Paris Blog and Lots of Tips for Visitors

May 28, 2019 — Day 19 (Tuesday)

Rainy day off and on. We took the long Metro ride to Stalingrad where we hiked to line #2 and took that to Anvers where we exited and walked up the oddly named rue Steinkerque to get the funicular up to Sacré-Cœur . . . along with a lot of other people. At the top we turned left to avoid the crowd on the steps to the Basilique. When we worked our way around to the entrance, there were dozens of vendors selling miniature Eiffel Towers and, far worse, heart-shaped locks people are now putting on all the fences around Sacré-Cœur. There is security to get into the church now so you get in line and go in one by one. It is clearly marked “No Photographs” and they had ushers vainly trying to enforce this but everyone was taking phone photos and quite a few were using large cameras. There was a Mass at 11:15 with singing nuns accompanied by a zither-type instrument so we decided to stay. The Mass area was roped off for worshipers and the no photo restriction was strongly repeated. However, as Mass started, three Oriental men walked in, took seats and immediately one of them stood and started a phone video 360º of all of us . . . not the church but the congregation. As soon as he finished his illegal video, the three of them got up and walked out. Not sure I’ve ever seen anything that rude in any church during a service. Click here for the Sacre Coeur web site

After Mass we walked down the stairs beside Sacré-Cœur looking for a restaurant. Nothing looked good so we started down the next set of stairs. I counted; we walked down 148 steps. Fortunately we found a restaurant at the bottom. It had started raining so we quickly chose Au Soleil de la Butte and were seated. They gave us an English menu even though we had only spoken French. I hate English menus because they are not necessarily translated correctly so you never know what you will get. Finally asked for a French menu to verify what we wanted to order. The first thing I noticed was they translated the daily special of chicken to “sliced duck” on the English menu. Duck would have been great but I didn’t want chicken so ordered the souris d’agneau that I love. Ed got confit de canard and both were excellent. He’d asked my vegetable preference and I chose épinard and it was unlike any spinach I’ve ever had. The seasoning was amazing and I’m not sure what all was in it, but definitely thyme. Really good! Ed had nougat ice cream for dessert and I had molleaux de chocolat, both served on stunning plates that looked Portuguese or Italian. Looked and tasted great. Au Soleil de la Butte, 32 Rue Muller, 75018; tel: 33 (0)1 4606-1824;Click here for the Restaurant web site

We walked through Square Louise Michel back up to Sacré-Cœur and as we arrived at the huge (dry) Paul Gasq fountain, it started to pour. Fortunately we had taken a few Paris panorama photos before the deluge. We upped umbrellas and continued up to the Basilique and then around to St. Pierre just off Place du Tertre. It was much quieter than Sacré-Cœur. I’ve always loved St. Pierre. It’s older, quieter and prettier and certainly more historic than Sacré-Cœur. I took a lot of photos and we left for the tourist insanity of Place du Tertre. Because of the on-again-off-again rain, it was slightly less crowded than usual. A blessing . . . Click here for the Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre web site

We wound our way around the Place and down to the Maison Rose and continued to the Montmartre vineyard and Au Lapin Agile Cabaret for more photos. We kept heading down until we found the Lamarck-Caulincourt Metro station and began the long trip home.

Got our usual demi-blondie for supper and Ed did the laundry.

May 29, 2019 — Day 20 (Wednesday)

Sunshine! We decided to start at the Picasso Museum and afterwards follow part of one of Ed’s Paris Walks so we took the #91 bus (in the direction Gare du Nord) to St. Claude stop and walked to the Picasso Museum for the special Picasso-Calder Exhibit. There really was no line so we got our tickets and entered. Picasso and Calder are an interesting juxtaposition and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Not so much the newly renovated museum which has been so modernized you get no feeling of the marvelous old hôtel it is. Some of Picasso’s smaller works that had been exhibited in the vaulted cellars seemed lost on the huge, blank white walls of the very modern renovation. The vaulted cellars were not accessible . . . a shame as they were beautiful. Click here for the Picasso Museum Official web site

After we finished at the Picasso, we started in the direction of Place des Vosges looking for lunch. We checked menus on the way and finally settled on Café des Musées on rue Turenne. Big mistake! We ordered the daily special of veal in mushroom sauce and it was battered and fried . . . overcooked and tough as nails. We struggled through it and at least the bread and desserts were decent. Why anyone dunks food in batter and fries it is beyond my understanding.

We continued to Place des Vosges and walked around it looking into galleries but not going into any. The Victor Hugo House was closed for renovations. Continued on to rue Birague under major construction and down to the Seine where we took Metro #7 at Pont Marie. Stopped at Café St. Medard for an excellent kir and then visited Androuet for cheese, Franprix for wine and Saines for bread. There is a Mass at seven o’clock and we’ll go to that. Click here for information on Place des Vosges

May 30, 2019 — Day 21 (Thursday)

We got up early to take the Metro to Opera where we got tickets on RER-A to Saint-Germain-en-Laye. A very helpful RATP employee at Auber Station got our tickets for us and we were off. It’s a fairly short and comfortable ride, and there is a very useful escalator at the Saint-Germain-en-Laye station that delivers you directly to the château where the museum is located.

We had to wait a few minutes for the opening of the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale et Domaine National de Saint-Germain-en-Laye where they were having a special exhibit “Henri II Renaissance in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.” Ed had just finished a book on Henri II and that was the reason for our trip to Saint-Germain-en-Laye today. We got tickets for Henri II and the regular archeology exhibits. We started with Henri II and it was an excellent, if poorly lit, exhibit that ended in the beautiful chapel. [Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye; Place Charles de Gaulle, 78100 Saint-Germain-en-Laye; tel: +33 (0)1 3910-1300; Click here for the National Archeology Museum and Château]

We walked back and upstairs to start the archeology exhibits and got through half the floor before hunger attacked so we left to find lunch. We checked a couple places across the street and decided to walk to Le Manège where we had eaten before. We walked in, were warmly greeted and shown a table but could hardly hear the waitress because the restaurant was playing “Go Johnny, Go” incredibly loud. We immediately realized we couldn’t stand that much noise during lunch so we politely excused ourselves and quickly left. I didn’t like Chuck Berry when I was a teen and wasn’t going to be bombarded full blast with him in my golden years. We walked back down rue St. Louis until we came to L’Amnesia with an acceptable menu, entered, were seated and sat down in blessed silence. We ordered the confit de canard and were enjoying our meal when the music started. Nasty. When the waitress appeared, I asked if it would be possible to turn down the music. She cheerfully agreed and actually turned it off so we could finish our meal in peace. I hope she has a long and happy life! [L’Amnesia Café, 2 Place André Malraux, 78100 Saint-Germain-en-Laye; tel: +33 (0)1 3921-7534; Click here for the L'Amnesia Café Facebook site]

After lunch we returned to the château and finished the last floor and a half of the museum. Then we crossed the street to Église Saint-Germain, a beautiful neo-classical building with lovely murals and some very interesting stained glass. The excellent organist was practicing so we sat down and enjoyed the recital. When he finished, we walked out and took the escalator down into the RER where our train was waiting. [Église Saint-Germain, 4 Place Charles de Gaulle, 78100 Saint-Germain-en-Laye; tel: +33 (0)1 3451-9911; Click here for the Église Saint-Germain web site]

We arrived back at the Auber RER station in Paris and had to exit and walk a few blocks to the #7 Metro. The streets were jammed with cars and humanity . . . Paris in full tourist mode. There was a band playing on the steps of the Garnier Opera but we didn’t stop since our tickets were only good for 90 minutes. We fought through the crowds and descended into the Metro. We didn’t get seats together but we did get seats and were soon home. Ed made a grocery run and we’re in for the night.

May 31, 2019 — Day 22 (Friday)

We decided to visit the Fondation Louis Vuitton today forgetting it is located beside the Jardin d’Acclimatation, a major amusement park very popular with Paris families. We took the Metro to Les Sablons and started to walk to the Vuitton and quickly became aware that every child in Paris and their family was headed in the same direction The crowd reached its peak at the garden entrance and we fought our way past. After the Jardin d’Acclimatation, the crowd thinned considerably. We arrived at the Vuitton to discover three long lines. The first two were for people who bought tickets ahead. So many people bought tickets ahead to avoid the lines that they created their own lines. Oddly, the third and shortest line was for those of us who did not have tickets! We stood in line for an hour behind two very interesting and fun Danish young men. It made the time pass more quickly and we finally got to Security and then ticketing. It was in full sun and incredibly hot so museum employees were walking around handing out white umbrellas to those who wanted them for shade. We had our trusty Tilley hats so we were fine.

We entered the very dramatic Frank Gehry-designed building and snapped a couple photos before finding “Le Collection Courtauld–Le Parti de l’Impressionisme” down a couple flights of escalators. Despite the soaring open-looking building with lots of glass, the galleries were dark little squares and rectangles that did nothing to help in exhibiting the works. The paintings were hung at eye level but the titles and information were placed lower on the wall so you had to bend over to read it. Most people skipped it. The collection was excellent as we knew it would be since we’ve been to The Courtauld in London. However, the crowds were overwhelming. It was a complete crush of people, all taking phone and iPad photos. This would have been a good time to forbid photography. [Fondation Louis Vuitton, 8 Avenue du Mahatma Gandhi, 75116 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 4069-9600; Click here for the Fondation Louis Vuitton web site]

We fought our way through the entire exhibit and decided to look for lunch. We then discovered only one restroom in the huge, crowded museum and one restaurant with a predictably long line. Decided to go elsewhere to eat so decided to go out the back and get building photos before we left. Oddly, we had to go through Security to go out and found ourselves in the Jardin d’Acclimatation. I got my Gehry building pictures and we started looking for a place to eat in the garden. It looks like great fun . . . rides, animals, pony rides, climbing, zip lines, boats and hundreds of happy families enjoying their holiday. No food . . . at least nothing appealing to us so we walked back to the Vuitton where we had to go through Security yet again. We literally walked through and back out the other side to the street having gone through Security three times in total.

As we walked out of the park, I took a couple more photos of the Vuitton Building. We hiked back toward our Metro stop and checked menus as we passed restaurants. Ended up at a very friendly Le Sequoia where we both had the salmon. Mine was perfect but Ed’s wasn’t cooked through so he wasn’t too pleased. We both had ice cream for dessert and walked to the Metro nearly in front of the restaurant. Long ride, but we’re home. No dinner tonight. We’re stuffed!

June 1, 2019 — Day 23 (Saturday)

Demonstration Saturday. Started the day with multiple notices of closed Metro stations, most, if not all, on line #1. We decided to stick close to home and avoid the Metro and tourist spots. After breakfast we walked to Square René le Gall and found a bench in the rose garden where we enjoyed watching joggers, an exercise class and small children. Very peaceful. We finally walked through the rest of the rather large park and found ourselves exiting at a restaurant we were considering. Coincidence!

We looked at the menu and it wasn’t very appealing so we walked a couple doors and checked another restaurant that wasn’t very appealing and was quite expensive. No more restaurants so we walked toward Gobelins and turned south checking restaurants. As we walked up rue de Croulebarbe, we passed some amazing graffiti on the walls although we didn't find any more restaurants. Everything we saw was either Indian or pizza. Finally we got to an intersection that looked very familiar and I realized we had stayed there on our very first trip to Paris in 1996. The hotel is now a Kyriad but Le Entrecote Restaurant is still on the corner. That’s where we saw a lady eating a plate of haricots verts . . . nothing else! Memorable. It was also two short blocks to Place d’Italie where a large demonstration was scheduled for today. We turned around and walked back north. When a dozen or more police cars sailed past in full siren, we knew we’d made a good choice.

Back near the Gobelins Metro stop, we saw Marty Restaurant and checked the menu. It looked good so we went in to be warmly greeted in a very elegant restaurant. Our waitress was a treasure. We both ordered the grilled sea bass which came with a vegetable relish and a tapenade, both excellent. Our lovely waitress asked if we’d like a fish knife and fork . . . joy. It was like France is supposed to be! We had a lovely long lunch. For dessert Ed got a palette des glaces et sorbets and I got profiteroles in hot chocolate sauce. It was all fresh and homemade. Great restaurant and since 1913 in one family. [Marty Restaurant, 20 Avenue des Gobelins, tel: +33 (0)1 4331-3951; Click here for Marty's web site]

After lunch we walked to the Jardin des Plantes planning a quiet afternoon in the garden. Half Paris was there so it was not quiet and it was hot. We circled the park staying in the shade as much as possible. Walked back to Café St. Medard for a kir and then home to cool off before church. After church we found a bench in the park beside the church enjoying summer which has arrived.