Paris Blog and Lots of Tips for Visitors

I got a fair amount of sleep between bouts of coughing and turned off my alarm. Got up 8:30ish and had breakfast. No energy; throat still sore; so sad. We read most of the morning and discovered one of the two air traffic controllers unions has pulled out of the strike that is supposed to start tomorrow. Perhaps they can avert it. On the other hand, it would be lovely to be stuck in Paris but we'd have to find a place to stay. We just have this apartment for a month.

We decided to walk over to our local tea room (Les Nuits de Thé) for a light lunch. It was good and bad. The good part was I got a pot of mint tea which is supposed to cure anything . . . at least according to my mother. It was hot and good and I stopped coughing and my headache disappeared. The bad part was prices were high and service terrible. A grumpy old woman literally threw my tea on the table and then we sat . . . for over thirty minutes to get two open-faced sandwiches. Everyone else was served and she took time to gossip with many and none of them seemed to appreciate it. She hadn't taken our order so had no idea what language we spoke therefore she avoided us. I was happy to be avoided except we wanted our tartines. It was a crotte of moderately good goat cheese, one slim slice of ham on a toasted slice of the rather over-rated Poilâne bread. It was tough enough to be difficult to cut and not as good as our own home-made bread. The tea was good but we’ll not return.

We walked home and got hats and camera and walked over to the Tuileries where they are setting up the summer carnival. As we walked in, I noticed a couple goats cutting the grass on an inaccessible bank behind a low wall. Naturally, I had to whip out my camera and record them for posterity! We found a couple chairs and are enjoying the breeze.

We watched them putting up the Ferris wheel for the carnival. They finished about a quarter of it while we watched. A couple Fat Tire Bike Tours rolled by and one parked by us on a snack stop. Hundreds of people have walked by, a Paris walking tour, a high school group, many European and Asian tourists and lots of Parisians enjoying their park. There are few better places to sit and watch people.

As the Fat Tire Bike tourists ate their snack at the café behind us, we noticed a crow who found a huge crumb for his snack and later two sparrows sharing a tiny snack in the flower beds.

Walked home where I left camera and coat, and headed to our corner restaurant, L’Empire, for dinner. The food is great and the people so friendly. It’s much nicer than the pretentious salon de thé on rue de Beaune!

With luck we’ll sleep tonight.

Discovered later that the goats are an endangered species and they are being used to trim the grass in the Tuileries and other parks in Paris for several reasons, saving an endangered species, cutting grass on steep and difficult slopes, probably saving someone some money.

Did a little better last night and think the sore throat may finally be defeated. We ate breakfast and started walking to the Musée Rodin. As soon as we got to rue de Bac and blvd. St. Germain, we noticed a very heavy police presence. We continued on rue de Bac and turned on rue de Varenne seeing more and more police. There are government offices and the Vice President’s residence along here so some of it was expected, but it extended way past any of that and you would have thought the Rodin and Invalides were fortresses. There are so many people in Paris from the 70th anniversary of D-Day memorials that they seem to have increased security all over the city, but particularly around here. We feel very safe . . .

We got to the Rodin and there was a long line. Surprise! We've never had a line at the Rodin before. We decided to use the garden entrance by the tea room so set off down blvd. des Invalides. Another surprise. The garden entrance is gone, replaced by a very strong, forbidding gate. They are doing renovations at the Rodin Museum so have stored all their equipment back here. At that point we decided to walk on over to Pain et Chocolat for lunch and did. When we were here with the girls, we became regulars and they even opened early for us on our last day so we could get breakfast before leaving for the airport.

Big changes at Pain et Chocolat too. Mme. and M. have been replaced by a personable young couple . . . perhaps their children? They no longer have a menu du jour but had a good selection of salads, pastas and quiches. We chose the standard quiche and it was perfect, tender crust, excellent flavor and served with the best salad we’ve had so far. Instead of sliced baguette, you get a selection of their fresh-baked rolls. Perfect. We chose our desserts from their display case. I got a pear and chocolate tart and Ed got a royal praline chocolate that was heavenly. I finished with coffee and it was a great experience. There may be changes but the food is excellent . . . and the bathroom may be the cleanest in France. Good lunch choice! (According to an Internet search, this restaurant is now closed. A shame; it was so good and so friendly. We'll call to check; I saved their number. +33 (0)1 4550-1427 It would be nice to discover they just moved a few blocks.)

We returned to the Rodin by way of an Invalides mobbed with tour groups. The line at Rodin was even longer so we left. We've been there several times before and will be there again so why make someone else wait that much longer in line. We decided to retrace our steps back to blvd. St. Germain and visit the Museum of Letters and Manuscripts and arrived to find no line to a nearly empty museum. Hooray! We paid for the special exhibit and were glad we did.

We also found a bust of Antoine Saint-Exupéry in a lovely square overlooking Invalides. We're fans of The Little Prince so that was fun.

Loy and Joseph Roux, brothers, were in WWI and had small Kodak cameras. Photography had to be authorized and they were not authorized but they were discrete and got amazing photos of the war. It had a profound affect on them and both brothers became priests. The photos were the special exhibit and it was very well done. It was of particular interest because my maternal grandfather was sent to France in World War I. Although he would never talk about it, I've always been aware of it so the exhibit held extra interest for me. [Museum of Letters and Manuscripts (Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits), 222 Boulevard Saint-Germain 75007 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 4222-4848; [Unfortunately, this museum has closed.]

We spent the rest of our time in the (free) permanent collection downstairs and it is fascinating. There are letters from all sorts of famous people throughout history like Marcel Proust, Victor Hugo, George Sand, Napoléon I, Saint-Exupery, General Eisenhower, General de Gaulle, Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison; original music manuscripts of famous composers such as Bach, Mozart, Debussy and Beethoven; artists like Matisse, Delacroix, Van Gogh and Renoir which includes one tiny painting; first edition books, paintings and book illustrations. Great little museum.

Walked home, left camera and hats and went to our little restaurant, L’Empire, for tea (me) and limonade. Madame waved as we walked in. Afterwards, we did our shopping and are in for the night.

Overslept . . . needed to. We did our morning chores and hung wet laundry all over the house. Ed got all our glass recyclables together and we took them to the local recycling center at rue du Bac and blvd. St. Germain. Then we went over to Le St. Germain for lunch and sat upstairs where we had a wonderful waitress and a very good meal although Ed’s sea bass was probably better than my veal. The waitress talked Ed into a Pouilly Fuissé, my favorite white wine, so I was happy. Ed got crème brulée with a boule of ice cream on it and I got the superb profiterolles . . . perfect. [Le St. Germain, 62 Rue du Bac, 75007 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 4548 9969 and no web site]

We took the Metro out to Parc Monceau and walked around taking pictures of flowers, follies and people. We were here on May Day a few years ago with the girls and it seemed all Paris was in the park. It was warm for May and there was one jogger going in circles all morning singing at the top of his lungs. It was pretty funny and you could always hear him coming. I'm sure he has a great future in opera. Today was more quiet but there were still a lot of people out and it was the perfect day. There were all sorts of activities including a really cute little boy chasing bubbles and much bigger boys playing soccer.

Then we exited the park to visit the Cernuschi Museum just outside the park gates. It is another of the free City of Paris museums. It is an Asian collection so we didn’t know what we were looking at but noticed statues smiled and were happy up to the Tang Dynasty (900ish) and then became very warlike and angry-appearing after 900. Need to read some Chinese history to find out what happened around 900. It couldn't have been good. [Cernuschi Museum, 7 Avenue Velasquez, 75008 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 5396-2150; Cernuschi Museum web site]

We walked around to the Nissim Camondo Museum and it was nine euros so we skipped it as the day was growing short. It is a museum of French decorative arts in a beautiful old mansion, and may be a fun visit in the future. [Nissim Camondo Museum, 63 Rue de Monceau, 75008 Paris, tel: +33 (0)1 5389-0650; Nissim Camondo Museum web site]

We walked back to the park and found a bench in the shade and watched joggers and kids with either parents, grandparents or nannies. Truly fun was one little boy chasing bubbles. He never tired and he never caught one. Such joy and energy! This park is a real neighborhood draw. Everyone around seems to use it as their back yard. Love it.

It started to get late and I was getting chilly so we walked back through the park to our Metro station. We got on a nearly empty Metro to CDG-Etoile and the fun stopped. We crammed ourselves onto a very crowded #1 line to Concorde where we changed to an even more crowded train to our rue du Bac stop. Solférino is the stop before ours and as we approached the station, the train stopped and the lights went out. It’s very dark in the subway tunnel without lights! There was a brief inaudible announcement, and then we sat, half the train in the station and our half in the very dark tunnel. Someone said there were people on the tracks. Great.

Finally the lights came on and the train moved into the Solférino station and it was filled with riot police, but the doors wouldn’t open. We waited. The doors opened and a few people got out and no one got on. We made it to rue de Bac without further incident but our station was also full of riot police.

At home I checked my e-mail for “perturbations” but none were listed. The police were sure expecting something because they didn’t appear by magic. We listened to the news and checked online but never did find out what had happened. Another demonstration? Life is never boring here . . .

Slept a little better last night but my sinus headache and sore throat won’t go away so after breakfast we went back to our thriving pharmacy and bought Efferalgan and went home to take some. Sinus headache zapped!

Ed found a Paris Walk card along Canal St. Martin so we went up to the rue de Bac Metro and took it all the way to Pigalle where we changed to line #2 to the Colonel Fabien stop and walked to the canal and started the Paris Walk at rue Varlin, down Quai du Valmy along the canal. We got to watch several boats go through the numerous locks. Fun! We tried the suggested lunch stop but could find no indication of food so walked on, now in search of lunch. Paris Walks and food are not a good combination. So far, everyplace they have suggested is either out of business or, in this case, doesn’t serve food. At the rue Dieu intersection we found La Marine and got a seat overlooking the canal with a lovely breeze. Ed got pork and I got lamb and both were excellent. He got a caramelized apricot dessert and I got a very good crême caramel. Great lunch choice in a perfect setting. [La Marine, 55 Bis Quai de Valmy 75010 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 4239-0733; La Marine Restaurant web site]

We then crossed the canal and backtracked to ave. Richerand where we turned up toward Hôpital Saint-Louis. It had been built in the early 17th century for plague victims and is still a working hospital. You go in the pedestrian’s entrance and there’s a map. You continue through the next portal and enter a lovely square with grass, flowers, paths and benches. Through the next portal is a garden. It’s all completely hidden from the street, thus quiet and utterly lovely.

The architecture of the surrounding hospital has been compared to the Place des Vosges and you can see the resemblance, but of course there are not the shops, galleries and restaurants because this is a hospital garden.

Back to reality . . . We returned to Canal St. Martin and continued to where it goes underground at rue Faubourg du Temple and turned right to Place de la Republique that we heard before we saw. They were setting up for a very loud rock concert and playing that horrible thumping music that sounds like satanic ritual. Fortunately the Metro station was on our side of the square so we dived for comfort. Sad when a Metro is more peaceful than the square!

We took line #3 to Père Lachaise Cemetery and there is an entrance right across from the Metro. We climbed the steps to a list of famous burials and a map to locate the graves. We looked for Chopin and had no luck but after climbing myriad stairs, saw marvelous views of Paris including the Pantheon covered with white plastic sheeting. We gave up on Chopin and went in search of Heloise and Abelard and had no better luck but at one point I looked up and we were standing at the tomb of Francis Poulenc so we did find one famous person.

Buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery are Apollinaire, Balzac, Sarah Bernhardt, Bizet, Caillebotte, Maria Callas, Chopin, Colette, Daudet, Daumier, Delacroix, Modigliani, Molière, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Pissarro, Pleyel, Poulenc, Proust, Rossini, Seurat and Simone Signoret among others.

Had a very easy but long Metro ride to St. Lazare and then home . . . no weird happenings on the Metro today. We never did find out why all the riot police in the Metro yesterday afternoon.

Having trouble remembering what a full night of sleep feels like. More coughing. Sigh . . . Ed had decided on a Paris Walk in Montmartre for today and as coincidence would have it, our Metro station is a direct connection to Lamarck so it was an easy trip and we did get seats. There was a slight delay because the ticket lady had disappeared and our credit cards won’t work in the machines. We had used our last carnet tickets yesterday so had to get tickets. Fortunately, she appeared pretty quickly, we bought another carnet and were on our way.

We passed the dreaded Abbesses Metro station with its 265 or so steps and exited at Lamarck to discover slightly fewer but still a huge number of steps. The last time we exited at Abbesses, the elevator was out of order so we had to climb the stairs. Very interesting mural on the wall walking up the steps to the exit, but quite a hike. At 70+ I was happy to note quite a few 30-something Parisians were gasping their way to the top along with me. (Actually, I only stopped once for a breather; quite a few younger folks stopped more often.)

This time we stayed on for one more stop and got off at Lamarck-Caulaincourt. Fortunately there is a very large elevator and it was working. That was good because the Paris Walk started us out climbing a lot more steps on the way to the famous cabaret Au Lapin Agile and the Montmartre vineyard. Climbing more stairs at rue due Mont Cenis, we saw a group of students climbing a lightpost for photos. How funny. On to Place du Tertre and tourist mania.

We found La Bonne Franquette but the menu wasn’t appealing so we went in search of Au Clocher de Montmartre below Sacre Coeur where we’d eaten with the girls. We missed it by one, but had a very nice lunch at Le Cabanon de la Butte. The lady was very nice, spoke excellent English and was happy to speak French with us.

We both got salmon and chose the legume du jour which was haricots verts. It was served with a lovely, rich but soft brown bread with a crisp crust. Very nice meal. We got the crême brulée for dessert and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Fantastic views of Paris from the restaurant windows. [Le Cabanon de la Butte, 6 Rue Lamarck, 75018 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 4257-2046 or +33 (0)6 9857-3974; Le Cabanon de la Butte web site]

After lunch, we visited St. Pierre de Montmartre consecrated in 1147, one of the oldest churches in Paris. We immediately noticed stunning new floor lighting under the 1977 altar by Jean-Paul Froidevaux that goes perfectly with the gorgeous modern stained glass windows by Max Ingrand. We love the amazing and huge bronze doors by Tommaso Gismondi installed in 1980 seen from the courtyard. The three main doors are by Gismondi but our favorite is the door into the cemetery (closed) that is a completely different style and is the Resurrection of Christ. Eglise St. Pierre is also the most peaceful place on Montmartre. Hordes tromp through the dark, gloomy Sacre Coeur but haven’t discovered the ancient and beautiful St. Pierre right beside it . . . thankfully. [St. Pierre de Montmartre, 2 Rue du Mont Cenis, 75018 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 4606-5763; St. Pierre de Montmartre web site]

Next we walked down to the Musée de Montmartre, climbed through the construction and to enter the quaint museum fought off numbered tour groups all wearing baseball caps with their tour number. There was a fun “Picasso in Montmartre” exhibit and then the regular Montmartre history exhibit all in the oldest building in Montmartre. The building, garden, vineyard and views are all spectacular. [Musée de Montmartre, 12-14 Rue Cortot, 75018 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 4925-8939; Musée de Montmartre web site]

We walked around a little, found the Maison Rouge and went back to Place du Tertre and hopped on the Little Tourist Train for a tour of the Mont. I love the little trains and cheerfully snapped pictures out the window.

We reversed our morning trip to get home, stopped at Proxi for supplies and got in before the rain started. Fun day!

It was a short rain storm so we decided to walk down to our neighborhood restaurant for a kir and cheese plate and afterwards took a short walk. Perfect!