Another Sad Goodbye

Pages from Jan's Travel Journal: Wednesday, July 22, 2009

We returned to the hotel after our visit to Versailles, in need of a rest and a cool shower. We were to meet some friends of Desmond's for dinner that evening in the area of the Bastille. When we arrived at the Metro stop near our destination, we came up out of the ground into a thunderstorm, which is not a common occurrence in that part of France. I am leery of lightning and prefer to stay inside away from danger, but people were standing there gawking at the lightning as if it were a fireworks display, complete with ooohs and aaahs! 

The Colonne de Juillet,
commemorating the revolution of 1830.

I don't recall the name of the brasserie at which we dined; it was a crowded, charming place with great food. It was nice to meet and converse with Xavier and Bérengère. We started our meal with drinks, and I had wanted to order a Pecheresse, which is a delightful, peach-flavored beer introduced to me by Des. I had to settle for something else, and so I chose a Desperados, which is a mixture of beer and tequila, served with a wedge of lime. My meal consisted of a steak with Bearnaise sauce, salad, and some incredible fries. The steak, of course, was not as tender as Kansas beef, but it was very flavorful. The grand finale was a dessert of crème brûlée, the first I had ever tasted. And it was wonderful! I'm glad that Desmond and Megan shared it with me, though, because it was more than I could have eaten. 

And so ended our last evening in France. It was late when we returned to the hotel, but we did most of our packing then. We were up at 6 AM the next morning for our drive to the airport, where we breakfasted one last time on the usual, delicious flaky pastries and divine coffee. It was difficult to say goodbye to that beautiful country and I wondered when I would be able to return.

Versailles

Pages from Jan's Travel Journal: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 

After our usual breakfast of fresh pastries (mmm - a flaky twist of custard-filled goodness), we set out for Versailles. Getting there involved another ride on the Metro and then a transfer to a train. When we arrived in the beautiful town of Versailles it was easy to locate the palace. We simply followed the crowds. Even on that sizzling July day, there were hundreds of tourists. We rounded a corner and got our first glimpse of the magnificent structure. I had been looking forward to the coolness of the royal chateau, with its thick, stone walls. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that it was almost as warm inside the palace as it was outside! 

Built in the 1600's, Le Chateau de Versailles is considered to be one of the most beautiful achievements of 18th century French art. It defies description and is really one of those places that you must experience for yourself. 

Talk about your golden gates!

Traversing the courtyard, I could visualize the horse-drawn carriages of old, clattering over the cobblestones. I wondered how on earth the ladies of the court were able to tolerate walking across those stones in their dainty slippers. We paid the extra entry fee for a 1 1/2 hour guided tour which took us into the King's private apartments and some other areas we would not have seen with a general admission. The opulence will take your breath away!

The royal salon, where breakfast was served.

A very grand organ in the Music Hall.

The extensive gardens on the palace grounds are simply stunning, though we only scratched the surface! We even enjoyed touring the orangerie, with rows of citrus trees growing in huge tubs. There are many elaborate fountains, but to our great disappointment, they were "off" until 4 PM. We walked down to the edge of the Grand Canal, where it is possible to rent a boat. That might have been a way to cool off a bit!

                                       

A glimpse of the gardens at Versailles

We enjoyed our visit to Versailles very much, though I wouldn't recommend that you go during hot weather. I would love to visit again, as there is much more to see than can be viewed in one day. 

Paris, Pere Lachaise, and Pizza

Pages from Jan's Travel Journal: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 

We all slept late today; I guess we must have needed the extra rest. Tramping around in the heat can take a lot out of you! During the night, a little rain shower had passed through, and our room became cooler, which made for better sleep. 

We left the hotel and rode the Metro to the stop nearest the Eiffel Tower. It was a beautiful, sunny morning. Everything was so fresh and green after the midnight rain. Since none of us had yet eaten breakfast, we bought crepes at a little stand near the Seine. I had a wonderful sucre citron crepe which was sprinkled with sugar and spread with a tangy lemon filling. It was neatly folded into a triangular shape and handed to me in a colorful paper cone. Very tasty! We perched on a bench near the carousel, where we were treated to a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower. We sat there for almost an hour, enjoying our surroundings. 

Not a bad place to have breakfast.

Soon, we were back on the Metro for a long, hot ride across Paris to visit the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. This cemetery, which was opened in 1804, consists of 110 undulating acres of cobblestones, simple headstones, monuments, and miniature chapels. The landscape is lush with many varieties of trees and it is an interesting and attractive place. We had wanted to locate the grave of Oscar Wilde, so I took a photo of the map and Megan zoomed in on it and used it to navigate our trek around the graveyard. We did a lot of walking and found the resting-place of Oscar Wilde, which was covered in lipstick kisses and surrounded by flowers. We had also considered visiting the graves of Jim Morrison and Jules Verne, but the day was growing hotter, so we took our leave. 

The final resting place of Oscar Wilde.

Pere Lachaise is a beautiful, old cemetery.

Another long, hot, Metro ride landed us back at the hotel, where we rested for a while over cold drinks and snacks. The evening was a warm one and we chose to order pizza instead of going out for dinner. The pizza was from Domino's, of all places! But it wasn't like any Domino's I had ever tasted. After all, this was France. One was called "The Australian" and had toppings of barbecued chicken, onions, and jalapeno peppers. The other was called "the Foresteiria" and consisted of a creme base topped with lardons, ham, onions, mushrooms, and plenty of cheese. It was amazing!

After dinner we began a card game in the room that Megan and I were sharing. At one point, Mathieu excused himself to use the "facilities" and as he closed the bathroom door, Megan and I exchanged glances and began a countdown, "Three... two...one" and then we heard a thump, a curse, and the sound of the blow dryer roaring. It was hilarious! Desmond was puzzled by our actions and after I explained the significance, he had to see our tiny bathroom for himself. He informed us that in the room he and Matt were sharing, the bathroom was much roomier. Later, I went up to their room to watch a movie with them while Megan was on a call to her boyfriend back home. It was a French film with English subtitles and I enjoyed it. It was a relaxing way to end the day.

Megan and Mathieu, playing cards in the hotel room in Paris.

Paris in Summer

Pages from Jan's Travel Journal: Monday, July 20, 2009

Arriving in Montmartre, the four of us climbed the infamous stairs there and after a stop or two so that I could catch my breath, we made our way to Sacré-Cœur. The day was warm but there was a welcome breeze to cool us as we explored the area around the Basilica. We paused in front of a statue and I asked Mathieu whom it was commemorating. He told me that this man had been killed because his music was unpopular. Des told me that his friend might have been making that story up, so I may never know! The view from the Butte Montmartre is spectacular, and I took a picture of the distant Eiffel Tower from the same vantage point I had used in February. Montmartre, loosely translated, means "mountain of the martyr" and was named after St. Denis, who was decapitated on that site in 250 A.D. 

This view of the Eiffel Tower from Montmartre looks
 a bit different from the photo I took in February.

We left the hill in the opposite direction from which we had ascended and found ourselves in the area where the movie "Amélie" had been filmed. The hillside was teeming with tourists and the carousel was whirling merrily, loaded with children and their parents. We stopped at a cafe for a cold drink, and then did a bit of souvenir shopping. Desmond bought a pair of socks for me which had a map of the Paris Metro imprinted on them! At the toes, you could find the station across from our hotel. I collect socks, so that was the perfect little souvenir.

A close-up of Sacre Coeur.

Tour boats on the Seine

Always a pretty sight

Paris in summer... is HOT! We discovered that our hotel does not truly have air conditioning. The hallways are much cooler than the rooms, so we propped the door open a few inches and with the window open on the opposite wall we were able to get a nice little breeze going. It was too bad we couldn't leave it that way for night! Speaking of the hotel - I finally ran across one of those miniscule Paris bathrooms that I had heard so much about. The one in our room was so small that when I tried to undress, my elbows would bang against the walls. The shower stall seemed to be the roomiest place in the bathroom! There was a large hair dryer unit attached to the wall across from the toilet, and one of the magnets was missing, so if you even breathed on it the drying wand would fall off and automatically begin to blow. It was pretty hilarious, and happened within a few seconds every time one of us went into the bathroom.

Travel Tip: Avoid Paris in summer. The temperatures are brutal!

Like A Bike

Pages from Jan's Travel Journal: Monday, July 20, 2009

Our day began around 8 AM when Megan and I walked over to Paul for pastries. Desmond and his friend, Matt arrived at 10:00, worn out from hauling their luggage down four flights of stairs, onto the tram, and up to our hotel room. We checked out of the hotel, but left all of our luggage in the storeroom at the front desk. The four of us took the tram back across town, where we enjoyed an early lunch at the Grec Gourmand. On the way back to the Ibis, we returned to the train station to purchase our tickets, forgetting about the student discount that would have saved the young people some money.  Matt had a few days off work and had decided to join us for our last couple of days in Paris. We retrieved our luggage from the hotel and set off on the 1:20 train. 

We felt pretty smug that we had managed to find a near-empty compartment, until the train stopped a few minutes later at Les Aubrais and we discovered that we needed to switch to another train immediately! We struggled with our bags down a long flight of stairs and up another. If the conductor had not come back to lend a hand, we would have missed the train for sure! The doors closed and we departed the moment I stepped inside. Finding four seats together proved to be impossible, as we towed our bags down the entire length of the train, and finally found an empty compartment. And I mean EMPTY. There were no seats or luggage racks because we had stumbled into the bicycle compartment! We shoved our bags inside, and stood there laughing, relieved that we were at least all together. About ten minutes later, our train made an unscheduled stop. There was an announcement that this was for our security. By then we had all slid down to sit on the rather dirty floor, and we waited. And waited. And wished that we had a game to play. Desmond and I, at the exact same moment, burst into the same song, "Kum Ba Yah". Megan and Mathieu laughingly joined in. When the train began to move again, we were told that the delay had been due to "projectiles" being shot or thrown at the train ahead of us. We were just glad that we were not on a schedule, with no planes or other trains to catch.

Megan took it all in stride.

Upon arrival in Paris, we grabbed a taxi and made our way across the city to the Ibis Eiffel Cambronne. I had looked at the hotel on Google street view, and recognized it as soon as we turned the corner onto Rue Cambronne. I had chosen this hotel because of its proximity to the Eiffel Tower and because it was advertised as having air conditioning. We checked in, dropped our luggage in our rooms, and set out to find a cold drink. The cute little cafe we chose served us four soft drinks at a price of 18 euros. Paris is SO expensive. I later learned that drinks are cheaper if you sit at the bar, but we probably wouldn't have done that anyway. On the way back to the hotel, we passed a boulangerie and could not resist buying a snack. On the corner near the hotel was a small convenience store where we purchased cans of Coke for 1.25 and bottled water for just .80. I picked out several fresh, juicy plums, which turned out to be the tastiest plums I had ever eaten!

The view from our hotel window in Paris.

We ate an early dinner at McDonald's. Yes, McDonald's.  Or, MacDo, as the French would say. It was something we just had to experience. It was housed in a beautiful old building and occupied two levels. In France, you can buy beer with your meal. Hello, "happy" meal! And they have real desserts, such as little citron cakes and chocolate souffle. 

There was a Metro stop conveniently close to the hotel, where we boarded in the direction of Montmartre. Mathieu was looking forward to seeing the sights. Though he was born in Paris, his family had moved to another part of the country when he was small. He had been to Paris on many occasions, but only to conduct business or meet someone at the airport. He was enjoying being a tourist. The Metro makes me a bit uncomfortable, as I am claustrophobic. It was worse on this day because of the heat. I tried to focus on just breathing. Soon, we were arriving in Montmartre. 

Sightseeing in Montmartre

A French Barbecue

Pages from Jan's Travel Journal: Sunday, July 19, 2009

It felt so good to sleep late and relax over our coffee before getting ready for the day. Desmond brought over a breakfast of fresh pastries, which is always a welcome way to greet the morning. Did I say morning? Well, I suppose 10:45 still qualifies as morning. 

After breakfast, we all went to a barbecue at the home of one of Desmond's friends. There were about a dozen people in the lovely garden; some of them tending a grill upon which sausages and chicken were sizzling. A friendly Doberman named Helios accompanied us on our little tour of the beautifully landscaped garden which featured a waterfall and a koi pond. When lunch was ready, we all sat down to enjoy the barbecued meats and a huge bowl of paella along with fresh bread. There was also plenty of wine and beer. I had never eaten paella. It contained lots of tiny shrimp and scallops and, of course, mussels. I enjoyed trying it and it was very good, although I found I am not a big fan of mussels. Perhaps they are an acquired taste? Later, someone brought out a cheese tray, which I declined, and some ice cream, which I did NOT decline. It was a fun meal, with lots of lively conversation, most of which I could not follow because it was in French. I was seated next to a young woman from Macedonia who was one of just a few people present who spoke English, and we had a very nice conversation. 

After the barbecue, we visited the art museum. I had been there previously with Craig, but got more out of it this time, because we had Desmond to translate. We had an enjoyable time commenting on the many sculptures and paintings.

The beautiful Cathedral of St. Croix, 

not far from the art museum

Later in the afternoon, we met a friend at the Hendrix Pub on Rue de Borgogne. Antoine is a very lively and interesting young man. He is originally from Cyprus and has lived in Jordan and London and has traveled extensively in Europe. He is fluent in several languages and speaks English perfectly, with only a slight accent. We all had so much fun at the Hendrix that we invited Antoine to join us for dinner that evening to celebrate Megan's birthday.

Antoine agreed to dine with us, and we had a wonderful dinner at Wokasie, which is a Mongolian barbecue. It's a large restaurant with an equally large buffet area. The food was quite good, and at 20 euros per person, not too pricey. We ate and laughed and talked for nearly three hours! It really was a party and made Megan's birthday in France even more special. But it also meant another goodbye for Desmond, as he said his farewells to Antoine.  

Tomorrow, we leave for Paris!
  

Coffee, Crepes, and Cider

Pages from Jan's Travel Journal: Saturday, July 18, 2009

We had had intended to visit Gien and the renowned pottery factory there, but since I awoke feeling a bit under the weather, we changed our plans. Desmond and Megan went out for the morning. They returned around noon with a delicious poulet roti. Along with the chicken, we had some chips and cherries that I had purchased previously. I was feeling much better, so we left the hotel and walked over to the square near the cathedral where we stopped for coffee and hot chocolate at Autour de la Terre, the wonderfully eclectic place I mentioned in a previous post. Along with our hot drinks, we enjoyed dim sum - tiny cakes steamed in bamboo wrappers.

Autour de la Terre is a cozy place for coffee and a snack.

Another view of the interior at Autour de la Terre. 

Coffee, hot chocolate, and dim sum
 at Autout de la Terre, Orléans, France.

As we continued with our wandering, we simply had to introduce Megan to the delights of Leonidas, the fabulous Belgian chocolatier. Oh, that heavenly aroma when we walked into the shop! We spent some time sampling various delights, and we spent some money on treats such as fruit pates and, of course, chocolate! 

That evening, we had dinner at the Brettonne Creperie on the Rue de Borgogne. We were seated at a rustic wooden table in the charming restaurant. It was wonderful to have a leisurely, relaxing meal of tasty gallettes, sweet cider, and crepes. My gallette (a savory crepe made with buckwheat flour) was a yummy combination of lardons, potatoes, onion, and gruyère cheese. For dessert, I enjoyed a caramel-orange crepe.