St. Martin Canal, St. Germain & St. Sulpice

The shops along Canal St. Martin

On Tuesday, we started off at Canal St. Martin. My mom said, “There’s not too much action going on,” but that’s probably because we went to early in the day for much to be going on. That, and the fact that she was just looking down at the cobblestone sidewalk where there’s hardly ever any action! Anyways, lesson learned – visit Canal St. Martin in the evening to get the true experience. Regardless, it was a nice walk and it was fun to see the canal “cruise boat” go through the dams and changing water levels.

The dams along Canal St. Martin

Next up, a bathroom break at good old McD’s where I also got a Cafe Noisette – which I just learned means espresso with milk. Nice little pick me up (it’s literally a shot of espresso with milk in a tiny cup).

We walked to Pere Lachaise Cemetery, which was quite an undertaking. Although I must admit that it lacked the charm (and the cats) of the Montemarte Cemetery.

We did see the graces of Bizet, James Morrison, Sara Bernhardt (whose tombstone was romantic, but not over-the-top) and Oscar Wilde (whose Egyptian-themed, lipstick-covered gravestone was very over-the-top, in the best way). But I’m proud to say that Chopin’s grave was the most adorned with flowers and mementos. Then again, maybe that’s because it’s the year of Chopin.

Bizet's tomb at Pere Lachaise Cemetery

Random but beautiful tomb at Pere Lachaise Cemetery

Oscar Wilde's tomb at Pere Lachaise Cemetery

Chopin's tomb

I also stopped at Victor Noir’s grave – his tombstone was him lying down, and the bulge in his crotch was rubbed bronze, from so many visitors rubbing it. I wasn’t sure who Noir was or what his crotch was symbolic of, but I gave it a quick rub too, just in case! I just Wikipeda-ed him, and apparently Noir was a French journalist and his tomb is recognized as a fertility symbol. Oops…

Getting through the cemetery was truly an exhausting mission – it is HUGE – so good thing we had a bag of madeleines to fuel us.

Finished, we hopped onto Bus 69 per Rick Steves’s recommendation (it apparently goes past a lot of the big tourist destinations). Two stops later, we were at the end of the line since we got on the bus going the wrong way. Once we actually got going the right way, though, it was smooth sailing & sightseeing. We hopped off at Hotel Deville and finally made it across to St. Germain.

At last we were at St. Germain des Pres church, which is the oldest one in Paris. The inside was beautifully painted in deep navy blues and burgundies, which apparently used to be the preferred interior decoration of churches back in the day.

Inside St. Germain des Pres. The photo doesn't do these colors justice.

Next on our church tour was St. Sulpice – scene of the Da Vinci Code! In my mind, I was expecting some small church, but that must have been a different scene from the book/movie, because this church was huge! My highlights from St. Sulpice:

• Altar with some saint and skeleton (yes, I know my detailed and well-researched descriptions are breathtaking). Similar in theme to the one I saw at St. Peter’s Basilica.
• Main altar, where a figure of the Virgin Mary was floating on 3D stone clouds coming out of the altar.
• The scientifically-structured monument built in a way that the sun hits its golden ball and marks the solstices. I believe this was the key part of the church for the Da Vinci Code.

After the church, we explored the St. Germain neighborhood, which is lined with cute boutique shops and expensive designer stores. And how could we leave without strolling down Rue Bonaparte? Lots of cool antique shops, too. As darkness fell, the area continued to get livelier with people dining and drinking at all the cafes. We decided to dine & drink back at Latin Quarter.

Cute boutique in the St. Germain neighborhood

Cafe near Rue Bonaparte

After dinner, I guided my mom on the Rick Steves nightwalk through the two islands (Ile St. Louis & Notre Dame) in reverse. We gazed at the spotlit Notre Dame and crossed over to Ile St. Louis. It was a nice, calm, quiet walk – except that I had to pee really bad after all that wine I had for dinner! I ended up having to run into a random pizzeria in Marais to relieve myself (wait, is that the right phrase?). As I tried to stroll out nonchalantly, one of the waiters asked me something in French along the lines of “bien?” Apparently, I wasn’t as nonchalant as I hoped to be when I ran in! And that was my classy ending to a long day in Paris.

Putzing around Paris

…as my mom would say.

Our first destination for the day was the old opera house. But that didn’t stop us from getting distracted by some shopping on Rue de Rivoli and at Desigual. But eventually, we finally made it to the Palais Garnier (opera house).

The Grand Staircase

The Palais Garnier is very beautiful and extravagant – I loved the intricate marble Grand Staircase. Chicago’s opera house seems to pale in comparison. Actually, it seems like even Warsaw’s opera is nicer than the Lyric. Or maybe I just didn’t look around enough my one time there.

Chagall's ceiling

The Grand Foyer at the Paris Opera

The other cool thing about Le Palais is the more-modern Chagall-painted ceiling. It’s also nice that you can step outside on the balcony.

Sidenote: As I was looking for links to include, I checked out the Wikipedia page for the Palais Garnier and learned that several buildings in Poland were actually based on the design of this opera house.

Ok, back to my story.

As long as we were by the area, we dropped into Galleries LaFayette to see the gorgeous, colorful dome. Even more gorgeous were all the designer clothes and purses! Besides drooling over the Louis Vuitton, Dior and more, I actually found some cute, more affordable stuff, too. But I didn’t buy anything. For now.

Dome at Galleries Lafayette

I was feeling quite tired and cranky at this point, so we grabbed some brochures from the tourism office, bought a couple chocolate croissants and headed to Tuileries to sit down. Deja vu! While it felt good to sit down, it was quite chilly, so it was time to move again.

Sunny (but cold) afternoon at the Tuileries Gardens

We walked over to the Place Madeleine to pee in the Art Nouveau toilets. I had high expectations, and they were pretty much met. If only all public toilets looked like that!

But of course the (other) real reason we headed to the plac was to see the Ste-Marie Madeleine church. It certainly did have a lot of columns, as advertised.

Since we were in the area, I went ahead and bought a bunch of macaroons from Laduree.

A cold & gloomy day in Paris

Our second day out, it was pretty cold and gloomy (again). My mom and I started walking towards the Seine River and detoured towards Place des Vosges. But first, a second detour for coffee and croissants.

Park at Place des Vosges

Place des Vosges was nice. It’s basically a big square with a park in the middle, and closed off by buildings housing various art galleries and cafes. The park in the center is quite charming, with rows of trees and benches, and the surrounding art galleries are interesting to visit. Oh, and Victor Hugo’s house is here as well. To be honest, it was just too cold for me to enjoy much of anything this morning!

Braving the cold, we finally made it to the river and beyond. We visited the Pantheon (well, we visited the outside) as the sun peeked out for two minutes.

After a pit stop at a public toilet (more complicated than it sounds), we explored the Latin Quarter. I was glad to have more time to walk around this area since I didn’t explore it that well the first time (despite our hotel being located in this neighborhood).

Strolling through the Latin Quarter

Our goal was to head towards Saint-Germain-des-Prés, but on the way we made impromptu stops at two other churches.

Saint Severin church

Saint-Séverin was cozily situated in the Latin Quarter, its walls forming part of the narrow pathways into the neighborhood. Inside, the main attraction were these very modern stained-glass windows designed by some contemporary artist. But I have to admit, I prefer the old-school, traditional stained-glass windows. Although it was an interesting concept to juxtapose that old church with its modern windows.

Inside Saint Severin church

At this point, it started to rain again and it was quite cold and windy. I couldn’t take it anymore!

We gave up and headed back to the room for a nap under the warm covers. As much as we didn’t want to leave the room and head back into the rain, a girl’s gotta eat.

After laying in bed for an hour reading about recommended restaurants, we just went to a random cafe across the street, Cafe du Temple. The decor was….interesting. The cafe was decorated in animal prints, feather boas and Marilyn Monroe plates. However, the hostess was super nice and the food was really good – it ended up being an Italian spot.

I had this delicious spinach and sheep’s milk pasta/canoli thing. And a little chocolate mousse for dessert. In addition to our red wine, the hostess even hooked us up with some post-dining, nutty liquor. Altogether, a very satisfying meal!

Update based on a comment from my mom: “Restaurant was Italian-Sardinian, the liquor was chesnut schnapps, the best ever, and remember, the mousse was served from a pot, you could just dig in and take as much as you wanted. I want to go back!”

Montmartre has my heart!

Our first full day in Paris, we tackled Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. I didn’t get to explore this area at all my first time in Paris, and we easily spent an entire day in the neighborhood.

The streets of Montmartre

Montmartre

Montmartre is how I imagined Paris – narrow, cozy streets lined with cafes serving cafe au lait and crepes, with faded red-painted exteriors. Plenty of roaming cats. A piano player in one cafe, another across the street. Just the feel of those old buildings and stone walls with climbing greenery is the country-in-the-city feel I pictured.

Montmartre

Cafes along the streets of Montmartre

Piano player in a Montmartre cafe

Sacre Coeur is beautiful, but it’s almost more impressive from further away, when it looks more distant and untouchable, floating on the horizon, than when you’re standing on the steps leading up to the church, surrounded by tourists and street vendors. Oh, and armed guards. Like, heavily armed. With AK-47s.

Sacre Coeur

Overall, I enjoyed visiting the church. The huge mosaic on the ceiling of Jesus with his golden heart is beautiful and inviting.

At that point, it was time for a break and a crepe!

Then, we went to check out the Dali Museum in Montmartre. It was interesting because it focused more on his sketches and sculptures than his traditionally-known art. His illustrations were actually quite interesting, including ones inspired by Alice in Wonderland and Romeo & Juliet.

Here’s a quote from Dali: “The speed of time, while precise in scientific use, is widely variable in human perception.”

As we tried to locate the two remaining windmills on the hill, Moulin Gallette, we stumbled across the Cimetiere de Montmartre and decided to go in.

I’m so glad we did, because the cemetery was beautiful. It was wooded just enough to create the proper atmosphere without getting too dark and creepy. And it truly felt like fall with the colorful leaves on the trees and in heaps in the aisles, and chestnuts on the ground. The perfect season to wander around a cemetery.

Dalida's grave at Cimetiere de Montmartre

There were beautiful tombstones and we visited the graves of singer Dalida, painter Degas, composer Offenbach, dancer Nijinsky, Adolphe Sax and others.

Nijinsky's grave at the Cimetiere de Montmartre

Polish poet Jules Slowacki's grave

But the best part was all the cats roaming around (yes, I know I’m a crazy cat lady) and chilling on the tombstones. It was the perfect scene – quiet, calm, with few people around and just these silent, feline observers. And of course I saw a couple black cats. The detour ended up being one of the highlights of our tour through the neighborhood.

Black cat at Cimetiere Montmartre de Paris

Me-ow

Note to visitors: if you’re strolling through the cemetery, take a photo of the map at the entrance that shows where all the famous people are buried. Otherwise you will spend lots of time wandering around and trying to find them. Which is what we did until I finally walked all the way back to the map and snapped a shot.

After the cemetery, we finally found the windmills, which really weren’t anything more than a photo op.

My windmill photo op

We started back to the hotel, and were thoroughly exhausted, not to mention hungry. I’ll blame these two factors for the fact that we decided to eat at a train-wagon-themed restaurant. Yep, we literally sat in a little “wagon” booth, complete with burgundy cushioned seats and a storage compartment.

Lasting impressions: Paris

Je’taime Paris! (That means I love Paris, right?) I don’t know if it was the novelty of being in a country for the first time, or this being our first stop that truly felt like Europe, but I loved Paris.

Its historic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Notre Dame literally had an emotional effect on me, unlike I remember feeling in any other city. Paris is just, first and foremost, a beautiful city. The architecture, the narrow winding streets of Le Marais, the islands in the middle of the Seine, the sparkling Eiffel Tower at night…

I loved watching everyone carrying home a baguette in the afternoon, or listening to Parisians speak a language I barely know at all, or wealthy tourists strolling the Champs Elysee (not us poor tourists, ones that could actually afford to walk into LV and buy a bunch of stuff).

There’s just a different atmosphere in Paris than in other European cities I’ve visited so far – it’s historic, it’s delicate, it’s royal, it’s world-reknown.

I’m definitely coming back, and soon! On my to-do list:

1. Learn French
2. Visit the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery
3. Spend more time at the Louvre
4. See the Catacombs
5. Wander around the Latin Quarter
6. Eat fine French food
7. Have a picnic with a baguette, some French cheese and wine
8. Visit Sacre-Coeur and Montmarte

Hotel review: Au-Royal Cardinal

Our hotel room in Paris was pretty nice – even bigger than the one in London. No nightmares so far like the tiny box Adrian and I had in Barcelona.

The Au-Royal Cardinal offered us a really nice, clean room, with a big bathroom and two balcony windows. The windows provided some much-needed ventilation since it’s been non-stop hotness since we arrived in Europe.

Our hotel was a short walk from the Notre Dame & Ile St. Louis, which are not bad landmarks to be near. There was also a metro stop (Cardinal Lemoine) literally a block away which got us to all the major attractions.

Unfortunately, the location of the Au-Royal Cardinal is ridiculously noisy right now. I never really understood why noise was such an issue for some people on hotel review sites, but now I get it! Between the traffic, the people and the construction site outside our window, it was actually hard to fall asleep. The jack-hammering was borderline funny in its absurdity.

Other than that, I did actually really like the hotel:

1. It has an elevator
2. It has balcony windows – one of which is in the bathroom, which is a blessing
3. It has a safe (that’s free and that actually works!)
4. The staff was really helpful and answered our many questions. One guy even told me I was very beautiful (thank you for the self-esteem boost)!
5. It was close to a number of major attractions, and close to public transportation that got us to the further attractions.

Au Revoir Paris!

Our last day in Paris, it rained all morning, so we took advantage of that to sleep in until the crack of noon. When we finally rolled out of bed, we headed to Ile St. Louis and the Champs Elysee to do some actual shopping while the stores were open.

Apparently, we were dicking around a little too much because at that point we realized it was to late to see the Catacombs which we were planning to visit. So instead, we just hopped on the metro to see the Moulin Rouge. It was cool, but I just felt it looked very modern and re-done, not quite as “authentic” as I had anticipated. And smaller than I had imagined. I guess nothing can live up to my expectations after watching the movie!

We stuck around and ate dinner at some random, Americanized “Buffalo Grill” across the street, which I don’t particularly recomend. Again, I feel like I didn’t really get to experience French food like I had hoped.

We tried to make up for it by stopping into a cafe under our hotel that night for some creme brulee and capuccino. A normal couple would have shared one, but instead Daniela had a traditional, caramel creme brulee and I got my own, chocolate one. Not a bad way to end our time in Paris!

My French vocabulary

I came into Paris with extremely limited knowledge of the French language, and I pretty much left the same way, with the exception of having picked up a couple additional words.

Here’s the extent of my French vocabulary – it may not be much, but it did somehow get us through four days in Paris!

• Bonjour: hello
• Au revoir: goodbye
• Merci: thank you
• Sortie: exit
• Poisson: fish
• Fromage: cheese
• Solde: sale

Parading around in Paris

After a day full of sight-seeing, we decided to do even more sight-seeing! Our last swipe on our two-day Museum Pass was the Arc de Triomphe. Yay, more stairs! Although, relatively speaking, it wasn’t too bad of a climb. However, the view from the top wasn’t that breathtaking – especially compared to our Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame experiences.

A picture I took of the Arc de Triomphe by being an asshole tourist and standing in the middle of the Champs Elysee

We got the Arc out of the way so we could focus on strolling the Champs Elysee. Unfortunately, it was getting late, so most of the stores were closed, but we did get to window shop a little (which, let’s face it, is all I can afford to do at this point anyways!) and spotted the humongous Louis Vuitton store.

Me pouting in front of the huge Louis Vuitton store on the Champs Elysee because I have not yet achieved my lifetime's goal of owning an LV bag!

 Across the street from the LV store, there’s a well-known cafe called Fouquet’s that allegedly offers celebrity sightings. We didn’t get close enough to see if there were any celebrities dining there at the moment, but we did see a hot pink Ferrari pull up for dinner!

After dinner on the Champs Elysee at a less-exclusive venue, I took a page out of my Rick Steves’ Europe book (literally) to guide us on a nighttime walk through Ile St. Louis. The island was so peaceful and charming, the type of area that really makes you feel like you’re in Paris. Our stroll took us across the island, over the Seine to Ile de la Cite for a view of the lit-up Notre Dame.

Seeing these historic landmarks lit up at night is such an experience, you really can’t capture it with a camera. Literally, it won’t come out that great on film, and beyond that, you just can’t capture the feeling of being on an island in the Seine River on a hot summer night, staring up at the Notre Dame flooded in light.

The last part of our walk – not in Rick Steves’ guide – was strolling back to our hotel.

Paris, day 3: Museum Pass fail

The second and last day of our Museum Pass, we planned to take full advantage of it, but weren’t quite that productive.

We started off visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral, which was very beautiful. But it was also crammed with tourists taking flash photos all over the place – annoying! Then we checked out the Notre Dame crypt, which was actually th Roman ruins preserved under the cathedral. Not too exciting, so if you don’t have the Museum Pass, I don’t think it’s worth paying for.

Our next stop was the modern art museum at the Pompidou Center, which my mom hyped up a lot. The first floor of the museum was filled with an exhibit about feminism. So a lot of naked women and in-your-face “statements.” I know that as a woman, I should respect feminism, and they do make some interesting points, but I find a lot of it to be repelling. I get the desire to be controversial and attention-grabbing. But I found much of the exhibit to be too overtly sensational. It was all just a little too “modern” for me.

The second floor was much more interesting, and I wish I hadn’t wasted so much energy on the feminism exhibit. It was filled with paintings and art from artists like Picasso, Dali and Le Corbusier.

At this point, Daniela and I were feeling pretty museum-ed out, so we didn’t make it to the Orsay Museum like we had originally planned. Or to any other museum for that matter.

Instead, we walked through the Le Marais neighborhood again, now that the shops were open.

Based on what we learned from eavesdropping on a tour guide while waiting in line for the tower, this human-headed gargoyle was inspired by the architect's mother in law

Then we headed back to Notre Dame to climb the tower, which we hadn’t done earlier because the line was super long and it was pretty much the hottest time of day. Now that it was later in the afternoon, we hoped it wouldn’t be as busy. But the line was still long as hell. Luckily, it had gotten cooler, and (not sure if this still falls under luckily) it looked like it was going to storm. Good thing we made it into the tower just as it started to rain! The rain and thunder definitely provided the perfect atmosphere for a climb up the circular stone stairs to the top of the tower.

The climb wasn’t too bad, and it was definitely worth it to hang out with the gargoyles (which I couldn’t get enough of) and look down on Paris! It was my favorite climbing adventure so far.