January 31 Thursday
Today we planned to visit the Eiffel Tower! We walked to the Hotel de Ville metro station and the young man at the ticket sales counter sold us our tickets to the Champ de Mars station (changing trains at Charles de Gaulle / Etoile). However, we made one error and couldn’t find the signs at Charles de Gaulle and exited the system. However, the agent at CDG let us back in with no trouble.
Exiting the station, we followed the Seine River to the Tower. The weather today was again cool, but not raining. We found the entrance to the area (all fenced in with more x-raying and security to go through — these guys are serious about making sure you don’t have metal on you!). There was no charge to enter the area, just security. We walked around for a bit, admiring the views, then exited and walked toward the nearby park area, called the Champ de Mars. We were taking lots of pictures, including of the hospital at the other end of the park. We exited the park to the north to look for the address where our friend Nancy Russo lived circa 1980, when she had her college year abroad. We found it — a very tall apartment building at 7 Avenue Emile Deschanel — I think she told us that she had lived at or near the top. We also photographed the view of the Tower from here that she would have enjoyed, when she lived here. She had been an au pair here, while attending school.
We continued on through this very upscale neighborhood (trying to avoid the dog poop on the sidewalk that none of these people feel compelled to clean up) toward Rue Cler, which has been described as the best street in Paris for “foodies.” That was certainly true — lots of open air market stalls on the pedestrian only block. We stopped for lunch at L'Eclair, which we enjoyed, sitting inside in the cozy cafe. Roy had a Croque Madame and Rob had an ham, mushroom, and cheese omelette.
From here we continued walking toward Les Invalides (tomb of Napolean) making stops to buy a few cards and then some Advil. At Les Invalides, we took more pictures of the impressive building, but we had no interest in entering — we have done that before.
We then crossed over the bridge located there, Pont Alexandre III, and continued on to the Tuileries Gardens, which contain our destination: Musee de L’Orangerie. We have not been here before — it was closed from 2000 to 2006 for remodeling and expansion. We must not have even known about it in 1994. This small art museum is a must see! The top floor contains two oval rooms containing eight massive Monet paintings of water lilies (Les Nympheas). Monet donated them to the French government on the day after the WWI armistice day. The design of the rooms was also his. All we could say was “wow.” We just wanted to sit and admire the paintings, some of which pass over from Impressionism almost to abstract art. They were completed toward the end of Monet’s life, when all he wanted to paint was his garden at Giverrny. We learned that there were about 300 Monet paintings of water lilies around the world.
The bottom floor of the museum was also very impressive. It contains the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection, which is one of the finest European collections of paintings. It comprises 146 works, from the 1860s to the 1930s, collected for the most part by Paul Guillaume, an impassioned young French art dealer. Most of these paintings are also impressionist: Renoirs, Cezannes, etc., plus Picassos, Matisses, etc., from the twentieth century. Our visit was not terribly long, but very satisfying!
From here, we continued our walking tour. We continued through the Tuileries through the bustling Place de la Concorde and through to the Avenue des Champs Elysees. We strolled up the grand avenue with its shopping and cafes. Then we arrived at L’Arc de Triomphe. Thinking that there might be an elevator to the top, we go through the tunnel to the arch (our museum pass gets us in for free). Turns out, we had to climb — oh well, we did it. At the top, it is breezy, or downright windy — regardless, it was very cold as a result! We admired the 360 degree views and took a lot of pictures, then it was time to leave.
Having walked enough, we entered the subway to ride back to the Hotel de Ville. The subway was very packed, but manageable. We exited and followed the signs for the BHV and ended up somewhat lost in the department store. We had a tough time finding our way out and Rob needed to ask a clerk for the “sortie.”
Dinner tonight was at Suan Thai, just a short ways down the Rue du Temple. Our waitress was very charming. We had papaya salad (okay) and Tod Mon (fish cake) for starters, then green curry with scallops and shrimp (very good) and chicken with basil (okay) for mains. We got there early, shortly after seven, but the place filled up nicely, then we returned to our apartment for bed.
Exiting the station, we followed the Seine River to the Tower. The weather today was again cool, but not raining. We found the entrance to the area (all fenced in with more x-raying and security to go through — these guys are serious about making sure you don’t have metal on you!). There was no charge to enter the area, just security. We walked around for a bit, admiring the views, then exited and walked toward the nearby park area, called the Champ de Mars. We were taking lots of pictures, including of the hospital at the other end of the park. We exited the park to the north to look for the address where our friend Nancy Russo lived circa 1980, when she had her college year abroad. We found it — a very tall apartment building at 7 Avenue Emile Deschanel — I think she told us that she had lived at or near the top. We also photographed the view of the Tower from here that she would have enjoyed, when she lived here. She had been an au pair here, while attending school.
We continued on through this very upscale neighborhood (trying to avoid the dog poop on the sidewalk that none of these people feel compelled to clean up) toward Rue Cler, which has been described as the best street in Paris for “foodies.” That was certainly true — lots of open air market stalls on the pedestrian only block. We stopped for lunch at L'Eclair, which we enjoyed, sitting inside in the cozy cafe. Roy had a Croque Madame and Rob had an ham, mushroom, and cheese omelette.
From here we continued walking toward Les Invalides (tomb of Napolean) making stops to buy a few cards and then some Advil. At Les Invalides, we took more pictures of the impressive building, but we had no interest in entering — we have done that before.
We then crossed over the bridge located there, Pont Alexandre III, and continued on to the Tuileries Gardens, which contain our destination: Musee de L’Orangerie. We have not been here before — it was closed from 2000 to 2006 for remodeling and expansion. We must not have even known about it in 1994. This small art museum is a must see! The top floor contains two oval rooms containing eight massive Monet paintings of water lilies (Les Nympheas). Monet donated them to the French government on the day after the WWI armistice day. The design of the rooms was also his. All we could say was “wow.” We just wanted to sit and admire the paintings, some of which pass over from Impressionism almost to abstract art. They were completed toward the end of Monet’s life, when all he wanted to paint was his garden at Giverrny. We learned that there were about 300 Monet paintings of water lilies around the world.
The bottom floor of the museum was also very impressive. It contains the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection, which is one of the finest European collections of paintings. It comprises 146 works, from the 1860s to the 1930s, collected for the most part by Paul Guillaume, an impassioned young French art dealer. Most of these paintings are also impressionist: Renoirs, Cezannes, etc., plus Picassos, Matisses, etc., from the twentieth century. Our visit was not terribly long, but very satisfying!
From here, we continued our walking tour. We continued through the Tuileries through the bustling Place de la Concorde and through to the Avenue des Champs Elysees. We strolled up the grand avenue with its shopping and cafes. Then we arrived at L’Arc de Triomphe. Thinking that there might be an elevator to the top, we go through the tunnel to the arch (our museum pass gets us in for free). Turns out, we had to climb — oh well, we did it. At the top, it is breezy, or downright windy — regardless, it was very cold as a result! We admired the 360 degree views and took a lot of pictures, then it was time to leave.
Having walked enough, we entered the subway to ride back to the Hotel de Ville. The subway was very packed, but manageable. We exited and followed the signs for the BHV and ended up somewhat lost in the department store. We had a tough time finding our way out and Rob needed to ask a clerk for the “sortie.”
Dinner tonight was at Suan Thai, just a short ways down the Rue du Temple. Our waitress was very charming. We had papaya salad (okay) and Tod Mon (fish cake) for starters, then green curry with scallops and shrimp (very good) and chicken with basil (okay) for mains. We got there early, shortly after seven, but the place filled up nicely, then we returned to our apartment for bed.
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