Pancakes, Paintings and Promenades
Right downstairs from our hotel is a little window opening onto the street where you can get a crepe made while you wait. We have walked past so many times; inhaling the delicious aromas wafting from the hotplate and resisting the temptation to buy one but today was the day we’d give them a go. So, for our first meal of the day, we trundled downstairs and ordered some to sample – mine with lemon and sugar and the boys’ with Nutella. We waited, salivating, while she skilfully flipped and folded them. Upon wrapping our taste buds around their hot, gooey deliciousness, it was a unanimous and resounding vote that we’d get breakfast there again tomorrow.
It was time to brave the Metro again and try to put behind us the scarring we’d still held onto from our first attempt. Ross had been studying the map and was sure he had it worked out so Toby and I trusted his confidence and followed him deep underground to see what would happen. Sure enough, Ross knew exactly what he was doing and got us to the exact destination we needed and even ordered the tickets in French! He’s now been dubbed the “Metro Maestro”!
Emerging from the underground and into the daylight we were headed for the Louvre. The queue was substantial but the weather was a bit “warmer” so we didn’t mind just soaking up the atmosphere of the magnificent square. We had only intended staying a little while at the Louvre but once inside we were so mesmerised by not only the incredible artworks but also the building itself, with its intricate and ornately painted and gilded higher than high ceilings, that we ended up staying a few hours! Ross was very keen to see the Egyptian artefacts and they were mind-blowing! There were statues, sarcophaguses, stone tablets rich in hieroglyphics and sculptures – the oldest of which dated back to 1391BC! These things were so well preserved and they were 3,400 years old!! I doubt I’d be in such good nick if I’d been hanging around that long.
Of course we were all very excited to finally lay eyes on the Mona Lisa herself, even though our expectations hadn’t been high with everyone telling us over the years how small she was. We were actually pleasantly surprised and all thought she was much more impressive than we’d expected. There was a bustling crowd around her, everyone eager to see what the fuss was about and get their photos with this 500 year old icon. The Venus de Milo was equally impressive and it’s just so surreal to be in the same room as these incredible pieces of history!
Some of our other favourites at the Musée de Louvre were the huge, wall-sized tapestry, woven all in blues and golds, the massive painting of the Last Supper that also took up an entire wall and the painting of the voluptuous woman having a naked pedicure in the forest (as you do) with all her ladies in waiting looking on!
We’d been lucky enough to come across a special on tv –in English what’s more – called “Inside the Louvre”. It was great to go there fresh after seeing that special to give us a heightened appreciation of what was there and how it was all procured and looked after. On that special we also heard about the “copyists” that are chosen for their talent to come and sit in the long gallery and copy the paintings of the great masters, so it was even more fantastic that we were able to witness a copyist at work and see the incredible work he’d achieved! He’d even painted the entire frame in minute detail!
We had strapped on our walking shoes and were now ready to walk the beautiful stretch of the Champs-Élysées. We started up one end at Jardin des Tuileries, with its plethora of white statues and rows of pretty autumn trees and a big round pond surrounded by deck chairs where you can recline and soak up the beauty of the surrounds. It was gorgeous!
The Champs-Élysées, with its very upmarket shops and designer feel was suitably dressed for Christmas, resplendent in huge sparkling bows, glittering trees and shiny baubles. In fact, the whole street was lined with Christmas market stalls, similar to the ones we’d experienced in Grenoble but a touch more commercial. The food stalls were still offering plenty of French delights and we enjoyed baguettes with yummy cheese, sausages and ham, though we had been tempted by the hog snout soup and the garlic pig trotters! We just loved this area and spent quite a few hours exploring Paris on foot.
Our footslogging finished at the Arc de triomphe where we took a few thousand photos. We saw a young couple struggling to take a selfie and offered assistance. Ross went above and beyond the call by lying down on the ground to get the smiling faces of this Canadian couple with the full Arc in the background.
We caught the underground back to our hotel, guided faultlessly by the Metro Maestro, and went back to the Patisserie we saw in the morning, the creations of which feature in the photos for today. We partook in some calorie-laden delights which were truly fantastique!!!
Tonight we again boarded the “Hop-on-hop-off Bus” ready to experience Paris by night. If it had been stunning during the day, it was completely breathtaking at night! We are so fortunate to be here during the lead up to Christmas because the lights are phenomenal! Everything flashes and shines with the Christmas glow and the streets are adorned with rows and rows of twinkling fairly lights. Every hour, on the hour, the Eiffel Tower was bathed in a pyrotechnic wonder with a constant shower of sparkles streaming down from the top to the bottom! It was insane! La Fayette department store was covered in coloured lights that flashed an everchanging coloured glow over the whole building. Everything was spectacular! Even Santa was out and about, residing in his giant-sized snow dome, giving photo opportunities to happy children and as we passed the illuminated Cathedral of Notre Dame we could have sworn we heard Quasimodo ringing the bells. It really was awesome!
The Saturday night Parisien traffic was even crazier than usual (they could truly benefit from some lane markings) and we had a couple of near death experiences on the bus with our driver seemingly in a bit of a rush to get out to a dinner date! We nearly cleaned up a couple of mopeds and made a turn, to an orchestra of horn-blowing, directly into oncoming traffic! We had never been happier to get off a bus.
The buskers were out in force tonight with rap dancers in the street drawing the biggest crowd and a very accomplished piano accordionist playing the most gorgeous French music which was the perfect soundtrack to our Paris night. Nothing could beat though, being serenaded in the Metro by a Gérard Depardieu look-alike who sounded a bit like Joe Cocker – in French – but was a bit worse!
Tonight’s dinner was a bit of a let down to a brilliant day although it’s something we’ll hopefully laugh about once Ross stops seething. We opted for Strassbourg inspired cuisine at the restaurant virtually next door to our hotel. We did think it was a little unconventional for the waiter to usher us to our table without a single word but it got a lot worse. They left us sitting there for well over half an hour before coming to serve us and when we’d thought we’d been completely forgotten and – politely I might add – said “excusemoi” to the waiter he started going off at us loudly in French, waving his arms around dramatically and giving us the distinct feeling we’d stepped on his toes. He was huffing and puffing and muttering under his breath while he shook his head every time he passed our table. When we eventually got to order we had a long wait for our food too and then an even longer wait for our bill. We had finished our meals, put our coats and gloves on and were practically standing up ready for the bill but he kept passing by, fiddling with cutlery and setting tables for the next shift. I asked another waiter if he might be able to organise the bill for us but he also got mad – in French – and shook his head, pointing at the other guy, indicating he was OUR waiter! Talk about rude!! Let’s put it this way, we certainly won’t be eating there again!
