Wednesday, June 10, 2004 & Thursday, June 11, 2004

After a crisis at work that never did get resolved, we got a late start to the airport but made it with time to spare. We got to cut the check-in line because as soon as we got there (only an hour and ten minutes before departure for an international flight) she was calling for all passengers on the Paris flight to come to the front of the line. Of course, we'll now have to fork over extra dough because we had to park the car in Logan long-term rather than one of the offsite places I had planned on. That being said, the rest of the trip to Paris went smoothly unless you count the fact that we couldn't really sleep on the plane (no one near us could) because of this old guy hitting on a 17 year old young lady right in front of us and they just wouldn't shut up. It was at top volume. And then there was the child, Satan, sitting in the same row as us...just two seats over who was most spoiled. He was overtired, but still, screaming and hitting his mother...not signs of a well adjusted child.

So here we are enjoying our bout of spontaneity. We arrived at Charles de Galle Airport and quickly found a free bus to the train station where we bought 5 day passes for public transport within the Paris area. Then we hopped a commuter train to Paris and took a bus to our hotel.

Despite the jet lag and the language barrier we made out very well with finding what we needed to find. It was all actually very easy.

After leaving our bags at the hotel we hopped back on the commuter train to the first rose garden on our list, La Roserie de l'Hay. This huge formal garden was build as a retirement project by an industrialist who moved to the outskirts of Paris so that he could fulfill all his rose growing fantasies in his retirement. The park was given to the city upon his death and still looks much like it did when he gardened there. I don't know how many thousands of roses there are in this garden, but let's jut put it this way...Kim thought the rose beds lining the parking lot were the garden until she reached the gates and realized that they had just been decorations on the way in. It's about four acres of solid roses with lots of arches, pillars, obelisks and other structures totally covered with roses of all sorts both antique and modern. There is a reflection pool, a pergola, fountains, and statues. The rose garden we saw here is a little different from what we practice at home. The roses are planted quite close to each other in big bunches and instead of tying their climbing roses up with string they use the flexible tips of rose canes which later harden and turn brown. The neat thing about this garden isn't so much how much space it covered on the ground, but how much space it covered in the air. They really took advantage of the vertical space.

After taking about a hundred photographs and getting our fill of roses, we headed back downtown to the Musée d'Orsay. We had lunch of fresh cheese and tomato sandwich and split a scoop of apricot gelato. After lunch we went inside the museum where Kim got to look at some her favorite impressionist artwork which she remembered from the last trip. This museum is really cool because it's built inside an old railway station which is about the size of a huge aircraft hangar. They filled the inside of this vast space with galleries and the museum itself might be just as beautiful as the artwork it houses.

By the time we were through at the museum it was about four o'clock and time to head back to the hotel for a shower, change of clothes and to download the full disk of pictures Stuart had taken at the rose garden. As it turns out Paris is in the middle of a heat wave which is why we needed to take a shower. There is almost no air conditioning in the city because they really aren't prepared for this sort of thing. Once refreshed it was back on the Metro to Chinatown which is really more like Southeast Asian town. So while we had expected to find some Dim Sum, we ended up eating Vietnamese food. We ordered 5 different dishes so we could experiment and they were all just spectacular.

After supper Kim wanted to e-mail home, but the hotel charges $40 a day for Wi-Fi service. So we stalked out an Internet Café which was a real dump, but close to the hotel and it got the job done. A quick trip to the convenience store for drinks and a stop at the patisserie to share a meringue treat rounded out the night. Early to bed for us after having missed an entire night's sleep. Our goal was to make it to bedtime without a nap and we did it!

Friday, June 11, 2004
We woke up at 10 this morning because Kim didn't sleep that well, believe it or not, with all the city noises outside. Who would think after doing without a night's sleep that one could possibly not sleep well!

Our first stop today was the Musée de l'Armée, but before we went in we popped around the corner from the museum and had crépes for breakfast. Then again, perhaps you shouldn't call what Stuart had just a crépe considering that the beast of a meal was called the Supercomplete and included eggs, ham, mushrooms and cheese in a massive burrito-sized crépe. The next few hours were spent touring the museum which included everything from medieval armour right up to modern day weapons. The galleries stretch on for what must be a half-mile. Stuart was initially disappointed that the ancient weapons and armour section of the museum is closed until 2005 for renovations. Since this was pretty much why he wanted to go to the museum in the first place, it was upsetting, but as it turns out, some of the best suits of armour from the French kings were on display in a temporary exhibit so it wasn't a total loss.

After the museum, we headed to the Jardin du Tuileries, and on the way we stopped at a Patisserie (bakery) where Stuart had saucisse fromage (sausage in a cheese pastry) and Kim had Quiche Lorraine. After stopping for vanilla-chocolate twist ice creams at the entrance to the garden we went into the Jardin du Tuileries, but it really isn't a garden as much as it is a park. There are large areas of grass, but you can only look at them from chairs and have to stay on the dusty, gravel paths. It was not as nice as we remembered. The gardens ended at the Louvre which must be the largest single building in the world. We didn't go into the Louvre, but rather cut down to the Seine where we walked and relaxed down by the river watching the boats go by. We ended the day by going on to the Ile de Cité, an island in the middle of the river, and with a visit to Sainte Chappelle and it's beautiful stained glass windows which pretty much make up ALL the walls.

Afterward, we returned to the hotel to change into evening attire and download our pictures from the day and then we headed to the Promenade Plantée, a unique pathway through our portion of the city that is elevated and covered with/surrounded by gardens and decorative structures. It used to be a viaduct carrying water into the city, but now the path is on top and the arches below are filled with art galleries and fancy shops. The walkway stretches on for miles and has numerous entrances. It's a great way of making the city seem suddenly rural and beautiful. At the end of our walk we looked around for some place to eat and found a restaurant that served traditional french food. We choose from a fixed-price meal (a favorite of the french) and were treated to an appetizer, a main course, a cheese course and dessert and probably won't need to eat again for a month. The price was so reasonable and we feel like we made out really well considering the reputation (and well earned) Paris' restaurants have for being expensive.

Now it's after midnight (we just got back to the room because dinner didn't begin until 9:30) and the French believe in eating at a very leisurely pace. It certainly was a fun night, but now we are more than ready for sleep.

Saturday, June 12, 2004
This morning we got a fairly early start as we were heading way off to the west end of town and it was going to take a while. Stuart got a tartellette at the patisserie before getting on the Metro and was almost drooling over how good the little mini-pie was. After the 45 minute ride, we got off the Metro and started walking towards the park. The only problem is that the park is more than five miles long and two miles wide and we had no idea of where in the park was the section called the Parc du Bagatelle (home of the most amazing rose garden).

So first we walked quite a while and finally got down to where we thought the garden might be and asked at a refreshment stand seeing that there were no signs. While the lady behind the counter did not speak English, a helpful gentleman in line spoke a little and directed us across the street, down one block and to the right. Well, as it turns out, this is the village of Bagatelle and NOT the parc du Bagatelle so we ended up walking another fifteen minutes with no results. We had gotten off the metro almost an hour ago with almost no progress towards finding the garden. At that point we walked in another direction for about fifteen minutes and happened upon an equestrian center. Thank goodness I decided to ask this lady coming out with her daughters after a lesson because she spoke English quite nicely and had obviously spent time in Britain judging from her accent. We were totally headed in the wrong direction and she pointed out the correct way on our map and added that we were quite far though. Murphy's Law. So were were off again back in the direction of the refreshment stand and when we reached that point we had another half-hour walk south to get to the garden. We had pretty much just spent an hour and a half wandering around and retracing our steps before heading in the correct direction with a feeling that we might actually get there.

Well, thank goodness the horse lady was right. About 45 minutes later our eyes lay upon the sparkling fenced entrance to the Parc du Bagatelle. It sure was a sight for sore feet since it was now almost noon. The park was well worth our trouble though. Even without the rose gardens the park was quite lovely all on its own. They had an exclusive restaurant there, lovely plantings, intimate paths through grottos filled with exotic plants, peacocks and more. We first enjoyed the small rose garden which was actually a testing ground for roses waiting to be chosen for distribution. They had small groups of roses planted with beds in various shapes and sizes and it was very enjoyable to walk through and see what they were growing. We certainly got a few good ideas for the gardens at home. And then we went to the big rose garden. Words escape us. There really isn't anything we could say to describe the jaw-dropping site of the millions of blooms and glorious colors spread across the acres of this formal rose garden.

After spending an hour or two on the highlight of our trip, it was time to say our goodbyes to this garden. We wrenched ourselves away and started...you guessed it...walking back towards the center of Paris. Rather than use the same Metro stop as when we arrived, we walked further and approached the Arc du Triomphe from afar gazing at it as we walked up the avenue. It was probably another good hour of walking before we arrived to ogle the Arch. It was just as stunning as we remembered it. And finally as our feet could go no more, we hopped on the Metro to give our tired dogs a little rest.

Our next stop was Notre Dame for a photo opportunity and to admire the incredible exterior cleansing job they are doing on the church. There was quite a stark difference between the newly cleaned sections which gleamed white and the rest of the building which was gray and soiled looking. And with 45 minutes to spare, we darted over to the Sainte Chappelle. While the sun didn't stay out like it should have to make our views of the stained glass from within the chapel even more incredible than you can imagine, it was plenty light and we spent a good deal of time admiring the craftsmanship and looking at all the different windows.

By this time we were more than ready for an early night, but of course if you are looking to eat in a restaurant this is pretty much impossible since dinner starts at 7 (if you really hunt around for a place that starts early). So we opted to head for the Latin quarter and have gyros at one of the greek sandwich shops there. We thoroughly enjoyed our early dinner and enjoyed having our feet up for a bit. Afterwards we walked over to the Ile de Saint Louis (another small island in the Seine) and strolled down the main drag there and treating ourselves to some amazing gelato that a friend had told us about.

It took all the energy we could muster to make it back to the room and rest up for another big day. Kim took advantage of the in-room Wi-Fi (or should we say they took advantage of her at 10¤ for two hours of Internet connection) and checked e-mail and sent out some pictures to everyone before getting a good night's rest.

Sunday, June 13, 2004
This morning we woke up nice and early to go to an antiques/flea market. Kim went down the street to the patisserie and fruit stand for breakfast fare and we had a quick meal in the room before heading to the northern part of the city at the Cligencourt Metro stop. It was a 45 minute trip. When we got there we thought it would be obvious where the market was, but it took a little hunting around and when we did find it there weren't antiques for sale, but t-shirts, underwear, African fertility idols, footwear and other knickknacks. It was a confusing rabbit warren of tables, stands, tents, shops and alleyways. When we finally got to the very center, there were indeed some antique dealers (mostly junk from what we saw), but they were just starting to open up. The guide book had said to go early which to Americans means go first thing in the morning, but to the Parisians, that seems to mean more like 11am. So while we didn't walk away with any precious antiquities, Kim had a tasty crépe and Stuart tried a hot and spicy Moroccan sandwich that consisted of chicken shish kebab and a suspicious looking bright red sausage. Kim was worried that it wasn't cooked, but the cook let her pick the one that Stuart ate and it was really, really good. We're glad to report that it's now evening and no signs of ptomaine to speak of.

After the long ride back into the city, we went to the Latin quarter and spent a luxurious hour strolling the Luxembourg Jardin. This used to be the private grounds of a royal palace, but is now a public park. We strolled amongst the long lines of elaborate trees, watched remote control sailboats being navigated across the reflection pool and checked out their amazingly well trained pear trees that were grown against trellises and pruned into the shape of big pitchforks. We also watched a very competitive Bocce tournament before heading down the road to the Musée Cluny, a Medieval museum famous for its unicorn tapestries.

After the Cluny Museum we enjoyed a leisurely Indian lunch and then popped back to the hotel room to consult the guide book on our next move. Our first stop was the latter part of the Promenade Plantée which we had hiked the first half of two days earlier. It was incredibly busy today though with some sort of event going on not to mention that everybody is out and about on the weekends. It took us about an hour to get to the end and after backtracking quite a bit to the Metro station, we headed to the Marais section of town where Kim had planned a walking tour with the help of her guide book.

While the whole neighborhood was worthwhile with lots of seventeenth century buildings, two landmarks stuck out. The first was the Place des Vosges which is the oldest square in Paris surrounded by ancient buildings. All kinds of famous people lived here over the centuries including Cardinal Richelieu and Victor Hugo. These are some of the oldest residences that we have seen in Paris and the whole effect reminded us very much of Prague. The other landmark that we particularly enjoyed was the rue des Rosiers, which was the old Jewish neighborhood which still has a large population of Hasidic Jews who returned after the retreat of the Nazis. Falafel stands and Kosher markets predominated mixed in with high-class fashion shops. It was very tight and crowded with a distinct medieval feel. We are told that one of the delicacies served in the restaurants is swans neck stuffed with sausage, but we didn't see any. Then again, we weren't able to identify many of the other foods we saw so for all we know we may have seen it and not recognized what it was.

After our long walk, we were ready for dinner and headed back over to Chinatown to the same Vietnamese restaurant we had enjoyed on our first night. It was so packed even at 8:45 that we had to wait fifteen minutes for a table. It was well worth it of course and our last evening in Paris has come to a quiet close.

Monday, June 14, 2004
Packed and out of the hotel by 9:30 and then it was off to the ATAC Super Marché for some wine to bring home and also to the nearby patisserie which specializes in tartellettes. I had a rhubarb one and Stuart had blueberry and we also sampled a few other items they had for sale, it being our last day and all.

After dropping the wine back at the hotel we were off and running to Le Marché des Fleurs over on the Ile de la Cité by Notre Dame. We wandered in and out of the flower booths, amazed at the huge plants and roses they sell in little tiny pots and all so healthy they must be giving them Miracle Grow three times daily. We thought that it was going to be all cut flowers, but most of what we saw were plants. Now we know where everyone gets their plants to put out on their tiny porches and in their window boxes...color that we oohed and ahhed over the whole trip but hadn't seen for sale anywhere up until now.

From here we hiked back over to the Latin quarter and found the disappointing fruit market. Just a couple of fruit stores selling their wares and it was supposed to be a spectacular array of produce. It was already noon, but I guess that Monday just isn't their day. Of course the reason behind the trip over to the Latin quarter wasn't entirely to look at fruit, but to revisit the winding alleyways that house what must be the world's largest Gyro selling neighborhood. There is a seemingly endless number of places to get a delicious gyro and we picked one that had a few tables and chairs inside. We enjoyed our last meal in Paris...gyros with a side order of grape leaves. Kim stopped to get one last crépe avec sucre (with sugar) before we headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags and head to the airport.

The Metro was so crowded it was brutal for a while, but then when we switched trains to head out to the airport it was much better. On the way to the airport you travel past small, very poor neighborhoods, but even still, the pride they have in their gardens is wonderful. Roses and other plants growing EVERYWHERE! The number of rose plants we saw growing in little parks and pretty much every nook and cranny, both within Paris and on the outskirts, was awesome. Check in went amazingly smooth and with the exception of the gate being about a mile hike from the security checkpoint, we're ready to head home and face the rest of the week...well, maybe not.