Musee D'Orsay and Belgian Frites

On Thursday after our usual breakfast of quiche, baguettes, croissants and pain au chocolat accompanied by strong French coffee, we were off to the Musee D'Orsay to gaze upon the Impressionists masterpieces of Renoir, Monet, Degas, Manet, and all the other great artists.  The museum is actually an old beautiful train station constructed for the 1900 World's Fair, and we spent some time taking in the majesty of the building.  Unlike Le Louvre, photography was not allowed in the exhibit areas. 

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html?cHash=1030a57d48




View through the clock

We were able to take pictures in the common areas and we were able to access an outdoor viewing area which provided very nice panoramic views of Paris.



Decorative building details

Nice view of Sacre Coeur from the top of the Musee D'Orsay

We enjoyed lunch in the cafe, which had some fascinating light fixtures.



Edible art to end our lunch!  There was a whole display case of these,
and we all decided that this giant eclair tasted as good as it looked.

After lunch we went back to see more of magnificent artwork, then Christine and I decided that we might be "museum'd out" so we went down to the gift shop on our way out of the building.  And we encountered a lovely little musical performance so we stopped to listen and enjoy. (Tried to insert the video but it was taking forever so I abandoned the upload).

At this point I was ready to sit down...my knees were hurting and my brain was on art overload.  We exited the museum and made our way to the bridge off to the left where we found a bench for me to rest and an artist selling his creations.  Christine bought a nice canvas painting as a souvenir and I took a picture of her with the artist for posterity. Who knows, maybe some day this guy will be recognized as a master and his paintings will hang in a gallery in Paris.

There is lots of advice about "how" to enjoy Paris.  One really good tidbit is to be sure you take time to just sit outside and take it all in, soak in your surroundings, enjoy people watching.  So after a while, we wandered over to the bank of the Seine, sat down and watched the boats full of tourists pass us by.  At the same time, a musician located under the bridge overpass was playing songs from the American Songbook.  It was so nice to just sit there, relax and absorb our surroundings.  After a while, we noticed that there was an "under the road" passway over to The Tuileries gardens, so we walked over, found a table in an outdoor cafe near a little pond, and ordered a carafe of wine.  Meanwhile, Rick and Allison finished up the museum then joined us in the gardens.

Even the pigeons were attractive!

It was late in the afternoon and we had nothing else planned so Rick decided it was time to go find some Belgian frites.  For years, the man has waxed eloquently about when he was stationed in Brussels (around 1970) and how he enjoyed the frites from stands all around the city.  He had even talked about driving or taking the train to Brussels so he could get us those frites that were twice fried in horse fat, crispy and served with mayonnaise.  We had seen a couple places in Paris, so it was time to indulge him, we caught a taxi and were off to Léon de Bruxelles, a true "stand" not unlike a McDonald's with the requisite burgers and other sandwiches one would eat with frites.  Meanwhile, Christine was dying to go to the bathroom and this place didn't have a toilette.  So she ran into the bar next door and promised to eat/drink in the establishment if she could just use the facilities.  The bartender was extremely accommodating and spoke English.  So Rick got two orders of frites, we all went into the bar, drank beer and ate the famous frites.  Of course, they were not cooked in horse fat so they tasted different than what he expected, but they were pretty good.  And we enjoyed the beer, the friendliness of the pub and a few beers. By the way, I think this was the only food/drink establishment we found that had a toilet on the main level.  That meant that Allison could enjoy her favorite adult beverages, for a change.  It turns out that the pub is the local Greenbay Packers bar, and the bartender actually owns two shares of the Packers.  We had a nice time talking with the patrons and it turned into a fun evening. 

Rick pouring a glass of locally crafted Belgian-style beer to accompany his frites.

Masterpieces, Mummies and Mumbles

After our long day in London, we enjoyed a more leisurely morning, savoring our fresh quiche, baguettes, and croissants and not feeling any big rush to head out to Le Louvre, our destination for the day.  This is one of the fabulous things about our location in Paris, and it's not unusual at all - we had at least four bakeries and two fresh food markets within less than two blocks of our apartment.  Rick was the man...he went out every morning and picked out the pastries and whatever else we needed to have a nice Parisian breakfast.  I think it was this morning that he purchased quiche from Hediard's, a specialty grocery store:

http://www.hediard.com/epicerie-salee.html?___store=hed01en&___from_store=hed01fr

It was THE BEST quiche we ate while we were there, creamy and salty and well, just right.  It was probably the priciest, too.  But hey, we were on vacation and eating breakfast in our apartment was definitely saving a few euros every morning. 

After everyone was satisfied, showered and ready to go, we walked to the taxi stand and hailed a taxi to Le Louvre.  We arrived there in a few minutes and the outdoor plaza was jammed with people queued up to go in at the Pyramid entrance.  NOTE to all of you who are anticipating a trip - don't wait in that line.  Enter the pyramid at any other entrance and walk up, buy your tickets inside...really.  No need to spend an hour getting your tickets inside.  It's just not obviously intuitive that you can use another entrance.  Because of the wheelchair, we walked right up to an assistant and were ushered inside.  We got our tickets in just a couple minutes, headed up to the main level on a nice oval-shaped lift that held us all, Christine fetched audio guides for each of us, and then we were off to visit the world's largest art collection. 

Le Louvre has more than 300,000 pieces and has about 30,000 on display.  So there is no hope of seeing everything in one day, or even one week!  The audio guides were overly-complex, Nintendo DS-based with gps that sort of worked some of the time.  We found that when they did work, the narrative was more than we wanted to hear.  And the GPS wasn't keeping track of us all that well.  Eventually, we all ended up shutting them down and just soaking in the art.

Christine and I took off separately from Rick and Alli.  The place was crowded and all the grand masterpieces had so many people crowded around them that it was hard to get close.  With the sculptures, it was sometimes better to look from different angles rather than just the front.

You can see what we were encountering from the picture above...every renowned piece was very crowded.  This is one time when we might have been better off sticking with Rick and Alli because an attendant would often escort them up to the art - right around the crowds.  That was especially helpful when viewing the Mona Lisa.  Christine and I stood in a crushing crowd to get close enough to take a picture.  Rick and Alli were escorted right up to the lady!

So I did eventually get close enough for a snapshot of Da Vinci's most famous work, but it was not easy!  And the painting is protected behind glass, thus the reflection in the middle of the picture. 

After enduring the crowds surrounding the grand masterpieces, we decided to go in search of mummies.  Yes, Christine wanted to see mummies!  So we made our way to the Egyptian art salons and sure enough, we found the "one" human mummy on display, but not before finding a Sphynx and a few other interesting objects d'art.

Notice the little jars - the Egyptians mastered the art of embalming, and those jars are for the entrails...yeah, really!

We found a few other animal mummies - fish, birds, your average house pet...LOL. 

Allison looking at what else she wanted to see, Christine thinking...enough art already...LOL.
And Rick worried about whether or not I could manage the wheelchair.

At this point, my knees were screaming for mercy and Christine had experienced her fill of museum art.  Rick and Christine were scheduled for a Segway tour, Allison wanted to see more Le Louvre, and I wanted to go hang out in the Tuileries gardens and drink wine.  So after a strategy session, we walked across to the gardens, Allison and I found a cafe and ordered wine, and Rick and Christine went off to find a taxi to the Eiffel Tower and their tour. 

After I recovered a bit, Alli and I headed back to the museum and spent a couple hours wheeling around taking in more of the Italian art that we had both missed.  About 8:30, we were "done in" and headed out to find a nice cafe and enjoy dinner.  The timing worked out well.  We had dinner, Rick and Christine finished their Segway tour, we both caught separate taxis and ended up back at the apartment a few minutes apart.  That was a good thing because I needed a little help managing the wheelchair, so our timing was excellent.  Rick and Christine were still grinning from ear to ear - they absolutely loved every minute of their tour.

Yeah, you can tell...they didn't like that AT ALL!!!



I have to mention this little place we found in our neighborhood called Mumbles.  It was a little crepe shop, not unlike an American neighborhood pizza shop.  The place had 3 or 4 high-top tables with a few metal barstools, and a table stacked high with pre-assembled boxes used for crepe takeout.  They had a line-up of bikes with insulated boxes ready to deliver your favorite crepes right to your door.  We walked in and looked at the all French menu, and breathed a sigh of relief when one of the delivery drivers offered to translate for us.  We ordered some savory and sweet crepes and they were definitely the best we had, not to mention very inexpensive.  Every one was made to order - no pre-made crepes in this little joint. 

This was our "supper" on Monday night and the perfect "inexpensive" couterpoint to our Eiffel Tower lunch splurge.



Whirlwind tour of London

Arriving in London.  Notice the Olympic Rings hanging in the background. 
That was the only sign of the upcoming Olympics that we encountered.

We set our alarms for 5:45 a.m. so we'd be up and ready for the pre-arranged taxi ride to Gare du Nord.  The early morning Eurostar was set to depart at 7:45 a.m. and we needed to be there at least 30 minutes ahead of the departure time to clear Immigration.  The taxi was on time and large enough to accommodate us and the wheelchair, and the traffic was light so we arrived with plenty of time to spare.  We made our way into the station and we were immediately provided with an assistant to guide us around and through the queues.  We took the lift to the proper platform and boarded the train, stored the wheelchair and found our seats very easily.  The Eurostar is very modern, clean, and fast (up to 186 miles an hour) that delivered us to London in 2 hours 16 minutes.  Here's a link in case you're interested in more details:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurostar  We ate our usual pastry, juice and coffee while enroute - I had wisely pre-selected seats that had us sitting across from each other with a table in the middle. 

We arrived in St. Pancras International, thought about taking a taxi but I convinced everyone that we should hop on the Big Red Bus which is a "pay one price, hop on and off all day" tour bus and included a cruise down the Thames.  We had heard that London was very handicap-accessible, and indeed this bus had a wheelchair lift.  The bus provided headsets and narration of the sites as it traversed the streets through the traffic, and there was lots of traffic!

We decided to get off at the Tower of London and made our way to the entrance.  The first buildings were built in 1078, so needless to say most of it was not handicap-accessible.  We went where we could, poor  Allison being bounced around on cobblestones!  We were always on the lookout for smooth-rolling surfaces, but there's only so much that can be done with these medieval buildings. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London

After a brief walk-through, we headed out for lunch.  We found a nearby restaurant and enjoyed some fish 'n chips then headed down to the river and boarded a tour boat for a cruise down the Thames.  Christine and I sat on the upper deck while Allison and Rick stayed on the lower level.  We passed below all the famous bridges, got a great view of the London Eye, and finished the cruise at Westminster Abbey.

Note the last picture of the Queen's 25th Jubilee - I only got part of it, and didn't totally get the significance until later when we realized that London was preparing for her 60th Jubilee to take place on Sunday.  In retrospect, we think that is why there was little evidence of the Olympics preparation...there was nothing to distract the country from the Jubilee. 

We disembarked at Westminster Abbey and made our way to the handicap entrance (which was the exit for everyone else).  We made our way in and it was mostly smooth sailing for Allison.  She was free to roll over the graves of historical figures and be amazed at the majesty of the cathedral.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside (although it was extremely tempting!) so we respectfully wandered the building in utter amazement.  Here's a link if you'd like to learn more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Abbey

After the Abbey, we walked a couple blocks and made our way through St. James Park that led us to Buckingham Palace.   The park was beautiful - 53 acres of trees, ponds and waterfowl.  People were out enjoying the lovely weather and I enjoyed the birds.

We arrived at Buckingham Palace to find a flurry of activity in preparation for the Jubilee events.  Workmen were building the outdoor stadium for the concert that was held a couple days ago (we didn't know at the time exactly what this would be used for).

Dignitaries with invitations in hand were coming and going through the gates - it was fun to see the formal attire.

And the strangest thing we saw was landscapers applying sod to the side of a building under construction across from the palace.  I guess they wanted to make sure everything looked truly grand!

After Buckingham Palace and a substantial wait, we boarded the Red Bus again with the intention of heading to Picadilly Circus.  One word of caution about these HOHO buses - they arrive at the stops and sometimes very few people get off.  We were truly frustrated as three buses came and went with no room for the wheelchair.  There did not seem to be any coordination between the bus drivers and the attendant on the street who was supposedly helping to load the bus.  We got off the bus where someone told us we would find Picadilly Circus and tried following a tourist map, but we never quite made it.

We found a little Italian cafe with outdoor seating, relaxed and had a fantastic pizza - just enough to satisfy us for the trip back to Paris.   I wish I had taken a picture of that pizza - it was memorable, Rick is still singing its praises!  Then we caught a taxi and headed back to St. Pancras International train station. 

We all agreed that we really liked London and would want to go back.  To be honest, it was nice to be able to understand the language. 

Monday - Day 3

And we were off to the Eiffel Tower.  We arrived about 11:30 and made our way around the grounds, took our required pictures, then made our way to Le Jules Verne for our 1:00 p.m. reservation.  A private elevator whisked us up to the second floor, but send hubby back to our apartment for a wardrobe change.  He was in neat golf shorts, but they didn't allow men in shorts...lol.  Sloppy jeans or shorts on women were OK, but the golfing shorts with a polo shirt didn't meet their dress code.  Luckily, he found an efficient taxi driver who got him back to the apartment, waited while he changed, and delivered him back to the restaurant in just about 20 minutes. 

Here we were in the Eiffel Tower and we had to wait, so we ordered pink champagne and toasted being in Paris, in the Eiffel Tower, and enjoying some absolutely fabulous weather.

Rick returned, he ordered his champagne, and we proceeded to enjoy an absolutely fabulous lunch while taking in the view.  The service was spectacular, the food was memorable and the desserts were just ridiculous! 

The desserts were masterpieces that you almost hated to disturb, and they tasted as good as they looked.  But we were so full that we could really just sample them.  By the way, in that little white bowl is a mound of homemade marshmallows!

After our two hour dining experience, we went outside to take pictures and enjoy the view.  Allison was not allowed to ascend to the top, so we parked her in a good spot and the rest of us took the lift the rest of the way.  Once you get off the lift, you still have a stairway to climb to the "top" or as far as you can go.  It's nice to say we got to the top, but the view wasn't really any better than what you get at the second level.

Les Invalides - view from 2nd level of Eiffel Tower

Here we are at the top of the tower

After coming off the tower, we walked down to the river and hopped on a boat cruise for a one hour narrated tour.  It was relaxing and a nice way to top off our day. 

We returned to our apartment to relax, then we all decided that we needed dinner.  It was probably about 9:30 or so and we all craved crepes.  So the wonders of the internet, we found a little place called Mumbles about 3 blocks from us.  The reviews we read were promising so we took off hoping the food would be as good as the reviews.  We were not disappointed - it's a neighborhood place, not unlike a local pizza joint, with about 4 tall tables and stools.  They deliver crepes the way pizza is delivered here in the US...well, almost, as they use bikes instead of cars.  The menu was in French, but one of the delivery guys helped us figure out our order.  Each crepe was made individually and delivered right out of the pan, fresh and delicious.  So in the same day, we had the most expensive and probably the least expensive meals of our trip. 

These crepes are so worthy!  They tasted as good as they looked!  Highly recommend!

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Paris, Day 2 - Sunday

Rick and I got up before the girls and headed out on a search for pastries and a few groceries.  We thought we'd get coffee to go at the pastry shop, but that is a rarity here in Paris.  You just don't see people walking around with Starbucks or DunkinDonuts, like we staties do.  So after we found the pastry shop and had selected some pain au chocolat, raisin pastries, croissants and a baguette, we headed to the little market for coffee, yogurt, fresh strawberries and a few other necessitities.  We went back to the apartment, made coffee and enjoyed every morsel of our continental breakfast.

We had a date with "Christophe" from Paris Greeters, who showed up promptly at 11 a.m.  He helped us travel by bus to the Latin Quarter, where we walked along streets full of shops and restaurants, past the Sorbonne, and the site of the Roman Baths which is now the Cluny Museum. 

After a nice lunch at Cafe Le Dante (see the Croque Monsieur and the Caprese salad above) we made our way to Notre Dame.  It's just a magnificent structure, and it's hard to imagine how something like this was created without power tools.

After viewing Notre Dame, we checked out the bridge covered with locks of love.  Tradition says that if you attach a lock to the bridge and drop the key into the Seine, your love will last forever.   I understand that true Parisians are not all happy about tourists "trashing" their bridges.  This is just a tiny sample, and I can see their point.

we made our way back to an antique market we had seen earlier in the Latin Quarter - easier said than done.  We thought maybe there would be local artisans, crafts, etc., but it was truly an outdoor antique shopping area.  We spent a few minutes looking around, then spent a lot of minutes looking for a taxi to take us back to our apartment.  We were way too far to walk, we were exhausted, and we were relieved when we finally found a taxi stand.  (Note to self - take taxi company number with you from now on!)

Back at the apartment, we took a break and changed clothes.  It's been very warm and sunny here during the day, so the clothes that started the day are not necessarily the ones that go to dinner at night!  Speaking of dinner, we finally went out in search of something not too heavy at about 10 p.m.  Now you know we really are on the Parisian schedule.  They tend to eat really, really late by American standards.  We found ourselves at Le Clement, which was only partially busy.  But we didn't have reservations so they had us wait for about 10 minutes, then they seated us.  The food was just OK...not as interesting as the decor in the entrance, where they had covered the ceiling in different size copper pots, with big lids serving as door handles.   This picture is from Le Clement on the Champs Elysee (not where we ate). We didn't realize at first that it was a chain restaurant. We noticed a difference from the other cafes/brasseries that we have tried. There are so many cute little places, there is no need to go to a chain restaurant. Lesson learned!