Monthly Archives: June 2007

Subtitled: San goes to work. I got up at the crack of 7:30 this morning to get ready for my day of meetings at the OECD. If you really want the boring details, let me know; otherwise, suffice to say that it was a day in an office talking to lots of folks about really interesting (to me anyway) stuff which I’ll write up later.

Otherwise, the rest of the clan slept late and headed out for la petite dejeuner a the the local patisserie before venturing back to the old city to visit the crypt by Notre Dame. Not really what it sounds like: more like the basements of Roman settlements. Some excitement was provided by a local demonstration with the gendarme in attendance and everything. The attendant at the exhibit was most insistent that the family come in and shut the door to keep out the demonstrators. The roving reporters for this entry (Duncan and Gillian) relate that although their visit was short, it was still cool to see stuff from the first and second century and models of Roman settlements.

A short wanter throught the Ile de Cite past the odd Pompidou center brought the clan to the museum of arts and sciences which was apparently the find of the trip. The museum passes had run out so Frank had to buy a ticket but there was no queue to worry about and they apparently had the place pretty much to themselves except from some giggling pre-teen German girls. Three votes for this museum being really cool. Gillian’s favorite exhibit was the telegraph with digital decoder; Duncan liked the science and technology exhibit with the super computers, lasers and robots (gee, wouldn’t have guessed that 😉 and Frank liked the transportation section which had lots of old cars (another shocker!)

They grabbed sandwiches and crepes from a roadside stand and wandered into a vast underground mall which Duncan is trying very hard to actually locate on a map so there may be more details (and photos) later.

Then home where they arrived in enough time to put the kettle on before mom got home from work. After a short debriefing, we were out again en mass to head to the massive department store sales and see if we could get the hang of this “shopping in Paris” thing. In a word: no. We hit Lafayette first -the crowds were unbelievable! I gave up after the third floor of women’s clothes where I couldn’t find anything that worked for me – I think that the shopping gene skipped the women in my family because I’m not only not good at it but I don’t really think it’s fun! So we headed to the kids department. Here we had much more luck; Duncan found a great shirt and Gillian found a sundress and some really cool Italian shoes. We were all set to checkout when they announced that the computers were down and they couldn’t take credit cards. Well, having a whole 20 euros in my pocket, that wasn’t going to work so we abandoned ship and tried the department store next door which was a complete bust.

So we headed for the nearest bistro and thoroughly enjoyed our last real meal in Paris. Took the metro home in time to catch the twinkling lights on the Eiffel Tower one last time (they have some special lights they rigged up for the millenium that flash for 10 minutes every hour after dark until 1 a.m.) and now it’s time for bed. We’ll pack in the morning and then get the train through the chunnel to London!

/san/

(Family pedometer reading: 27, 406 or 13 miles. I only managed about 13, 678 or about 6 miles since I worked all day!)

It may be hard to believe but we had a difficult time getting started this morning after the late night last night (or should I say this morning!) Nevertheless, we managed to get up and out and headed to the RER station up the street for the trip to Versailles. I was interested in seeing what this “palace that all other palaces want to be” and where so much history took place. The energy level of the family, though, was a bit below what was needed to really *do* Versailles.

All I can say is: Wow! No wonder the peasants revolted! The sheer size of the place is insane and the opulence is beyond excessive. You thought things were big in Texas? Doesn’t hold a candle to this place. I don’t even know where to start. I can honestly say that the The Hall of Mirrors is the most amazing room I have ever seen and I shared my experience with about 200 strangers! While our Museum Pass did come through again, it still couldn’t make the busloads of other folks disappear and the crowds were a bit overwhelming at times.

If you wanted to escape the crush, however, you just needed to step out into the gardens which were breathtaking. Nevermind that Versailles is one of the few non-tropical places where they grow oranges (and have for centuries). It’s at least a kilometer from the house to the beginning of “the Grand Canal” – which actually goes nowhere but you can rent boats to go float on it!

We planned poorly and found ourselves in the middle of a major tourist attraction at lunchtime with no escape so we were forced to find a spot in the garden restaurant where we sampled the French version of pizza and cheeseburgers (neither were much of a hit I’m afraid!) Then back out to see more extravagance.

It was another cold, blustery day and we were done with “old houses” sooner than we might have otherwise been so it was back to the big city to chill out, watch some Wimbledon, test our savvy at the French version of “Who wants to be a millionaire?” (some guy missed a question about Lancelot and Guinevere – duh! I knew the answer and I don’t speak French!) Then we were out for a very nice meal at a local restaurant on Rue Cler. It’s a nice quiet night cuz I actually have to work tomorrow! There’s a reason for this trip and tomorrow is one bit of the evidence: I’ll be spending the day at the OECD. I promise not to bore you with the details!

/san/

P.S. Pedometer score: 21, 208 or just over 1o miles which I’m sure wasn’t quite enough to burn off the unbelievable rice pudding I had for dessert tonight!

We got a late start this morning since none of the sights on the agenda were open before 10 a.m. First stop: Napoleon’s tomb.   It’s walking distance from the apartment and we get there ahead of most tour buses.  I don’t know which is more impressive:  the building which was built by the “sun king” Louis XIV or the tomb they put in it centuries later.  The dome of the church has 24 kilos of gold leaf for decoration! And Napoleon’s sarcophagus is huge – inside he’s in a tin coffin inside a mahogany coffin inside two lead coffins inside an ebony coffin inside the stone sarcophagus! Talk about safe keeping… 

Across the street we get a dose of culture with the Rodin museum.  I know less about sculpture than I do about painting but I can appreciate what it must take to make a hunk of rock look like a person.  We got to see the famous “Thinker” statue as well as “The Kiss” which are both very cool.  We also saw lots of “naked people” as Gillian put it! 

Then we decided to really “do” lunch!  No cheap eats but a nice restaurant with lots of business folks and few tourists.   I got to have quiche and some claflouti for dessert – very french!  Gillian is becoming quite the omelet expert and loves the chocolate tarts.  Duncan has learned the French term for “chocolate lava cake”! 

Then more art – the Musee de Orsay.  This is the place I’ve wanted to see all week; it has a very extensive impressionist  collection – my favorite.  Unfortunately, everyone else has it high on their list too:  the line is *really* long. Our Museum Pass saves the day, however, and we bypass all the queues and go straight inside.  We can’t avoid the crowds here though and covering the fifth floor takes some time and patience.  It was really cool having artsy conversations with Duncan about the difference between Renior and Degas compared to Van Gogh and Pissarro.  (He’s not crazy about post-impressionist pointillism in case you are interested!)  The surprise bonus for today:  the museum houses the painting “Whistler’s mother” which I didn’t know.  It’s actually pretty impressive up close. 

Once we’re done with art for the day, we do the other thing that is popular to do in Paris:  shopping!  We head to the Opera district where the big department stores are and discover the wonder that is Lafayette!  I thought Liberty of  London and Harrods were impressive!  They’ve got nothing on this place.  The main building is 7 stories and has a stained glass dome in the center.  The housewares department is in a second building and the men’s store is in a third building!  We actually tried to shop there but it was too overwhelming!  I have to confess I was well out of my league!  The women’s shoe department alone was bigger than my local Macy’s and I’ve never even seen Jimmy Choo shoes up close!  We decided to revisit this experience another day because the big annual sale starts tomorrow so half the stuff we wanted to look at was under cover – literally covered up with paper and signs saying that they can’t sell these items until the 27th. So we’ll be back! 

We headed home for a short break then decided to do something different and eat out… again!  We found a great little Japanese restaurant right near the apartment which we all agreed had the best Japanese food we’ve ever had – the tempura was unbelievable and Frank was most impressed by the sushi.  Duncan did declare that the beef and cheese skewer was not to his liking though (!)   

Now we’re off for the highlight of the day:  the Eiffel tower at night! Unfortunately the Museum Pass was not going to save us here so we had to just suck it up and get in line which we did at 9:45 p.m.  It still wasn’t dark and we waited patiently in the cold and wind (Frank in shorts and me in my Tevas!) and finally got to the elevator a little before 11. We all went up to the second level (400 feet) where Frank (Mr. Vertigo!) opted to wait while the kids and I got in another line for half an hour for a lift to the top (900 feet).  What a view! There was Paris all lit up all around us.  It was really spectacular.  Duncan tried valiently to get Frank’s camera to take some pictures but in the cold, windy dark we couldn’t get the shutter speed quite right.  We viewed the whole city then headed back to the second level to find dad.  By now it’s midnight and time for us to be heading home…. along with the hundreds of other people still on the tower.  Unfortunately, the lift we were waiting for broke down and they didn’t bother to tell us (how very French!) so we waited for 20 minutes for an elevator that was stuck at the bottom!  The other one was working though and we eventually got down and got home about 1 a.m.  Hot chocolate all around and then off to bed.  I can honestly say that that was the second coldest I’ve ever been in the summertime trumped only by the infamous whale watching trip in Iceland in August 2005. (For those keeping track – Pedometer total: 26,160 or about 13 miles!) 

/san/

He turns 14 today in Paris – not too shabby.  We decided to celebrate by totally abusing our Museum Passes.  We purchased the Paris Museum Pass yesterday (good for 4 days) which covers entrance fees to most museums and gives you “jump-to-the-head-of-the-queue” privileges.  So we decided to try it.  Following the advice of many guidebooks,  we got an early start today and headed out to the Louvre.  And at 9:10 this morning we waited through the short security line then waltzed right into the Louvre.  First stop, the Mona Lisa.  I confess that I have never understood why it is so famous and now that I’ve seen it in person, I *still* don’t understand what the big deal is!  There were scads of paintings in that wing that impressed me way more!  (The one of Napoleon crowning Josephine is really something!)  But then again, I didn’t think the DaVinci code was so great either so apparently I’m missing something.

After the Mona Lisa, we checked out the Venus de Milo which was quite impressive.  Then we wandered around to the stuff we were really interested in (Gillian likes the really *old* stuff… and pottery).  My favorite was wandering through Napoleon’s apartments; they were really neat and apparently under appreciated – we had most of the rooms to ourselves!  Here we had heard all about the horrible lines and how crowded it was and we had entire rooms to ourselves!  Look: Empty halls in the Louvre  One of the coolest things for me was Charlemagne’s sword (which we did have to share with a small Italian tour group.)

When we decided to head out toward the main part of the museum to see some of the French crown jewels, we found the crowds!  Boy oh boy, were there crowds!  By 11 a.m. the place was wall-to-wall people!  So that was our cue to leave. And a short walk north found us at the Pompidou Center for a complete change of pace:  modern art!  There was a red rhinoceros, some piles of hay, a piano with a red cross blanket…. not really old master stuff.  One cool thing though was the airplane made from bamboo shoots covered with 10,000 items confiscated from the Sao Paolo airport:  knives, scissors, corkscrews, etc.  It really was pretty cool!

So we’ve had our share of art and we’re back in the Latin Quarter for lunch at a Greek restaurant (Duncan’s choice being the birthday boy – he wanted keftes!) Then we’re exploring the Conciergerie which was used as a prison during the Revolution and housed Marie Antionette before she was beheaded.   Pretty cool!

The birthday boy decides he hasn’t really had enough art so we’re off to the Picasso museum which is cool but like the one in Barcelona devoted to the artist, doesn’t really have any of his famous works.  So it was a fairly short stop (Frank can only take so much Picasso!) before shuttling home.  Duncan decides he wants to eat in for his birthday so we have another supermarche adventure and decide on some pasta for dinner.  A fresh baguette, bag of salad and a bottle of red wine makes the meal and a stop at the patisserie for assorted tarts (in lieu of a birthday cake) and the evening is complete.  (For those keeping track, today’s pedometer reading was 25, 040 or about 12 miles!)

/san/

We meant to get an early start today but it’s Sunday and apparently Paris doesn’t get up early on a Sunday. So after discovering that none of the local bakeries are open on Sunday and we were nearly out of milk for our one box of cereal, we finally found an open grocers and got some sliced bread and eggs for breakfast – oh and milk.It does take a while for four people sharing a single bathroom to get up and organized so it was already 10 a.m. before we headed to a local street market on the Boulevard de Grenelle where I made out like a bandit (silk scarf for 5 euro, linen dress for 15, silver bracelet for 10! Woo-hoo!) then we braved the metro and headed out to the Ile de Cite to explore Notre Dame. We started by wandering around the Latin Quarter (I’ve never seen so many restaurants in one place!) and stopping by some kitchy souvenier shops (ask Gillian to see her Eiffel Tower earrings!) and then wandered around the great cathedral. The line was too long to go in yet so we’re back to the Latin Quarter for a bargin 3 course lunch (me: french onion soup, boefe bourginion?, and crepes flambe with Grande Marnier!) and the mandatory vin rouge then we’re headed off to see the Stained glass of Sainte Chappelle. The look on my almost 14-year-old son’s face when he entered the main hall was priceless. This place is beautiful and it would have been stunning if the sun had actually been out. Really breathtaking!

So now it’s time to actually go inside Notre-Dame and see that stained glass. I lit a candle for my mom (I swear she’s still around because she has a candle burning for her in every major cathedral in northern Europe!) and wandered quietly around. Then we decided it was time to tackle the arch so we headed back across town to actually climb the bazillion stairs to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Wow – talk about a view! You really feel like you are the center of the city.

By this time we were really tired and cranky so we walked home and picked up some Chinese take away – let me tell you what kind of talent it takes to read a Chinese menu written entirely in French! – and stopped for more French beer to go with the French Chinese food. Up the 4 flights of stairs to the flat and we’re pooped! Today’s pedometer reading: 22, 450! And we actually *did* take the Metro!

Tomorrow is a big day – Duncan’s 14th birthday….. we may start with the Louvre… what better way to edge into your teenage years than by waiting in line to see old paintings!

/san/

without even trying…. don’t use the Metro! According to my trusty pedometer, we covered 30,642 steps today – which is approximately 15 miles! The day started with a quick trip to the boulangerie across the street for fresh bread and pastries – YUM! Then walking shoes on and umbrellas in hand, we’re off to explore Paris! We wandered past our local landmark (the Eiffel Tower), up past the Trocadero and over to the Arc de Triomphe. Concerned about the ominous looking clouds overhead, we decided not to pay the 8 euro to get to the top in case we got poured on but instead opted to wander casually down the Champs Elysees and browse through stores we could never afford to even think about shopping in. Then it was time for lunch – can’t climb all those steps to the top of the arc on an empty stomach!

So we’re off down a side street to find a non-touristy cafe (which turns out to be harder than we thought!) and coincidentally wind up on a street which seems to have nothing but motorcycle shops on it…. curious! We eventually found a lovely brasserie where Gillian had her first encounter with a French hot dog (in a baguette and covered in melted cheese!) and I confirmed that the French do not ever make omelets well done! But a nice beaujolais (at least I think that’s what kind of wine the nice non-English speaking waiter bullied us into!) made it all worthwhile!

Thus fortified, we headed back to the arch to arrive at the ticket window behind not one but two tour bus loads of people. Needless to say, we weren’t pleased with this development so off we head back toward the flat and to a small market area we found too late yesterday afternoon. We bought some crepes from a stand (one strawberry jam, one Nutella) and did some shopping. We picked up some fruit and vegetables and a roast chicken and headed home for some serious strategizing and a “home” cooked meal in Paris!

But Frank still had the wandering bug so we headed out after dinner for yet another walk around the 15eme and picked up some sorbet to congratulate ourselves on making through a full day.