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Paris – Day 4
By Laurie | November 5, 2011
I was up early again on this day, and we decided to try a new boulangerie on Rue Cler for our breakfast quiche. We forgot to ask for “chaud” (hot), but we still ate it as we made our way to the metro. Would you believe it was still really good cold? I am actually craving quiche (and macarons) as I write this!
Our morning destination was the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Upon exiting the metro, there it was!
Notice how blue the sky is? Every day that we were in Paris was absolutely gorgeous. We were hoping it would be a little bit cooler, but truly there was never a drop of rain and the heat was never unbearable. We got very lucky. We made our way across the street and posed for a few closer pictures next to the Seine.
The lines were not too long as it was still pretty early. We decided to skip going up to the bell tower (one of my trip regrets) and got in line to tour the inside of the church. This was my favorite building we saw in Paris. I was in awe of the beautiful details both on the outside and inside. It is amazing to realize that you are standing in and looking at something so old.
My photos really did not do the carvings and the gorgeous stained glass justice. I took pictures of a lot of things I found interesting inside, but most did not photograph well either due to my camera or the flash. Next time I definitely want to have a better camera to capture everything.
A service started at noon while we were walking around. I found it so strange they allow hundreds of tourists to just walk around freely during these times. I was even more amazed that there is a gift shop out in the open on the floor of the church. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that in a place that is still open and not just a tourist or historical attraction.
Once we exited it was time for lunch. We spotted several cafes across the street from the Cathedral, so we made our way over. A lot of them sell items to go, but if you sat down at the tables it actually costs more for the same food! Of course after you have been on your feet for several hours walking around it is worth it to relax, enjoy your Coke and do some people watching. We also had new view of the Cathedral.
After lunch we headed over to the Tuileries Garden. There were a lot of people just sitting out in the chairs in front of the water sunning or reading. I really enjoyed the way people in Paris spent their free time. You don’t really see many people just sitting around parks and enjoying just “being” in the US. It was a nice change of pace. We selected two chairs (each one was numbered) and did some people watching and relaxing before walking over to Musée de l’Orangerie. This was my favorite of all the museums we went to. Monet has always been among my favorite painters, and this is where his Water Lilies are displayed.
Just as most people need a photo of themselves in front of the Mona Lisa, I had to have my photo with the Lilies. There are two oval rooms that house the eight huge paintings, and it is truly impressive. When we go back to France, Monet’s residence in Giverny is on my must-do list. I would love to see his inspiration for these paintings in person.
After the museum, we took the metro back to Saint-Germain-des-Prés. I had decided to splurge on a Louis Vuitton as my big souvenir of the trip, and I had read that this location was much less crowded than some of the others. After about 30 minutes of browsing, trying on, and setting off alarms, I walked out with my shopping bag in hand. I still haven’t carried it and we’ve been home a month, but hopefully it will make its debut by Christmas. I have always said that if I ever got one I wanted it to be from Paris and one that was made in France. Did you know that all Louis Vuittons are not made there? It’s true! I have taken it out of the dust cover a few times, so here’s a photo along with the mini pochette accessories we got at Galeries Lafayette on our last day in Central Paris (more on that on Day 6).
After our long day of walking, museum-going and shopping we headed back to our hotel for a picnic of sandwiches and other things we gathered from the nearby grocery store.
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We also bought some macarons from Christophe Roussel on rue du Champs de Mars around the corner from our hotel. I tried Lavender Apricot, Mojito, and Framboise. Yum! If these things were not so expensive we would have bought a lot more. Aren’t they so pretty too? Almost too pretty to eat, but somehow we managed to make it home with no macarons! We also bought some of their chocolate bars as gifts, and luckily they found their way to the intended recipient’s hands instead of our own mouths. |
After resting for awhile and freshening up, we decided to head out to Centre Pompidou (the largest museum of modern art in Europe) which was our fourth museum of the trip! I was determined to make the most of the Museum passes we got. Unfortunately when we finally got there (it ended up being a long walk from the metro), there was only an hour before closing. It is really cool looking on the outside (and again there were locals just sitting and laying down on the ground outside), but I really slacked on taking photos after Notre-Dame on this day for some reason. It is 7 stories, and you ride a huge escalator to the top. I loved the view, and since it was at night we could see the Eiffel Tower and Sacre-Coeur way off in the distance. My photos did not really come out, but trust me when I say it was awesome to see.
We were kind of at a loss on where to start with the art because this museum was so large. We spotted an exhibition of Edvard Munch, so we headed that way since our time was running out. It was a really interesting exhibit, though it did not feature the painting most people would know him for– The Scream. He liked to recreate his paintings, so one of the rooms consisted of about 10 different versions of the same vision. I would recommend the exhibit and especially the view at night. We didn’t even scratch the surface of this museum, but perhaps we will make it back again. We called it a night after that, except for a quick late night trip to McDo for free Wi-Fi and ahem, Chicken McNuggets on the way back to the metro. Yes, they taste the same in Paris.
To be continued…
Topics: Paris | 2 Comments »
WOW, just wow! I love reading your vacation posts! Can’t wait for more my friend!
Posted by: StaceyThanks Stacey! I am enjoying writing them too and remembering everything that happened. It is making me want to go back even sooner!
Posted by: Laurie