La ville lumiere - Paris

Monday, August 31, 2015

Even though we didn't get a good sleep (thanks to the noise) and even though the 8 euro breakfast consisted of nothing but a croissant, a piece of French bread (white flour, both) and coffee, things did look better in the morning. The streets were not as crowded, so we didn't feel like we had to fight our way along, and the sun was shining. 



Since our hotel was not far from Sacre Coeur Basilica, we decided to begin our sight-seeing there. I had read about Velib, the Paris bike hire system, but Dave wanted nothing to do with it, so we hoofed it uphill to the cathedral. It is a very steep climb, up narrow streets, but it is worth it in every way.

The cathedral itself is beautiful. Photography is not permitted, so I was a good girl and kept my camera in my pocket while we were inside. There are beautiful stained glass windows, an elaborately painted ceiling and simple but elegant pillars. This church is not very old; it was completed in 1914, so it is not even as old as the oldest churches here in Edmonton, but it is beautiful nonetheless.

And the view! We took out our map and tried to match what we saw to some of the landmark buildings. We could pick out Notre Dame, L'Hotel des Invalides and of course the Eiffel Tower, barely visible through the trees.

After finishing here, I again suggested Velib, but that idea was vetoed, so we walked:down, down, down, until we arrived at the Louvre. For some reason, I didn't take any photos there, but it is a totally impressive structure. 

Photo from this website

It is huge, much bigger than I had imagined, and very grand. We didn't go inside, but explored the grounds and the gift shop.

From here we walked to Ile de la Cité, where Notre Dame is located. Again, impressive. And again, I'm not sure why I didn't take more photos. Oh well, there are plenty available online.

I also liked this statue of Charlemagne, right next to the cathedral:

The building above is the Préfecture de Police, on the island near Notre Dame. This building was constructed in the late 1800s, so it is not really old, but I liked the style and also the sculptures of soldiers and eagles (?) lining the roofs.

From this island, we walked along the river, alternating between the left and right banks, and stopping for a late lunch at a sidewalk café. Dave had a "quatre fromage" pizza, while I had a mixte crepe (ham and cheese.) Both were excellent, and thus fortified, we continued on our way.

We saw the famous "love locks" but didn't add one of our own. Supposedly these locks are going to be removed, but we saw several lock-covered panels and people were adding more as we walked past, so I'm not sure whether the plan has changed. Apparently they are bad for the bridge -- too heavy.

We enjoyed wandering around le Jardin des Tuileries, with all its statues, fountain and tree-lined walkways

It wasn't very busy. The weather was pretty decent -- about 26 degrees and a mix of sun and cloud -- but there simply were not many people out and about.

We thought it was interesting that both here and in London's Hyde Park, there are freestanding chairs for people to sit in -- and apparently no one vandalizes them. In fact, we didn't even see any turned on their side.

This striking building is the Palais Bourbon. Despite its name, it is not a place to booze it up, but rather the meeting place of the French National Assembly. It was built in 1728. 

More walking brought us to this bridge: Pont Alexandre III and the Grand Palais. Both the bridge and the building are quite eye-catching. 

Since my suggestion that we try out the Velib bikes met with an unequivocal "no," we continued to walk and finally came to this:

This is one huge structure! We stood and gazed and I tried to get the whole thing in one picture, without success. We opted against going up; we had already seen the city from Sacre Coeur and weren't keen on waiting in line, but it was fun just to wander around and admire the tower from the ground. 

Even the goldfish were big here!

When we had finished oohing and ahhing about the Eiffel Tower, we crossed the Champ de Mars towards the Ecole Militaire (military academy.) This is a huge complex where Napoleon once trained. His tomb is also nearby, but we didn't see it.  

A short walk brought us to the Hotel des Invalides -- hospital for the disabled. This is now a museum, but part of it is also still a retirement home for soldiers. While we were standing outside the fence, trying to figure out exactly what is was, we noticed that there was some sort of ceremony going on. 

It turned out to be a funeral, complete with a trumpeter and drummer. We watched as soldiers carried the coffin to a waiting van. AT first we thought maybe it was someone famous, but now that I know the place is a retirement home for soldiers, I think maybe it was just one of the residents. It was interesting, nevertheless.

On we walked, through streets lined with boutiques and restaurants, to this church, St. Sulpice and then on to the Luxembourg Gardens. 

Photo borrowed from this website

By this time, we were a bit tired of walking, and we wanted to find rental bikes for the next day, so we did some googling. Our plan was to ride to Versailles. 

I wanted to get bikes from a bike shop near the Eiffel Tower, but Dave didn't like that idea. He wanted to find a rental place near our hotel. So I found a bike shop advertising rentals not far from the Gare du Nord and we figured out how to take the Metro up to there. 

The guys at the bike shop didn't speak any English, so it was up to me and my 32-years-in-the-past French. I managed to convey our request okay, but when I saw the rental bikes, I had serious misgivings. The sole woman's bike, which happened to be the right size for me, didn't look too bad, but the men's bikes were almost as old as my last French class. But Dave didn't seem fazed, so we went ahead and booked the bikes for the next day -- at a cost of 30 euros for both bikes. That is a fair price, but the contract also specified that we were on the hook for 200 euros per bike if anything went wrong. We are talking about $100 bikes. I wasn't too comfy about that, especially since we were planning a 50 km ride to somewhere unfamiliar. But we went ahead and reserved the bikes, telling the guys we'd be back in the morning.

After this, we did something I never thought I would do while traveling in a foreign country (I virtually never do this even while in Canada): we went to McDonald's. It was hot and Dave wanted a cold drink, and Rotten Ronny's was right in front of us, so I agreed to go. It was actually kind of interesting. They have computers where you can order, something I had never seen before, and there is upper-level seating, which allowed us a great view of the streets around, so it was okay. 

I have to admit that by this time, I was not too thrilled with Paris. First, the hotel. Then, the streets we had walked on -- dirty, shabby and narrow and not particularly interesting. On top of that, the bike shop. Of course I knew I was tired, not having slept well, so I was hopeful that tomorrow would be better.