Paris, Day 5: The Louvre, Islamic Art and a night in the city.

The Louvre

As I left Saint Germaine for Paris late in the morning for the hotel, it was cloudy and cool. As usual, Monica drove me to the Metro and we bid a fond farewell. I arrived at my hotel in the Marais area of Paris about noon, was able to check in and stash my luggage, and headed back out for the Louvre. I wanted to get there in time to sign up for a 90-minute guided tour in English that would cover the Masterpieces of the Louvre, which are spread out in several areas of the expansive museum. 

Metro entertainment of a different kind

On the Metro that morning, instead of an accordion player, commuters were entertained by a quartet of rap musicians on one line, and a brass duo on another. I enjoyed the novelty, but most Parisians seem to take little interest.                                                                   

Venus di Milo

On the short guided tour, we learned about the history of the museum and its beginnings as a fortress to protect Paris against Viking raids in the 1200’s. We then made the rounds to see, among other items, Venus di Milo, Winged Victory, and of course, the Mona Lisa. Women seemed to be featured in many of the world's masterpieces.

Winged Victory

Da Vinci's most famous work is a small painting, under glass, and the room is continually swamped with visitors. It's impossible to get close to it.

Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci

In a nearby room there are other, less famous paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, but few people were paying attention to them. One of them had recently been restored and returned to public view in March of this year. Surprisingly, taking photos without a flash is allowed in the Louvre, whereas taking photos in most of the other art museums I went to in Paris was strictly forbidden.

The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne,  by Leonardo da Vinci

An article about the painting's controversial restoration can be viewed here:

Louvre uncovers restoration of Leonardo da Vinci's last work

There were several sculptures by Michelangelo on display at the Louvre.

Dying Slave, Michelangelo, Louvre

Once the tour was over, I headed down to the new exhibit, Islamic Art, which just opened a few weeks ago. This is where I spent most of the afternoon. Instead of paintings, there were ceramics, tiles, carved wooden doors, and woven rugs: a wonderland of art that has rarely been seen in the Western world.

Islamic Art, painted tiles

Islamic Art, ceramics

Next, I headed back to the exhibit of Italian paintings, which are featured in a long hall of the Denon wing of the museum, where I spent most of my time. By late afternoon, I was weary from walking and viewing, but I still wanted to see the work of Vermeer and other northern European painters. They were located in another wing, up three flights of escalators, and when I arrived, it was practically empty. I wandered around, but didn’t find what I was looking for, and realized that I was too worn out to look any further.

The Marais on a rainy day

I headed back to the hotel, and after a short rest, went out to check out the Marais neighborhood where I was staying, a working class area of Paris. Oddly enough, I found an Italian restaurant down the street and decided to have dinner there. It was dark, cold and rainy, and I was tired: something familiar felt comforting. I ordered spaghetti al pesto and a glass of red wine from Montepulciano. The pasta was fine, but much too plentiful, and I ate less than half of it, to the dismay of the waitress.

Gare de Lyon

The hotel was fine, a bit pricey for me, but cheap for Paris. Its main asset was being near Gare de Lyon, the train station where I’d catch my train to Torino in the morning. All in all, my time in Paris was well spent. I saw everything that I’d hoped to see, and had a wonderful stay with my friends as well.

Paris, Day 4: Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées, Musée Jacquemart-André, Batoboat

Arc de Triomphe

I got a late start into Paris on the fourth full day, with a long list of things I still wanted to do and see. Rain was forecast, but even though it was cloudy in the morning, it never rained. I took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe, which turned out to be a very impressive sight.

Le Marseillaise

The Arc stands at the west end of the Champs-Élysées, in the midst of a hectic roundabout of never-ending traffic, and visitors reach it by means of underground passageways. The Arc de Triomphe honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the names of all French victories and generals are inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath the vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. There are four sculptures at the base of the arch, and the most famous, Le Marseillaise, is an allegorical representation of France calling her people to arms.

Champs-Élysées

Next, I walked down the Champs-Élysées, which was another kind of thrill. The Champs-Élysées is perhaps the most famous street in the world. The name is French for Elysian Fields, and the street was once fields and gardens. The avenue is often called the most beautiful street in the world. But I have to admit, seeing these landmarks in person was nothing like I had imagined. In my imagination, they were so "magical" as to be unreal. But seeing them in person, you realize, well, okay, it's real, not magic at all. I don't mean to say that it's disappointing: in fact, it's quite the opposite. It simply gives me perspective, and these icons thus become more acceptable as a normal part of life. Not magic, or unreachable: they are now quite real to me.

Museé Jacquemart -André

My next goal for the day was to locate another art museum, the Musée Jacquemart-André, which I had not heard of before going to Paris. One day in the Metro, I noticed a banner describing an exhibit of two Venetian artists, Canaletto and Guardi, starting that week at the Musée Jacquemart-André. Looking for the museum took me to another part of Paris that I would not have otherwise seen.

The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute, by Canaletto (1730)

I'm a big fan of both artists and their paintings depicting life in Venice during the 1700's. Canoletto was first on the scene, and inspired Gaudi's style. I was fortunate to happen upon this exhibit during my stay in Paris.

Piazza San Marco in Venice, by Francesco Guardi (1760-1770)

I really enjoyed walking around different areas of Paris this day, which included Avenue Montaigne, where many fashion houses seem to have their headquarters, including Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Dior, Prada and Chanel.

An upscale apartment or condo building?

My last adventure of the day was to take a boat ride on the Seine. Since the sun didn't set until after 7:30, and I knew Monica would be making dinner by then, I took my boat ride in the afternoon about 4 p.m. I chose the Batoboat, which has eight stops along the Seine and you can get on and off as you like for an entire day, or for 2-3 days, if you want to pay more. I had already been to most of the stops, but wanted to see the view from the Seine. There are other boats, more expensive, that offer lunch or dinner, which would be fun or romantic with someone special to share it with.

Eiffel Tower, from the Seine.

During my journey that afternoon, I spent more time near Notre Dame and Rive Gauche (the Left Bank), and got some great photos from the river of places I'd already visited.

Rive Gauche, with Notre Dame in the background.

When I got back to Monica's, she was preparing a French meal called Moules-frites, or mussels with fries. She prepared the mussels in a bit of milk, with onions, garlic and wine, making a broth. Then she made french-fried potatoes, to dip in the broth. It was incredibly delicious and I ate too much of it! This was my last evening at the Ruggeri household, and Monica made it special. 

Eating moules-frites with Tommaso and Virginia

I still had another day in Paris, but I'd made reservations at a hotel near the train station for my last night, where I would get the TVG train to Torino in the morning of the following day.

Paris, Day 3: Luxembourg and Tuileries Gardens, Left Bank, Musée de l’Orangerie, Eiffel Tower.

Luxembourg Gardens

After resting for a day in St. Germaine, I started off early to visit the Luxembourg Gardens. It was a chilly morning, and I arrived about 9a.m., so there were few people enjoying one of Paris’s favorite places to hang out. The gardens were built by the Medici family when they ruled the city, so there’s a definite Italian influence to the design of the expansive gardens. As part of the overall plan, Marie de Medici ordered the planting of some 2000 elm trees. These gardens turned out to be one of my favorite places in Paris, and I would have liked to have had time to linger there later in the day. (It's no wonder I enjoyed it so much, since it was patterned after the Medici gardens in Florence.) Obviously, I'll need to return to Paris, so I can spend more time in the Luxembourg gardens, as I missed seeing many of its statues and fountains. 

Café Procope

Next, I used information from a Rick Steve’s book to take a walk along the Left Bank. One place of interest is the Café Procope, said to be the first place in Europe where coffee, at one time considered to be an exotic beverage from Morocco, was served. The cafe is now a restaurant, but has been open since 1686, holding the record for the longest time a restaurant has been in continuous operation in Paris. I then headed for the Tuileries Gardens, next to the Louvre. I took a gander at the crowds waiting to get in the Louvre, but passed on, as I decided to save it for my last day in Paris, when rain is forecast.

Tuileries Garden, with the Louvre in the background

The Tuileries is another formal garden area that Parisians often hang out in, but even thought it's expansive, it’s less attractive  than the Luxembourg Gardens. It was originally ordered built by Catherine de Medici, when she was living in the Louvre as a palace, to mirror her gardens in Florence, but over the years it's been through many transformations that have detracted from it's original impressive beauty.

Here I am, bundled up in the Tuileries Gardens.

Besides visiting the garden, I was headed to another art museum that is located in the gardens, Museé de l’Orangerie. The main attraction of this museum is to be able to view Monet’s eight panoramic paintings of his gardens in Giverny. 

Originally built to house orange trees of the Tuileries Gardens during the winter, in 1918 Monet chose the building for the Waterlilies paintings that he intended to donate to the State. In fact, he designed the room where they were to be installed. As one enters the exhibit, there is first a white room, a transition room, where one can leave behind the chaos of the world so as to be freer to focus on the beauty and serenity of nature shown in Monet’s paintings. Monet’s intention was to create a refuge that would restore one’s spirit.

There are four paintings in each room, with walls that curve, so as to offer an experience of submersion, as if one were actually looking at the ponds in Monet’s garden. The paintings show scenes of waterlilies and weeping willow trees at different times of the day. Other than the paintings, all is white, except for the benches provided in the middle of the room, where visitors are invited to linger and gaze to their heart’s content. I spent long moments looking at each painting, and then repeated the cycle. The experience was exquisite, peaceful, restorative, just as Monet intended it to be. This exhibit was the most impressive of the many that I saw in Paris during my stay. 

A view of one of the Waterlily paintings

To take a virtual tour of the Waterlilies series, go to this site and click on the "visite virtuelle". 

 Musée de l'Orangerie

 After Monet, I decided to walk towards the Eiffel Tower, which was much further away than I had anticipated, and took more than an hour to reach. Along the way, I bought some takeaway Chinese food, spring rolls and a fruit salad, instead of having crepes again.  I reached the Eiffel Tower about 2:30 pm, and since it was a sunny day and the lines weren’t very long, I decided to ride the elevator to the top, rather than wait until sunset. I’d heard such horror stories about the long lines, I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I was admitted and on the elevator going up to the third level. What an impressive sight! On the way back down, I stopped at levels two and one, to see Paris from different heights. I have really lucked out having such good weather during my stay in Paris so far!

Eiffel Tower

By then, it was 5 p.m. and I was weary from another long day of walking, so I headed for the metro and St. Germaine. I walked over to the Trocadero Metro stop, enjoying the lovely gardens and fountains on the way.

The Palais de Chaillot and the Gardens of the Trocadéro as seen from the Eiffel Tower.

I have to include a few words of gratitude to my friend Monica, who dropped me off at the Metro and picked me up each day. It was a good 10-minute drive from her house, when she also had to deliver each of her three children to school at different times! In the evening, when I got to Nanterre, a few stops before St. Germaine, I’d send an SMS to Monica, who would then drive to the Metro stop to pick me up. I am so fortunate to have such a considerate friend!

Paris, Day 2: Saint-Chapelle, Notre Dame, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur

Saint-Chapelle

Saturday in Paris was another busy day for me. I took the Metro to Ile de la Cite, an island on the Seine, to visit Saint-Chapelle, noted for its 15 magnificent, wall-to-wall stained glass windows that soar 50 feet to the roof of the church. The windows depict more than a thousand religious scenes, like a pictorial Bible. The church was built in 1248 by Louis IX as a fitting place for what some believe is the Crown of Thorns, which has since been moved to the treasury at Notre Dame.

La Conciergerie

Next I visited La Conciergerie, the famous prison that housed thousands of people until they were put to death during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. The most famous inmate was Marie-Antoinette, and they have a replica of her cell, complete with clothed mannequins, to demonstrate her last days in prison before she was beheaded. The building itself is impressive as seen from the Seine. 

Notre Dame

Just around the corner, I found Notre Dame, another imposing building that is built along the edge of Ile de la Cite. There were long lines for free entry to view this landmark of Paris, but they went quickly.

The park behind Notre Dame

After my stroll through the church, I happened upon a lovely park located behind it, where I lunched on a crepe filled with (way too much) chicken and cheese.

Entertainment!

Next, I crossed the bridge to Ile St. Louis, a smaller island that is known for its quaint shops and pricey living. Musicians were stationed on the bridge to entertain the crowds, and the music  added to the festive atmosphere of a sunny Saturday afternoon in Paris. While I was there, I found an Italian gelateria that fashioned my cone to look like a rose.

Amarena cherry and pear gelato

Next, I rode the metro to Montmartre, another sight that I had longed dreamed of visiting. I’d heard of its fame as a bohemian haven for freethinkers, including artists, painters and musicians, and imagined it to be something like the Trastevere quarter in Rome. However, it did not live up to the image I had had in mind. Instead, it was crowded with tourists and souvenir stands, so much so that it was hard to walk down the streets. 

Paintings for sale in Montmartre

However, the majestic white church Sacre Coeur sits at the top of the hill in Montmartre and people flock to this area to see one of the best panoramic views of Paris. It’s also a great place to watch the sunset, and the crowd was getting progressively larger when I left about 6 pm. 

Sacre Couer

The view from Sacre Couer

I headed back to St. Germaine to go out to dinner with the Ruggeri’s and their friend Tonino, an Italian expat living in Paris. First we went to a place called Buffalo Burger Grill. You can imagine my surprise to find an American Western -themed burger joint as a place that suburban Parisian families enjoy dining. But when they had problems in the kitchen and couldn’t feed us, we went to another popular French chain, the Hippopotamus. Here again, burgers and fries were the food of choice. Who knew? As usual, when faced with large slabs of meat, I chose a salad instead.

Look at the prices on this menu: 10,50 euros for a cheeseburger!

By the time we headed home, it was nearly midnight, and I was truly tuckered out, and happy to spend the next day hanging out in St. Germaine.

Bliss on the Frecciarossa

Okay, I still have a LOT to share about my time in Paris, but I'm currently en route from Torino to Florence via the Frecciarossa train, and am having a moment of bliss. For one, I'm back "home" in Italy, I'm listening to Samba music on my Mp3 player, watching the Italian countryside whisk by as the train exceeds 300 mph, and I am using the free wifi on the train to write this post. There are some sweet moments like this every now and then and it seems only right to savor them.

A presto!

addendum: my bliss was short-lived: from Bologna to Firenze the train went tunneling through  mountains for almost the entire 40 minutes of the journey, so no wi-fi possible!

Paris, Day 1: Musee D'Orsay, Musee Rodin, Rue Cler

Place de la Concorde, with the Eiffel Tower in the background

Though rain had been forecast, my first day in Paris turned out to be a lovely, sunny day. I headed out on the Metro to central Paris, which involved changes on several lines, ending up at Place de la Concorde, one of the major public squares in Paris. It was an awesome introduction to the size and intensity of the city, with views of the Eiffel Tower, the Seine, the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe in the distance.

A view of the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe from Place de la Concorde

 It took me a while to get my bearings, but using my map and the Seine as a guide, I figured out that I needed to cross the Seine in order to get to Musee D'Orsay, the first art museum I wanted to visit. The museum is known for its collections of impressionist paintings, including works by Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Gaugin and Van Gogh. The museum is housed in a former train station, and the building itself is beautiful, a work of art.

Musee D'Orsay

In addition to the usual exhibitions, there was a special exhibit on Impressionism and Fashion, which included displays of clothing worn during the time of the impressionists, accompanied by paintings that illustrated the clothing. One room was set up in a "plein air" or open air theme, complete with fake grass and the sound of birds in the background. Oversized paintings were placed around the room, giving the feeling that one was walking in a park, observing the subjects in the paintings in their natural habitat. Quite lovely and effective! I spent several hours in the museum, and was able to see everything, but would like to have time to linger the next time I go. For more information on the musem and its exhibits, try this link:

Musee Orsay

Next, I headed to Musee Rodin, a museum I've wanted to visit since I was young, after reading Naked Came I, a novel by David Weiss about the sculptor Rodin's life. More recently, I'd learned that the museum also features some works by his student and mistress, Camille Claudel. After seeing the movie of her life (Camille Claudel), and reading her diaries, I felt a special kinship to her, and wrote an article about that connection for a magazine in the 90's, which you can read here:

Divine Madness

Camille Claudel's sculpture, The Wave

The museum had a special exhibit, Rodin, Flesh and Marble, in addition to the usual collection of his work, which includes many drawings and bronze pieces, along with paintings by Renoir, Monet and Van Gogh. Seeing his sculptures in marble, mostly unfinished, was truly impressive, and really gave you the sense of how the creations "came out" of the blocks of marble. The museum is housed in Hotel Biron, where Rodin once lived and used as a workshop, and he left his art to the French State on the condition that they turn the buildings into a museum dedicated to his works. In addition, many of his sculptures are displayed in the museum's extensive garden, which was a pleasure to visit on a sunny day.

The Thinker, in the garden at Musee Rodin

I was especially pleased to see the work of Camille Claudel, and to see some recognition given to her talent, recognition that was denied during her lifetime. For more info on the museum and its collections, click on this link:

Musee Rodin

Once I'd seen both the museums, I wandered for awhile on the nearby streets and came across a park outside Les Invalides, an area of buildings devoted to military history, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans. Napoleon's tomb is also located in this complex of buildings. 

Les Invalides

After that, it was nearing evening, and I still wanted to visit Rue Cler, a nearby street noted for its shopping area. It was Monica's birthday, and I wanted to get some flowers for her. Here's a photo of one of the flower markets on Rue Cler.

Rue Cler flowers

Armed with a bouquet of fragrant yellow roses tinged with pink, I made my way on the metro back to St. Germaine-en-Laye, satisfied with my first full day in Paris.

Metro signs are a common sight, providing easy access to the best subway system in the world.

Paris scenes

The Thinker, in the garden of Museum Rodin

I don't have time to write these days, but here are a few images from Paris.

The Eiffel Tower in chocolate!

Place Concorde, my first view of Paris after emerging from the Metro.

A serenade on the Metro

Notre Dame

Flowers on Rue Cler