Day 7, Wednesday May 2
The morning was forecast to be partly sunny with rain in the afternoon. It was correct about the afternoon.
We took the guide book's "Historic Paris Walk", which began by our hiking down to Notre Dame. We went through and around the cathedral, crossed over to the left bank, then away from the river into the Latin Quarter.
We diverted from the guide book route to
visit the Cluny Museum, which is housed in a well preserved 14th
Century building that began as the town house of the abbots of Cluny.
It now houses objects from the Middle Ages, including the famous "Lady
and the Unicorn" tapestries.
Our next stop was to be Sainte Chapelle,
but it was closed from 1:00 to 2:15. (Who ever heard of closing a
museum for lunch? Even in Spain they don't do that.) By now it was
raining and there was a long line waiting for the door to open. We
could either stand in line in the rain for a half hour or we could hike
on over to the d'Orsay Museum. We opted for the latter.
Before leaving the d'Orsay we sat down to
rest in the café at the top of the museum, where I had a beer and
Carole had hard cider. We were both tired after all that walking on
hard surfaces, Carole's back had started hurting, and we didn't want to
face rush hour crowds on the Metro, so we took a taxi back to the
apartment.
Since we were leaving early the next morning we went to supper early and found that Le Petit Marché didn't serve dinner until 8:00. So we went to Cafe Hugo in Place des Vosges. That's Hugo as in Victor Hugo, not Hugo as in the kid in the movie. We sat next to and chatted with a Dutch man and his two daughters. Carole had fettucini with mushrooms, which she devoured, and I had an entrecote that was about a quarter-inch thick and overcooked. Carole seemed to enjoy the food in Paris much more than I did. I didn't get a decent piece of beef or veal the whole time we were there.
Since we were leaving early the next morning we went to supper early and found that Le Petit Marché didn't serve dinner until 8:00. So we went to Cafe Hugo in Place des Vosges. That's Hugo as in Victor Hugo, not Hugo as in the kid in the movie. We sat next to and chatted with a Dutch man and his two daughters. Carole had fettucini with mushrooms, which she devoured, and I had an entrecote that was about a quarter-inch thick and overcooked. Carole seemed to enjoy the food in Paris much more than I did. I didn't get a decent piece of beef or veal the whole time we were there.
Day 8, Thursday May 3
Versailles!
We got up early, 6:30, because Rick Steves says to leave Paris by 8 to arrive at the château at the 9 o'clock opening time. It was discovered that our two favorite boulangeries didn't open until 7:30 and 8:00 so we set out without having properly fortified ourselves with croissants.
We arrived at the château at 9:10. The château seemed crowded -- though not so crowded as a White House tour -- but by the time we left, around 2:30, it was really crowded. After touring the château we grabbed a sandwich at the café, then hiked through the gardens to the Trianon palaces. By then we were pretty tired so took the Petit Train back to the château.
Home by 4, we were hungry so shared a whole baguette with brie, camembert, and cheap Bordeaux red from the supermarché. About eight we went out and got desserts. A really healthful diet.
Day 9, Friday May 4
We arrived at Sainte Chapelle a few minutes after it opened at ten. There was a long line waiting to get in. We hoped to bypass the line with our Museum Passes, but no such luck; the line was for Security, and security was tight because Sainte Chapelle shares space with the Palace of Justice, the French equivalent of our Supreme Court.
From Sainte Chapelle we proceded next door to the Conciergerie. No lines there.
We got up early, 6:30, because Rick Steves says to leave Paris by 8 to arrive at the château at the 9 o'clock opening time. It was discovered that our two favorite boulangeries didn't open until 7:30 and 8:00 so we set out without having properly fortified ourselves with croissants.
We arrived at the château at 9:10. The château seemed crowded -- though not so crowded as a White House tour -- but by the time we left, around 2:30, it was really crowded. After touring the château we grabbed a sandwich at the café, then hiked through the gardens to the Trianon palaces. By then we were pretty tired so took the Petit Train back to the château.
Home by 4, we were hungry so shared a whole baguette with brie, camembert, and cheap Bordeaux red from the supermarché. About eight we went out and got desserts. A really healthful diet.
Day 9, Friday May 4
We arrived at Sainte Chapelle a few minutes after it opened at ten. There was a long line waiting to get in. We hoped to bypass the line with our Museum Passes, but no such luck; the line was for Security, and security was tight because Sainte Chapelle shares space with the Palace of Justice, the French equivalent of our Supreme Court.
On the way home we passed, as usual,
through Place des Vosges. This time we visited the house where Victor
Hugo lived. This is the view of the Place from one of his windows. He
also had windows on an interior courtyard.
