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Friday, June 29, 2001
I had a very restless night. Not even Excedrin PM could help. There was no breeze at all. In fact, around 2 am, I got up and opened the drapes, hoping that would improve the air circulation. My bed was directly in front of the large windows, but I didn’t care.
We finally gave up about 6:45 and got up. We decided to have breakfast in the hotel this morning. They have a decent buffet in the basement. The decor isn’t much, but the food is decent and the price is reasonable.
After breakfast, we took a short walk, looking for an open bank and/or an ATM machine. We were too early for the banks, so I gave up trying to cash some more travelers checks. The only people that will take travelers checks seem to be the banks! So we found an ATM machine and got some cash that way. I’m glad I got a PIN number for my credit card before leaving. It came in handy.
Then we headed back to the hotel to try to read up on the places Tom would take us to today. I had gotten him to give us a list of candidates yesterday. It helps to know what you’re looking at! We joined the group in the lobby at 10. Judy Levy wasn’t feeling very good, so she stayed close to the hotel today. I almost joined her, then I realized that I was just getting hot. I stepped outside and waited for the others on the sidewalk. It helped tremendously.
As we headed for the Metro, Rod discovered that he had accidentally thrown away his Metro tourist pass. He wound up buying another one.
We spent a lot of time hopping on the Metro today. Our first stop was the Chateau de Vincennes, on the east edge of the city. This was a royal fort and was built primarily for defense. The moats have been drained, but you can still see where they were. They also have a famous donjon here. A prince escaped from it once. There’s a book “Twenty Years After” written by either Alexander Dumas or Victor Hugo (I can’t remember which) which details this escape.
These four photos were all taken at Chateau du Vincennes. The photo on the left shows our first glimpse of the towers. The second photo shows the drained moat. The third photo shows another view from outside the Chateau. The photo on the right includes the lovely chapel.
These four photos were also taken at the Chateau. The photo on the left shows an ornate lamp post with the nice clouds behind it. The second photo shows the chapel and dry moat. The third photo shows one of the towers with the city buildings just beyond. The photo on the far right shows a view through one of the inner courtyard windows to the wall and tower beyond.
One wall of this fort is very interesting. It had partially burnt down and, when they rebuilt it, they used the existing wall in the new construction. There’s a wall growing out of one window - or so it appears (left photo below).
The photo in the center shows the view down the middle of the moat. The photo on the right is another view of one of the many towers.
Inside the fort is a very lovely chapel. It’s also called Ste. Chappelle! Must be a popular name for chapels. The photo on the left shows its rose window from the outside.
There was tour for school children going on at the time, so we weren’t allowed in. The one glimpse we got through the door was very nice. The children then sat down on the steps and sang a song (photo on the right). We clapped.
From there, we took the Metro to the Gare du Lyon, which is one of four major train stations in the city. We stood there and watched the trains come and go for a while. Lots of hustle and bustle. Some of the trains were like the U-bahns we took in Germany. Most were the high speed trains that connect Paris with other major cities in Europe. It was kind of exciting to watch.
The photo on the left shows one of the ornate staircases that lead from the main level of the train station to an upper observation platform. We took most of our photos from the top of these stairs. In fact, you can see three of our group already part way up the stairs.
Tom told us that, if you wanted to go from city center Paris to city center London, it was faster to take the train (and subways) than to get to the airport and fly. I believe it. Those trains are very fast.
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The three photos above show the very busy train platforms at the Gare du Lyon.
The photo on the left shows a gargoyle near the large staircase in the Gare du Lyon.
The photo on the right shows the clock tower marking the entrance to the Gare du Lyon.
From the train station, we walked back across the Seine and along the riverbank, past the Institut du Monde Arabe. It’s another stark, modern building. However, there’s a restaurant on top that allows a fantastic view of the city, or so we were told. It’s right on the river, so the view of Notre Dame must be great. Another one to remember for another trip.
From there, we wound our way up to the Pantheon, which is where the French have buried some famous people. Again, we didn’t go inside, but will save it for another trip. From there, we walked down the street to another Metro stop. This one was on the edge of the Luxemburg Gardens, another site that will have to await another trip. Sounds like I’m building quite a case to return to Paris, doesn’t it?
The photo on the left above and the center photo are different views of the Pantheon. The photo on the right shows people waiting for the Metro to arrive at the station. I just snapped this quickly while we waited.
This time, when we emerged from the Metro, we were in Montmartre and nearly at Sacre Coeur. This is the one place in Paris where the roads are steep. Most of the city is very flat. In fact, I wondered about flood control. The Seine has concrete sides and you can see where the water level is. It can’t get much higher than that or it would flood too many things. Yet, every picture I’ve seen of the Seine has the water level about the same height. They must have some really good flood control in place upstream.
We climbed up one street to get to the funicular that would take us up the steepest part of the hill. The Metro tourist passes are good for the funicular, so we bypassed the steps.... Sacre Coeur is quite something to see close up. It’s very white! Deb and I went inside for a while, but didn’t stay long. They had a service going on and we didn’t want to disturb it. The mosaic over the altar is fantastic!
The photo on the left above shows Sacre Coeur from near the Metro stop - our first view of the church. The center photo shows the Funicular and steps that lead up to Sacre Coeur. The photo on the right is a view of Sacre Coeur from almost directly in front of it!
Back outside, the rest of the group had found an organ grinder. He was quite congenial and liked having his picture taken.
The photo on the left and the center photo show some of the statues outside of Sacre Coeur. The center photo is a statue of Joan of Arc. The photo on the right shows the organ grinder. His monkey is in red on the left side of the photo. There were too many people crowded around the monkey for a good shot.
Near the base of the hill, we saw some of the only beggars we would encounter on this trip. The most pitiable one was the one that looked like he was buried to the hips in the sidewalk - no legs, not even stumps that connected to the hips. I couldn’t look at him.
We passed by the west side of Sacre Couer itself to descend the hill. This put us in a square that had a lot of artists in it. They were all selling their wares. Signs on some of the paintings said “No photos”. Several artists stopped members of our group offering to sketch them. All offers were declined.
The street scenes in this area were very interesting. In fact, several of our group returned here later for some photos with better lighting. From here, we found a Metro stop (Lamarck) and headed back to the hotel.
On the Metro back, we had our first run-in with pickpockets. At one stop, a group of young teens got on the train, pushing and shoving their way across. They struck me as odd, as they kept pushing into an area where there was no place to go. Then Tom suddenly yelled at one of the boys. The boy had been trying to open one of Adam’s pants pockets! As I remember, all that was in that pocket was unexposed rolls of film. Still, it was an experience. The other Metro riders supported what Tom did. At least one other bawled out the kids. The kids tried to laugh it off as if Tom were a crazy tourist. They left the train at the next stop.
This photo is of the Palais du Justice (police station) and one of the many tour buses found around the city. This one is one of those that you can get a two or three day ticket for and have on and off privileges, getting off at any stop and catching a later bus.
Once we returned to the hotel, we dropped our camera gear and had an early dinner as a group. Tom joined us. We returned to the Taverne at the corner for this dinner. I had veal steak with apples, fettuccini with raisins (?), and wine. I passed on dessert.
We returned to the hotel, after saying farewell to Tom. He was a good guide, considering that he had to work with us! He did a good job and showed us most of the highlights of the city. We wound up sitting in the lobby for a while, sharing a couple bottles of wine.
Finally gave up and went back to our room. We disassembled our tripods, getting them ready for packing. We had left them out in the hopes of getting an evening, twilight shoot in, with the lights of the city. However, it’s still pretty light at 10 pm this time of year, so we decided not to.
The Indian restaurant across the street from us had a major party going on tonight. The women were all in gorgeous saris and the men had on tuxedos or Nehru jackets. Interesting to watch, except for one thing. They talked quite loudly and the party went on well after midnight.