Friday – The Paris Sights:
Friday was our big sightseeing day. We started off with the Arc de Triomphe, which may just be the most impressive monument I have ever visited. I have always had a certain fondness for Ottawa's War Memorial, but Paris's is on a scale I could never have imagined. Of course I had seen countless pictures of it before our visit, but nothing can quite prepare you for something that is just so big. Not to mention intricate – the amount, size, and complexity of the sculpture that covers the Arc is astounding.
After wandering down the Champs-Elysées for a block or two, and looking at some $20, 000 Cartier watches, we headed for the Eiffel Tower. To be honest, it felt like more of a theme park than anything, and we jetted pretty quickly.
We took a boat along the Seine to Notre Dame, taking in the gorgeous views on both sides of the river along the way. I hadn't been too, too excited to see it, but like the Arc de Triomphe, it impressed me in person in a way that a picture never could. We looked around inside for awhile, and spent some time in the Crypte archeologique, where remains of Roman-controlled Paris (think 3rd and 4th century) were discovered.
We then went to see the Bastille, which was one of the things I had been most looking forward to. Evidently, my mom's historical education was somewhat less robust than mine (which I suppose suits an engineer vs. a musicologist). She was under the impression that the actual Bastille was still there, and that we were going on a tour of a real prison!! She was quite shocked when we got to the Place de Bastille and all that was there was a large monument. I filled in the gaps for her.
Afterward we spent quite a long time walking around the Bastille neighbourhood, which quickly became our favourite part of the city. Unlike most of the other areas we visited, it wasn't saturated with tourists – real people live there! We even had a nice conversation, entirely in French, with a bookseller who gave us some good restaurant recommendations.
On our first two nights, we had a great deal of trouble finding nice places to eat dinner – all the restaurants around us just looked like tourist traps, and the only places we had heard about were super-famous and super-expensive. But we ate Friday night at a seafood restaurant that the aforementioned bookseller recommended, and it was delicious! I had my first bouillabaisse, something I have long wanted to try. Mom had a nicely-cooked fish.
Saturday - Versailles:
We spent most of Saturday at Versailles. After some trouble with my metrocard, we finally made it there by about 1pm….and then stood in line to buy tickets for TWO HOURS. Ironically enough, when we got to the front, it turned out I didn't even need one! Evidently music students get in free, so all I needed was my student ID. They didn't even give me a ticket that says "free" or "student" on it. But I suppose I couldn't very well have gone in and looked around while Mom stood in line.
Out of the parts of the castle that we toured, my favourites were two halls near the end. One had huge portraits of every battle won by the French since the beginning of time hung on the wall, in chronological order, up one side of the hall and down the other. The other hall I really liked had sculptures of all the kings and France's most famous intellectuals.
Something else I found funny were the rooms that framed the Hall of Mirrors. One is called the War Room and the other is the Peace Room. I found myself wondering, is that because in the day of the Ancien Regime, the king would meet with his enemies first in the War Room, awe them with the Hall of Mirrors, and then get them to sign a peace treaty in the Peace Room out of the fear/wonder caused by the Hall of Mirrors?
The most amazing part of Versailles for me was the gardens outside of the palace. It's not that I've never seen a symmetrical palatial garden before (hello, Belvedere Palace!). But, like Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe, it's on a scale that I could never have imagined. Even the forests surrounding the palace are perfectly symmetrical.
I also appreciate the way in which the symmetry of the garden plays out within the palace as well. The windows in the Hall of Mirrors look directly out into the centre of the garden. And the window across from the King's bed looks right out through the centre of the front gate. I could go on.
Before leaving for Versailles, Mom and I cracked and finally bought a real Michelin guide to Paris restaurants (the website is USELESS). When we arrived back in Paris from Versailles, we decided to look up a couple of the restaurants in the neighbourhood a little north of the Bastille. It is a beautiful area, and we enjoyed walking around there very much. However, all three of the restaurants we tried were full! So we decided to go to another one that was on the same block, but wasn't in the book, featuring the cuisine of Normandy. This turned out to be hands-down the best meal yet of our trip. We both had delicious appetisers, followed by the most amazing lamb, served with its own juices (heavenly!) and gratiné dauphinoise – which basically is scalloped potatoes made with lots of cream, with a delightfully crispy topping of cheese. The waiter was very friendly, and was excited to meet "des étrangers" – a sure sign we weren't in touristland anymore.
Sunday – TOUR DE FRANCE!
Finally the day I had been waiting for came – the final day of the Tour de France, when all the bikers race down the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe.
Before heading out to the Champs Elysées, we had plenty of time to do some more exploring. First we set out for the weekly bird market on Ile de la Cité (the same island which Notre Dame is on). There were cages upon cages of canaries, budgies, finches, and all kinds of parrots. The highlight, though, was definitely a pair of baby Amazons, still partially covered in down.
After that, we wandered down Rue de Rivoli towards our favourite Bastille neighbourhood. Then Mom and I split up; she went to the Picasso museum and I paid a visit to Victor Hugo's house.
After lunch by the canal near Place de la République, we took the metro to Jardin des Tuileries, and staked out our spot for the Tour de France. We were only two or three people away from the barriers, and we were on the curb (those ahead of us were on the road), so we had a pretty good view. It was amazing seeing all the racers whiz by – they really do go very very fast! After their first couple of tours around the Champs Elysées (they do a total of seven), the crowds started to thin, and we got to go right up against the barriers.
For dinner, we phoned ahead and booked a table at a Michelin-recommended restaurant near the Eiffel Tower. Walking across the Seine and seeing the Eiffel Tower looming in the distance was quite magical – in my opinion much more so than seeing the tower up close. The dinner was pretty good, too – the restaurant was very chic, and filled mostly with locals, and our dishes were well-prepared (especially our appetiser of prawns!).
Tonight is our last night in Paris. Tomorrow morning we have to get up very early to catch our train to Aix-en-Provence. Paris has been fun (in an exhausting, touristy sort of way), but I'm really looking forward to spending some time in the south of France, in some smaller cities. Till Provence, then, I bid you adieu!
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