Category: travel

The day began as many have so far… with a quintessential Parisian breakfast. Still not tired of them yet.

I was excited to be up and about again this morning. Because I was in Paris? Yes, but also because I keep seeing Star Wars posters up everywhere! Less than a week! He he.

Anyway, so what did we actually get up to? The day began in earnest with a visit to the Musee du Moyen Age (Museum of the Medieval Age) which was only 5 minutes away from our digs. In any other city this museum would be a must see, with its ancient locale (in the remains of old roman baths) and collection of medieval artefacts and tapestries. But in a place like Paris, this is probably one of the those museums you just don’t have time to visit because of everything else there is to see in the city.

Kate was keen to see a particular set of tapestries there, so that was as good a reason as any. So just after opening in we popped. As mentioned, it is quite a modest museum compared with everything else the city has to offer. As a result we moved through quite quickly, checking out statues and stained glass that had been rescued from different places.

We then arrived in the room of the their main drawcard, the series of 6 tapestries known as the Lady and the Unicorn. Dating to the 15th century, their origins are a bit of a mystery. The symbolism behind them is the 5 senses, and 5 of the 6 represent them. The 6th ties them all together, with its full meaning still a bit unclear.

The works are really quite amazing, and seeing them hung in the one room is quite powerful. Easily worth the time to visit, and probably a shame more people don’t get to see what is undoubtedly an amazing piece of art.

With that, we decided to keep wandering down Boulevard Saint-Michel to hit the Seine, and on to the small island that is home to Notre Dame. The weather had cleared a bit, so we decided now was as good a time as any to visit the gargoyles at the top.

It is worth paying note again to the huge police and military presence there is around Paris. We were starting to see it even more, and here at Notre Dame was no exception. Constant armed forces wandered past, and we were being security checked into virtually every building we entered, even shopping centres and supermarkets. We weren’t sure if this had been the new norm for a little while or if recent events had put this into action, but sadly we were getting used to the constant security checks and balances.

The queue to head to the top was quite short so up we went. I always get a kick out of seeing the gargoyles on top looking out over Paris. Sure it is a cliche, but it is things like these cliches that are part of what makes Paris so special.

It was a bit cloudy so views weren’t spectacular, but still enough to gaze out far and wide.

Back down the spiral staircase it was, and into Notre Dame proper. Kate had never actually been in, so it was cool to be with her for her first visit. We said hi to Joan, and move through fairly quickly.

Given we have museum passes that run until Sunday, we were looking to visit all the things we were keen that were covered on it. So we decided it was time to rest, clear our minds, and enjoy some tranquility. The Musee de l’Orangerie is the place to go.

On our way I spied my first couple of Space Invaders perched up high. Score! I really need to be more vigilant as there are SO many around Invaders home town.

In no time we arrived at the l’Orangerie. This museum is a small collection of impressionist and post-impressionist works, that are in tune with the d’Orsay in many respects. But the reason to come here is to enter into the first main rooms and just sit. I had not been here in a long time so had not had a chance to enjoy Monet’s Water Lilies as intended. After clearing your mind in an empty room, you wander in to two huge spaces and a surrounded by the beautiful greens and blues of the immense canvases that comprise Monet’s work. I had seen these canvases before, and much of the related work, but to sit in a stark room surrounded by them was amazing.

So we sat. Soaking up the small details in the works. We could have sat their for hours really, enjoying from back and up close. And we did for quite a while before moving through the rest of the modest (in size) collection.

Out we wandered back into the hub-bub of Paris. The day had turned quite lovely, so we thought we should go back to Musee Rodin to enjoy the sculpture garden that we missed previously. So much nicer wandering about in the fine weather… umbrellas don’t really help do the gardens justice!

Speaking of cliches, I couldn’t help but get yet MORE photos of the statues and The Thinker in particular.

With this, our day was winding up so we headed back to the hotel. I still had some energy, so I decided to make use of some late opening hours and head back out. Destination Louvre!

Even though it was only a 20 minute walk from our hotel, it still pays to check you have the right museum when looking to visit late. Seems late nights at the Louvre are Wednesday and Friday, not Thursday as I thought. Seemed I got my wires crossed! Bah!

That was OK, more time to enjoy the brisk streets of Paris and see some of the sights lit up. Venus could wait until tomorrow.

P.S everyone… I am about a day behind in posts so will try my best to catch up!

Kate had today all planned out. But sometimes the weather changes your plans hey? But in this case it wasn’t the “damn, it’s raining” type change, rather “boy, it’s gorgeous outside!”. So rather than do some more museums and the opera house, we decided to get our butts into gear, and hop on a train to Versailles.

I had been to Versailles way back in 2000, and Kate had been before but had not had a chance to explore much of the grounds, so it was always a plan to go. But given much of the fun of the day is wandering the gardens we decided to jump on the nice day.

I know you all know, but Versailles was the royal chateau for a while, when Louis XIV moved out to the (then) countryside to chill out and party and do business. The site has the main chateau and then huge gardens that house some other important historic buildings, including where Marie Antoinette resided. Apologies (or thankfully!), this is probably the extent of the history lesson for you! It is to keep my historical ignorance and mistakes to a minimum 🙂

A short 45 minute train ride and we were in the township of Versailles itself and did the short wander to the palace itself. Like yesterday we enjoyed the benefits of being here in low tourist season, and had no wait at all. Even nicer was that we only had to compete with a handful of tourist buses and their hoards.

We decided to start by touring through the palace. For those that haven’t been, it is all about walking through the opulence and soaking up the ways of living from back in the 17th century.

The self guided tour leads you through the many furnished apartments throughout… the State Apartments, Kings and Queens. All decked out in their seemingly total impractical nature. There were constant questions of “how could you just relax in here?!” or “boy that bed is small!” or “check out that chandelier!”.

As we went around we constantly snapped pics of the extravagance of the palace. As Kate just said, it sure is a big palace for French kings and queens!

Because of the small number of tourists we found ourselves making our way through much faster than we remembered. So with a quick bite to eat, we headed out into the gardens and off toward the back corner of the grounds to visit some more of the palace buildings.

What was quite odd about being here in winter is that all the stone busts and statues were covered up. We could only assume it was to protect against the weather. But man, it sure made for some creepy images! Seeing the stark trees and the covered figures, it was like we were in a horror film!

The wander was super nice… brisk, but beautiful in the sunshine. Our next point of call was the Grand Trianon, a retreat for the king where he also got up to shenanigans with his head mistress. This building could be seen as a mini chateau… a smaller building but still decked out in 17th century opulence. Again, it was delightful to wander through and in this case the marble work was something else.

Next it was back into the gardens to check out the little sibling of the Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon. The petite version was all about removing as many formalities as possible, and as such was much less of showing wealth and privilege, and much more about functional living. This was so much so that Marie Antoinette was said to have favoured this chateau to get away from the formalities of her life.

Given where we were, and being surrounded by extravagance, we thought it appropriate to do some indulging ourselves. How you ask? With macarons! Yum! We could resist having an Angelinas here at Versailles and not take advantage. I tossed up between pistachio and lemon, and went the lemon macaron (as well as some of Kate’s chocolate and vanilla). Mmmm… they hit the spot.

On our wanders we came across the cute Temple de l’Amore, or the temple of love. With the day being gloriously sunny it was really charing sitting there amongst the gardens.

Our final destination in the gardens was in many respects the most odd. It was a collection of buildings affectionately known as Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet… a collection of farm houses that were built to help her realise her dream of being a milkmaid. Yep, you read that right. As such the buildings were a really oddball collection of British influenced cottages, complete with streams and waterwheels. There was even a working farm still there, complete with goats and chickens. How strange! Really cute but just totally weird all at once.

With the grounds explored (not nearly the whole lot, but a sizeable chunk) we wandered back to the main chateau, the day fast disappearing. We had been on the go for many hours and so it was time to jump on a train back to Paris.

We had plans of popping back to see Rodin, or visiting the Arc de Triomphe on our return, but by the time we got back into the city we were just a bit tired and hungry. So rather, we opted for some delicious crepes (savoury and sweet!) near our hotel and just relaxed for the rest of the night. In no time we were both fast asleep. Too much good living can do that to you.

I love Paris. But it has been over 10 years since I was here last. 10 years! And before that I had spent a number of weeks becoming  familiar with the city and every room in the Louvre. So it is a buzz to be back, especially with Kate.

Today was a Tuesday, meaning if we wanted to do galleries and museums, we had to plan ahead. The Louvre for one was closed, but so too many others. And the grim weather forecast meant that indoors was maybe for the best. But never fear, Kate had her plan, so after a slower start (which happens when you are awake at 6am and it is quite dark until about 8am), we headed out for some breakfast.

As we left the hotel, it was nice to lay eyes on the Pantheon in the daylight, having arrived after sunset. What was intriguing is that it seemed to be home to some comment on the recent climate summit, with large blocks of ice on the forecourt staying fresh in the brisk morning. Seemed there were also predators around every corner.

So off we wandered, hitting the Seine, and meandering along. The sun was emerging, giving us glorious views of Notre Dame, and filling us with even more reinforcement (as if we needed it) that coming to Paris was a pretty magic idea.

Next a quintessential cafe greeted us on one corner, so in we popped. Here was the first of probably many of this breakfast for the next week. The French staple… coffee, juice, bread and croissant. Mmmm. There is something deliciously elegant in the simplicity. I’m sure in a few days I will be after something different, but for now the novelty was too strong. Kate opted for her go-to, pain au chocolat and she too was soaking up being back in Paris.

First main stop was the Musee d’Orsay, probably second only to the Louvre here for important works of art (and that is saying something). It is hard to top the rooms full of impressionist paintings as well as the amazingly refurbished train station that houses the collection.  There is just something way too cool about looking through the huge clocks and seeing the Sacre Coeur high in the distance.

We decided to start at the top, working our way down. Seeing the impressionist works first made us feel at home and continue the buzz of being in Paris. Over the next few hours we wandered through the space, not having to cope with too many visitors, which I imagine will continue to be the same over the coming week.

We also started showing our respect for many of the works of art by, well, maybe not showing as much respect as we could. But it is hard to go past many of the statues in particular without paying homage in our own silly way.

Lunchtime had arrived and we decided to head out, hit the streets, and find some food. “Should we pop in here?”. “What about this one?”. “Or here?”… and so it continued as passed cafe upon cafe. Too many decisions! In the end Kate was feeling salady, so we found somewhere for her to put together her own while I jumped on the baguette and we kept wandering to find somewhere to eat.

Sadly, it was about now that the forecasted rain arrived and started to dampen our lunch plans. Hhhmmm… where to sit! We were headed towards Les Invalides, and decided to pop down on an indiscriminate park bench by the side of a street to tuck in before the rain got too heavy. Not quite a beautiful Parisian locale, but functional!

With sustenance to boost our energy, off we continued to the nearby Les Invalides. This is home to the tomb of Napoleon, and while we had both been here before, our museum passes meant the vast majority of sights were now free for us to wander in, so in we went. He we were met with our first real taste of what may become the norm in the city. A number of armed guards, checking bags and inside our jackets before entering. While getting into any major museum and public space is always going to have its checks, this seemed like the ante had been upped.

We wandered into the huge building. There is always something pretty crazy about seeing the huge casket inside casket inside casket (etc.) in the middle of the space. I did a quick look in the gift shop for a cheap Napoleon style hat, but alas it wasn’t to be.

We did a quick wander around and kept moving. In many respects the main reason for visiting Napoleon was that Les Invalides was right near a museum that was a huge favourite of both of us, the Musee Rodin. It had recently just gone through a major refurb, and the entire space had just reopened. Win! Alas, the rain was making our visit difficult to enjoy and soak up properly (ha, soak… see what I did there) but in we went anyway, starting with the displays inside an old hotel that resides on the grounds.

His work is incredible, and it is always so cool to see not only the works but the moulds and the entire creative process.

We were starting to hit the wall a little (going to the other side of the world will do that to you), so after making our way through the indoor part of the museum, we decided to give the gardens, housing his larger works, a miss for the time being. The relentless rain helped us with that decision too!

So off we tramped, back toward a Metro station. Of course, on our way we walked past a gorgeous looking patisserie and couldn’t help ourselves. Kate got her eclair (as I could have guessed) while I went a little rogue and got a big slice of flan. Delicious!

It was approaching 5pm by the time we arrived back at our hotel. We were both pretty tired, but decided to wander into the Pantheon since we had some time up our sleeve before it closed. Housing crypts for many distinguished French men and women, it is cool to have a quick wander in the depths of the old church. While many were unknown to me (possibly showing my ignorance), there were some that have proven to be quite important to me and my study & work, such as Louis Braille, and Marie and Pierre Curie.

Phew! Our first day was nearly done. We were both pretty tired, so off it was to a nearby cafe for some dinner (still happy hour!) and then to rest up after our first day. Ah Paris. I’ve missed you.

Bonjour everyone! Greetings from beautiful Paris!

Kate and I arrived yesterday at about dinner time, and didn’t last much past 8pm, so here is a belated, fairly brief, update.

We left Melbourne at close to 1am so bunkered down to try and sleep on the leg from Melbourne to Paris. We both did OK… not great as you can expect on a full plane… but enough to get by. As a result it was no movies or reading for me, just trying to tune out from the hum of the plane and the serving of food. Kate focused a bit more on some reading, but otherwise, it was just 9 hours of getting from A to B.

A couple of hours in Hong Kong airport let us stretch our legs and have a bite, but really in no time at all we were on the main leg… we were heading to Paris! Yay!

As a regular traveller of economy class, you usually prepare for the worst. You assume you will be cramped, and that it is just an exercise in making time pass to get to the other end. This leg was going to be not really sleeping, but catching up on some movies and reading as a way to get through the time. But also when you travel economy you enjoy the small victories. And this leg was one. As all the passengers settled on board, this was the state of our section of economy…

Yep. That was it. Only about 1/4 full. Yes! Win! We even had the front of the section with extended leg room which in the end was kinda wasted on this trip, but very much enjoyed regardless. So as the plane got in the air, everyone shuffled and took complete rows to ourselves. It meant that lying about, stretching out, wandering about as much as we liked was going to be the order of the day. Oh the luxury!

While Kate thought the time dragged on a bit, it went by pretty quickly for me. Four movies and a book later (as well as a little sleep) and we were arriving. I could totally get used to having planes only this full.

What may have added to Kate’s thoughts though was the quite confounding route map. It seemed we had not really taken the most direct route we could. It seemed there was a lot of up and over taking place. Hmm. I’m sure they had their reasons.

Anyway, we arrived safe and sound into CDG on time and jumped on a train into the centre of Paris. Given the time of year, the sun set at about 5pm, so it was dark as we arrived at our digs, the Hotel Grand Hommes in the cool Latin Quarter. A super charming hotel, our lovely receptionist let us know our room had been upgraded to one slightly bigger and with views of the local sights. Very nice!

What were the local sites? The hotel resides right next the the Pantheon. Yep. We were in Paris alright.