Ticket to Ride

Mrs. Peacock: Ah, well, if you'll excuse me, I have to, ah, um, is there a little girls room in the hall?

Yvette: Oui, Oui, madam.

Mrs. Peacock: No, I just want to powder my nose, thank you.

On the Monday after we returned from Ireland, I boarded a late afternoon Eurostar train, bound for Paris, solo mish. My stomach was a bundle of nerves, which I think was a result of the lingering stress from the Cork Airport incident the night before, or maybe just anxiety that I would not be able to find the right place or make the train on time...but, I managed to make the train on time, and made it into the Gare du Nord station in the centre of Paris with no problems at all.

Hayley (an old high school friend) and I had decided to meet at the Tourist Information Office on the south west side of the station, but she had changed her mind, and having been there a day earlier than me, she came and greeted me at the Eurostar arrivals gate- for which I was most grateful! We jumped onto the Paris metro train line, and headed to St. Christopher's Inn- a hostel chain I will forever recommend (see ACR May posts Hiyas and Hellos & Like A Rolling Stone).

The room we checked into was clean, spacious and secure, and soon after I had thrown the backpack into the security draws beneath the bed, we headed to the bar downstairs for chardonnay and chatter til we were both exhausted and needed to expire. I arose quite early the following morning, up and at 'em, ready to check out Pareee.

Courtesy of a brochure we located in the hostel lobby, we discovered a free walking tour of the city which was to take approximately 3 and a half hours, and according to the Lonely Planet Europe Guide ...the best introduction to the city is a free tour... we decided this to be a good option. At 11 am, we met our tour guides out the front of the historical fountain on the Boulevard Saint-Michel, and this was where our tour of Paris commenced. From the fountain, we crossed over the Bridge de Palais, which presented a great view of Notre Dame, and the River Seine. It was at this point that our tour guide told us of how Victor Hugo's novel, most commonly known as The Hunchback of Notre Dame symbolically tells the story of how the people of Paris despised the church and wanted into be demolished. Must read, must read. Add to list.

As we crossed the bridge, we passed by the Conciergerie Palais De Justice (complete with bullet holes- scars from WW II), and then turned left down the Quai de Lourve~Quai Ceelestins to the Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris to cross the Seine). Here the tour guide told us stories of Viking Invasions, and how the Parisians warded them off with giant, criss-crossed chains over the Seine. We then crossed back to the other side of the river, and walked along the Quai de Conti until we reached the 'Carrie & Big Bridge' (!), which we crossed over again (lots of bridges, lots of crossing, oui!), over to the Musee du Lourve. We walked through the square, past the buildings, out through the Place du Carrousel and through the gorgeous Jardin Du Tuileries. The gardens were alive with folks enjoying the summertime sun, sitting on chairs around fountain pools (some even with ducks!) dipping their feet in to keep themselves cool.

From the Jardin du Tuileries, we walked through the Obelisque, where we had a view of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe from the end of the Champs Elyees. Our tour concluded right by the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais. Our guide completed the tour with stories of the French- German connection during WW II, and how Hilter decided that he didn't want to be known throughout History as the man who destroyed Paris (he obviously preferred to be remebered as the man who killed over 8 million jews! Go figure!), and as a result is still standing in all it's splendor to this very day. Given how close we were to the Eiffel Tower, we decided to cross the bridge Pont Alexandre III, and walk along the Quai D'Oray and the the Quai Branly until we reached the famous tower. The base below the tower was swarming with people, enjoying the glorious sunshine and the bright blue skies. There were street performers, buskers and ice-cream stalls a-plenty- I purchased an ice-cream, and moved to the long rectangular lawns to devour it and admire the tower...I had no intentions of climbing it whatsoever, mind you. It looks just lovely from the lawn!

We ended up spending about an hour on there on the grass, before heading back to Crimee. Hayley decided to rest for a bit, whereas I decided to walk down along the bank of the nearby canal, were there was a carnival happening- al fresco bars, faux-beaches, rock and roll dancing, giant swings, rows of fuse ball tables, clowns playing trumpets, games of bocci going on and poetry being receited. There were also these large steel structures fitted with what looked like metal punching bags omitting mist and many people, including yours truly, were running through to cool down a bit!

By the time I made it back to the hostel, Hayley and I were ready to eat, and so we headed out into our local 'hood to russle up some grub. We found a little restaurant on a side street, which served escargot, and I was sold immediately! I was quick to order a plate of the garden crustaceans, which had been sauteed in garlic and other herbs, and were absolutely delicious!! Seriously good eating... It was tricky at first to work out how to hold the shell with the tongs and fish out the escargot with my little fork- but I managed, don't you worry! Well, when in France, right? My travelling partner was utterly disgusted, to say the least! :) Hmmm, now for some frog's legs...

The following day I had decided to devote first and foremostly to the Musee Du Louvre. I had been expecting the lines to be so much longer than they actually were, but our tour guide from the previous day had been correct- as a result of the GFC, there were two-thirds less tourists than at the same time last year, and we spent no time getting in. After looking at the floor plan, I decided it would be best to focus on the second floor first, and make my way through the French and Dutch paintings, prints and drawings. Painters of note were Eugene Delacriox, and of course, Rubens- the Rubens Room was my most favourite in this section for sure.

After this, we made out way down to the first floor- the ceiling detail, paiting and wall paper were amazing, especially in the Apollo Gallery, which featured the Coronation Crown of Louis XV. From here, I made my way past the sculpture of the Winged Victory of Samothrace and through a corridor containing Italian paintings from the 13th -15th Century, until we reached the section which held the Mona Lisa. Again, due to the lack of tourists, it wasn't difficult at all to make it to the front of the viewing rails, and get a view of the famous paiting. I stood and looked at it for quite a while, entranced at first by her eyes and smile, and then by the mountains ranges and winding roads featured in the background. It was quite sensational to be standing before Leonardo's great masterpiece.

When I finally tore my eyes away from the Mona Lisa, Hayley and I decided to do our own thing for the next hour or so, and so I went to check out The Wedding Feast at Cana by Veronese, and then down to the ground floor to view sculptures such as the Venus de Milo (sadly, the section in which sweet Venus is housed was closed for renovations of something! Bah!), Michelangelo's The Dying Slave, and my favourite, A Canova's Psyche & Cupid.

Finally, I descended to the Museum's lower ground floor, and viewed the Mary Magdalene sculpture (G. Erhart) and then wandered through the History of the Louvre sections. I feel as though I've barely scratched the surface of the material housed within that phenominal space, and hope to return in the not too distant future for round two. Nevertheless, we'd had quite a stint there that day, and decided to move out, back over the bridge Pont Carousel, and walk down the Quai de Conti to Notre Dame.

It was free to enter Notre Dame, and it was rather beautiful on the inside, although dark in many corners...I suspect they were trying to cover up the fact that many areas were in need of fixing up a little. It was funny however to hear the "Shhhhhhhh!" announcement come over the church's PA system. Given the large line, we decided to pass on climbing to the top, and went back to the hostel for a bit before making our way up to Blanch station, to commence a walking tour of the Montmarte District.

When coming out of Blanch station, we found ourselves in the middle of the Moulin Rouge district. It's a really cool part of Paris up there- whilst buying and eating a crepe from a stall in the Moulin Rogue, we chatted to this fellow who informed us that the area is full of French celebrities... whom I have no clue about at all! As it turned out, rather than taking the walking tour as we had intially planned, we decided to jump on a little train cart, that chugged along the Montmarte streets, up the hills, and around the trendy little shopping strrips, restaurants and cafes, until we reached the church on the top of Butte Montmarte- the church of the Sacre-Coeur.

The Sacre Coeur is a 19th century, neo-Byzantine style church, which overlooks the city of Paris, and the views from up there are amazing! When we walked inside, I was almost bowled over by the massive, sparkling image of Christ on the ceiling. It is absolutely captivating and awe inspiring. Just as we had entered the church, a mass commenced, and so we literally pulled up a pew! Following mass, we walked around the church, which was far superior in beauty to Notre Dame (in my mind anyway), and Hayley decided that she wanted to climb the tower, whereas I went down into the crypts below the church. It was quite a strange and eery experience down there- it was dark and the air was really heavy on my lungs, and being amongst tombs of former priests, bishops and collections of their personal posessions really gave me the creeps. Needless to say, I didn't spend long down there, and soon came up for air and peace of mind.

Hayley came and found me on the Sacre-Coeur steps, and it wasn't long til the little train chugged by again, getting ready to creep back down Butte Montmarte, and we jumped back on and head back to Blanch. From Blanch we caught the train to Charles de Gaulle E'Toile station (because of it's proximity to the Arc du Triomphe, the Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower) so that we could see Paris by night. We watched the sunset from the Arc du Triomphe, and it was cool to see the whole thing light up- I managed to pick up some great colours on my camera during twilight. From the Arc, we strolled down the Champs Elysees, which was alive with people, sitting out in the street cafes, bars and restaurants, and window shopping in Louis Vitton and Cartier. Once we had made it to the end of the Champs Elysees, our plan was to make it across to the Eiffel Tower by 11pm to see the light show- after under estimating the distance and the time that it would take to make it there, we made it with only minutes to spare- and despite all the local's disdain for all the lights and actions every hour on the hour (Hideous!), it was nice to be there, and to hear the cheer go up from the base and from the top, and on all the levels in between the tower.

Thankfully, the Paris Metro train system runs quite late, and we made it back to our hostel before 1am...which was handy, as we were bound for Rome later that morning.