Paris Blog and Lots of Tips for Visitors

May 23, 2019 — Day 14 (Thursday)

Paris Walk #35 today. We set out to explore the 14th arrondissement so started with a Metro ride to Denfert-Rochereau. We had a bit of trouble finding rue Daguerre because of major construction in the area, but we finally found it and got started. The described street market was there but the stores and cafés suggested were all gone. I had been looking forward to Monsieur Lapin and having rabbit for lunch. It had been replaced by a very expensive restaurant and no rabbit. We walked around looking for lunch and ended up near Montparnasse and found Ernest on rue du Commandant René Mouchotte and they had rabbit as their daily special. Hooray! [35 Rue du Commandant René Mouchotte, 75014 Paris, tel: +33 (0)1 4322-2012; no web site] I ordered the rabbit and Ed got magret de Canard. Both were excellent and I got ice cream for dessert while Ed got a Coupe de Chanoine with cassis sorbet drowned in cassis. Wow! [Chanoine or Canon Félix Kir, maire or mayor of Dijon in 1945 invented the kir.]

After lunch we set my phone to get us to Église Notre-Dame-du-Travail at 59 rue Vercingétorix. The inside pillars and arches are made of iron beams like the Eiffel Tower . . . built by Eiffel Tower workers. It sounds ghastly but it works. The side chapels are painted with pastel vines and flowers, a perfect foil for the very heavy iron pillars and arches. The church is filled with art from the 19th to the 21st century including the marble Notre Dame du Travail by Henri Taillefert in 1898, The Creative Hand by Michel Serraz, a Pieta and the Virgin of the Redemption by Georges Serraz, Christ in Glory and Dove of Peace by Jean-Jacques Bris in metal and the double cross by Tanguy Lefébure and Thomas de Lussac, cousins.

We walked across the street to the very peaceful park and claimed a seat to plan our trip back to our apartment. We programmed my phone to get us to the pretty rue des Thermopyles and then walked to the Plaisance Metro station where we started the trip home.

Arrived at our stop and walked to our boulanger to discover it is closed on Thursday. Oops! Instead we stopped at Cave Bourgogne for a kir . . . great substitute!

Tomorrow – Chartres.

May 24, 2019 — Day 15 (Friday)

We took bus #91 to Gare Montparnasse where we got in line to buy tickets to Chartres. Finally got our tickets and went out to the hall to wait for our track to be displayed. The track number came up and we hurried down, composted our tickets and found seats. It was a very smooth, quiet trip with stops at Versailles-Chantier, Rambouillet, Épernon and Chartres. It was nice to get out in the countryside for a little break.

It’s an easy walk from the Chartres train station up to the Cathedral. You just follow the church spires. I got outside photos on a perfect day and then we went in and the sun was lighting the stained glass windows. Wow! It was Friday so lots of people were walking the labyrinth. They’ve been cleaning the choir screen and it’s nearly all done. A small part was under renovation and another small part was still a very dirty white.

Chartres Cathedral is a magic place. The floor fascinates me. I feel like I'm looking at history and always wonder how many feet have trod the stones before me.

We then set off in search of lunch and after checking nearly every menu in Chartres, we walked back to Le Café des Arts and were seated. We both ordered the daily special of pintade (guinea hen) and it was fabulous. We each got two full legs and thighs, cider gravy, mashed potatoes and roasted apple slices . . . great combination. For dessert we both had the CDA (Café des Arts) vanilla and caramel ice cream with caramel sauce and whipped cream . . . very sweet.

After lunch we waddled over to the International Stained Glass Centre housed in the Loëns Tithe Barn. We went through the whole thing including the incredible Gothic cellar. All the stained glass is backlit and eye level so easy to view. I've wanted to visit this museum for years so it was a real thrill. [Centre international du vitrail, 5 Rue du Cardinal Pie, 28000 Chartres; tel: +33 (0)2 3721 6572; International Stained Glass Museum web site

Walked back to the cathedral and turned left into the gardens to visit the Beaux Arts Museum. It is free and just as well because the collection is sparse and the building in poor repair. We sat out in the garden for a while and then returned to the Cathedral for one last visit before running for our train. It was waiting on the tracks so we hopped on and claimed our seats. An hour and several stops later we were back in Paris. [Beaux Arts Museum, 29 Cloître Notre Dame, Chartres; tel: +33 (0)2 3790 4580; Chartres Beaux Arts Museum Web Site]

Finding our bus stop was an adventure but we finally sorted it out and got on our bus. Two respectable-looking women opened the back door and jumped in without validating their tickets (if they even had tickets). About three stops later, Security arrived to check tickets. The two women were caught and so were a few other people. RATP seems to be cracking down. We’ve had our tickets checked in the Metro hallways several times and now on the bus.

Arrived home to discover there had been a package bomb in Lyon today and eight people were injured. They are looking for the bomber. Crazy times . . .

May 25, 2019 — Day 16 (Saturday)

Woke to Metro closed notices all over town due to various manifestations. We decided to try the Marmottan-Monet Museum and carefully plotted a Metro route staying south of all the demonstrations. It took us an hour to get there, but we had no trouble, arrived near opening and encountered no lines. Easily bought tickets and entered. We went through the permanent collection for the most part, at least what was on the first two floors. The Illuminations were open this visit and we were delighted because we hadn’t seen them the last time. They now have two galleries devoted to Berthe Morisot that we thoroughly enjoyed. Back to the ground floor and the special exhibition on Oriental Influences. It was interesting but not my favorite subject. Then we discovered a new basement gallery that is a terrific addition to the museum. There was an exhibit by Gérard Fromanger who has a great sense of humor. The rest is nearly all Monet and the last gallery captured the atmosphere of the Waterlily Room at the Orangerie. It is a large elliptical gallery with Monet’s works, many water lilies hung around the ellipse. I was struck by how complete and ethereal some of his early paintings are and they are hung beside other paintings that look almost like children scribbling with crayons or pastels. Completely different styles!

The following information was on a plaque in the museum: Twice a year the Marmottan decided to invite artists to create a work in resonance with the permanent collections. This white card entitled "Unexpected Dialogues" was to be inaugurated by Fromanger. The year 2017 was devoted to discussions. With hindsight, this expectation can be read today as the beginnings of a meeting. At the end of 2017 while the preparations for the dialogue were still confidential, Fromanger drew a series of sixteen portraits of painters from past and present, from Giotto to Bruce Nauman. Through these tributes (a recurring practice at home since the 1970s), Fromanger brought together a community of artists who form the circle of his friends, the title he gives to this series. Musée Marmottan Monet, 2 Rue Louis Boilly, 75016 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 4496 5033; Official web site of the Marmottan-Monet Museum

Naturally you exit into the gift shop which we enjoyed but didn’t buy anything. We left and walked back through Ranelagh Park to Atelier de la Muette, a patisserie-tea room where we had magret de canard, their daily special. For dessert they bring a tray of their delicious pastries and you choose what you want. I had a Chocolate Royal and Ed the Millefeuille. Yum! [Atelier de la Muette Tea Room, 8 Chaussée de la Muette, 75116 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 4527 5010;] Atelier de la Muette web site

We left the restaurant and followed a Paris Walk down rue de Passy and Passy blvd. to rue de l’Albioni where we turned for the Passy Metro. It’s a dead end and you go down a flight of stairs on the other side of the train tracks depending on the direction you are going. We went down on the right toward Nation and got on the nearly empty train that quickly filled as we crossed town. It’s fourteen stops to our correspondence and it was packed by then. We appreciated our seats. Made our transfer and went to Androuet, our favorite fromager. Got wine at Franprix and bread at Saines. Mass is at 6:30 so we had time to check accounts, transfer pictures and do the journal. Quelle surprise – it was raining when we got out of the subway and later we had a fierce shower. We’ll take umbrellas to church.

May 26, 2019 — Day 17 (Sunday)

Sunday and the last day of European elections. The far right is gaining strength here too. World politics is frightening. People are becoming incredibly selfish. All their selfies are making them very self centered. Election results will be announced tonight and Monday.

We had decided on a Montparnasse/Raspail Walk (#37) today so took the Metro to Sevres-Babylon where a kind lady headed us in the right direction. We walked down the lovely blvd. Raspail snapping photos and looking in store windows. We passed Le Select and La Coupole, turned up rue du Parnasse to blvd. Edgar Quinet to a street market that also had a fun art market which was very large. We went completely down one side and back and started to look for a lunch restaurant. We found Café Gaité at 10 rue Gaité. Not classy but very friendly. Ed got confit de canard and I got souris d’agneau. Food was excellent but our Côte du Rhone, while drinkable, had a very strange flavor. Dessert made up for it . . . they had Berthillon’s ice cream!

After lunch we returned to the art market and walked through the other half, then continued our walk to the Cimetière du Montparnasse and entered the very peaceful cemetery following the Paris Walk. It is incredibly peaceful and quiet and people were bringing flowers to graves for French Mother’s Day today. I was delighted to find another sculpture by Nikki de Saint Phalle. We saw Birdman in 2014 and found Le Chat today. We exited and crossed over to blvd. du Montparnasse and started the long walk home. Click here for the Montparnasse Cemetery web site

We got home and transferred photos after a bit of shopping. We had our French picnic and then walked down to Cave Bourgogne for hot chocolate. As we waited at the traffic light, we heard a very loud sharp “bang.” Everyone just stopped and looked around . . . shot . . . bomb? As we looked up the street, we saw a van had hit a motorcyclist who was lying in the street. People ran to help and called emergency services. We finally crossed and walked down for our hot chocolate and when we walked home, the cyclist was gone but the van was still blocking the street with police directing traffic. As we continued home, a very light rain started.

Listening to EU elections so far, news is not good. Le Pen is ahead of Macron so France is moving far right. We’ll hear more tomorrow.

May 27, 2019 — Day 18 (Monday)

We took the #83 bus to the Varenne-Raspail stop and walked over to rue de Grenelle to the Musée Maillol where we heard there was a very nice exhibit of the collection of Emil Bührle that included Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Modigliani and Picasso among others. We arrived to a line but it moved quickly and we were soon inside enjoying the exhibit. They have completely renovated the museum since our last visit in 2014. Except for the very thick crowds and their cell phones, it was a great experience. We decided to eat in the Café des Frères Prévert at the museum. We had the salmon and it was quite good.

After lunch we started on one of Ed’s Paris Walks that went down rue de Grenelle and got sidetracked when we spotted the spires of Ste. Clotilde and made a detour to revisit it. They now have a lovely multilingual greeter who gave us some pamphlets before turning us loose in the beautiful neo-Gothic church. When we left, we walked through the pretty Square Samuel Rousseau in front of the church, paid homage to César Franck’s statue and then walked back to rue de Grenelle to continue our walk.

We passed the Rodin Museum glancing through the glass wall at “The Burghers of Calais” and walked on to Invalides. Went around Invalides at Place Vauban and on to a little café by the La Tour Maubourg Metro stop and had a kir. My phone told us Metro #7 was “perturbed” so we started a search for the bus #83 stop at Invalides. Had no luck finding the bus stop so checked the phone again and Metro #7 was open so we went back and hopped the Metro #8 to Opera and #7 to home.

We thoroughly surprised our boulanger when we got a small pizza instead of our usual half baguette. The pizza was a fun change. We’re going to try Montmartre sightseeing tomorrow.