StCirq

I think this is the first time I've ever heard anyone call Les-Eyzies "cute." LOL.

nola77382

Sorry I've been away from the forums. And also from finishing my trip report/blog. I did all the narrative but have had a very hard time getting the photos on the blog because of still unresolved computer problems, sigh.

But to be honest, the main problem was needing to take a break after the Paris attacks. That hit me so hard--reminded me of how I felt after 911. But time heals and I'm determined to get this done so I can focus on the next trips on the agenda.

I'll just post each day's narrative separately. To anyone reading--I appreciate it! And also sincere thanks to all y'all on these forums for helping make this and all our trips fabulous.

NOLA

nola77382

More Caves and Vertical Towns

Day 6: Pech Merle, St. Cirq Lapopie, Grotte du Cougnac, La Roque Gageac, Domme, pizza

We were looking forward to seeing the cave paintings at Pech Merle. During our 4 day stay in the area, the English tour was only offered today at 1030am so I bought the tickets online a few weeks before the trip.

We set out pretty early and right away had problems with the GPSs. We had plotted our course and wanted to take the A20 to Souillac but, in a fit of the stupids, ignored the sign pointing to the A20 in the middle of Sarlat and followed the GPSs instead. We were routed on the smallest roads you can imagine on a fog filled morning. It took forever to reach our destination and on a day we had to be there at a certain time! We did not enjoy this drive, at all. And decided once and for all to basically ignore the GPS and just follow our map and the road signs.

At any rate, the scenery was gorgeous and we made it to Pech Merle with a couple of minutes to spare. We only missed the introduction to the cave and what we would be seeing. The guide lead about 30 of us into the cave. He was not as fluent in English at the lady at Lascaux II which made it hard to follow everything he was saying. But the cave was spectacular and fascinating. I mean, what's up with the hands? And that horse. And those "people"? After the tour, we spent a few minutes in the museum before it closed for lunch and also perused the limited offerings in the gift shop.

We got back on the road to St. Cirq Lapopie where we figured we'd have lunch before moseying on to Cougnac cave which was only open from 2-4pm. We parked up the hill and walked down to this super adorable town. We stopped for lunch at the first place we got to, Lou Bolat, which had a terrace crowded with people enjoying the weather and the food. I ordered Coq au Vin which was delicious. It came with fries and some kinda weird tomatoes. Husband ordered roasted duck which also came with the fries and tomatoes. We drank delicious cider. It was all very good and we really enjoyed our lunch.

We then walked up to the church for the spectacular views over the Lot river and valley. We popped into the church and took a few photos (my favorite of the sunlight reflecting the stained glass was taken here). We looked at the time and decided to make our way to the Grotte du Cougnac hoping we'd get there before they closed at 4pm.

It was close! We arrived at 350pm. There was one other couple there, from West Virginia, and they had looked at the sign in the ticket window and determined that there were no more tours for the day. I got mad at the Michelin Green Guide because it didn't say "last tickets sold at" under Cougnac like it did for many other attractions. I called the number but the message was in French (duh). Husband studied the sign and said he thought it meant "next tour at 4pm" (prochaine was the operative word) so we all waited.

Shortly after 4pm, here came the guide and three tourists. Husband was right! As we paid our entrance fee a few other people showed up (a few spoke English so the tour was in both languages). This guide was enthusiastic and engaging. We thoroughly enjoyed the two caves we visited. The paintings are similar to Pech Merle and they also had the "people" and some symbols in common. But the stalagmites and stalactites were gorgeous. Just a beautiful place. No pictures in the section with the paintings but we could take photos in the other cave. She was careful to point out the small bats hanging around, yikes. Impressive cave and great tour!

(If I had to rank the caves: 1. Padirac, 2. Lascaux II, 3. Pech Merle & Cougnac, 5. Rouffignac).

It was a pretty day so we routed ourselves to La Roque Gageac just to see this pretty town. In the late afternoon sun, the rocks glowed a deep gold--so beautiful. It was seriously quiet so we didn't linger. We headed to Domme and drove up through the town and parked by the TI. It was super quiet, just a few people admiring the sunset from L'Esplanade Hotel. I'd read good reviews about Cabanoix et Chataigne so we headed there for dinner. It was about 730pm, the restaurant was empty, but they turned us away because they were "fully booked." Oh well, our fault for not making a reservation but surreal to have a completely empty restaurant not be able to seat us. No biggie.

We headed back to Sarlat and missed the turn to the parking lot again! We finally made it back to the apartment where we dropped off our stuff, decided against duck, and stumbled onto a pizza joint that could accommodate us (they were about to seat a party of 70). It's a weirdly illuminated place (lots of neon pink) that did not look inviting but we enjoyed the pleasant service, our pizza, salads and free wifi. A Paul Sorvino look-alike was at the next table, lol.

Short walk back to the apartment for our next to last night.

Takeaways:
1. GPSs are smart but we're smarter (maybe, sometimes).
2. We'd like to spend more time exploring the Lot
3. Make those dinner reservations. You can always cancel if plans change.
4. Learn more French. We might have missed the tour at Cougnac but for seeing a million "prochaine" signs while driving.

Next: Castles!

nola77382

Castles!

Day 7: Chateau Castelnaud, gabarres trip, Chateau Beynac, Chateau Milandes

This girl was ready to get inside some castles after days of prehistoric caves and cute towns. It was a beautiful day--perfect clear skies, cool temps.

First up was Castelnaud. We loved this place. It has obviously been reconstructed but was very impressive. For future visitors, be aware that the parking lot is not a part of the castle, rather it's for the small town so you do have to pay to park.

We made our way to the entrance, paid our fee and took the brochure which guided us pretty well through the castle and displays. There were maybe 10-20 other people about. It's really a museum of medieval war with tons of weapons on display. I had fun looking at all the trebuchets (catapults to me) and swords and imagining how I could use them to win the Game of Thrones! The views from the keep and the lower terraces were spectacular. Loved this place.

We headed to Beynac because we really wanted to get on the river. Of course, when we arrived, the gabarres were on lunch break (12-2) so we walked around the town a little, taking pictures, then bought sandwiches and drinks and took them to the river to eat. At the appointed time, we bought our tickets and boarded the boat for the trip on the river.

The guide gave us the English handout of what we'd be seeing because he spoke to the group in French. The boat was about half full. We were a bit disappointed because the boat just went from Beynac, under the bridge that the resistance used to hide ammunition during WWII, to the Chateau de Fayrac before turning back. We thought it would get closer to Castelnaud. Fayrac is not open to the public but was very picturesque and owned by "a couple from San Antonio." Must be nice!

Back in Beynac, we decided to tour the castle. We drove up the hill and parked close to the entrance. Almost no one was around. We paid our fee and the ticket lady was too busy on the phone to offer us a guide, which we saw other people using once we got inside, so we used the scant information in the Michelin Green Guide to tour this place. It's undergoing a 100 year long renovation. The views over the Dordogne were impressive. But without the guide, it was hard to know what was what and what was there was a little faded (thus the renovation). At any rate, we decided we could have skipped this castle (and maybe toured Marqueyssac instead).

Next up was Milandes. On our first trip to Paris in 2003, the apartment we stayed in had CDs of Josephine Baker's music which we played every night. She was something else! We wanted to see her home.

Milandes is much newer than the 13C Castelnaud and Beynac having been built in the late 1400's. It is fairy tale pretty and surrounded by gorgeous grounds. We paid our entrance fee just after a large tour group that we never saw again--weird. The guide brochure was very well done and there was also good signage in each room. We enjoyed learning about the history of the house and Josephine Baker's story. We liked that each room was decorated in her style. It's a beautiful place. We bought a few things in the gift shop, wished the video playing was at least subtitled in English because the people watching it were enthralled, walked around the gardens saying hello to the gorgeous (sadly captive) birds of prey, had drinks in the café, and lingered. It was a beautiful setting and still a beautiful day.

I didn't mention how much we enjoyed driving between these three places--the countryside in this area is spectacular, even though the roads were teeny.

As we left Milandes, we could see hot air ballons floating about. We turned toward Marqueyssac and one was landing. We parked and watched it for a bit and I walked up to the entrance to Marqueyssac, closed of course. I encountered a few peacocks trying to relax after being bugged by tourists all day, took a few photos, and we headed back to Sarlat.

We had dinner reservations at L'Instant Delice (again). It was quieter than the first time we dined there but the food was great again. Husband had whole liver foie gras and a skewered salad while I had a veggie quiche like thing and salad for starters; husband had stewed goose with veggies and I had cepe ravioli for mains; he had stinky cheese; and we both had cakes for dessert. Except for the dessert, we loved everything. We enjoyed both our meals there--consistently good food, attentive non-intrusive service, comfortable environment.

It was our last night so we walked all around Sarlat-le-Caneda taking pictures and feeling sad. There was so much we didn't have time to do but we were happy to have scratched the surface of this incredibly beautiful and varied area of France.

Takeaways:
1. Not all castles are worth touring. I wish we'd have skipped Beynac and gone to Marqueyssac instead.
2. The gabarres trip from Beynac was just ok. Maybe it's better starting from La Roque Gageac?
3. There's enough to do in the Dordogne area for weeks.
4. The weather and few tourists in October was wonderful. Sarlat was a perfect location for us.

Next: To Amboise we go, with a sad detour

nola77382

To Amboise we go, with a sad detour

Day 8: Oradour sur Glane, arrival in Amboise

We departed Le Grenier apartment in Sarlat-le-Caneda at 9am. We thanked the nice proprietor, Barry, encouraged him to fix the rope railing which had remained broken during our stay, and walked down the spiral staircase for the last time. We'd like to return to the Dordogne area and explore some more of its charms, but we won't be staying at Le Grenier.

We had a long drive to Amboise but knew we definitely wanted to stop at Oradour Sur Glane, and maybe a castle, too.

We plotted our course and followed the signs to the A20 to Souillac and onward toward Limoges and Oradour sur Glane. We kept ignoring the GPSs and arrived at the welcoming center for Oradour in good time. It was a spectacularly beautiful sunshiny day.

We had read about the atrocities committed in this town in the Michelin Green Guide and didn't feel we had time to do justice to the museum so went directly to the ruins. It's an incredibly sad place (I cried a lot). We saw the church where the women and children were burned. We saw the burned houses and businesses. We walked toward the cemetery and husband noticed an entrance to a Memorial museum that had all the names of the victims and items that survived the massacre. I mention it because it's easy to miss but so worth seeking out. We walked through the cemetery and then made our way back to the entrance. We bought a book that detailed the massacre and its aftermath and then were on our way.

We were not exactly in the right frame of mind to see a castle so just headed to Amboise but routing ourselves there was challenging. We laid out our huge Michelin maps on the hood of the car and determined that we'd head toward Poitiers then get the A10 toward Tours. We made the GPS take this way by putting in small towns along the route.

The GPSs were brilliant in getting us directly to the door of La Grange Amboise (18 rue Chaptal). I recognized the red door and rang the bell. The proprietress, Ms. Yveline, opened up and husband maneuvered the car into the driveway in the pretty courtyard. She was very nice but had very limited English and of course we have extremely limited French so not much conversation was possible.

She welcomed us, showed us around and allowed us to pick our room (we chose the one with the big bed!). We were pleased with what we saw and knew we'd be comfortable for three nights.

Our room was a good size with quality furnishing. The bed was large and comfortable. The bathroom was a good size, very clean, with hooks for towels, a basket for your toiletries in the shower stall, and Hansgrohe fixtures. The room was not cluttered with dusty flowers or tchotchkes or non-functional things. I really liked that! No TV. Wi-Fi worked better downstairs than in our room. It was reasonable at E85 per night.

We refreshed and headed out to explore the town. La Grange Amboise is very well situated for the old town--about 5 minutes walk and you're in the thick of things. Stores were still open and husband was tempted by some gorgeous menswear offerings. We also considered some kitchen accessories. But we didn't buy anything (shocker!).

Our reservation at Chez Bruno (38-40 Place Michel Debre) was not until 8pm and with about 40 minutes to kill, we hung out at brightly lit bar a few doors down looking at the Castle. The TV was showing rugby and the staff were very carefully cleaning everything. Suitably refreshed, we went on over to Chez Bruno for dinner which was outstanding--it was completely packed while we were there.

Starters were escargot (husband) and onion soup. Mains were fish (me) and veal in a flaky pastry (husband), dessert was pears and cream. Everything was excellent, including the casually efficient service. The waiters looked like "hipsters" but paid close attention to the customers. We didn't have to ask for refills of bread or water, they noticed and took care of it. One waiter reminded us of our cousin back home (sweet personality, cute). We really enjoyed Chez Bruno and would have gone back but it was closed the rest of our time in Amboise.

We took the long way back to the B&B for the night.

Takeaways:
1. I'm thankful we were able to see Oradour sur Glane. It represents "man's inhumanity to man" and must not be forgotten.
2. It's hard to feel frivolous enough to tour a castle after walking around a tragedy, and that's OK.
3. Learn more French!

Next: We see three castles

nola77382

We see three castles

Day 9: Blois, Chambord, Cheverny

It's castle time! The weather was overcast and cool. We asked for breakfast at 9am, which got us off to a bit of a late start. No matter, we planned to hit three, maybe four castles today. There were many more people around than we'd seen in the Dordogne.

We started with Blois. We got turned around trying to find it and wasted a few minutes running around the town below. We parked and walked up to the entrance. There was some kind of old car festival going on and husband was hooked immediately (me, not so much). Dragged him away to tour the castle.

After paying for the entrance, we walked into the courtyard where the buildings are from markedly different periods (13C-17C) but still seem harmonious in a funky kind of way. Really pretty. We quickly walked through some rooms on the bottom floor with close up displays of the statues, gargoyles, etc. that were left from the restorations. Then up the staircase (so beautiful) to the rooms. It was a royal palace so these rooms were sumptuous and gilded and over the top. The guide was well done as were the displays in each room. I loved all the fleur de lis stuff, the colorful tiles, the fabulous ceilings and the history. Some rooms were closed off for a conference but that didn't detract from what we were able to see.

Possibly my favorite thing was the special exhibition (which didn't cost more) of Francois I's library. It was room after room after room of priceless illuminated manuscripts. We stumbled into the exhibit and were awed.

Afterwards, we took in the views over Blois from the terrace, popped into the chapel, took a few more pictures of the gorgeous courtyard buildings and left.

Our next stop would be Chambord. Before touring this palace, we munched on sandwiches and drinks from one of the vendors as you walk up. It was fine and helped us keep on track.

Chambord is out in the countryside, unlike Blois, so it sits there in massive isolated splendor. It's surrounded by a moat which seemed puny and insignificant compared to the size of the place. Did I say it's massive?!? I'm grateful that husband could make heads and tails of the guide because I found it impossible to follow. There were tons of rooms to see all off the gorgeous (how the heck did DaVinci do it?) double spiral staircase. The rooms were sparse and needed work but I'm sure they're doing the best they can to maintain the place since it's so huge. We saw all that we could, including the lovely special exhibit of photographs by a Korean artist, and made it up to the roof which is not.to.be.missed! The day was pretty so we lingered taking lots of pictures and admiring everything. Back down the amazing staircase to the exit. Chateau #2 was fantastic!

Checking our time, it looked like we had at least 2 hours until Cheverny closed. This was actually the one I most wanted to see so we rushed there. It's close to Chambord but on tiny roads so it took a good while. The countryside is lovely.

Cheverny is also on large acreage so it too sits alone in splendor. It's not massive, rather (to me) perfectly proportioned. There was a special installation of butterflies that at first looked weird but were actually beautiful. Cheverny has been in the same hands for-ever so it was well maintained and each room was beautifully appointed. The current rich dude and his wife live on premises. Her wedding dress and pictures of the wedding were in one room and family pictures in others. Nice touch. We took our time touring the rooms. It was easy to follow the informative guide which had pictures of each room on it so you knew you were in the right place (loved that). The ceilings in some rooms were crazy gorgeous. The interior was really something special.

We exited and headed to L'Orangerie for drinks. The grounds and flowers were beautiful so I detoured to take pictures while husband grabbed us drinks and a table. He was the last customer of the night... We sat out in this beautiful setting for awhile just basking in the beauty all around us. We reluctantly left our idyllic spot and went looking for the hounds. We saw more of the gorgeous grounds, said hello to the doggies, took some more pictures and left.

Back to the B&B in Amboise we headed on the pretty roads. It was very easy to drive in this area. We parked the car and refreshed before heading out to the main strip by the castle.

No reservations for dinner tonight so we took our chances with the pizza place on the main drag in front of the castle. We had a pretty good green salad but the pizza was mediocre. It was one of those overly complicated pizzas that I don't enjoy. Give me a simple pizza margherita and I'm happy. The service was good and the place was attractive. As we sat there two men and a woman with a baby in a stroller passed into the back door (I guess to a courtyard leading to an apartment) and we were amused because they were Bill and Ted, total dudes, but married with kids! Even talked like Bill and Ted. Funny. We finished up and strolled back to the B&B to crash.

Takeaways:
1. With an early start, three or four castles are quite possible in a day, if they're relatively close together.
2. Walking around the following day we noticed there was another pizzeria farther down the strip, past Chez Bruno, that looked less touristy and we wished we'd tried that one instead.

Next: More castles, of course.

annhig

(If I had to rank the caves: 1. Padirac, 2. Lascaux II, 3. Pech Merle & Cougnac, 5. Rouffignac).>>

I think I'd agree but I'm not sure that I wouldn't reverse Padirac and Lascaux II; we loved both but in different ways.

thanks for your descriptions of the castles - very informative.

topeater

So glad you are back! Your trip report makes me excited for my Dordogne trip in May! Thanks for writing.

nola77382

Totally agree, annhig. Padirac and Lascaux II are very different but wonderful. I think Padirac "won" because it was a "private" tour!

topeater, thanks. I'm certain you'll love the Dordogne as we did. We want to spend at least a week next time since there is so very much to do.

nola77382

More castles, of course.

Day 10: Chenonceau and Amboise Castle

After a leisurely breakfast of pastries, yoghurt with honey and nuts, and coffee, we "chatted" with two ladies from Northern France and our proprietress. They spoke some English but mostly rapid French and neither husband nor I could catch a word. It was nice, though, to sit there and listen. We need to learn more French...

We were both looking forward to seeing Chenonceau. We'd seen pictures of it everywhere, even on the cover of our Michelin Green Guide for the Loire Valley! We got there around 10am and there were lots of people around. It was the most crowded attraction we'd visited but the crowds weren't oppressive once we got inside.

We could certainly understand its popularity! It's gorgeous, well maintained, with beautiful grounds, and a riveting history. Its guide had pictures of each room (which I loved) and was easy to follow. Each room seemed prettier than the previous. And the flower arrangements were gorgeous! We toured all the rooms then lingered in the special exhibit which detailed the history of the chateau through the people that have owned it or lived there. Very interesting and very well done. We took pictures from both Gardens: I liked Catherine DeMedici's best but loved the little caretaker's "cottage" on Diane de Poitier's side. We also visited the little village where carriages where displayed. We walked through the well tended gardens (flowers, plants, vegetables) and said hello to the goats before leaving. This chateau vaulted up to Number 1 on my list (after Cheverny).

We stopped in the village and had sandwiches at the open patisserie. Delish. We decided to head back to Amboise to see the castle and possibly Clos Luce. We got totally turned around heading to the castle--ended up in a really ritzy looking neighborhood high on the hill--but wound our way down to the castle parking. It was actually a nice detour.

Amboise Castle is old and, like Beynac in the Dordogne, is positioned high over the river and town. But that's all they have in common. Amboise castle is very well maintained, the guide is well done, the displays in the castle itself were helpful and we were lucky to see beautiful pottery from Gian in each room to commemorate Francois I. There were also fresh flower arrangements. The views were outstanding on this beautiful late afternoon. We found DaVinci's grave marker in the chapel, saw his bust in the gardens, took tons of pictures and headed out.

It was now 4pm. We had plenty of time to tour Clos Luce but we were tired, so we had drinks instead. We seated ourselves inside a bar, away from the smokers, looking at the castle and relaxed for a good while. It was such a pretty evening that we wandered around Amboise, after getting ice cream at Amorino, window shopping.

We drove back to the B&B only to find our street blocked off because of road work. The proprietress helped us move the barriers but husband couldn't manoeuver into the very narrow driveway because half the street was torn up. She got in the car and took us to her parking spot a block and a half away (so nice!). We asked her where was a good place for dinner and she recommended La Reserve and made reservations for us for 730pm.

We headed out around 645pm. We went back to the bar and had drinks before dinner watching the setting sun beautifully illuminate the castle walls. When we got to La Reserve, we were glad for our reservation since it was packed. This is a nice modern looking but comfortable place with efficient staff and good food. I, unfortunately, developed a bad headache and couldn't enjoy it as much a husband did. Short walk back to the room to pack up and sleep before leaving for Paris the next day.

Takeaways:
1. Some slacking is ok on vacation (two castles in one day ='s slacking, lol).
2. Drink more water.
3. Win the lottery so we can buy a place on the Loire river.

Next: Traffic jams derail the plans

nola77382

To Paris!

Day 11: Traffic jams derail the plans

We breakfasted with a bunch of americans at the B&B. All very nice and all on longer holidays that us, sigh. We paid Ms. Yveline, thanked her and were on our way pretty early. We had our last long drive of the trip and wanted to stop in Chartres for the Cathedral before getting to Paris.

We routed ourselves using our Michelin maps. We debated about which AutoRoute to take: A28 to Lemans to A11 to Chartres, or A10 to Orleans up to Chartres on N154. We decided on the A10. This turned out to be the wrong choice because of a multi-car and semi truck accident that stopped traffic for TWO hours between exits 13 and 12 (ours). Three lanes of traffic completely stopped for TWO hours = misery and no Chartres for us.

We got off at the first possible exit after the traffic started moving again. Filled up with diesel and munched on grocery store sandwiches and chips. Because we didn't want to arrive in Paris really late, we (very disappointed) decided to skip the detour to Chartres. Without the traffic delay, we would have been there in plenty of time for Malcolm Miller's tour at 1130am. The Cathedral will be high on the agenda next time.

Traffic flowed pretty light and easy right until the outskirts of Paris. We had turned on the GPS and also had a printout of the route (from google maps) and were confident we were headed to Hertz at Gare de Lyon to return the car.

The GPSs estimated time of arrival proved to be off by an hour because of ANOTHER multicar accident that was blocking two out of three lanes on Quai Branley. We were beyond frustrated. Husband has driven in Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, England, Belgium, Netherlands) numerous times in the past 18 years and we have NEVER encountered one major accident, much less two in one day! Aargh.

We parked the car in the garage, hoped that it had enough fuel to pass the inspection, then went upstairs to the Hertz office. This process took about a half an hour but all was well and we didn't owe anything more than the extra 132E that the agent in Lyon had tacked on.

We decided to have a drink at Le Train Blue since we were at the Gare de Lyon for the first time. It was a nice break but we were not lucky enough to get seated in the section looking at the beautiful dining room.

Husband had his Navigo Decouverte from 2012 (I forgot mine) and it was rechargeable for 25E. We decided against doing that because we would not need the metro that much. We got the Carnet of 10 tickets and took the train to the Hotel de Ville stop. Very easy.

We came out of the Metro station to the beautiful Hotel de Ville and I was immediately happy! I was back in my favorite city on a gorgeous autumn afternoon!

We found our building and went up the four flights of winding stairs to our little rental apartment (www.parisbestlodge.com crazyview), let ourselves in and called Thierry who would meet us in 90 minutes to go over stuff and collect the fee. I took pictures of the magnificent view then we went looking for groceries and refreshment.

The apartment is small. It's long and narrow, with sloping floors and a lower than 8 foot ceiling. The dining table, sofa (bed), and kitchen are all in one. The very small bathroom is across from the dining table. The bathroom is really tiny. The bedroom is separate with a good sized bed (probably a US queen) up against one wall. It was pretty comfortable. The bedroom had a good sized closet as you enter and I was able to completely unpack; husband chose not to. Did not like: no hooks for towels or jackets so we ended up draping them over the chairs. No place to put an unpacked suitcase (why can't they have at least one of those luggage racks?). No lighting at all in the kitchen: we took the shade off a lamp and placed it on a shelf in the kitchen which helped. Hot water ran out one morning (we don't take long showers, either!). No place to put a book or my glasses on my side of the bed. Loved: The view! Great location. Liked: The apartment was very clean. It was well stocked with soap, toilet paper, detergent, etc. etc. Thierry was very responsive about the hot water issue. Washer/dryer worked. Good price. We would have liked it a lot more had the bed had been a bit bigger and it wasn't up four flights of stairs. We also decided we like staying in the 7th more than in this area. Bottom line: Overall, the apartment was what I expected and I can recommend it to others if you know its limitations. The view is amazing!

We walked over to Notre Dame Cathedral and walked in briefly since a mass was going on. We found a little grocery store and picked up essentials for breakfast. We carried our grocery bag into Au Bougnat which has a nice bar. We sat at the bar with beer and wine and decided to eat dinner there that night (made a reservation before leaving). We walked back up to the apartment and met with Thierry.

Dinner at Au Bougnat was quite good. It was pretty crowded, with tables for two lined up against one wall, very close together. One waitress spoke fluent Spanish (she's French but lived in Argentina and is glad to be back home) so I could communicate. Husband loved his beef with vegetables and I enjoyed my risotto with shrimp.

We took the long way back to the apartment, passing by Notre Dame and Hotel de Ville. It was wonderful to be in Paris!

Takeaways:
1. You cannot prepare for traffic accidents.
2. Hope there's a "next time" so you can do the things you couldn't because of the stupid traffic delays. (Malcolm Miller please don't die before we get there...)
3. If all train stations had a Le Train Blue like Gare de Lyon, we might take more trains!
4. We'll be returning the car to the airport in the future. Driving to Gare de Lyon wasn't hard, just frustrating because of the traffic accident and delays.
4. Paris is beautiful.

Next: It's cold, 3 museums, 4 churches, a special lunch, and a concert at Sainte Chapelle.

nola77382

St. Germain and the Latin Quarter

Day 12: It's cold, 3 museums, 4 churches, a special lunch, and a concert at Sainte Chapelle.

We slept pretty well in our little apartment. We broke our fast on eggs and toast we'd bought at the little store nearby. Tasty! It had turned cold, windy and gloomy overnight. Sadly, this weather would prevail throughout our stay.

Today we'd be venturing into a part of Paris we'd explored but little on previous trips: St. Germain and the Latin Quarter. On the agenda: Musee Delacroix, buy 4 day Museum Pass, St. Germain des Pres and St. Sulpice churches, lunch at Les Papilles, the Pantheon, St. Etienne du Mont church, (Musee Moyen Age Cluny, St. Severin church), concert at St. Chapelle.

We bundled up and took the metro to St. Germain des Pres stop. One great thing about staying on Ile de la Cite was its centrality. We felt this location was busy and touristy but super convenient.

We found our way to the somewhat hidden Musee Delacroix, bought our tickets and toured this small, un-crowded and interesting museum. How I would love to have this as my home! No wonder Delacroix could create his gorgeous works of art here: it felt peaceful with light filled, comfortable rooms. The studio in the back and the garden were delightful.

We next headed to St. Germain des Pres church. We popped into the garden at Square Laurent-Prache because the Blue Guide talked about the Picasso sculpture in the center and the remains of sculptures from the Lady Chapel at St. Germain des Pres.

St. Germain des Pres church was founded in 558 as part of a Benedictine Abbey. It was desecrated in the Revolution and has undergone many changes as a result. The 6th Century chapel was closed for renovation but we were able to follow the Blue Guide around this interesting church. It was dark inside and hard to see the remaining frescoes. It is badly in need of restoration.

Back outside, we took in the confluence of the three brasseries, Café des Deux Magots, Café de Flore and Brassiere Lipp, before making our way over to St. Sulpice. We passed a Pierre Herme and just had to get macaroons (oh so delicious!).

St. Sulpice is handsomely situated on a nice little piazza with a pretty fountain. The church itself was also very impressive. Per the Blue Guide: The organ is humongous and supposedly one of the biggest in existence; the two clamshell water holders were presented to Francois I by Venetians and are on rare marble pillars by Pigalle (we didn't know Pigalle was a sculptor, thought it was just the sketchy street in Montmartre!); we found the bronze meridian line but the sun was too weak to illuminate anything. And unfortunately, the Delacroix frescoes were under restoration and not visible at all. I liked this church.

We had a 1230pm reservation for lunch at Bistroy Les Papilles (30 rue Gay-Lussac) so routed ourselves there. It was a bit longer walk than I had anticipated so we didn't get to meander through the Luxenbourg Gardens.

We arrived to an almost full restaurant. Les Papilles is tiny with really fun, colorful floor tiles and a pretty bar area. The wines are on shelves along the wall where we sat. The service was great. We both got the beautifully presented and delicious cauliflower soup. Husband followed that with lamb shoulder and vegetables (outstanding) and I had a tuna steak (I don't love fish but there was nothing else on the menu for me). I loved husband's veggies and sauce! We shared his panna cotta which was outstanding--the best dessert we had all trip. Excellent lunch. I'd love to go back.

We walked outside to light rain. We were headed to the Pantheon but noticed the Institut Oceanographic, the Institut de Geograpie and a sign about Musee Curie. We asked the guy at the door but he said the Musee Curie was closed. This was contrary to our Blue Guide but we didn't speak enough French to clarify. Per google, it looks like it was a block away from where we were. At any rate, we missed it.

Our next stop was the Pantheon (free with museum pass). This is a humongous building. It felt cold to me, both in temperature and aura. I think it's just too big, too ostentatious, too much. It was softened somewhat by the beautiful frescoes depicting the life of Saint Genevieve. I liked watching Foucault's Pendulum swing; it's fascinating to me, and to many others by the number of folks around it. We visited the tombs of Victor Hugo, Rousseau, Voltaire, etc. I'm not surprised I didn't like this Pantheon since I also don't like the one it's based on in Rome. The outside is almost completely renovated and was clean and fresh.

We made our way over to St. Etienne-du-Mont church which is a shrine to Saint Genevieve. It's a really pretty church; I loved the purple doors. Inside is light, airy, and expansive but still intimate feeling. The "Reinaisssance jube" or "rood screen," 1525-1535, (Blue Guide) was spectacular. I don't remember ever seeing one of these "jube's" before. We paid homage to Saint Genevieve at her shrine and found a somewhat hidden room, just off the rectory, to see the stunning 1605-1609 stained glass windows that are at eye level. The Cluny has stained glass windows at eye level but I don't remember ever seeing them so up close in a church before. I really liked this church.

It was only 4pm so we looked at the map and headed to the Musee du Moyen Age/Cluny (free with museum pass). There were lots of students from the nearby universities walking around in costumes doing skits and busy getting to and from classes. A semester at the Sorbonne would probably be the experience of a lifetime--wish I'd had the opportunity when I was younger...

We visited the Cluny in 2003 and 2005. But I did not remember all of the incredible items it had on display. Yes, the original statues from Notre Dame, the stained glass fragments from various churches, including Sainte Chapelle, the remains of the Roman Baths, and the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are all here. But the altarpieces, tapestries, the late 7thC Visigothic votive crown, the 1330 Golden Rose, illuminated manuscripts, medieval weaponry, a book of combat techniques, etc., etc. are all outstanding too. The Blue Guide is heavy but it sure is informative! Husband and I both very much enjoyed this return visit to the Cluny.

Around 530pm, we headed back to Ile de la Cite but popped into St. Severin on the way. Nice church. We were looking for a place to have a drink but no place called our name so we kept walking and just went back to the apartment to refresh before the 7pm concert (Vivaldi's Four Seasons) at Sainte Chapelle.

Husband groaned when I told him about the concert but it was actually very nice (he liked it). I bought tickets ahead of time on www.billetreduc.com for 23E per person. We went through security and were directed to the right and up to the second floor of the Palais de Justice, so we entered via the Upper chapel (not via the lower chapel like on regular tours). When we arrived, it was still light enough out that some of the stained glass windows--now all renovated--were glowing. So beautiful. We were in the middle of the three sections which was just fine. It was not sold out. The concert was about an hour long and it was lovely. It's such a beautiful setting that it's hard not to enjoy the music. Very glad we did this.

It rained very hard right after the concert ended so we all lingered as long as possible in the Palais de Justice. Finally, security ushered everyone out into the wet night. Husband and I made our way back to Au Bougnat and snagged a table at the bar where we had fries and eggrolls and drinks before heading back to the apartment for the night. It had been a wonderful day in Paris!

Takeaways:
1. So many churches, so little time!
2. The Blue Guide Paris is heavy but wonderfully comprehensive.
3. Les Papilles--outstanding!
4. Musee National du Moyen Age Cluny--outstanding!
5. Concert at Sainte Chapelle--outstanding!
6. I love Paris!

Next: Walk with a Greeter, Arts and Crafts, Picasso, Monet and all their friends.

nola77382

Passages and Museums

Day 13: Walk with a Greeter, Arts and Crafts, Picasso, Monet and all their friends.

We had a 1030am appointment with our Paris Greeter, Joel. He decided to meet us at the apartment because of our interest in history. It was a very cold, windy day with a few sprinkles of rain. Miserable for walking, really. Joel is a 60-something retired engineer who lives with his wife and adult son in the suburbs. His daughter, her husband and their baby live in Australia.

Joel started the Greet by talking about the origins of Paris. He lead us to rue des Ursins where we had walked several times in the previous days. He showed us markings on the street that delineated the old roman wall. He explained how the city grew and changed over time and showed us drawings of the walls and settlements. Fascinating.

We went from Ile de la Cite over the bridge by Hotel du Ville up past St. Merri Church (gorgeous red door), through passages--some nice, others very seedy with prostitutes lingering about--past the gates at Pte. St. Martin and Pte. St. Denis. After one last passage (Prado), we were too cold, tired and disheartened by this poorer, seedier side of Paris to continue so asked him to lead us to food and drinks. We ended up at Le Cerceau (129 Boulevard de Sebastopol) for a very nice lunch. Joel then lead us over to the Musee des Arts et Metiers where we said goodbye. Overall, we both enjoyed this walk with Joel. I liked learning about the history of Paris more than walking through the passages and we were certainly unlucky with the cold, windy, damp weather, but we definitely appreciated Joel's time and energy!

The Musee des Arts et Metiers (Arts and Crafts, free with museum pass) is filled with interesting old and new objects. There is way too much to see! We stopped and marveled at Pascal's calculator (he may be a distant relatives of mine), Lovoisier's laboratory, Foucault's brilliance (dude figured out how to measure the speed of light in 1862!), the robots, the looms, cameras, machinery, cars, bikes, etc., etc., on our way to the Chapel which has Foucault's pendulum (fascinating!) and so many incredible vehicles and airplanes cleverly hung from the ceiling. We climbed the ramp to the top--it is really high and a little scary at the top and took lots of photos. This Museum merits a lot more time than we gave it but I'm so glad we saw what we did.

We took the metro to the Picasso Museum (free with museum pass). We visited this museum on our first trip and remembered it fondly. We had liked that the art was displayed chronologically in the rooms of the house. The museum has undergone a major renovation and some rooms were closed for the upcoming one year celebration of re-opening. I'm not a big Picasso fan; I like his early stuff more than the later. I like when a museum shows the artist's life and progression but I don't feel this new Picasso museum does that. I didn't get a sense of Pablo, it just felt disjointed. The house is gorgeous but cold. I don't need to go back. My favorite one-artist museum is still the Van Gogh in Amsterdam--it was biographical, comprehensive, and I "got" Vincent after visiting.

Husband was hankering for his favorite Parisian treat--falafels at L'as du Fallafel. We've eaten there every time we've visited Paris. On our way we popped into two pretty gardens, Square Georges Cain and Jardin des Rosiers-Joseph-Migneret, and enjoyed a bit of tranquility in the busy Marais. Husband enjoyed his falafel immensely while I snacked on fries and wine. We decided to cancel our reservation for dinner at Le Florimond because no way would we be hungry in a couple of hours!

Just like husband needs to have a falafel every time he visits Paris, I need to visit the Orsay (free with museum pass). It's, hands-down, my favorite museum. We arrived close to 7pm and it was pretty crowded. We started off in the Toulouse Lautrec rooms, passed by the gorgeous sculptures and the model of the opera house on our way to the Impressionists. I looked at every single painting and lost husband along the way. There are so many paintings in this collection that I love but I discovered a new favorite, Edouard Manet's L'Evasion de Rochefort, which lifted and broke my heart at the same time.

Back among the sculptures to the Post-Impressionist rooms then on to the decorative arts section with the gorgeous belle époque furnishings. We walked through a few more galleries (Georges Clairin's intense Sarah Bernhardt caught my eye) but our energy was lagging so we headed out. Goodnight, L'Orsay, until next time!

We took the RER back to Ile de la Cite, walked by gorgeous Notre Dame then stopped at Au Bougnat again for snacks and drinks before bed. Another fabulous day in Paris!

Takeaways:
1. A Greeter can provide great insight into a city. It's a fantastic program.
2. Love the museum pass!
3. The Chapel at the Musee Arts et Metiers is outstanding.
4. L'Orsay never disappoints.
5. I love Paris even when it's cold and gloomy. And I HATE cold weather.

Next: City Hall, Monet, a special lunch, and more Monet.

joannyc

Enjoying your report!

Bookmarking for Lyon.

runningtab

<<We were a bit disappointed because the boat just went from Beynac, under the bridge that the resistance used to hide ammunition during WWII, to the Chateau de Fayrac before turning back. We thought it would get closer to Castelnaud.>>

It can't. The river's too shallow.

Thanks for the report.

nola77382

Thanks, runningtab, for that information. I had no idea the river was too shallow. I'm from New Orleans and we never had that problem with the Mississippi!

Lyon was a delight, Joannyc. Very easy to navigate and a lot to see.

TPAYT

I so enjoyed following along on your report.
The Dordogne remains one of our favorite adventures in France...so many wonderful places to see and it was fun revisiting the same sites & restaurants with you. The Loire Was worth 2 visits for us and we still haven't seen everything so I took some notes from you.

Can never get enough of Paris....always a must before or after any other France location. Tiny Au Bougnat is a favorite. We skipped it on our last (Oct.'15) trip but remember that the food was always good. A few years ago I reviewed it on Trip Advisor (as I like to do) and through the years 6,000+ people have read that review. It remains my most read review, and I review everything. It is always a "hey, we don't have reservations, it's easy & close by, let's go to Au Bougnat" kind of place. But through the years it's become more popular and sometimes you need a reservation.

I like your idea of "Takeaway" at the end of each day and I am looking forward to the rest of your report.

TPAYT

I also must aff that I really like the format of your blog.

TDudette

Just found this, nola77382, and enjoyed it very much (got the last days on your blog). Looking forward to your photos.

Restaurant le Meurice Alain Ducasse meal sounded so amazing. Sorry if I missed this, but how far in advance to you arrange Paris Greeters?

nola77382

For some reason, I can't post the narrative from the last three days of our trip from the computer I've been using for months. aargh, frustrating! This has been the problem with getting photos uploaded, too.

At any rate, thanks for still reading! I'll get the last three days on fodors one way or the other but here's the blog links:

Day 14: http://herewegoagain-france2015.blog...periences.html

Day 15: http://herewegoagain-france2015.blog...-in-paris.html

Day 16: http://herewegoagain-france2015.blog...o-reality.html