Paris: le bon, le mauvais, et le coûteux

On October 31st, MA and I flew to Paris to be joined by Cora on the 1st for 6 days exploring Paris and whatever else we felt like seeing. As expected, I took many many photos, which I have edited down to... about 90. I figured photos are worth 1000 words, so, instead of writing a 90,000 word tome, I'll just briefly comment on photos. The comments are going to be very brief initially, because I leave for Stockholm tomorrow and want to have this up before I go so I don't get backlogged again.

Wednesday - Halloween
The flight was very quick, only 2 hours. After dealing with some annoying French ticket machines at Charles de Gualle that kept going out of order, and rejecting my Visa, saying, "sorry we only accept Visa" we got to Paris. The Metro map look like a cobweb, but was easy enough to decipher. Dropping everything off at the hotel we headed into the city to find some Halloween fun. Everything we passed was either closed or way too expensive, but we found a cool restaurant where we split a duck, ham, and potato salad, some wine, and had a conversation in French-German with only a bit of English thrown in for clarification. We wandered around the city looking for a halloween party, but barely saw a costume let alone a party. We ended up in a seedy Turkish bar by our hotel where they closed the metal security curtain over the door at 11:30 forcing us to leave by the emergency exit.

Thursday - Versailles Parks, Montmartre, Nighttime Wanderings

Thursday was All Saints Day, a holiday in Europe where 'all' the museums are free. So, MA and I decided to go to Versailles. After the 30min train ride there we realized that it wasn't free and the line was really long for tickets. So, we decided to check out the gardens, which are free, then head back into the city.

The gardens are like those at Schönbrunn, just much, much larger.

Sadly, as of November 1st the garden is put into winter mode with the statues covered and the flowers pulled up.
Many of the fountains were turned off, but the fountain of Apollo was still very impressive, with the exception of the seagulls resting on each head.
There is a giant 'canal' system in the shape of an X with a perimeter of over 5.5km. You can rent rowboats and enjoy the view through the gardens. We just walked towards the center and grabbed some photos.
When we got back to Paris we met up with Cora at the hotel and walked to Montmartre and the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur where there was a view out over the city. The tour of Sacré-Coeur was a bit odd because there was a mass going on, but you had to walk all the way around in behind the altar and back to the front to get out.
We walked down to a little restaurant with fuzzy walls. I had my first French french onion soup. Due to the fact that meals take time in France, and because the restaurant only had one waitress, we were there for over 3 hours. After supper we walked a few blocks to the Moulin Rouge. For some reason I expected the Moulin Rouge to be in some kind of classy artisan neighbourhood, but, it was in a full-blown redlight district surrounded by seedy strip clubs.
At that point Cora left to go to bed and MA and I took the metro to Notre Dame.
The entrance is heavily decorated with sculptures of martyrs and angels. This guy had it rough, first he was martyred, and now he's been holding his own head for over 800 years.

From Notre Dame we walked to the Louvre.

There was hardly anyone around, and the fountains were off, forming glass-smooth reflecting pools.

Old meets new.

Friday - Versailles Tour, St.Denis, and the Louvre
Friday we went back to Versailles in hopes that the weekday crowd would be smaller than anything we could hope for on the weekend. Unfortunately, the lines were even longer, but we were there, and weren't leaving. The Royal apartments were over the top, much more ornate than those in Vienna, but packed tighter than the Serbian-Hungarian border.
The hall of mirrors was very cool, hard to believe so much history could happen in one place.

The royal chapel

The hallway to the royal opera hall which was under renovation.

Out in the gardens I found this fountain decorated with amphibians, reptiles, and frog-people.

After Versailles we went to the Basilica of St.Denis, the burial place for the ancient French royal family. Before the revolution there were over a hundred marble sculptures of the kings and queens lying over their remains. Now, there are far less, but still a lot of amazing sculptures. Also, this was one of the first churches I've seen in Europe with nice stained-glass, most other churches had it all blown out during WWII.
Many of the sculptures are covered in graffiti. It would normally be a shame, but it was almost historical in and of itself. The one below is from 1593.
If anything, I think the graffiti turns what would otherwise just be another marble statue into a uniquely personal work of art.

Tomb of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (heads and all, I assume)

That night we went to the Louvre, as it is free for students on Fridays evenings. We got there a bit early, so we walked towards the Champs-Élysées.
When we were let in, there were hoards of people heading in one direction, towards the Mona Lisa. On the way we happened upon the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which I found to be most beautiful thing in the Louvre, by far. It's hard to believe that it was carved over 2 millenia ago, yet still manages to convey such a sense of motion and optimism, even missing it's head and arms.I thought this painting, Liberty Leading the People, was very nice and powerful, little did I know it was one of the museum's most famous pieces..
The small, and rather uninteresting, Mona Lisa. The crowds around the painting were ridiculous and it was hard to even see the painting, let alone the "no photography" signs through all the camera flashes.

Art with characterThe rather boring and uninspired Venus de Milo, notable only for the fact that it is so old. Apparently it would also have been originally fully painted and covered in jewelry.

'The Captive' by Michaelangelo.

This sculpture was so simple it was amazing. Her face is merely implied by the folds of the fabric, yet it is still so easy to see. Something like this deserves far more recognition than something like the Venus de Milo.There were many giant paintings in the different galleries.

I thought this painting was pretty cool, something different in a sea of portraits.

Saturday - Arras, Vimy, and Nighttime wanderings take 2
On Saturday MA and I thought we should be good Canadians and visit the Canadian war memorial in Vimy. We left on a TGV high-speed train from Gare du Nord.
There unfortunately wasn't a speedometer in our car, but we made the 180km trip to Arras in one hour, and that includes the fifteen minutes or more it took us to get out of Paris and reach full speed and the deceleration into Arras. We were going insanely fast, MA kept saying that it felt like we were in a plane about to take off.

We had time to kill in Arras before the short train to Vimy. So, we wandered into the city centre, following the sound of a band that faded in and out somewhat randomly. We squeezed through the markets setup in the narrow streets and came upon a large square where the music was the loudest. Finally we found the band, at the top of the city hall tower under the clock.
After taking the flashy TGV train from Paris, the rusty graffiti-covered antique sitting on grassed-over tracks seemed a bit out of place.
When we arrived in Vimy we were a little weary about even getting off the train. The station was all boarded up and looked like it had been abandoned for decades. There weren't any garbage cans let alone tourist information booths to tell us how to get to the memorial. So, we started walking. About 5 minutes down the street an old man pulled over and asked if we were going to the Canadian memorial. He proudly pointed out the Canadian and Quebéc flag stickers on his windshield and offered us, and another Canadian student named Calvin who happened to be walking down the road behind us, a ride to the memorial which was over 5km away.

We arrived at the information desk and the man said he would return at 5 to take us back. The memorial took 11 years to complete, was finished in 1936, and sits of land given to Canada by France. Being Canadian soil, all the workers were Canadian university students, something which was a nice surprise to find in the middle-of-nowhere northern France.
The whole memorial had been covered by scaffolding for a major renovation for the past three years, only being re-dedicated in April. So, all the stone was glowing white as it would have 70 years ago.
They fly both the modern Canadian flag (who's maple-leaf design has a lot to do with the battle of Vimy ridge) and the Red Ensign which was the Canadian flag during WWI.The grounds around the monument were left untouched, and show how the battlefield was filled with winding trenches and large craters. However, the thick layer of green grass and stands of cedars make the site a picturesque calming landscape which would have been unrecognisable to the soldiers who actually fought in those trenches.
There are two large cemeteries field with Commonwealth soldiers, many of whom were unidentified or as they say "Known unto God".
There were also tours of the tunnels which connected the front lines to different sites further back from the Germans, allowing troops and messengers to move around unseen.
On the walls of one tunnel there is a maple leaf carved into the wall, which was becoming the recognised symbol of Canada, placed on the Canadian uniforms to distinguish them from other Commonwealth soldiers.

A view across no-man's-land to the German trenches

By 3 we had seen everything there was to see, but still had two hours until our ride. So, we wandered back to the memorial and talked with the tour guides. We found out the man who drove us in is a retired resident of Vimy who passes by after every train (3-4 times a day) to shuttle tourists and chat with the staff.
When he finally returned,we were all ready to leave. He dropped us off downtown so we could take the bus back to Arras, and handed us little pieces of paper with his name and address. I'll have to remember to send him a postcard from home at Christmas.
MA and Calvin (random guy we met from Medicine Hat, Alberta) waiting for the bus and eating our poor-man's supper of baguette, cheese, and Sunny D.
After a lot of frustration Calvin boarded a train to the only city in the area with a student hostel, and MA and I got tickets for the TGV back to Paris. Calvin was on a two month tour of Europe which was just coming to a close, his next destination was the city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.

When we arrived in Paris we decided to tour some more because if we went back to the hotel we would just crash and waste the evening.

We walked to the Eiffel tower in time to catch on of the light shows which occur every hour on the hour once it's dark. The tower which normally glows gold is covered in bright blue-white strobe lights which flash randomly making the tower sparkle.
The tower was so much larger than I had ever imagined, and is an amazing example of Victorian-age ironwork where artistic design merges with the utility of geometric mass-produced ironwork to create beautifully simple structures.
From there we walked to the Arc de Triomphe which was closed, but we still got to see the outside which was also far far larger than I ever would have expected.
From the Arc we went back to the hotel, buying a bottle of wine on the way. At the hotel we threw on the TV only to find the Canadian episode of the French version of American Idol, with guest stars Avril Lavigne and Celine Dion. Needless to say we turned very quickly. Eventually we found the movie "Quest for Fire" which was perfect because although it was "in French" it is about cavemen and therefore has no speaking.

Sunday - Père-Lachaise Cemetery, les Invalides, Pantheon, Arc de Triomphe
Sunday morning MA and I went to Père-Lachaise Cemetery. It was very crowded, with graves and mausoleums built side-by-side with no room in between. The streets wound through the site which is built upon a large hilly piece of land in the eastern end of Paris.

Chopin's grave, completely covered in fresh flowers

Some of the oldest parts of the cemetery are crumbling, with cracked-open graves and mausoleums.
Jim Morrison's grave with it's third tombstone. The first two were a metal shield and then a bust, both of which were stolen. As the grave is in behind others, there has been heavy vandalism of the surrounding sites and at one point he was going to be evicted.

Oscar Wilde's grave, covered in years of lipstick

The Paris subway system is called the Métro. This stop, like many in the center of the city has an old sign from the turn of the century.
We stopped for some Quiche by the Opera, but couldn't tour inside because there was a show going on. I returned on Monday, so scroll down for some pictures.
Passing through the Tuileries gardens in front of the Louvre on our way to les Invalides.

Boats along the Seine with Notre Dame in the distance.

We walked all the way to les Invalides, built by Napoleon as a veteran's hospital and now also the location of his tomb which is in the large church in the center. For the first time since arriving we also saw some blue sky! The roof of the church is covered in real gold. You had to pay admission to see Napoleon's tomb so we just peeked in and decided to leave it for the next time we're in Paris as money was getting pretty tight.

Blue sky!Back across the SeineA few minutes south of the island on which Notre Dame stands is the Panthéon. I personally had no idea this building even existed, but it was really cool. Originally built as a church, it was later converted to a building to glorify (and hold the remains of) important French citizens.

From the central dome hangs (a replica of) the original Foucalt pendulum. In the crypts beneath the main room the remains of Voltaire, the Curies, Braille, Hugo and many more are interred.
From the Panthéon we walked to a small restaurant where I had my most Parisian meal: red wine, bread, French onion soup, duck, and Crème brûlée. We then went to the Arc de Triomphe in time to walk to the top.
The interior rooms were being renovated, so entrance was free. On the walls in the main room right beneath the observation deck at the very top, the arched walls were decorated with metal palm fronds which are tributes to the unknown soldier buried under the main arch.

From the top of the Arc you can see the entire city.

Of the 12 boulevards which radiate out from the traffic circle around the Arc, the largest by far is the Champs-Élysées which ends at the large Ferris wheel in front of the Tuileries gardens (and the Lovre).
Monday - Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Opera
Monday morning the three of us stowed our luggage at Gare du Nord and headed for the Eiffel tower. We chose the cheaper, and more fun option of walking up, stopping at the first and second floors.
The very top is only accessible by an elevator with long lines and an additional fee. So, we decided to leave if for another time, as we wanted to get to Notre Dame before we had to leave for the airport.
Notre Dame is very large and decorated on the inside, but resembles many of the other cathedrals I've been to, all of which are starting to blur together. One cool thing about Notre Dame is that many of the stone alcoves are painted with designs in bright colours.
After Notre Dame we all split up, with MA going to another museum, Cora going in search of a market, and I decided to tour the Opera.
The guided tours were expensive, so I chose the cheaper self-guided one. Most operas are very ornate, but this one was incredible. Every surface was covered in marble, gold, bronze, or velvet, with not one thing overlooked (with the exception of the bathrooms).
The chandelier actually resembles the prop from the Phantom of the Opera, which is set in the Paris Opera. As in the musical, there is also a large lake in the deep basements due to the marshy soil it is built on. Any attempts to water proof the basements would lead pressure buildup behind the walls, threatening the founation.

One of the set mock-ups from the 20s or 30s in the Opera Museum.

We met back at Gare du Nord, and had a nice, uneventful flight home.

Watch your fingers as this post comes to a close.

Apparently I need to visit France more often, I was gone for 3 days and got 5 comments on the post! Nice to know that people are still reading.