Our Free Day in Paris
Trip Start
May 04, 2008
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10
15
Trip End
May 19, 2008
Paris, France
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Darin and I slept somewhat late...though it is hard to sleep at all with the windows open in this room. Headed over to the Rue Cler in search of a crepe for Darin for breakfast. We didn't find one and ended up at the unfriendly pastry shop. They weren't very friendly 5 years ago but we figured we'd give them another shot...things hadn't changed! Oh well...the pastry shop closest to our hotel was nicer and had better pastries. In any case, we got a little quiche, a chocolate brioche and a strawberry cookie and headed over to the Rodin garden to eat. Note to self...cold quiche isn't so great.
Next stop was Les Invalides. I just wanted to see the Musee des Plans-Reliefs but suits of armour caught Darin's eye. They had tons and tons of armour - all pretty cool. Then we ended up in the WWI and WWII section of the museum. We walked through the first hall and it looked very well done - there were even several classes of schoolchildren having their lessons in the museum. There were several more floors of exhibits all, of course, in French...I didn't have the energy to handle a war museum so I made my way out and went in search of my original destination. We finally found the relief maps in the attic. They are 1/600 scale models of French cities that were used to plan expansions and attacks. They were pretty accurate and detailed. The were housed at the Louvre and Versailles for a while (when they were in active use) but eventually were sent to the attic at Les Invalides where they still reside.
A quick Metro ride took us to the Catacombs next. Couldn't have been easier to find - the entrance was just outside the Metro exit. It was a self guided tour through the ossuary beneath the streets (and sewers and Metro) of Paris. This had been a quarry where they got much of the stone to construct the Paris buildings. Apparently, there were no regulations initially which led to streets and houses collapsing into the quarry. After that, they established some kind of department to regulate such matters. In the late 1700's people were getting sick from the unsanitary burial conditions in the city, so they dug up all the graves and began moving the remains to the catacombs. Under the cover of night, they carted bones, draped in black clothes and accompanied by a priest into the ossuary for 100 years! At first they were placed chaotically but then they began stacking them in a decorative fashion. There are plaques telling which cemeteries the bones came from in each area. Other plaques have quotes on them. It was interesting to see but the walk was a bit long, looking at the same thing. Again, a guided tour would have been nice to give more meaning to the place. One really nice thing though...it was nice and cool down there!
Darin was now dying for a hamburger and he had spotted a McDonald's near the Metro when we arrived. So, McDonald's it was for lunch. Makes no sense that we NEVER eat McDonald's at home but on both trips to France we've had it. Funny thing was, he wanted a crepe. As we left McDonald's, we noticed the restaurant right next door was a crepeiere!
After lunch we took the Metro to the Promenade Plantee. I've wanted to visit there since the last trip and was looking forward to seeing the raised garden and all the artisan shops below. What a disappointment! The shops below were nice but there were things like fabric and furniture stores. I was expecting jewelry and gift items...smaller, tourist friendly things. The garden, while the plants were nice, there was graffiti and trash everywhere. We walked about 1/2 way down before just giving up. I still wanted to see Place des Voges but I knew Darin was done and wanted a nap (hadn't had one all trip!) plus our legs were tired and it was so hot. So, we walked over to the BatoBus stop and headed back to the hotel.
Darin napped, I read for a while and napped too. We were expecting Mom back around 7:45 or 8:00. We waited until nearly 9:00 before leaving for the Arc de Triomphe and dinner. Ran into her as we got off the elevator and she wanted to go with us. She really should have gone up to bed, but...
So, we took the Metro to the Champs Elysees and looked for food that wasn't too expensive. First stop was Laudree to pick up some macaroons for later. (Incidentally, these were the most awesome cookies I've ever had...we ate them on the train the next day and they were like meringue sandwiches with a sweet caramel like filling). Managed to find a crepeiere! So, Darin got his crepe after all. He had a duck one, Mom a crab and a mushroom one for me. They were all good but the best was the butter and sugar one for dessert. I could have eaten two more of those...I'd like one right now actually. Walked another 2 blocks or so to the Arc but it was too late to go up. Metro back to hotel and bed after midnight!
