2011-03-12

Today, our last day (sob, sob) we walked up to the second stage of the Eiffel Tower and survived! Then we walked (as if we hadn't walked enough) around that neighborhood admiring the architecture and the market on Rue Cler. We are now attempting to pack and tonight we will use up (we hope) all the leftovers in our refrigerator. It's been wonderful.  Having the apartment has been fantastic and we were able to do  and see so much.  It's enough to make us wish we could do this every year, or, perhaps, say for a month or two.
Wish you were all here

bring your bottle and they'll fill it or get one of their bottles on deposit

Why didn't we come to the Baron Rouge sooner. We got deposit bottles at .50 and filled two with inexpensive but very good (we think) wine from their barrels. This is near the Marche d'Aligre and the Viaduct des Artes (fine crafts people). Then after lunch we went to the GRAND MAGASINES (actually just the Gallery Lafayette) and we certainly now understand why people come to Paris to shop and to check out the styles. And Fernando got the Mephistos he's been after. Then (as if that wan't enough) we walked over to the Latin Quarter and walked the streets teeming with students celebrating Friday evening, and saw Rue Mouffetard and Rue Monge before heading home to look for a restaurant that was still open. And we found one!

Like our new hats, Vincent?

Like our new hats, Vincent?

Thursday, March 9, 2011   Paris, France
Today, after a quick trip to the Bastille Market (can't have a day without a market in Paris?) we took the bus to the Musee D'Ordsay, then had a lovely lunch, before going to the Orangeries for most great art.  Then walked up the Champs d"Elysees to be au courant before Metro-ing home.  Penny's pictures at https://picasaweb.google.com/pennykaplan/20110310?feat=directlink

Cathy's at https://picasaweb.google.com/chaparroc/ThursdayInParis#.

Today was the Louvre

Unfortunately Penny had to wake me up this morning. It was 9 am and I was still sound asleep. So much for getting early starts. I think we got out of the house around 10:30 and had cafe au lait and croissants/brioche/pain aux raisins at the neighborhood boulangerie/patisserie: Miss Manon. Fernando was shocked to be billed 20 euros, especially since we had paid 15 euros for our dinner of falafels the night before. So I think he will be satisfied with coffee and croissants at home from now on.

Then we started walking down the Rue Saint Antoine to the Louvre, passing shops where I wasn't able to stop, except for one Spanish store Zara. Here's the gmap pedometer map of where we went, where the walk was 5.13 miles, not counting the Louvre.

When we got to the Louvre there was a long line towards the pyramid with a guard holding a sign saying that from that point it was a 1 hour wait. He was also asking people if they spoke French and if so he told them they could go to a different entrance. So we followed the French speakers to the Carousel du Louvre, which is a shopping center connected to the Louvre where there really wasn't a line at all. But first we needed to find a bathroom, les toilettes, but couldn't find one anywhere. Finally a woman showed us to a swanky pay toilet with colored toilet paper for 1 euro. Kind of steep but we were desperate. (Later we found there were free toilettes inside the Louvre.)

We spent a couple of hours in the Italian and French section of the Louvre - saw the Mona Lisa and works by David, Ingres and Delacroix. And we saw lots and lots of people, old and young. I think we took plenty of photos so you can see some of what we saw. By then it must have been 2:30 so we decided to eat in the mall's food court. Penny and I split a dish of roast lamb, carrots and ratatouille (Fernando had his own). It would be nice if American malls had equally good fast food.

Then we came back out of the Louvre, walked over towards Rue Montorgueil and tested out one of the automatic toilettes in the street. It was quite satisfactory except for the hand dryer and the amount of time one had to wait for the toilette to disinfect itself between users.

We visited the cookware store E. Dehillerin and almost bought that big stock pot that Camila needed. Then we went into the food store G. DeTout but didn't buy anything except a few chocolate bars. I'd like to buy some Kushti tea because the tins are so pretty but it is rather expensive.

We had the best time on rue Montorgueil, going into the produce markets where we bought strawberrries, a cucumber, heart-shaped red potatoes, and purple artichokes. Fernando picked up some boudin noir (blood sausage) and head cheese at a boucherie and finally we picked up two kinds of cheese at a fromagerie. This was our dinner. It was about 2 miles from there home and we still had to pick up some wine and bread for dinner and milk for breakfast so we stopped at our neighborhood monoprix, which is a supermarket just a block away.

Tomorrow we might pick up a roast chicken for dinner -- or maybe we should make an omelet with these huge champignons we bought the first day. Then we'll boil our artichokes and undoubtedly find even more food that we can't resist. I better check when the markets are. Maybe Penny and I can run out tomorrow morning to the Bastille market...

Carousel at Hotel de Ville for Isabel

Click the photo to begin

Cathy and Fernando arrive

We have arrived!

Our flight from Atlanta arrived early at 5:33 am and so we were able to catch the RER train into Paris at 6:45 am, arriving at Chatelet-Les Halles and then transferring to the metro and arriving at the St. Paul metro station at 7:30.

Then we easily found the Rue Saint Paul and the apartment house (except that they had repainted the front door light green instead of burgundy). We got through the first front door but then couldn't open the second door to the apartment building. We tried phoning Penny but the phone number didn't work on Fernando's Iphone. We were planning our next breaking and entering strategy when a woman came down to walk her dog and let us in.

Fortunately at this early hour, Penny was still in the apartment and welcomed us with open arms (and later showed us how to open the second door with a kick to the baseboard (actually it was a glass door).

Then we went out to buy croissants, pain au chocolat and another small sweet bread to serve with the Peet's coffee someone had left. (I will buy some Illy coffee at the Monoprix when it opens at 9 am just to be european). Now Penny is taking a shower and we are catching up with email on our computers.

Penny Arrives in Paris

Penny arrived in Paris on schedule Sunday, March 5, but Cathy & Fernando weren't so lucky. Their flight from Pittsburgh was cancelled after several false promises. Penny found her way to the apartment, turned up the heat, took a nap and headed out to rediscover the Marais and Iles St-Louis and de la Cite and walked a bit around the Right Bank She had her camera for company and an omelette for dinner at the local Tabac.

Wi-Fi or not?

We've become a bit concerned about the wi-fi in our apartment - will it work, how do we sign on, etc., etc?  A query to the rental company resulted in the advice to bring an ethernet cable...just in case.  So now Cathy has 4 feet of cable to add to her electronics packing.  And I, who had forgotten all about the ethernet cable, just checked out free wi-fi hotspots.  About.com Paris Travel has a list of the city's free wi-fi hot spots by arondissement.  But apparently these only broadcast during the day ?!
And here is a Spotted by Locals site with a goggle map even more populated than ours showing free wi-fi - and that's from 2009 so it should be even more crowded now. "In every part of Paris, there are many free wifi-access points via “Paris Wi-Fi”. In many public spaces, such as parks, gardens, city halls, librairies and museums you can go online wireless for free.
Jessica has been so kind to provide a short tutorial on how to connect to the Free Paris network (source: Paris.fr)
1. Find a point on the map above. Go to it. It will tell you it’s WiFi by the symbol you see in the picture, which looks like purple blobs with the words “wifi” written in it.
2. Select the “Wifi ORANGE” network on your computer. This is the reason no one was having success before with this!!! “Free” is actually the brand name of an internet provider, NOT a description of what it is; hence why it wasn’t working for people. ORANGE is what you’re looking for.
3. Open your browser, type in an internet address, and you will be redirected to the access portal. You can switch to English in the orange box. From there, it’s easy! You just type in your name and email address, and there you go. Two hours of free surfing!"
But let's really hope the wi-fi works 'cause it's a little cold to sit on the grass with our laptops

The Schedule

Juan wanted to see our day by day shedule... Like his and Mandy's for Japan. I told him we were staying put in Paris and didn't have to catch any planes or trains except back home... But for what it's worth, here's a tentative layout of our plans. Penny, let me know if you can't edit this and if so, I'll let you post it.

Sunday, March 6
Arrive Paris. Meet at the Sheraton Hotel above the trains to Paris and then take the train/bus and then metro to the Apartment, where we will drop off our luggage.
Go to the Marché Bastille (open 7am-3pm) just right on Rue Saint Antoine to the Bastille, north on Boulevard Beaumarchais and then right on Boulevard Richard Lenoir. Pick up cheese, milk, butter, fruit, eggs, sausages, whatever looks good. Stop at the Monoprix for coffee, sugar and salt and whatever looks interesting. Drop our provisions off at the apartment.
Explore the neighborhood (Marais, Ile Ste Louis?), find a place for dinner (L'As du Falafel? - closed saturday not sunday), stop at the Pompidou in the evening? Upload our photos and finalize our schedule for Monday.

Monday, March 7
Wake up early and rush up the street to a boulangerie to buy bread, croissants, pain au chocolat to have with our coffee au lait. Send Fernando up the street to buy a newspaper at the kiosk on Rue Turenne.
Explore the Ile Saint-Louis and Ile de la Cite. Maybe have a Berthillon ice cream cone (check here for a list of flavors - I think I'll have Fruit de la passion and Rhubarbe).
Continue exploring into the Latin Quarter - maybe take Toms Strange and Interesting tour on the left bank and if our legs are very strong, Montparnasse. Have a big dinner.

Tuesday, March 8
Since it is supposed to be sunny, take a walk to Montmartre, going through the Marais on Rue des Francs Bourgeois, up Rue Montorgueil and then up Rue Montmartre, checking out the food and cookware stores. In Montmartre, up the little side streets and into the Sacre Coeur. Maybe down the east side through the fabric district. Shall we pay our respects at the cemetery? Where shall we have dinner?

Wednesday, March 9
A museum day. Louvre first thing in the morning? and the classy department stores over in that neighborhood? Printemps and Galleries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussmann? and the Au Nain Bleu toy store? Wander in the Palais Royal area - Orangerie if we get the museum pass. Would this be the day to eat at Au Pied de Cochon?

Thursday, March 10
Go to the Musee d'Orsay and admire all the Impressionists. Have a pastry and then head over to the Rue Cler. Check out the Italian Grocery that serves choucroute garni. Walk over to the Tour Eiffel? If we visit, is it better early in the morning or in the evening?

Friday, March 11
OH! our vacation is almost over!! Decide what we have missed. The Marché d’Aligre and le Baron Rouge for the wine and oysters? Or should this be done at the beginning of our stay so we can stock up on wine? Make sure we have seen the BHV basement and other places in the neighborhood. Keep walking.

Saturday, March 12
Run around like madmen seeing everything we missed. Find the fountain to drink from so that we are guaranteed to come back. Or does one have to eat escargots for that guarantee?

Sunday, March 13
Catch the metro/bus to the airport for our flights home.
An official day of mourning...
But wait till Isabel sees what we got her!

Craft Shopping in Paris

I ran across another Paris walk at Townmouse's Craft Shopping in Paris. She starts out at the Viaduc des Arts and then goes over to the Marais to Entrée des Fournisseurs, 8 rue des Francs Bourgeois, 75003. This looks like a little fabric and sewing notions store that Camila might love. Look at those darling embroidery scissors!

Then she walks up to La Droguerie, which I assumed was a drugstore but instead is a Paris institution for knitting and crochet. Since it appears to be next to Au Pied de Cochon, we might as well stop by. And then there is one last shop in the area, Des Fils et une Aiguille at 1 rue Chabanais, 75002. What is that? "Sons and a Needle"?

Finally she goes all the way up to the Marché St Pierre in Montmartre (2 rue Charles Nodier, 75018) which we might pass by on our walk up there. So there you have it and I bet Camila wishes she were coming along.

Rendez-Vous With French Cinema

Yes, Penny, you are missing the 16th annual Rendez-Vous With French Cinema presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Unifrance, which runs from March 3-13th, because you'll be in Paris. It opens with Potiche, starring Catherine Deneuve, one of the few people who are older ("an ageless 67") than we are. Of course it also stars my favorite Gérard Depardieu (born in 1948 like me!), playing her communist ex-lover rather than her husband. I guess we will not be seeing Catherine Deneuve in Paris this time since she will be appearing at all three screenings of the film in New York! Je suis desolée!!

At least the list of French films will give us something to look for on Netflix. And Unifrance has its trailers on YouTube so we can get an idea of what the movies are about before we put them in our queue. Of course, Penny, maybe you could catch Potiche tomorrow night when the film festival opens.