27 Jun - Wednesday the Louvre is open

Woke at 6 and went for a walk on the left bank?  Which ever bank was opposite our apartment. The morning was cool but not misty or rainy. Wandered  up the road from the Pont Sully. This was my first lone walk in Paris. There are so many apartments in Paris on narrow streets with little shops which at that hour were all closed. Charming and quiet.

Walked past the police station where they had large posters advertising the police in different roles; crowd control on horseback, polishing dress uniforms,  being snipers on a roof. Makes one think about different cultures. In Canada our policemen have to deal with drugs and gangs but somehow that photo of the sniper on the roof seemed to project a more dangerous situation for the gendarmes and police in Europe.

I continued up the street  and passed this odd looking kiosk on the street. I looked in and it looked like a place to rent cars?  I thought how? what? I found out later that there are lots of these little kiosks around the city where one can rent an electric car! Use your credit card, get the keys and directions to where the car is parked and a map to where there are other spots are in the city to drop it off when you are done. The next time I am in paris I will go into one but I will not rent a car as they drive crazy over there, especially the motorcycles who squeeze themselves into spaces not meant for a mouse.

Wandered up the street passing closed shops and came to a cafe "Le Weekend" so popped in and got a juice and used the facilities. A nice  little place that was already with customers and I needed a relief break. Followed the wider busier street and came to the circle with the bastille spire in the center. This was where the bastille was located before it was torn down by the mobs in the french revolution.

I decided to go back a different route and got myself a little lost. found the Rue du pas de la Mule and wondered why it was that no mules were allowed. Came to a nice park in a center square of old townhouse apartments with a synagogue behind iron bars on one side of the square.

While I was walking around the locked park, the police were rousting homeless people out from under the overhangs of area.  There were some plagues on the buildings which I investigated. It seems that Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, the Marquise de Sevigne was born in the hotel on the 6 feb 1626.  Who? It turns out, I found out when writing this blog that, according to Wikipedia, she was a french aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing. Most of her letters, celebrated for their wit and vividness, were addressed to her daughter. She is revered in France as one of the great icons of French literature.  

I continued on out of the square, passing a few small family groups still sleeping under overhangs a little farther down the street.  Window shopping past a variety of small shops I made a few wrong turns and wound up in a dead end narrow lane-way with imaginings of being mugged by homeless gypsies, but eventually found my way back to the river safe and sound and from there it was easy.

Went back to the apartment and Margie was up. We (Margie and I) had decided to get to the louvre by 830ish to beat the rush and be the first people in the door.  I had a shower, changed and grabbed a bite to eat. We all headed out around 815 to find the subway which it turned out was just on the other side of the river across the Pont Marie.

We were at the Louvre by 830ish. There were some young men trying to sell eiffle tower statuettes around the entrance gates but they were chased off repeatedly by police on horseback.

We met a nice Australian couple and Margie and the wife went and sat under the big horses ass, while we stood in line. Margie adds " I didn't realize we were under the horses ass when she took the picture!"  Maureen was a little grumpy as she does not like waiting in line or getting anywhere early so did not really take part in the conversation.

We were in at 9.  The Louvre is huge. Maureen had been there the last time she was in Paris and told us that it would be difficult to do more than the morning as our brain turns to mush after 3 or four hours of looking at art. Well, we were willing to turn our brains to mush in the pursuit of a personal art experience.

We wanted to see the Mona Lisa so figured out which section of the Louvre she was in and worked our way there. We saw statues, carved ceiling moulding, painted ceilings, Boticelli's, Rembrandt's, religious and political beautiful art everywhere! Art, Art, Art! Our brains were turning to mush and it was great!

Mona has her own room and when we got there a large crowd was standing in front of her so I wormed my way to the front and took a couple of shots, no flash, and wormed my way back out of the crush. There was a real nice painting of a young girl outside the Mona room also done by Leonardo and much easier to see.

We continued to wander around. We saw the hall where the tapestries are kept.  Very impressive. Margie forgot herself and almost touched one of them right beside where one of the guards was sitting and was scolded 'ne touche pas!' We all reacted. We had been so absorbed by how the tapestries had been made that any one of us might have been the one to touch the tapestry. We moved on.
The Louvre is huge. It is the largest art museum in the world and by one we were toast and had to leave to save our brains. Maureen was right. Yes-after awhile everything begins to look the same-which is not good! You cannot appreciate it anymore. So we were right to leave when we did to return another day.

The day was pleasant so we wandered through the gardens beside the louvre. The Trocadero? Lots of people but not too crowded as the park is very large and laid out with lots of side paths and statuary and gardens. Decided to take the metro to the opera house.

According to our map there was supposed to be a stop right by the louvre and the metro would be coming very often so we headed off.
In no time we were at the right stop and finding our way to the opera house. There had been stories about gypsies there but by this time Margie and I were old hands with gypsies so we did not worry. Actually, we didn't even see any. Margie did not have any good batteries so I went across the street and got her some. Made it back with time to spare before our tour.

The Opera house is very impressive with architecture that is over the top. Beautiful! We signed up for the tour (it comes with the Paris pass so why not). We did not have to wait long. Our tour guide was a gentleman who spoke quickly and walked even faster. Did manage to keep up and take photos for the first 30 minutes. got lots of great information.

Saw the miniature hall of mirrors, the peace room the war room, the main staircases and then Maureen and I were taking pictures of a very interesting ceiling and we lost the tour. They just disappeared. We went where we thought they had gone into the very dark theater but could not see or hear th;em.

We wandered all over the opera house and met with several other tour groups but not ours. Margie was with the tour and was sad that we were missing all the great information that she was getting. But we saw things that she did not see. We saw the library with all the old scores of all the operas performed at the house. We saw the costume rooms with some really spectacular costumes. We saw the gift shop where we bought souvenirs.
The tour went into the opera house by the stage but it was very dark in there as they were doing some work in the building and Dennie and Maureen missed us in the dark.
We waited in the main lobby for Margie, hoping that the tour didn't end in some strange location and that we would not miss her or not run into each other until we got back to the apartment. We did meet Margie again and she told us all about the part of the tour that we missed. It sounded very interesting.
We picked up a quick lunch (the best food I had had in Paris so far, the Eiffle tower included) And the lowest prices! at a little sandwich shop in the metro station and took the metro back to notre dam and  made our way back to the Apartment where we all had a nap.
Around 6 we went back to Notre dame and found out that our show that we bought tickets for had actually already happened the night before. We had misread the day on the ticket. We couldn't get into the Saint Chappelle, it was full.
We caught the bato bus.
We watched the people on the river banks. Every night that it is not raining they come out and congregate, large groups, singles, couples, small groups, people dancing, people playing games. All so young, so alive, so French. (although I am sure that more a than a few were tourists).

The river boats only go in one direction and we took it just a few stops to the gardens stop just past the notre dame stop. The evening was lovely and warm so we walked back along the river past the people we had just seen from the river. the next time I am in Paris I will buy one of those great little sandwiches from the sandwich bar and go to the river to eat it.

We walked along the river and found a pink river boat called Six Huit to have dinner on.  The meal was very nice, curried chicken and I had crepes, and the lights on the river cruises and batobuses going by were blindingly bright. The waiter kept giving us the bill early and he changed the bill for each new thing that we ordered. The dog on the boat was a cute terrier and the view of Notre dame in the evening was lovely. I really enjoyed the meal on this boat. The weather was mild and the evening pretty especially with that view of Notre Dame right beside us.

After dinner we walked back across bridges toward the plaza in front of Notre dame. An accordian player entertained us with french music. In front of Notre Dame we saw some young men dancing and  then in the square were dancers, fire dancing in front of Notre dame cathedral.

Lots of tourists out enjoying the warm evening.
wandered back to our apartment, planning thursdays events.  up early again tomorrow so right to bed when we got home.  We got to sleep at midnight and all slept very well.

26 Jun - The Louvre is Closed on Tuesdays

Margie and I woke up early, dressed and, since we had made plans with Maureen the night  before to meet her at the louvre at noon, we let her sleep and were out the door with almost no noise. We got better at it each day with more practise!

We walked across the bridge to the metro and took it to the louvre stop. We found a little cafe and had breakfast. The washrooms were the thing that I remember most about this cafe. Like lots of places in Paris the washrooms are downstairs. While waiting my turn in the narrow hallway I spied an open door with more old stone stairs leading down to who knows where. There was  oddest sign on the wall inside, a person sitting down and looking quite asleep or dead.  The sign said Danger D'Asphyxie en cas de fuit.??

At that moment after I had taken a picture of the sign a waiter came up from wherever the staircase led and closed the door. I wonder how many dangerous basement rooms there are in old Paris, quite a few I would imagine. Margie and I both had a chuckle over it.
We found our way to the pyramids by 830 so that we would not be in line or at least at the front of the line It was a misty kind of morning and there were almost no people there at all. We went up to the guards inside the pyramid and found out that the Louvre was Closed on Tuesdays. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays ???
It was by this time misting heavily. What to do? We decided to go to the Musee D'Orsay, just across the river.

Through the lion gate and across the river we sallied forth only to be accosted by gypsies picking up lost golden rings that were not lost. Margie and I both knew that the rings that were magically scooped up in the hands of the approaching person had not been there before the person scooped it up, as the cobblestone walkways makes one pay close attention to where one is putting ones feet for fear of twisting an ankle if one is not mindful.  'Had we lost a ring?' they would ask. 'No' we would answer. They did do it very well and if we had not being paying such close attention to the cobblestone walkways we might not have known that there was no ring before it was scooped up and presented with such a well rehearsed method of believability. I am not sure how much money they get as a reward for "finding" the lost ring from people who had never lost a ring but obviously enough that the gypsies felt it was a worthwhile endeavor and continued to do it to the millions of tourists who came to Paris.  The next time I go to Paris I might find out how much it costs to get back a ring I never lost. We made it to the Dorsee, which is on old train station redone into a museum, and through the other gypsies selling umbrellas.

We were pretty fast getting into the Musee Dorsee and it was great. Lots of paintings that we did not take any pictures of because we misunderstood the sign that said no flash photography. We thought it meant no photography, period. So much for universal sign comprehension. Yes the picture meant "No Flash" so we could have taken pictures of all the impressionists that Dennie really loves!

 There were the impressionists, lots of them. Vincent, Degas, lots of Degas, Monet, lots of Monet, Manet, Renoir, Pissarro. So many great paintings.  Religious, medieval, flowers, dead animals, country landscapes, modern. Need I go on. So many great statues. We could have stayed longer but had to go to the Louvre to meet Maureen at noon.

When we left I looked for something with Degas' little ballerina in a couple of their gift shops but they did not have anything with her on it. Lots of Monet but surprisingly, no Degas. I did of course buy some postcards.

When we left the Dorsee, as we were crossing the bridge back to the louvre, we were again accosted by gypsies doing the ring thing including a mother and her very young daughter. Train them young.

Met Maureen at the Louvre at noon with no problem. We walked out into the Park and Gardens next to the Louvre. The Tuilerie gardens are lovely really. Lots of statues and fountains and benches and little food stands with tables and chairs under the trees and waiters to take care of you just like in a Renoir painting.
A view on cities says 

"In the early 16th century the area was a clay quarry for tiles (tuilerie in French, hence the name). After the death of her husband Henri II in 1559, Catherine de Médicis had a Palace built at the tuileries, the Palais de Tuileries. The palace featured a large garden in Italian style, reminding her of her native Tuscany.

Between 1660 and 1664 the garden was 

redesigned in French formal style by André Le Nôtre, the celebrated gardener of the Sun King, best known for his design of the gardens at the Versailles Palace. Le Nôtre built a terrace along the riverbank and opened up a central axis which he extended three years later with the creation of the Champs-Elysees.
The Jardin des Tuileries was one of the first parks to open to the public and it quickly became a place to see and be seen. Even in the 18th century the park featured amenities such as cafes, kiosks, deck chairs and public toilets.
The Palais des Tuileries, situated near the Arc du Carrousel, was razed in 1871 by the Communards, opening up the view from the

 Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe. 

Most recently renovated in 1990, Le Nôtre's formal design of the Tuileries garden has been kept intact. At the same time the park was separated from car traffic. Many modern sculptures were added and in 1999 the Passerelle de Solférino (now the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor), a footbridge across the Seine opened, linking the Tuileries with the  Musee D'Orsay.  

The Jardin des Tuileries is one of those parks where you can grab a chair for free and sit wherever you like.It also features several fountains, two large basins, numerous sculptures and two museums, the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume and the Musée de l'Orangerie, which displays Claude Monet's large water lily paintings . Those two buildings are the only remains of the original Palais de Tuileries.. We wandered through the gardens and then after much confusion and looking for the right bus stop we caught the red bus next to the river abut three blocks away.  Of the several tour buses in Paris, the Red bus had the least number of stops of all of them but they are part of the Paris pass so we used them.

Passed many places including the Champs Eleysee, the Arc de Triomphe,  the Place do la Concorde, the opera, the Eiffle tower, the Musee d'Orsay and did not get off at any of them. Margie wanted to but we were tired. Our legs were starting to give out on us after the Mont Saint Michelle stairs and the Eiffel tower stairs and all the walking we had already done. It was nice to just ride around. but the next time I am in Paris.

We got off at Notre Dame and shopped our way home. There are lots of souvenir and gift shops on both the Ile de la Cite and Saint Louis. I saw a puppet shop with old fashioned marionettes. Margie picked up lots of things for all of her crew. Maureen and I picked up a few things too. Back at the apartment we showed each other what treasures we had bought. So much fun!

That evening we all went to the music concert  at the Saint Chappelle, Maureens favorite place in Paris. It is located at the police station or hall of justice (the Palais de la Cite I found out later) and it is beautiful. A small chapel compared with the large cathedrals we had been into, but every side of the upper walls of the chapel were stained glass. A really magical place. I loved this concert! It made me want to take up the violin! It was several violins and wonderful!

According to Wikipedia : it is a royal medieval Gothic chapel, located near the Palais de la Cite, on the Ile de la Cite in the heart of Paris. Begun some time after 1239 and consecrated on the 26th of April 1248, the Sainte-Chapelle is considered among the highest achievements of the Rayonnant period of gothic architecture. Its erection was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion Reilcs, including Christ's Crown of Thorns - one of the most important relics in medieval Christendom.With the Palais de la Cité, today called La Conciergerie, the Sainte-Chapelle is one of the surviving buildings of the Capetian royal palace on the Ile de la Cite. Although damaged during the French revolution, and restored in the 19th century, it retains one of the most extensive in-situ collections of 13th century stained glass anywhere in the world. 

The Parisian palatine chapel, built to house a reliquary, was itself like a precious reliquary turned inside out (with the richest decoration on the inside). Although the interior is dominated by the stained glass, every inch of the remaining wall surface and the vault was also richly coloured and decorated. Analysis of remaining paint fragments reveal that the original colours were much brighter than those favoured by the 19th century restorers and would have been closer to the colours of the stained glass. The quatrefoils of the dado arcade were painted with scenes of saints and martyrs and inset with painted and gilded glass, emulating Limoges enamels, while rich textiles hangings added to the richness of the interior. Above the dado level, mounted on the clustered shafts that separate the great windows, are 12 larger-than-life-sized sculpted stone figures representing the 12 Apostles (six of these are replicas - the damaged originals are now in the Musée du Moyen Age). Each carries a disk marked with the consecration crosses that were traditionally marked on the pillars of a church at its consecration. Niches on the north and south sides of the chapel are the private oratories of the king and of his mother, Blanch of Castile.

Despite some damage the windows display a clear iconographical programme. The three windows of the eastern apse illustrate the New Testament, featuring scenes of The Passion (centre) with the Infancy of Christ (left) and the Life of John the Evangelist (right). By contrast, the windows of the nave are dominated by Old Testament exemplars of ideal kingship/queenship in an obvious nod to their royal patrons. The cycle starts at the western bay of the north wall with scenes from the Book of Genesis (heavily restored). The next ten windows of the nave follow clockwise with scenes from Exodus, Joseph, Numbers/Leviticus, Joshua/Deuteronomy, Judges, (moving to the south wall) Jeremiah/Tobias, Judith/Job, Esther, David and the Book of Kings. 
The final window, occupying the westernmost bay of the south wall brings this narrative of sacral kingship right up to date with a series of scenes showing the rediscovery of Christ's relics, the miracles they performed, and their relocation to Paris in the hands of King Louis himself. The most famous features of the chapel, among the finest of their type in the world, are the great Stained glass windows, for whose benefit the stone wall surface is reduced to little more than a delicate framework. Fifteen huge mid-13th century windows fill the nave and apse, while a large rose window with Flamboyant tracery (added to the upper chapel c.1490) dominates the western wall.

The Parisian scholastic Jean de Jandun praised the building as one of Paris's most beautiful structures in his "Tractatus de laudibus Parisius" (1323), citing "that most beautiful of chapels, the chapel of the king, most decently situated within the walls of the kings house."

After Sainte-Chapelle we walked over to the Apartment via Notre Dame, chatting about the concert and Sainte-Chapelle. We browsed in the shops along the way.
We made it back to the apartment by 10 and when we went to bed there were lights on the ceiling flickering different colours as the tour boats on the river went by.  How nice, lights on the ceiling tofall asleep to which happened very quickly.

The bridges of Paris day by day.

Paris has 37 bridges across the Seine, of which 3 are pedestrian only and 2 are rail bridges. Three link Ile Saint Louis to the rest of Paris, 8 do the same for Ile de la cite and one links the 2 islands to each other. A list follows, from upstream of the city to downstream:

Pont de la Pont de Tolbiac - never saw it

Passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir (pedestrian),  - never saw it



Pont de Bercy (made up of a railway bridge carrying the Line 6 of the Paris Metro and another stage for road traffic) ; - saw it as a bridge in the distance from other bridges.

Pont Charles-de-Gaulle (1996) - saw this bridge in the distance when we,  Maureen and I, were walking to the apartment on the 23rd Saturday morning and from other bridges and from the boat tours.

Viaduc D'Austerlitz (railway bridge used for Line 5 of the métro), directly followed on the Rive Droite by the viaduc du quai de la Rapee, - saw this bridge when we, Maureen and I, were walking to the apartment on the 23rd saturday morning and from other bridges and from the boat tours

Pont d'Austerlitz - did see this bridge when we, Maureen and I, were walking to the apartment on the 23rd, saturday morning, and again on the boat cruise and bateau bus excursions we took throughout the week.

Pont de Sully constructed 1875-1876 made of cast iron (crosses the eastern corner of Île Saint-Louis from one bank of the seine to the other) - used this one on the morning of  the 28 when I went for a walk by myself to the rive droit....and saw it again from the river on the boat cruise and bateau bus excursions we took throughout the week.

Pont de la Tournelle a reinforced concrete bridge which has a large statue of St Genevieve (between the Rive Gauche and the Île Saint-Louis)-  Margie and I did this one on Saturday morning of the 24th on our way to find the Bateau bus place.... and saw it again from the river on the boat cruise and bateau bus excursions we took throughout the week.

Pont Marie constructed 1614-1635 masonry  one of the three oldest bridges in Paris (between Île Saint-Louis and the rive droite) - We used this one on the Friday the 23 to go shopping and I used this one on the morning of the 28th when I went for a walk early by myself.   This was the bridge that was closest to our apartment.... and we saw it again from the river on the boat cruise and bateau bus excursions we took throughout the week.

Pont Louis-Phillipe originally a suspension bridge in 1825 it was replaced by a masonry bridge in 1862 (between Île Saint-Louis and the rive droite) On Tuesday and Wednesday Margie, Maureen and  and I used this one to go to the Louvre 

Pont Saint-Louis  current foot bridge 1969-1970 replaced many times (pedestrian only between Île de la Cité and the Île Saint-Louis) - We used this bridge alot when we were going to and from the Cathedral, Saint Chappelle and the Ile de la Cite. There were lots of musicians and buskers on this one almost every evening.

Pont de l'Archeveche  the narrowest bridge across the siene and one covered in locks. (between the rive gauche and Île de la Cité) - saw it again from the river on the boat cruise and bateau bus excursions we took throughout the week.  used this one on the night we had dinner on the lovely boat on the river.

Pont au Double was a toll bridge in 1625 of masonry; rebuilt in 1884, sagged in 1847 so was rebuilt again in 1882 made of cast iron covered in copper (between the rive gauche and Île de la Cité) Walked under this bridge on way to dinner on boat and saw it again while walking around Notre dame and from the river on the boat cruise and bateau bus excursions we took throughout the week.

Pont d'Arcole 1854 metal (between Île de la Cité and the rive droite) I am sure we went on this bridge I am just not sure when. Saw it again from the river on the boat cruise and bateau bus excursions we took throughout the week. 

Petit Pont Possible the earliest bridge site in paris rebuilt many times of wood. in 1186 rebuilt of stone and restored eleven times 1852 current masonry bridge. (between the rive gauche and Île de la Cité) I think we used this bridge the night of our dinner going back over to the cathedral square. Saw it again from the river on the boat cruise and bateau bus excursions we took throughout the week

Pont Notre-Dame Oldest historic crossing with many wooden bridges prior to 1512 rebuilt of masonry and now combined steel and masonry. (between the Île de la Cité and the rive droite) Saw it again from the river on the boat cruise and bateau bus excursions we took throughout the week

Pont Saint Michel since 1407 many wooden bridges on site; in 1897 masonry, a large N in medallions on the bridge (between the Rive Gauche and the Île de la Cité) We saw this one  on the 24th June coming back from after not finding the bateau bus.

Pont au Change 1441 King Louis VII ordered all of the exchanges into the same area on and around this bridge. (between the Île de la Cité and the Rive Droite)

Pont Neuf -The Oldest bridge in Paris May 31 1578-1607 the ? something done by Catherine de Medicis. there is a statue of Henry IV (crossing the west corner of the Île de la Cité, Paris's oldest bridge, built between 1578 and 1607) We went on this one on the 24th  on our way back from looking for the bateau bus 

Passerelle des Arts 1803 and rebuilt in 1882 of metal with a wood walkway (pedestrian) - Margie and I crossed this one Sunday Morning and I met two very drunk young men sitting on a bench in the middle of the bridge. when I said what a lovely view one of the young men said 'it is a f***ing lovely panorama' ... very funny. we saw it again from the river on the boat cruise and bateau bus excursions we took throughout the week.

Pont du Carrousel 1834 and rebuilt in 1935 (as seen from the Passerelle ses Arts) - I belive that this is the one at the end of the Musee Dorsay. It has 4 statues on it depicting 4 we went under this one for sure. 

Pont Royal - 1685 we did this one

Passerelle Leopold-Sedar-Senghor (1999) a metal footbridge since 1859 and rebuilt in 1993 (pedestrian, formerly the Passerelle de Solférino, renamed in 2006) it has 2 arcs which allow for the passage of people to different levels on each side of the river.

Pont de la concorde - I think we did this one on the red bus

Pont Alexandre III -  1900 for the Worlds Fair very decorated and with 4 Golden statues I think we did this one on the red bus and under by boat.

Pont des Invalides -

 Pont de l'Alma - 

 Passerelle Debilly (pedestrian) - 

 Pont d'lena - 

 Pont de Bir-Hakeim (crossing the Île aux Cygnes, comprising one stage with a railway bridge carrying Line 6 of the Paris Metro and another for road traffic) saw this one from the boat very cool with a great green statue of a guy on a horse

Pont Rouelle (rail viaduct for line C of the RER crossing the ile aux Cygnes) we may have seen this one from the RER to Vesailles

Pont de Grenelle (crossing the Île aux Cygnes) we may have seen this one on Monday from the bus for Mont St Michelle and on friday from the RER to Vesailles

Pont Mirabeau - we saw this one on Monday from the tour bus from Mont St Michele on the way back after a five hour bus ride  ...It was green. 

Pont du Garigliano - we may have seen this one from the  bus on Monday for Mont St Michelle and on friday on the RER to Vesailles

Pont aval (used by the boulevard périphérique, at the river's exit from the city - we may have seen this one on Monday on the bus to Mont St Michelle and on Friday from the RER to Vesailles