Paris

After an uneventful flight we arrived in Paris at 6.30 am and were finding our way to the railway station by 7.30. Several sections excluded trolleys, including the last section down to the platform were challenging - me carrying the two bike bags and Sue the pannier luggage. However, we soon found out that the ride into Paris would be more challenging, as we were now into peak hour. Travellers with luggage were not made especially welcome. Fortunately Gard du Nord was the end of the line, so alighting was not the problem I envisaged during the journey.



At the station we assembled the bikes, attached the panniers,put enough air in the tyres to carry the panniers, and wheeled the bikes the 2 or so kms, map in hand, to our apartment address, only to find that this was the address of a bank! About an hour later we realised that there are often two properties with the same number. The bank is 15bus and our apartment in 15 Rue du Louvre.



No sign of the landlord, so the next challenge was to find a shop which sold phone cards. Lonely Planet listed the type of outlets, so off I went leaving Sue to look after the bikes. Supermarket - no luck; Tabac - no luck; metro - no luck; finally success at another Tabac (a bar selling tobacco). Back to Sue. Phone the mobile number - no answer. Phone the office - receptionist speaks English like I speak French - doesn't at first even recognize the name I ask for! So much for my French lessons! Eventually I understand that he is at lunch, so we decided to have some ourselves. We finally got into the apartment at around 3 pm. Groundfloor, clean, modern, very Ikea, but only about 55 sm in total.



After a shower, we headed out, trusty map in hand, to find the Hard Rock Cafe Paris to pick up our 2 Day Paris Pass, then back to the supermarket to buy an easy to prepare meal. Having walked another 5 kms we were both exhausted and were very early to bed. Our internal time clocks were still adjusting so we were wide awake at around 3 am.



Friday 23. Set out to get our money's worth from our Passes, first with a trip in the Open Bus. Finished one of four routes but couldn't find where the other routes started or went, so decided to visit the Louvre, which is just down the road from our apartment. It is staggering! 300 kms of walkways. Looked around the archealogical section, with some exhibits dating back to 2000 years BC; then to see the works of Anselm Keiffer, then the early Renaissance work and the Mona Lisa. By this time the stairs and the crowds (there were thousands of visitors there) had taken their toll and we headed home for a cup of tea and a lie down. Early evening we caught a Metro train to go for a cruise along the Seine and then to circumnavigate the base of the Eiffel Tower. People everywhere an long queues to climb the Tower. Again leg-weary and exhausted, we headed home for another early night.

Saturday 24 Walked along the Seine to Notre Dame, inspecting the underground archealogical diggings revealing signs of early Paris settlement, before going into the church. Some magnificent stained glass, statues and carving, but I felt that some of the wrought iron 'fences' were intrusive and out of place.



We then caught the Metro to the Musee Orsay. I found this converted railway station, turned into a museum in the 1980's, a magnificent place, as were the paintings and particularly for me, the sculptures. I was really impressed by this museum, as I was by our next stop, the Rodin Museum. The gardens were large, very ordered, very green, with sculptures sprinkled throughout - if you can sprinkle large Rodin sculptures.



Finally to the Grevin Museum - a waxworks museum, with some very life-like figures.

Another exhausting day - home for tea and early to bed.

Sunday 25 A more leisurely start today as we were booked in at 11.30 for a guided tour of the Opera House. Our guide was a very enthusiastic young fellow who loved the history, architecture and paintings. The theatre seats only 1800 patrons. The building has very spacious foyers and winding staircases to allow the patrons to be seen and to mingle during interval. Very ornate; much gilding; staircases of many different coloured marble.

After a bite of lunch at home, it was on to our bikes for the first time for a ride in France. Along the Seine, dodging other riders and walkers. Slow progress but quite enjoyable until, in my attempt to find the Champs Elysee and the Arc de Triomphe, I took a wrong turn and we ended up in a roundabout surrounded by traffic, police and barricades - preparing for some public concert that evening. Back along the Seine life was again pleasant until a police car told us to get off the road as it was 4.30 pm and the road was being re-opened to traffic! Had to carry the bikes up some stairs before getting back onto the bike path and home via the Tuilleries - the Palace Gardens, where we again were confronted by security (on a bike) who told us that we had to walk our bikes through the gardens.

The number of people out and about in Paris is staggering. At any time around the monuments it is like Bourke Street at peak hour. I am looking forward to getting out into the countryside.

Had dinner in a small bistro suggested by our landlord as genuine French fare -very reasonably priced, very rich, very French. A pleasant evening.

Monday 26 This morning we bought our tickets from Paris to Vernon to start our touring, and to buy two day Metro passes. By now we are feeling more comfortable moving around Paris and have discovered that the Metro is a fabulous way to move around. The infrastructure is amazing, with underground lines crisscrossing the city; trains every 2 minutes so there is no need to rush.

Went up to the Sacre Coer church at Montmartre. We decided to walk up the steps rather than take the fenicula rail. Another impressive structure. It was interesting to see that despite so many signs asking people not to touch the statues, the foot on the statue of St Pierre had been touched by so many tourists that the toes of the marble statue have been worn completely away. I paid 5€ to climb up to the dome of the church for magnificent 360° views over Paris. Wisely Sue decided that she did not want to tackle the narrow winding staircases.

On the way home we visited the Gustav Moreau Museum - in his house, with many unfinished paintings on display, as well as a large number of drawings which could be inspected at close hand, something Sue really enjoyed.

Dinner at another french restaurant - a bit more expensive, but more rich tasty food.

Coffee is generally pretty poor and very expensive - between 4€ and 6€ a cup ($6-8 +)!

Tuesday 27 Woke this morning to rain. On with our new rain jackets and down to catch a bus to see a Vlaminck retrospective at the Luxembourg Musee. A fabulous show enjoyed by both of us. Spent some time in the gardens around the Musee, had another expensive coffee in a small teahouse, but the rain curtailed our stroll. Would hqve liked to explore the Latin Quarter but decided to take a bus ride to see where it went. Problem was that the route was so circuitous that Iain couldn't follow it on the map, so when we came to the end, and everyone disembarked, we had no idea where we were. A passer-by saw our confusion, pointed out that we had travelled off our map, and directed us to the nearest Metro. We enjoyed a peaceful walk through the uncrowded tree-lined suburb before undergrounding it back to more familiar territory.

Checked out our departure station for Thursday for ease of entry with the bikes. Visited the Lafayette department store. Beautiful domed ceiling in the central part, but might have been in Myers or David Jones. Came out of the store totally disoriented and spent quite a time map reading and reorientating ourselves. Went back to our own neighbourhood and wandered around the back streets. Very easy to get lost as they go in all directions