 2015, 01:22 PM
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Paris Day 2: Easter Sunday
Because we were able to stay up pretty late the night before, we all had a good night’s sleep and woke up refreshed and ready to go. After my granddaughter opened her Easter presents, she and I headed out to the nearby La Petite Marquise boulangerie/pattiserie for breakfast pastry and a baguette while the others took turns in the bathroom. As we approached the shop, we could see it was closed. Oh no – breakfast croissants, pastry and a baguette are not optional for us in Paris. Like morning coffee for my wife, they are mandatory. So we went in to the grocery store next door to see if they had any pastry but no luck. With a combination of pointing at the closed pastry shop and our very limited French, we tried to ask a clerk if there was another pastry shop nearby. He tried to help us but we did not understand each other so he called to the cashier to help translate, which she began to do. A very nice person in line jumped in to help and between the three of them, we figured out another pastry shop was a couple of blocks away. Like I said above, everyone was super friendly and helpful everywhere we went in Paris. Using their excellent directions, we easily found the shop (Boulangerie Bechu on Avenue Victor Hugo) and there was a long line of people out the door. Again with lots of pointing and some bad French on my part, we left with a fine assortment of items for breakfast. What a fun adventure we had finding our first breakfast – and it was delicious.
We had three generations of family on this trip. Everyone had a few must do's that covered a wide variety of things and made for some interesting days. This was one if those days. We planned to go to the Picasso Museum, Pere Lachaise cemetery and the Promenade Plantee today - all things that were not near the top of my list. But it turned out to be a good day. Before the trip, we all agreed that we did not have to do everything together (and no one would be offended by it), but it was just so much fun being with the family that we only split up twice in the 10 days.
We hopped on the metro to Saint-Paul and walked through the Marais toward the Picasso Museum. What a surprise! I had never been to the Marais (for some reason I did not think I would like it) but it was great. We walked down some neat streets and liked it a lot. Our first trip to Paris was in 2004 and the research I did then did not give me any kind of warm and fuzzy about the area. Either I was wrong or it has changed because it was very interesting. I think I will try to stay here on my next trip to Paris.
Anyway we found the Picasso Museum and remembered it was free museum Sunday. The line was kind of long but we wanted to go in so we gradually moved forward until we were inside. Some of us enjoyed the art more than others but we all agreed Pablo was a rather disturbed person - he created some very bizarre stuff. I saw where one of his paintings just sold for $1.79 million – unbelievable!!! We had an enjoyable lunch/snack/wine break on the second floor outside terrace.
We then took the metro to Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Going here to see Jim Morrison’s grave was at the very top of the “must do” list for one of our daughters. I have to admit we all really enjoyed the visit. The weather was great, the trees were blooming, the tombstones were impressive and our daughter had her picture taken in front of his grave. And it is huge! We only saw a small part of the cemetery but it was interesting. We then went across the street and in to what we were sure was going to be a tourist trap place (Le Pere Lachaise Café/Bar) to grab some more lunch/snacks/wine. We were the only ones there and we ended up having some reasonably good food as well as a fun time with the server. The place had a whole wall of Jim Morrison posters.
Next we rode the metro to the Promenade Plantee and took a short enjoyable walk on it. It was interesting enough where we walked but it didn’t wow us like I thought it might. I’m sure the fact we were getting pretty tired had something to do with it too. After an hour or so, we took the metro to The Hotel de Ville. The setting sun shining on the front of it was spectacular – we took lots of pics. We then walked across the bridge to Notre Dame and again, the sun shining on the front of it was just gorgeous. After more pics we walked across the bridge to the left bank and started looking for a place to have dinner. Somehow we decided on a tiny Italian place (Ristorante Gallo Romano). I guess we are easy to please because we had a very enjoyable time here. I looked it up on tripadvisor and the reviews are not very good – but we liked it a lot. At one point a little Beagle dog came walking through the restaurant and went in to the kitchen. It had a little bed just inside the kitchen door where it promptly laid down and took a nap. Some folks might be put off by a dog sleeping in the restaurant’s kitchen but our dog-crazy group loved it.
After the meal, we found a metro stop and figured out a way to get home. We knew we would be going close to the Eiffel Tower but were surprised when we went across the river above ground and had a nice view of the lit up Tower from the train window. When we got to the apartment, my wife and I squeezed in to the elevator and it was so slow that we did not beat the girls up to our floor. Thank goodness they were good sports – they always walked up the 6 flights and let us ride in the elevator. After a small nightcap of that good, cheap Bordeaux, we went to bed – an excellent second day in Paris!
Because we were able to stay up pretty late the night before, we all had a good night’s sleep and woke up refreshed and ready to go. After my granddaughter opened her Easter presents, she and I headed out to the nearby La Petite Marquise boulangerie/pattiserie for breakfast pastry and a baguette while the others took turns in the bathroom. As we approached the shop, we could see it was closed. Oh no – breakfast croissants, pastry and a baguette are not optional for us in Paris. Like morning coffee for my wife, they are mandatory. So we went in to the grocery store next door to see if they had any pastry but no luck. With a combination of pointing at the closed pastry shop and our very limited French, we tried to ask a clerk if there was another pastry shop nearby. He tried to help us but we did not understand each other so he called to the cashier to help translate, which she began to do. A very nice person in line jumped in to help and between the three of them, we figured out another pastry shop was a couple of blocks away. Like I said above, everyone was super friendly and helpful everywhere we went in Paris. Using their excellent directions, we easily found the shop (Boulangerie Bechu on Avenue Victor Hugo) and there was a long line of people out the door. Again with lots of pointing and some bad French on my part, we left with a fine assortment of items for breakfast. What a fun adventure we had finding our first breakfast – and it was delicious.
We had three generations of family on this trip. Everyone had a few must do's that covered a wide variety of things and made for some interesting days. This was one if those days. We planned to go to the Picasso Museum, Pere Lachaise cemetery and the Promenade Plantee today - all things that were not near the top of my list. But it turned out to be a good day. Before the trip, we all agreed that we did not have to do everything together (and no one would be offended by it), but it was just so much fun being with the family that we only split up twice in the 10 days.
We hopped on the metro to Saint-Paul and walked through the Marais toward the Picasso Museum. What a surprise! I had never been to the Marais (for some reason I did not think I would like it) but it was great. We walked down some neat streets and liked it a lot. Our first trip to Paris was in 2004 and the research I did then did not give me any kind of warm and fuzzy about the area. Either I was wrong or it has changed because it was very interesting. I think I will try to stay here on my next trip to Paris.
Anyway we found the Picasso Museum and remembered it was free museum Sunday. The line was kind of long but we wanted to go in so we gradually moved forward until we were inside. Some of us enjoyed the art more than others but we all agreed Pablo was a rather disturbed person - he created some very bizarre stuff. I saw where one of his paintings just sold for $1.79 million – unbelievable!!! We had an enjoyable lunch/snack/wine break on the second floor outside terrace.
We then took the metro to Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Going here to see Jim Morrison’s grave was at the very top of the “must do” list for one of our daughters. I have to admit we all really enjoyed the visit. The weather was great, the trees were blooming, the tombstones were impressive and our daughter had her picture taken in front of his grave. And it is huge! We only saw a small part of the cemetery but it was interesting. We then went across the street and in to what we were sure was going to be a tourist trap place (Le Pere Lachaise Café/Bar) to grab some more lunch/snacks/wine. We were the only ones there and we ended up having some reasonably good food as well as a fun time with the server. The place had a whole wall of Jim Morrison posters.
Next we rode the metro to the Promenade Plantee and took a short enjoyable walk on it. It was interesting enough where we walked but it didn’t wow us like I thought it might. I’m sure the fact we were getting pretty tired had something to do with it too. After an hour or so, we took the metro to The Hotel de Ville. The setting sun shining on the front of it was spectacular – we took lots of pics. We then walked across the bridge to Notre Dame and again, the sun shining on the front of it was just gorgeous. After more pics we walked across the bridge to the left bank and started looking for a place to have dinner. Somehow we decided on a tiny Italian place (Ristorante Gallo Romano). I guess we are easy to please because we had a very enjoyable time here. I looked it up on tripadvisor and the reviews are not very good – but we liked it a lot. At one point a little Beagle dog came walking through the restaurant and went in to the kitchen. It had a little bed just inside the kitchen door where it promptly laid down and took a nap. Some folks might be put off by a dog sleeping in the restaurant’s kitchen but our dog-crazy group loved it.
After the meal, we found a metro stop and figured out a way to get home. We knew we would be going close to the Eiffel Tower but were surprised when we went across the river above ground and had a nice view of the lit up Tower from the train window. When we got to the apartment, my wife and I squeezed in to the elevator and it was so slow that we did not beat the girls up to our floor. Thank goodness they were good sports – they always walked up the 6 flights and let us ride in the elevator. After a small nightcap of that good, cheap Bordeaux, we went to bed – an excellent second day in Paris!
May 13th, 2015, 06:36 AM
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I'm going to try posting pics a day at a time. Day 1:
https://john183italy2014.shutterfly.com/pictures/706
https://john183italy2014.shutterfly.com/pictures/706
May 13th, 2015, 11:39 AM
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May 14th, 2015, 05:45 AM
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You sure packed in a lot in one day! For us, Pere Lachaise Cemetery was our main event one day and we spent a lovely Sunday walking along the Promenade Plantee. You did both and more!
If you walked along Rue Galande past Gallo Romano, you would have passed by the front door of our apartment building! (We stayed here in September 2014.) We walked by the restaurant almost daily and I remember the beagle out in front! Glad you had an enjoyable time.
If you walked along Rue Galande past Gallo Romano, you would have passed by the front door of our apartment building! (We stayed here in September 2014.) We walked by the restaurant almost daily and I remember the beagle out in front! Glad you had an enjoyable time.
May 14th, 2015, 09:13 AM
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Really enjoying your trip report and now your great photos. The fountain surrounded by lions is in the Place Daumesnil. It was originally in the Place Château d'Eau (now the Place de la République) and was moved to its current site at some point. It's one of my favorite fountains in Paris.
May 14th, 2015, 06:54 PM
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2010 - it was those darn kids - LOL!! They really did keep us on the go but we loved every minute of it. I looked up your apartment from your trip report - it looks like a great apartment and a great location.
MaineGG - thanks - and thanks for the info on the fountain - it was one of our favorites too. I wish the water would have been turned on. Several water features did not have the water running yet when we were there. The Trocadero did not have any water on our first day but it did later in the week. It's so much nicer with water.
MaineGG - thanks - and thanks for the info on the fountain - it was one of our favorites too. I wish the water would have been turned on. Several water features did not have the water running yet when we were there. The Trocadero did not have any water on our first day but it did later in the week. It's so much nicer with water.
May 15th, 2015, 12:03 PM
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Paris Day 2: Easter Monday
Up early and my granddaughter and I headed for La Petite Marquise to get our breakfast pastry but it was closed again. No problem, from yesterday’s adventure we already knew where Boulangerie Bechu was so we headed for it. Uh oh – it was closed too. Someone said Easter Monday is as big a holiday as Easter Sunday. We had passed an open Starbucks on the way to Bechu so very reluctantly we went back to it to buy some pastry and a baguette. Thank goodness La Petite Marquise was open every other morning so this was the only day we had to settle for Starbucks.
After breakfast, we walked outside to a glorious and sunny day. We wanted to see the inside and climb to the top of Notre Dame today so we took the metro to the Hotel de Ville again. Somehow we took a wrong turn trying to leave the station and ended up in Le BHV/Marais department store. As we found our way out, we passed a display of padlocks. Those of you who hate the padlock on a bridge craze need to skip ahead because there was no way I was talking my daughter and granddaughter out of doing it. They had already planned with their friends back home what they were going to write on their padlocks. So we bought two bright green ones and left the store to go to Notre Dame. While we waited in line, I found the little red kiosk on Parvis Notre-dame – Pl. Jean-Paul II that sells museum passes and bought six day passes for the four adults (our granddaughter was young enough to get in free everywhere). It was quick (no one in line) and easy (they take most credit cards) to buy the passes at this kiosk. The line to get in moved fairly quickly and once inside we saw a Mass was going on. We walked around for a while and went outside to get in line to climb to the top. Well the line was crazy long so we decided to come back to do this early the next day and we headed towards the bridge with the padlocks. We stopped in the courtyard behind Notre Dame – it was perfect weather and we sat down to write on the padlocks.
We did not have any kind of sharpie so it took a while to write the inscriptions they wanted with regular ink pens. My granddaughter put 5SoS Crew (in honor of her favorite band – 5 Seconds of Summer) on hers. My daughter put A Team + (in honor of her running group) on hers. We put the locks on the bridge (and did NOT throw the keys in the water – we brought them back home) and walked along the book stalls on the left bank before walking towards the Pompidou Center. The view of Notre Dame from this side of the river is still my favorite.
The line out front to get in to the Pompidou Center was unbelievably long and slow moving. I left our group and went in search of the museum pass line. I finally found it around back under the escalator and there was no one in line. I went back to get our group (who had barely moved forward at all) and we walked right in through the museum pass line. I’m a believer in the museum pass even if you don’t save money. The escalator to the top was interesting but we were very disappointed to find that one of the two floors where the art is displayed was closed. What we were able to see was OK but I’ll take the Louvre, the Orsay or the Orangerie over the Pompidou any time – even if the other floor would have been open. Different tastes for different folks. We were also disappointed to find that there was no water in the water feature with the neat, colorful sculptures but we took a few pics anyway.
We then found a place nearby for a late lunch. We were all a little bummed by our “not as good as we hoped it would be” experience at the Pompidou museum so lunch was not memorable in any way. I don’t remember where we ate or what we had. After lunch the girls headed out on their own and we headed towards Sainte-Chappelle. My wife and I had tickets to the 7 PM concert and it was too late to go back home to get refreshed and make it back in time so we just wandered around a bit. We eventually sat outside at a café and had a glass of wine while doing some people watching (my favorite Parisian activity). And the people did not disappoint – it was quite a show.
We then went through security at Sainte-Chappelle and stood in a couple of lines for quite a while before they let us in to the church itself. We were there earlier than we would have normally been but we wanted to get there in time to get decent seats. Tickets are sold for three sections (front, middle and back) and it is first come-first serve seating in whatever class of ticket you buy. We were able to sit in the second row of the middle section. It was still daylight and the interior was magnificent as always. Even though we were really looking forward to this concert, I have to say it did not live up to our expectations. Maybe we picked the wrong performance but it was just OK. We had read how it could be very cold inside so even though it was a warm day outside we dressed in clothes we thought would be warm enough, but they weren’t. It was freezing (especially the floor) – the cold came right through our shoes. Like I say, the concert was OK but not something we will do again.
After the concert we went across the street to a little café to get some desserts and coffee to warn us up. That did the trick and we eventually made it back to the apartment. We found out that while we were at the concert, the girls had a good time while they walked up the Champs Elysees and around our neighborhood. We watched the light show on the Eiffel Tower from our window for a few minutes and went to bed – a just OK third day in Paris!
Up early and my granddaughter and I headed for La Petite Marquise to get our breakfast pastry but it was closed again. No problem, from yesterday’s adventure we already knew where Boulangerie Bechu was so we headed for it. Uh oh – it was closed too. Someone said Easter Monday is as big a holiday as Easter Sunday. We had passed an open Starbucks on the way to Bechu so very reluctantly we went back to it to buy some pastry and a baguette. Thank goodness La Petite Marquise was open every other morning so this was the only day we had to settle for Starbucks.
After breakfast, we walked outside to a glorious and sunny day. We wanted to see the inside and climb to the top of Notre Dame today so we took the metro to the Hotel de Ville again. Somehow we took a wrong turn trying to leave the station and ended up in Le BHV/Marais department store. As we found our way out, we passed a display of padlocks. Those of you who hate the padlock on a bridge craze need to skip ahead because there was no way I was talking my daughter and granddaughter out of doing it. They had already planned with their friends back home what they were going to write on their padlocks. So we bought two bright green ones and left the store to go to Notre Dame. While we waited in line, I found the little red kiosk on Parvis Notre-dame – Pl. Jean-Paul II that sells museum passes and bought six day passes for the four adults (our granddaughter was young enough to get in free everywhere). It was quick (no one in line) and easy (they take most credit cards) to buy the passes at this kiosk. The line to get in moved fairly quickly and once inside we saw a Mass was going on. We walked around for a while and went outside to get in line to climb to the top. Well the line was crazy long so we decided to come back to do this early the next day and we headed towards the bridge with the padlocks. We stopped in the courtyard behind Notre Dame – it was perfect weather and we sat down to write on the padlocks.
We did not have any kind of sharpie so it took a while to write the inscriptions they wanted with regular ink pens. My granddaughter put 5SoS Crew (in honor of her favorite band – 5 Seconds of Summer) on hers. My daughter put A Team + (in honor of her running group) on hers. We put the locks on the bridge (and did NOT throw the keys in the water – we brought them back home) and walked along the book stalls on the left bank before walking towards the Pompidou Center. The view of Notre Dame from this side of the river is still my favorite.
The line out front to get in to the Pompidou Center was unbelievably long and slow moving. I left our group and went in search of the museum pass line. I finally found it around back under the escalator and there was no one in line. I went back to get our group (who had barely moved forward at all) and we walked right in through the museum pass line. I’m a believer in the museum pass even if you don’t save money. The escalator to the top was interesting but we were very disappointed to find that one of the two floors where the art is displayed was closed. What we were able to see was OK but I’ll take the Louvre, the Orsay or the Orangerie over the Pompidou any time – even if the other floor would have been open. Different tastes for different folks. We were also disappointed to find that there was no water in the water feature with the neat, colorful sculptures but we took a few pics anyway.
We then found a place nearby for a late lunch. We were all a little bummed by our “not as good as we hoped it would be” experience at the Pompidou museum so lunch was not memorable in any way. I don’t remember where we ate or what we had. After lunch the girls headed out on their own and we headed towards Sainte-Chappelle. My wife and I had tickets to the 7 PM concert and it was too late to go back home to get refreshed and make it back in time so we just wandered around a bit. We eventually sat outside at a café and had a glass of wine while doing some people watching (my favorite Parisian activity). And the people did not disappoint – it was quite a show.
We then went through security at Sainte-Chappelle and stood in a couple of lines for quite a while before they let us in to the church itself. We were there earlier than we would have normally been but we wanted to get there in time to get decent seats. Tickets are sold for three sections (front, middle and back) and it is first come-first serve seating in whatever class of ticket you buy. We were able to sit in the second row of the middle section. It was still daylight and the interior was magnificent as always. Even though we were really looking forward to this concert, I have to say it did not live up to our expectations. Maybe we picked the wrong performance but it was just OK. We had read how it could be very cold inside so even though it was a warm day outside we dressed in clothes we thought would be warm enough, but they weren’t. It was freezing (especially the floor) – the cold came right through our shoes. Like I say, the concert was OK but not something we will do again.
After the concert we went across the street to a little café to get some desserts and coffee to warn us up. That did the trick and we eventually made it back to the apartment. We found out that while we were at the concert, the girls had a good time while they walked up the Champs Elysees and around our neighborhood. We watched the light show on the Eiffel Tower from our window for a few minutes and went to bed – a just OK third day in Paris!
May 15th, 2015, 12:05 PM
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May 23rd, 2015, 07:59 PM
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TDudette - Luckily I wasn't tempted to buy any shoes there.
2010- Yep any day in Paris is a good day.
Here are some pics from day 4. Hopefully I can get day 4 written up this weekend. It was an excellent day!
https://john183italy2014.shutterfly.com/pictures/802
2010- Yep any day in Paris is a good day.
Here are some pics from day 4. Hopefully I can get day 4 written up this weekend. It was an excellent day!
https://john183italy2014.shutterfly.com/pictures/802
