Paris
Sunday 4 to Monday 12 April, 2010
We're Off At Last ..... We
left Melbourne on Easter Saturday late afternoon and our flight to
Singapore was relaxing and uneventful. We had a two hour stopover
before flying onto Paris on the new A380 aircraft. This aircraft
holds over 400 passengers, so when we arrived in Paris after a good
night sleep, we had to wait a bit longer for the luggage to be
delivered on the carousel. It was Easter Sunday at 7.00am when we
touched down and we arrived at our apartment just after
9.00am. The apartment called Pompidou is just off the Rue de Rivoli on the Right Bank and in a very
central location. It is 5 minutes walk to the River Seine and
within walking distance of Notre Dame, Le Louvre and many of the
highlights of Paris. We were met by Cynthia who showed us around
our apartment which is on 5th Floor and has a lift...thank
goodness. 
It is compact but very liveable and so quiet once we
are inside the front door.
Doing The Usual ...... Our first day here was a fairly cold and rainy day but we managed to
rug up and got out for a walk around the Saint Michel area on the Left
Bank. There were lots of people out on Easter Sunday just taking in
the sights in between showers of rain. Rob had to buy a warm hat
which was very stylish and oh so French. We actually walked right up to Le
Sorbonne and had a crepe from the crepiere along the
way, then back to the apartment for dinner and bed.
All those
who visit Paris must go to Montmatre and Sacre Coeur. It
doesn't change from year to year and there are always so many tourists
sitting on the steps watching the street entertainers, walking
around the artists colony and sitting at the sidewalk cafes eating and
drinking. There were extra people here as it is school holidays as well
as Easter. The same man sits in his wheelchair making dog keyrings in different colours and the lady is still selling her
CD's of her music from her miniature musical pianola.
Sacre Coeur was exceptionally busy being
Easter and holiday time. We walked through the beautiful
cathedral and lit a candle along the way. It is one place in
Paris that you like to return to. We couldn't get over the
number of young people between the ages of 18 - 25 years who are
enjoying themselves whilst travelling around Europe.
And Now For The Unusual .....
One of our most unusual tourist visits was
to the L'Egouts of Paris. Yes, we went to the Sewer
Museum of Paris. In the Middle Ages the drinking water in Paris
was taken from the river Seine. The waste water was poured onto
the fields or unpaved streets and finally filtered back into the
Seine. Over centuries the sewerage system was built and
extended and more than 1,000kms of sewers
were built. We thought we were going into an old disused part of
the sewerage system set up as a museum. Imagine our surprise when
we ended up in the sewer currently in use today.
The
museum takes you through the tunnels and explains the building of
the sewerage system. This network of tunnels is used not only for
sewerage but also for the distribution of fresh drinking water,
electriciy and for the control of traffic lights and security
cameras.
What About The Smell ....
Well, there was just one area of the walk when there was definitely a
strong odour which meant that you could either leave
the tour or breath through the mouth. We both survived and continued on to finish the tour. It
is claimed that no other city in the world has a sewer network like the
one found
in Paris. It now has 2,100 kms of tunnels and every day 1.2
million cubic metres of waste water is collected and every year 15,000
cubic meters of solid waste disposed of. How interesting is
this!!! After ascending to street level, we breathed in the fresh
air and clear blue skies and then wandered off for lunch.
A Change Of Pace ....
Le Louvre was another fairly full day. We decided that an early start
was needed because of the holiday crowds so we were lined up at the
entry 30 minutes before opening time. We were in the first 100
people to go
through the ticket gate. By the end of our visit it was
absolutely overflowing with visitors. There is no way that you
can see everything in one day, let alone a week, so we chose a
number of exhibits that we were keen to see and enjoyed them
before the crowds had built up. Of course, one of these was the
painting Mona Lisa by Leonardo de Vinci. She has pride of place
in a huge room surrounded with other Italian paintings by different
artists. Le Louvre must be one of the most magnificent building
in the world. The building itself is as amazing as the works of
art it contains.
Mona Lisa is on the right !!!!
Etruscan and Roman Antiquities
Continuing Our Cultural Experience ....
Another interesting day was our visit to the La Marais area on the
Right Bank where we visited the Museum Carnavale and Victor Hugo's
apartment found in the Place de Vosges. Again there were so many
young people interested in Victor Hugo who wrote Les Miserables.
There was even a pre school group of children aged around 4 years of
age being taken through the museum. We walked through the Jewish sector
with the Jewish food shops, clothing shops, cafes and book shops all
busy with customers. In one of the streets there was an
elementary school with a plaque in honour of a number of students that
were taken to a concentration camp during World War 11. This was
quite moving.
And Back Underground ....
Another day we took a trip through the
Catacombes of Paris which are in the former quarries
whose limestone was used to build Paris. The Catacombs are
suitated 130 steps below ground and contain the remains of
approximately
six million Parisians transferred
gradually between the late eighteenth
and mid nineteenth centuries as graveyards were being closed because of
the risk to public health. In the long maze of dark galleries and
narrow passages which are 2 kms in length, we saw the walls of
death with bones and skulls arranged in a macabre display. Just
an amazing sight
.
Food, Beautiful Food .... The restaurant around the area
where we
are staying are fantastic. In one block, there must be over 100
restaurants that are always busy with people drinking, eating and just
socialising. If a
restaurant is empty, you do not go there, but the majority are
full. The pattiseries are everywhere with just beautiful
displays of breads, cakes and tarts so of course, we have had to sample
some of these. The most unique establishment we found was a tiny
little Pizza shop in our street with only 5 tables and the kitchen
placed right in the middle of the entrance door. Always full at
night and great pizzas.
Slow Boat Through Paris .... Liz had read an article in The
Australian newspaper about cruising down the St Martin Canal from Parc
de la Villette to Quai d'Orsay on the River Seine. It was a
perfectly sunny day as we set out on the Metro to our
destination. The boat left a little late due to lost customers
but we set off and relaxed and watched the scenes along the
way. The trip took 2 1/2 hrs and is 4.6 kms in length and we pass
through seven locks along the way. At each lock the boat was
lowered around 4 metres with lots of water
gushing through at each lock. 
The history of the canal is given by
Bruno, our guide, in French and English along the way as we glide under decorative
bridges that cross the canal and towards the end of the trip through an
algae encrusted brick archway and into the underground waterway which
is approximately 1.6 km in length. We finally reach the last lock
at La Bastille and enter the River Seine. It is a very peaceful
journey and gets you away from the noise and people of
Paris.
Markets, Markets, Markets ..... Every Saturday there are street markets around Paris so of course, we found them and visited two. Here the
food sellers display their products in such a colourful way. The
presentation of oysters, cheeses, fish and meats etc is stunning.
People pull along their food trolleys filled with such beautiful
foods and apparently 60% of Parisians shop at the fresh food
markets.
And A Wine Bar ..... We found this small French wine bar "Le Baron Rouge" near one of the markets
with barrels of different wines as well as wines sold by the glass. It
was an ideal place for a lunch stop. A couple of glasses of Blanc (white wine) and a platter of cheese
and bread made for a great lunch in a uniquely French atmosphere.
