Hello, thank you for the report. I am enjoying it very much. I tend to find places I like to eat and drink and return also. I am usually eating alone and feel good in a familiar place.

I am never hungry in the AM but must have my coffee. It is such a nice pleasure to stop in for a pastry when the first pangs do hit. I love the thick yogurt in glass jars and the fresh fruits also. I can very much enjoy a smaller dining budget.

I am putting St-Denis on my list for the Fall. Thanks for listing your route. What a great airfare!

gg

DAY 6 – SUN 17 MAY

Breakfast in our room: same as yesterday - tarte rouge and something that looked like a Spanish churro, but bigger and with chocolate inside…plus, of course, coffee and fruit.

We were on our way to the left bank on bus 96 (can’t remember where we were going), when we noticed that there was no line at all at St-Chappel, so we quickly jumped off and went in. (We had passed St-Chappel many times and seen the long lines and decided to skip it this trip.) That place never ceases to amaze me.

Since we were on the Ile, we walked through the Sunday bird market [N] (somewhat disappointing), and went to the Crypt at Notre Dame [N]. This was actually quite interesting…filled in a number of gaps in my spotty knowledge of French/Parisian history.

In front of the cathedral were tent booths where we picked up a 4 EUR sampler of four cheeses…dropped this off at our room.

Did a guided walk of the area west and north of Les Halles, including St-Eustache church and the wonderful street market on R. Montorgueil.

Lunch in our room: the cheese, bread, orange and strawberries. (I forgot to mention that the street market across the street from us had been there on Saturday, so we stocked up on oranges and strawberries.)

Next we did our boat ride. We always use Vedettes du Pont Neuf (http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/index.htm), because their location is great for us and (as far as I can tell) they are the only provider that allows you to buy a discounted ticket online in advance without specifying a time. Unfortunately, the weather was windy and rainy…but we enjoyed the trip anyway. As the boat docked, the weather cleared (of course!!).

We finally managed to go to the Orangerie Museum [N]. The Monet Water Lilies is great – but the room is actually a little small for it. If you sit in the middle, you are too close. We would stand as far away as we could. The rest of the museum has a fine collection of paintings.

We walked through the Tuilleries back for a second visit to the M. Arts Decoratif – Linda wanted to see the 19th century stuff. [Note: This is another advantage of the Museum Pass…you can do multiple short visits rather than one long one.]

Home and a nap.

Dinner: Back to San Antonio for spaghetti bolonaise, salad and wine.

We decided to take a long after-dinner walk:
– From our hotel to Ile St-Louis
– Along the south quais
– Across Pont de Sully
– Along the river to where Canal St-Martin starts
– Up to Place Bastille
– Back along R. St-Antoine/R. Rivoli
– Detour up R. de Veille du Temple for ice cream (!!)
– Back to the hotel

[…to be continued…]

DAY 8 – MON 18 MAY

Got up early this morning for our trip to Chartres. [N]

Our patisserie didn’t have everything out yet, but we found a great cake with fruit to go with our oranges, strawberries and coffee.

Took the Metro to Gare Montparnasse. Took the 8:19 train, earlier than we had planned. [NOTE: We forgot to time-stamp our tickets in the yellow machine before we boarded. This could have resulted in a large fine, but, luckily we got to Chartres – a nice 1-hour trip – without being caught.]

In Chartres, we stopped at a patisserie and got a couple of quiches (heated).

We had intended to do the 12:00 Malcolm Miller tour, which friends had recommended, but we were in the cathedral shortly after 10:00, so we did the guided tour in the Rick Steves book. It was quite comprehensive and enjoyable (if you can overlook his lame attempts at humore sprinkled throughout). One of the rose windows was out for restoration, but overall, this is a great place to visit – really a lot to see in one building, inside and out.

This was our last day in Paris and the R. Steves tour was so good, that we skipped the Malcolm Miller tour and returned to Paris rather than spend another hour-and-a-half on what might prove to be overlapping tours.

On a previous trip Linda had bought a shade of lipstick in a store on Champs-Elysees. We decided to try to find it and get some more. Walked down the street from the Arc de Triumphe until we found the store. The color was no longer made, but they helped us find a very close match.

Continued on, to Pl. FDR, and up to the St-Augustine church (past some really upscale art galleries). Here we began another guided walk. The church was nice and we sat for a rest while the organist played. The walk went down to the Madeleine church – there was a chorus performing a free concert. (Always lots of free music in Paris churches!)

Look in the stores in Pl. de la Madeleine – way too expensive for us. Took a picture of some truffles (the fungi, not the candy) that had a 590.00 EUO per kilo price tag. Sorry guys, but no food on earth can be worth that much.

Continued to Concorde…then home for a rest.

We decided to walk over to the Pompidou before dinner…only the floor with the first half of the 20th c. We are huge fans of fauvisim, and they have a few nice ones. [NOTE: My own fauve site is http://sanderhome.com/Fauves/index.html for those that are interested.

The our last dinner at Equinox:
– Both had delice (a ham concoction) with asparagus. Very good but filling for an entrée.
– Duck l’orange and mashed potatoes for the main – really good!
– I had a baba rhum cake and Linda had crème broulet for dessert
– Wine, of course

Last walk – a very slow stroll across Pont Louis Phillippe and Pont St-Louis to Notre Dame. Then back for packing, bill-paying, and bed at the hotel.

[…to be continued…]

OOPs -- That previous post was DAY 7, not DAY 8.

SS

TRAVEL DAY – TUE 19 MAY

On Sunday, we had picked up our RER tix to CDG (as well as a carnet of ten metro tix for Monday’s sightseeing since our Carte Orange had expired), so we were all ready to leave.

Ate our last oranges, left the hotel at 7:30 a.m., and got on the Metro at Hotel de Ville.

[NOTE: Our plane was schedule for 11:30, but we had a really close call with long security lines at CDG our last trip, so we decided to try to get the airport 3 hours before takeoff.]

Transferred to RER B at Chatalet/Les Halles and took the first train, a local, rather than waiting for the express. Got to the check-in counter by 8:30. Our USAir Silver Card allowed us to use the 1st class counter, so there was no wait at all.

Stopped at a food place for pastry; then proceeded onward. Immigration and security lines were not too long, so we were at the gate with lots of time to kill.

The plane departed pretty much on time, and we arrived in Philadelphia on time after a pleasant flight.

I will try to post my photos on my website www.sanderhome.com sometime in the next day or two.

END OF TRIP.

Nice report. Thank you.

I never refer to Chatalet without saying 'the dreaded Chatalet.'
I appreciate that such a place must exist but it should be avoided when possible.

Wonderful report. You travel similarly to my husband and I. Great fun to read your descriptions. I feel like I'm still there.

I've yet to do my trip report for our week in May. We've been back since May 15 -- I think I need to get to it soon, before I lose the immediacy.

Paule

Oh, I completely agree with you about the Orangerie. You wrote:

<<We finally managed to go to the Orangerie Museum [N]. The Monet Water Lilies is great – but the room is actually a little small for it. If you sit in the middle, you are too close. We would stand as far away as we could. The rest of the museum has a fine collection of paintings.>>

I found the display a little hard to view - the round room is a nice idea, but there isn't enough space to step back and really view the work. Especially with all those folks having their picture taken in front of the work! We did enjoy the lower level with their collection of other artists, though.

Paule

Thanks for the nice report. You've made me add a couple of items to the ever-expanding list of things I want to do in Paris.

For my photos, go to:

http://sanderhome.com/Paris0905/index.htm

SS

Thanks very much! What was disappointing about the bird market? We were planning on a mild detour to "pass through it" - what were your thoughts?
V

Great report, ssander! Loved that you got to various artists' galleries. Do you have a favorite? How did you find out about it?

DH and I are also 60s and frugal travelers. What a super plane fare-I will watch USAir more often. We go from Dulles or BWI so BA or Air France are our usuals.

Also, is that your piece at the Fauvist site? Very cool.

Happy traveling!

Interesting wallpaper! I hope you aren't prone to headaches.

Love your photos--thank you! What a nice little web site. You are getting me excited for my trip--leave Sunday.
Marie

"Either this wallpaper goes or I do." Oscar Wilde

Maybe it was the same hotel?!

Canada_V...

The bird market was mostly pet supplies and only a few stalls for pretty standard pet-type birds - mostly canaries and parakeets. I guess I expected exotic things and lots of live fowl for cooking.

SS

TDudette...

We really didn't have a favorite at Belleville. The talent was uneven...some really great stuff, especially sculpture, and some amatuerish artists as well.

We stumbled on it by accident before our 2007 trip. Linda found it described in a book from our local library on insiders things to see in Paris. I wish I could remember the title - it might have been DK's Paris E-Guide. It just happened to be the week we were going.

This time we looked for it on their website, and, luckily, it was also the same week.

http://www.ateliers-artistes-belleville.org/pg.php?p=4

We talked to one of the artists for awhile, and she said it's not really well-known even in Paris. She was very surprised to find out we knew about it in the U.S.

And, yes, that Fauve website is mine. I made it quite some time ago, and really haven't updated it at all in a long time.

SS

Nikki & MarieVia...

About the wallpaper...when I first saw it, I thought Linda would freak, because she is very much affected by her environment. I thought it was too wild, but I am pretty much oblivious to my surroundings.

However, she thought it was "quirky" and liked it.

I was pleasantly surprised that the trip didn't start off badly. :-)

SS

I viewed the Water Lily's in Nov. 2006. I loved that time of year, no crowds. I was thinking how difficult it would be to really see them during the real busy times. I like to look at them really close up and see all the "blobs" of paint, and then back away. I can't find it amazing that a painter can do work like that, blobbing paint all over the canvas and end up with a result like that. How do they DO that? I love Monet.

Thanks for the hotel link SS, I'm going to keep the hotel information and keep trying to hook up. I got the broken link too, from Google..so I'm sure they will have a working link at some point.

I loved the hotel I stayed in last trip..close to Montparnasse, but it's more expensive than yours, so looking for future possibilities. Thanks again. Wonderful report.