Day 6 - Paris, France

 

We woke up in Paris which felt great. As we looked outside the sky was grey and the floor quite wet. As it turned out, it would be a rainy day that would only lift much later that evening.

But as Paula said it is only water and we of course had all the necessary gear so no need to impact any of our plans.

Valerie had informed us that ours and other surroundings streets would be taken over by many different type of people selling stuff. Still we were quite impressed on the amount of people that were on streets when we came out. It also looked like the rain had little effect on their plans.

We walked around, "feeling" the streets, took pictures and then started looking for a restaurant for lunch. After speaking with Valerie, we settled on one close to the apartment. After looking at menu (we decided to choose using the French menu) and speaking with waiter (in French as well) we made our choices. When food came I realized I had chosen roasted lamb and if there is something I really do not like is (you guessed it), roasted lamb. From then onwards, I would always request the English menu or then order in English. However it was still fun to part bread with real Parisians and look at some of their ways.

 

After lunch we walked up the only hill in Paris (we were literally 5 minutes away) to Sacre Coeur. Although weather was not good we took pictures and videos from the top of the hill overlooking Paris.

 

The Sacre Coeur is a white cathedral made of travertine stone which was completed in 1914. We entered the church and found that pictures were not allowed. The next day we would go to Notre Dame and there it is allowed. Wonder who makes these decisions ? Who decides if we can take pictures, if we can do it with flashes ? During services or only when no service is going on ? Are you less religious or have lack of respect if you take pictures ? It was interesting to see two helpers running around the church and try to stop hundreds of tourists doing what they have been bred to do ... take pictures. We did not take pictures inside.

 

 

It was getting quite late in the afternoon and we still wanted to see the Louvre so we left the Sacre Coeur, walked in the rain to the metro station, bought the tickets, decided on best way to beat the metro maze and caught train to get us there. I really love arriving in a city, decode the metro system and move in the underground to beat local traffic. I must say Paris underground system is quite complex where you need to usually have to take at least two but most probable 3 different lines until you get to your destination.

 

As we were in Anvers and wanted to get to the Louvre we took line 2 to Charles de Gaulle, changed to line 1 and got out at the Louvre.

As we got out in the Louvre Metro station the crowds started to thicken and we got worried if we would be able to see anything. In the end this was not a problem as the whole place is designed to handle very large crowds. We bought our tickets and started our tour. We wanted mainly to do 2 things, see the Mona Lisa and the hall where the Italian painters have their work and we also wanted to go to the Richelieu section.

If you have been to the Louvre the next section is well known for you but for the benefit of the others that have not been stick with us.

During our life we have been very fortunate to have travelled widely and seen many museums in US, China, Latin America and other cities in Europe. But the Louvre is in a class of its own. You feel it straight away when you enter it but to make sure I did some research. Indeed the Louvre is the most famous museum in the world, followed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Vatican museum. Other museums worth mentioning is the Hermitage Museum in Saint-Petersburg which is the largest in terms of number of works and floor space in a single building and the Smithsonian (which comprising 19 museums and 9 research facilities) has over 136 million holdings of art, specimen, exhibits etc. Compare that with 3 million in the Hermitage. The Louvre in comparison has 380,000 objects from which they display 35,000 works of art. So what makes this the most visited museum in the world ? 8.8 million visitors versus 6 million for the Metropolitan. And it has topped the list for 5 years (since this analysis was started).

In my opinion, I thought it was because of the Mona Lisa. People fight to get a picture close to the bullet proof enclosure.

After visiting I strongly believe this is still the case but not only. As you visit there is much more than just the Mona Lisa. Of course the quality of the works is important but I also liked the way the halls are set up, the light as it comes through the windows and the overall feeling you get that you are in a very special place. It is difficult to describe, you have to be there. We have tried to take pics and videos and hopefully if you have not been there they will get your interest up to set up a visit some time during your lifetime. You will not be disappointed.

 

As an example, Paula (my wife, the person I thought I knew so well) fought her way through a tough crowd to be in front of the Mona Lisa. She saw her as close as you can get to it and after that and for the rest of that day, she walked with a different, lighter step and there was a permanent smile in her face. I cannot explain it, but somehow a touch of magic enveloped my wife and changed her ... Put it in your bucket list.

 

Although I enjoyed to see the Mona Lisa, I found the hall too hot and it did not do it to me. But something else did. I got my special moments in the Richelieu area of the museum. The beautiful marble statues, the huge open space around it and the light as it came through the roof did it for me. I was transported to ancient Rome and walked the streets ... Put it in your bucket list.

 

 

We then went to the Louvre shop and I bought a beautiful domino set made up with faces from the Renaissance whereas Paula bought herself a beautiful scarf.

We needed to hurry as that evening we would be taking a tour of Paris but looking at it from the river Seine. We would be dining on the Bateaux Mouche and after being for nearly a week on a motorbike I was looking for something special to impress Paula. After all we were in the city of lovers ... the most romantic place on earth.

 

Our cruise lasted 2.5 hours and we had dinner on the boat. Yes, there was champagne and foie gras and the dinner was quite good. My favorite though was being with Paula listening to the violin accompanied by piano that serenaded us with well known French music.

 

 

After dinner we walked onto the terrace of the boat and were able to see the sunset over the Seine.

 

 

One of the interesting observations is that the boat had very powerful lights that shone onto he buildings and now and then we could see a face with shielded eyes looking from the windows in some of the inhabited buildings. What one has to put up with when your city's livelihood depends so much on tourism.

 

 

We docked at 11pm and finished a fantastic tour of Paris. The company had been great, the food good and the music very romantic. Another must for anyone visiting Paris.

We then had to take the metro back to apartment. We were in Alma Marceau and needed to get to Chateau Rouge so take #9 to Starsbourg St-Denis and switch to #4 to Chateau Rouge.

Up to now we have been giving some advise on what to do and now some advise on what not to do. Do not take metro to Chateau Rouge at night and do not walk streets either. We managed to get home alright but we consider ourselves lucky. The very picturesque roads of Montmartre during the day are quite scary at night.

Once at apartment we felt secure again and got to rest as day 7 would be another full packed day as we would be doing a tour of Paris on motorbike and see the most well known sights and also go for barbecue later in the day to a friend's house about 40 minutes from Paris.

Click HERE for pictures of Day 6

 

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