Paris in a Heat Wave
We arrive in Paris late Sunday morning a little hot and sweaty since the AC was not working correctly in our train car. Our hotel is located on an island in the Seine River next to the one with Notre Dame thus we are pretty close to it and consider attending mass, but our hotel receptionist recommends against it. We have 3 or 4 hours till our walking food tour. I find a short self walking tour of our island and we follow it. Basically walk down the middle street and then circle the island. Like I said it is little. We take our time and enjoy the views including one where we see a dog walker with several dogs letting them enjoy the cool waters of the river. They are at a boat ramp area so the dogs can just walk into the water. One is having a great time it is a golden retriever and he is swimming all over the place. We can even see his legs moving in the water. We move on some more and see a couple of people out in private nice boats enjoying a Sunday afternoon on the river. We are staying at a small hotel that is a building off the main street. Seems that jeu de paume was a game that a was a precursor to tennis and our hotel was a place to play that game thus our hotel's name Hotel du jeu de Paume.
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| Refreshing on a hot day |
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| Our hotel |
Food Tour
Afternoon arrives and even though it is hot outside we are heading out for our walking food tour of the Notre Dame area. We are a group of 10 a family of 4, a mother/daughter duo, another couple and us with our guide Nana who is French with Japanese and Vietnamese ancestry. Since it is a Sunday afternoon in France many sites have already closed for the day, but she has a work around for us. We start off with a croissant she has brought for each of us. We learn that it is half butter half flour. Now that she has fortified us with a croissant and water we start off. We are off to a restaurant so that we can have a galette and taste cider. The galette is quite nice but I pass on the cider. Jeff said it was better than the other ciders, but he didn't take seconds either.
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| Galette |
We will move onto a pastry shop where we will taste macarons. Along the way we learn about MOF (meileur ouvrier de France) it is a rigorous competitive exam that you can only try twice and the certification basically means really good stuff inside. The letters will be proudly shown on the shop's window. We visit Pierre Herme pastry shop and each have a macaron. He has won awards for his macarons partly because of his unique flavor mixtures. The pastry chef is considered the Pablo Picasso of macarons. His best seller is the ispahan which has rose, litchi and raspberry flavorings. While there we learn about the tie in with Arabic flavors and the history of the macaron. I had one that was a milk chocolate cookie with a passion fruit filling - quite good.
While we are walking, we learn that an Artisan Boulanger is a bakery that has made everything it sells on the premises no central bakery supplying multiple shops. We also stop by Shakespear and Co. bookstore. It is the largest English bookstore in Paris and is quite popular there is also a wonderful Parisian treat outside the store. At least it is a treat during a heat wave! There are big public water fountains with spring water that you can access for free. We all refill our water bottles and continue on our tour.
We stop by a bakery and Nana picks something up and says we will eat it later. Most of the group buys a treat; Jeff and I come to the shop after the tour and get a little something for later in the day. Then we turn a corner and Nana is unlocking a door and says this is your secret (the tour company always has some secret item). We are picnicking in here with 2 fans going and tables to sit at. Nana disappears in a kitchen and comes back with our first course. It is vegetables - a shredded marinated carrot salad and a red cabbage salad. Both are quite good but eat in moderation since more is coming! Next course is our meat course a pate encoute meaning the pate is within a pastry covering. I enjoyed that a lot too. Next course was a salmon and broccoli quiche - not a big fan of that dish. Then we had slices of the baguette she had gotten earlier in the day with 3 cheese. First up was a comte which is common in France then onto a blue cheese - roquefort which I enjoyed Jeff not so much and we ended with our surprise secret dish - a St Uguzon which is a creamy cheese soaked in rum and covered with raisins. It was like eating desert. But there was a true desert - a pastry/tart she had bought at the pastry shop. Along the way she had poured us some wine and some champagne. Then it was 6 or so at night and we were all full, so it was the end of the food tour and a good beginning to Paris.
Longest day of the year
Our first day in Paris was June 21 which you probably realize is the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. End of thought for you. Ahh you are not a French person becasue that is the day of the Fete de la Musique. It is a day/night for small music festivals everywhere. As we were walking back to our hotel, we saw a Polynesian band playing in front of the French Polynesian office. As we got back to our quiet street, we saw people playing badminton in the street and there was a band setting up at the end of the street. We were hot and had food so we went to our room and said we will explore later - we wimped out to the heat. The next day I would hear that people were up till early mornng. Oh, Nana had told us that it is the only day by law they are allowed to make noise in the streets in Paris so it is a very special day to them even if it was incredibly hot.
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| Delegation of French Polynesia |
The French Revolution
Our guide today is Iris, an American who moved to France and her son who is out of school since the schools being closed due to the heat wave. (98F) She is happy to see our group all showed up despite the heat.
We start our tour at the statue of George’s Danton, an influential leader of the French Revolution. He could be found either speaking to crowds at the nearby river Seine or collaborating with his fellow revolutionaries at a cafe still in existence today, Procope. Interestingly, Thomas Payne (English supporter of the American revolution) and Ben Franklin (US Ambassador) both had visited this cafe.
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| George’s Danton |
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| The room where it happened |
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| The circular structure is all that is left of the old city wall in this area |
Stepping back in time, King Lous XVI ascended the throne at 19 with a reputation of not being decisive. However, he did support the young American colonies in their revolution against England. This support though created a debt problem for France and saw French solders return from witnessing the colonist’s abandoning a monarch.
So imagine Danton and his friends sitting at the cafe accusing the monarchy for the bad economy and lack of freedom. Others are having similar conversations and that ultimately gives birth to the First French Republic. King Louis was publicly going along with this attempt to create a constitutional monarchy. The problem was the revolutionaries couldn't agree with each other and King Louis created impediments. Behind the scene though King Louis was writing to his relatives that ruled the other countries of Europe. Long story, short, he and his family bungled an escape and lost their heads. Thomas Payne comes into the picture arguing to not kill the king as it would alienate the United States who owed much of their success to this King. Payne was then imprisoned for about a year before diplomatic efforts by President James Monroe won his release.
The revolution transpired across 10 years with various factions coming to power. The worst of this was called The Reign of Terror, when people lived in fear of mass executions. It's said people would accuse someone of being an enemy of the revolution to get rid of someone they didn't like. People wore the colors of the revolution to show their dedication. The clergy were forced to pledge loyalty to the revolution rather than to the Church/Vatican or face the guilotine.
Moulin Rouge
After our walk we found lunch with a plus, the restaurant was air conditioned or salle climatise as they often post. Then back to the room to cool off and relax. Tonight we are going to the Moulin Rouge. When I bought the tickets and since then, they have informed me of their dress code so we are dressed up a bit and I vetoed the metro since I hear it is hot. A very long car ride later for our 3 miles we arrive at a restaurant close to Moulin Rouge. Enjoy our dinner and then leisurely head over; we have tickets for the first show of the evening at 9pm but can enter much earlier and yes my research said the place was air conditioned. We are shown our seats and our happy that we are the front couple for our table - the tables are on tiers so we will have a nice view, but it is so tight we are not sure if we will be able to turn well to see everything! There is a cover band playing when we arrive there for entertainment for the people who bought the dinner and show option. Some people dance to the music; kind of feels like a wedding. Band stops curtains magically change colors and the show starts. Honestly all either of us knew to expect was the can can music/dance. That will not appear till late in the show. It kind of starts like a Las Vegas show of old with the men and women dancers in sparkly clothes of course towards the end the women suddenly pull off their pants so you see them in in a bikini type bottom. Being the clothes person that I am, I notice that they have on pantyhose with a seam on the middle back of their legs. There will be several dance routines all with the women scantily clad and the men if involved much more clothed - I feel prejudice here. After a couple of dance routines they start to mix in some other types of routines which is appropriate since I had been calling the show a burlesque which I believe did have other performers. I think first up was a pair of roller skaters that were up on a 3 - 4 foot round pedestal. To me much of their routine was like a figure skating couples routine with the lifts except that they then pulled out a thick rope that he used to swing her around even more. They were good. Next routine was a single swimmer doing a synchronized type of routine. The pool of water she was in came up from underneath the stage. I think Jeff's favorite act was the man with hatchets and knives throwing them at his very pretty assistant. At the end, he even did it with a blindfold on and verbal directions from her. It was a nice evening.
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| Wall by our table with reflection of stage in lower left |
Notre Dame
As I said before we are quite close to Notre Dame. We have passed it several times on our way to other places and the line to get in is always quite long and in the sun. We have a plan, we have gotten up early and hoping to find a short line before most tourists get here. It works. By chance, when we enter they have just started mass, I decide to multitask and attend mass while looking around the church some. Mass is in French so I am not going to pick up much from the homily/sermon anyway. Jeff is wandering on the side open for tourists and then joins me. Much to my shock at one point another priest says part of a prayer in perfect American English. Mass ends and we look around some. We had been here before the fire so we are kind of comparing. It is much brighter inside now and all of the paintings look quite nice after having been cleaned. Much of the exterior is hidden under scaffolding.
Palais Garnier, Opera House
From Notre Dame we continue to a metro station and then to Palais Garnier, the opera house. For Phantom of the Opera fans, this is the opera house where it was set. We have a guided tour in English scheduled. Everyone waits in a central round room with a very pretty medallion on the center ceiling. As our tour starts, our guide points out that the name Garner is the last name of the architect who was so proud of the building that he slipped in his name in some places and one of them is that medallion. It has Garnier in it and the start and end years of the construction of the building. The building is ornate and quite pretty. The architect had studied in Rome and had noticed that all of the opera houses there were now white because the paint had faded so he chose to use different types of marble to get his colors - stone won't fade. He was also quite smart and forward thinking in other ways. The building has a steel sub structure so that it would not burn (5th opera house for Paris others burnt down), while electricity was already around when it was built, he had to use gas for the lighting, but he included conduit in the walls so that when electricity was an option it could and was quickly added.
When the building was built, you did not go to the opera house for the show but rather to be seen. So, in the outer area overlooking the grand staircase, he built in "boxes" little parts of the balcony that jutted out so you could see and be seen better. Another interesting area of the building is that it was designed so that the emperor could pull his entire carriage inside the building and then enter up his private staircase. The idea was for security for the king. However, before the building was finished, he was out and that part of the building is much plainer even to this day then the rest of the building.
One last thing about the opera house and its importance in France. For 50 or so years they have been trying to get Parisians of all income levels to come to shows. Back in the 60s they changed the medallion in the main hall to one by a modern artist - Chagall. They have special rates and dates for families and for young adults. Additionally, it is a year-round operation, with the dancers and musicians all permanent employees of the State. Also just like in Phantom of the Opera there is a prestigious dance school that was housed in the upper levels of the opera house for years but is now out in the suburbs.
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| Palais Garnier |
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| Hard to see his name, but I highlighted the years of construction |
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| Playing up the notoriety from the book and musical |
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| library in the museum area all of the volumes are the scores for the shows |
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| So many amazing ceilings |
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| One of a pair of fireplaces for decoration Building had central heating |
Lunch and exploring Galleries Lafayette store
We are near the large department store Galleries Lafayette, and it is lunch time and we are hungry, so we head over there. This store is so large that it is several multi-level buildings (at least 3) all right by each other. It is also quite busy - no dying department store issues here! We find lunch and then wander around for a while in the nice, relatively cool building. Our last stop is up on the top level of one of the buildings is a terrace where you can eat and where you have a great view of Paris.
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| We returned to this store after seeing it on a prior trip with our daughter |
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| Fond memories of visiting the tower and Jules Verne Restaurant on our prior trip |
Pont Neuf Bridge art installation
After it cools off in the evening we headed out to a bridge that has been turned into an art installation. It is supposed to be a cave. It was interesting to see it.
Versailles gardens and palace galleries
Another early morning for us - beat the heat! Our timed entry to the palace is not until 11 but we are there more like 8:30 so that we can wander around the gardens before we go in the building. There are very few people wandering around the gardens this early. We have an app with an audio guide that we try to follow as we discover different fountains with mixed success. While there is water in the fountains they are not running. We start off with the view from the back of the palace. This is a very formal area with a great view of the "grand canal" which was built by the garden architect. Then we start wandering down side aisles. Much to our relief they have tall trees or bushes along the paths so we are walking in shade much of the time. There are many small fountains and gardens around. We found one that had been designed in the "English manner" less stylized and kind of like a forest. There are 4 fountains that represent the 4 seasons of the year. We found one with Apollo in a chariot coming up out of the water. Most of the fountains were quite refined, but one was several tiers made in black volcanic looking stone that had seashells carved into it. I had hoped to get out to the Trianon, but it is hot and getting to be time for us to see the palace. I guess I will have to come back and try again sometime.
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| as you walk up to the palace |
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| view from the back of the palace - formal gardens up close |
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| Bachus fountain - one of th seasons |
As you enter the palace, you go through security in one building that then opens up to the courtyard with all the buildings wrapping around. Makes you realize how big the palace really is. The place is packed and you have to watch out for large tour groups. The first few rooms are full of paintings and nothing to tell you what the original purpose of the room had been. Then you get into the royal apartment area and you find informative placards and the rooms were decorated nicer. We see the chapel, of course the hall of mirrors, king's bedroom, queens room and then some rooms that were meant to be a museum by King Louis Phillip. Here it is items after Louis and Marie Antoinette. There are paintings bragging about victories at war and a very large painting of a coronation of a Napoleon. Then all of sudden it is over. It is lunch time and we are hot, thirsty and sick of water (we drank A LOT of water that morning). We find a spot order a couple of large white beers and salads.
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| inside the palace courtyard |
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| Carol enjoying another amazing ceiling |
Last Day in Paris
For our last day in Paris, I am looking forward to seeing Muse D'Orsay. It is an art museum specializing in impressionism. When we were in Paris before, the museum was under renovation so we could not visit. I have booked us tickets for when the place opens. We planned a stop on our way there at the Tuileries Gardens. We have heard that the Olympic Cauldron is back there for a limited time. It is lit up each night at dark, but dark here is after 10:30 and we have not felt like going out at that time of night. We quickly find the gardens and then the cauldron. We enjoy the gardens for a few minutes and then head onto D'Orsay. We get to the museum and find a line waiting for it to open so we join it - in the hot sun by a road with traffic - fun. Time for it to open comes and passes - come on guys were hot out here! Then a lady comes out and starts moving down the line saying there is a technical difficulty and the museum will not open for at least another half an hour. Jeff wants to wait in nearby shade but the lady says we can come back later and our tickets will be honored and that we will be able to tell if they opened or not on the website. Long story short. I still have not been inside the museum so I will have to come to Paris a 3rd time and try again.
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| that whole building is 1 fabric store |
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| the other large fabric store |
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| Sacre Coeur Basilica |
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