April 26, 2012 - Montmartre

Bonjour mes amies.

Our last morning in Paris and, you guessed it, it's not raining.  We decided to head out and complete the walk we had planned to do on Wednesday.

Montmartre is a butte located in northern Paris that is primarily known for the basilica Sacre Coeur and a district where the nightclubs are located.  In addition, many artists also had their studios in the area, among them Salvador Dali, Monet and Picasso. We took the Metro from the station near the hotel and exited at Blanche the station near the Moulin Rouge.  It looks rather smaller than what you would expect, but then the movies have probably influenced our expectations.  With photos taken we continued our walk along Avenue de Clichy until we reached the road that took us up to Sacre Coeur.  We walked up to Place St.-Pierre the street at the base of the butte that Sacre Coeur sits on and then doubled back on ourselves walking along Rue de Abbesses towards the Cimitiere de Monmartre.  This area of town is very old and extremely hilly.  Living here would certainly keep you fit giving how steep the hills are.  We came across a church, Saint Jean de Monmartre, that to me was much more interesting than Sacre Coeur.  Saint Jean de Montmartre was built between 1895 - 1904 of brick and ceramic and it is very ornate.  the walls have hand painted murals depicting various religious scenes as seen on the right
between 1895 - 1904 of brick and ceramic tile and it is very ornate.  The
walls have hand painted murals depicting various religious scenes as seen on the right.  Restorations on the pipe organ have recently been completed so that it can once again be played.

Leaving the church we walked down the hill ending at the Cimitiere de Monmartre.  Cemeteries were banned in Paris in 1786 due to the health hazards they posed and new ones were  placed outside the precincts of the capitol.  Montmartre was the one designated for the north of the city.  It is a huge cemetery and graves are packed in very tightly.  Many famous artists and people are buried here from painters to bankers.

We made our way back to the Metro and returned to the hotel to finish our packing and check out before heading to the Gare du Nord to take the Eurostar to London.  In London we will be dog sitting Casper and Ziggy while John and Adrienne head off to Venice for a three day get-away.

Unfortunately, I was really not feeling well as my throat was extremely sore.  We had a wonderful time in Paris in spite of the weather and we hope you have enjoyed this segment of our blog.

Au revoir,
Sandy & Fred

April 25, 2012 - Sacre- Coeur & Louvre

Bonjour mes amies,

We decided to have breakfast in the hotel this morning so that I can get a decent cup of tea and have the convenience of not having to put coats on.  The weather was once again sadly wet and windy, but we didn't let that stop us from getting out though, although we did have to modify our plans somewhat. Once again we purchased tickets from the concierge for the Louvre and he suggested we visit later in the afternoon as the museum was open until 10:00 p.m. and will be less crowded.

We headed off by Metro to Sacre Coeur.  The basilica was built at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city.  It is a double monument, political and cultural, both a national penance for the supposed excesses for the Second Empire and of the socialist Paris Commune 1871 crowning its most rebellious neighbourhood, and the embodiment of conservative moral order.  The basilica was designed by Paul Abadie with construction beginning in 1875 and ending in 1914 with it being consecrated at the end of World War I in 1919.  We were somewhat disappointed in the basilica itself  and also that the taking of pictures was not permitted, though I will admit to sneaking photos.  Sacre Coeur just did not seem to have the presence that Notre Dame has, which we visited last September with Jonathan and Amy.  Notre Dame also permitted the taking of pictures, just no flash.

Well the heavens opened so we decided to head to the Louvre Museum or just the Louvre and spent the afternoon rather than the evening as suggested by the concierge.  Once again getting tickets at the hotel was well worth the extra 2 euros as the line ups for tickets was crazy, which I am sure was due to the rainy weather as well as the normal influx of tourists. We got in with about a 15 minute wait in line which was for a security check of bags.  Considering how busy the lobby was, once inside and exploring the various rooms of the Louvre it was relaxing and not that crowded with the exception of a few areas.

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace which began life as a fortress in the 12th century under Philip II.  Remnants of the fortress can be seen in the basement of the museum.  The Louvre went through many alterations during the middle ages with Charles V converting it to a residence in the 14th century.  It remained a royal residence until Louis XIV moved to Versailles. The Louvre did not become a public museum until after the French Revolution and officially opened on August 10, 1793.  It is one of the largest museums in the world.  To start, we explored the Richelieu wing were we concentrated on Mesopotamia and Ancient Iran.  It was very easy to get lost or turned around as the museum is huge, and we do get turned around.  We came across many ornate rooms as well as museum pieces.  Off course we visited and saw the  Mona Lisa.  Fred does manage to elbow his way in to get a decent shot of it.  All of mine were blurred as I got pushed around and had people jumping in front of the camera I moved before I got pissed off and started pushing back.  You would think that given the popularity of Mona Lisa the museum would have some kind of structure in place so all could get to see her.  Here again we see orientals posing with the hand gesture.  After about 3 1/2 hours in the museum the weather had cleared so we head out to get pictures outside the Louvre.

We headed back to the hotel stopping to purchase more wine, some to take back with us and a bottle for our room while we downloaded pictures and started packing for our return to the UK.

We had already chosen a place for supper.  It was across the street from last night's Bistro.  It was an Italian restaurant called Del Papa that looked very busy so we decided it was worth a try.  We arrived and were lucky to get seated as we did not have reservations.  We were seated near the door and a man said to us "this is where they seat Americans and other tourists".  I quickly told him I am Canadian and as we had no reservations we were happy to be seated.  It turns out he was from Virginia and was in Paris on business which was now finished and he now had the the rest of the week to explore Paris.  We split an appetizer of grilled calamari on rocket and it was delicious.  I had a ham pizza which was huge and Fred also had a pizza with mushrooms, ham and an egg.  The meal was accompanied with a bottle of Beaujolais.  Our waiter was quite comical and gave me the menu showing me the weight watcher desserts as I had left the crusts of my pizza as I was struggling to get through it.  No dessert but I have a cappuccino and it came with chocolate and coco coated almonds.  As I did not use the sugar the waiter brought us more almonds telling me I was allowed a treat.  We really enjoyed our meal and were not rushed at all.  This was a place I would definitely recommend or return to.

Back at the hotel we were able to arrange a late checkout of 1:30 p.m. for tomorrow and hopefully the weather improves and we will get a bit more exploring before catching the train to London.

Au revoir,
Sandy & Fred

April 24, 2012 - Palace of Versailles

Bonjour mes amies,

After breakfast at Micky D's we checked with the hotel's concierge on the easiest way to get to Versailles.  We were also able to purchase our entrance tickets to the Palace from the concierge although it did cost 2 Euros more.  On arriving at Versailles and seeing the queue to purchase tickets and then the queue to get into the Palace it was well worth the extra 2 Euros.  We took the RER to Versailles which was about a thirty five minute train ride.  On the train we met a retired American couple from Washington state who really didn't seem to know where they were going.  They said they hoped they were on the right train and asked Fred if the train went to Versailles.  He pulled out his iPad and showed them the RER map and gave them directions.  One would think you would plan and know which train you needed to take before blindly heading off and ending up who knows where.  It was a cool dull day and started to spit rain as we walked up to the palace.  The queues were unreal.  Thank goodness we had our entrance tickets.  From when we joined the queue until we actually entered the Palace took a good 35 minutes.  While in line we chatted with a school group from the States who were over with their English and French teachers doing some French immersion.  Apparently it was spring break for them which may also explain all the Americans tourists.

I will provide just a bit of history on Versailles; to me the important highlights as its history spans a long period of time.  Versailles began as a hunting lodge in 1624 for Louis VIII.  He later began structural changes to make it a chateau.  His successor Louis XIV was responsible for changing it into one of the largest palace in the world.  The new construction started in 1664 and ended in 1710. Versailles was in those days a country village but Louis XIV made it the centre of political power when he moved court to Versailles from Paris.  It remained as such until October 1789 after the start of the French Revolution when the royal family was forced to return to Paris.  So Versailles  symbolizes not only a  magnificent building but also a symbol of absolute monarchy.

We spent a good three hours meandering through the palace exploring and taking in the rather elegant and decadent designs and decorations.  The Hall of Mirrors, pictured on the right is a sight to behold.  One can imagine the ballroom dancing that must have gone on when the Palace was in its prime.

While at Versailles, the only down side for us was the number of rude tourists, and we don't really understand the purpose of the "pointing pose" the orientals do when taking pictures.  Fred wonders if, when they get home do they put those bubble captions on their pictures when they post them.

We also missed out on the Gardens, because of the rain, which looked beautiful and it would have been nice to stroll through them and see where our son Christopher proposed to Meaghan.  The weather was very windy, cold and drizzly and I was starting to feel sick.  We hope to return someday and just visit the gardens which I am sure you could spend hours exploring as well.

On our way back to the hotel in search of a bottle of wine we came across a market on one of the narrow streets.  The fresh fruit, fish, meats and produce looked lovely.  There will be more pictures of Versailles posted on my facebook page and Fred's flickr page which Fred still has to post to

After relaxing in our room we headed out for supper.  Tonight we tried a little cafe named Bistro Four Seasons.  I had escargot and Fred tried a farmhouse pate.  For my main course I had chicken with frites and Fred had a butcher's peppercorn steak.  The food was delicious and accompanied with a Bordeaux.  We passed on dessert but had our very first cappuccinos.  Hard to believe but true and we did enjoy them.  We had a nice full day and headed back to the hotel to plan for our last full day in Paris.

Au revoir,

Sandy & Fred