A Moveable Feast Deux

So we got up early and enjoyed a lovely breakfast of cafe au lait and croissants and then started in on our touring adventure.  We made our way through the Jardin des Tuileries, which were just beautiful - the wonderful flowers and topiaries with the sun just shining over the Louvre buildings to paint them gold and radiant in the morning light.  We continued along the Champs-Elysees and were surprised by the fairly steep grade up to the Arc de Triomphe.

There was a growing crowd of people gathering around the base of the Arc, but as we started the ascend, we were amazed at how few people were actually in it and climbing to the top.  That means that we were able get up without much fuss, enjoy a spectacular view (and on a day where there wasn't a cloud in the sky, that was a remarkable thing) and get down again without assault. 

As we started walking toward the Eiffel Tower, we realized that Paris was going to be a city in which to enjoy cars (D saw 3 Lamborghinis in one day).  In order to settle a disagreement - I think that Smarts in the US are bigger than Smarts in Europe - we used D as a measuring devise, so that we can go back and measure him against the cars at home and settle it once and for all.  [Using the Internet wouldn't be nearly as fun here.  Yes, we are a crazy strange couple, but life is ever exciting in the Avilla home.]

On our walk, we started wondering where all the people were - the streets were fairly deserted and the Arc had so few.  We need not have worried, all of Paris was waiting for us by the Tower. The line was over an hour long and since we had just had that lovely experience and view at the Arc, and were starving, we decided to take many nice pictures of the Tower and perhaps visit another day.  The tower was decorated with the stars from the EU flag and at night, it was lit up a blue color, again, to match the EU flag.  Our friends Keith and Elizabeth, who live here, had never seen or heard of the tower being decorated like that, which led us all to believe that there was some special event here that we couldn't really find.  I saw a formula one car event for Paris being advertised but I don't think that would have the EU theme...a mystery.

So, after scarfing down a granola bar to ward of the beast the I can become when not fed regularly, onward we went. Continuing SW to a not very nice part of Paris, we journeyed by the river, to a smaller replica of the Statue of Liberty.  She didn't have the pageantry or popularity of her larger US sister, but we enjoyed seeing her and snapping a few shots.  We started trekking back along the river toward the Musee d'Orsay, but stopped at a nearby cafe to rest and refuel with a sandwich and some needed water.

The Musee d'Orsay is a remarkable place.  It houses art from the time period of 1848-1914 and is itself truly a work of art.  It had been converted from the Orsay Railway Station, which had been built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900.  I was eager to visit because I enjoy Impressionist art as well as Art Nouveau, and this museum is rich with both.  I also liked the fact that it was substantially smaller and more manageable than the Louvre, which can just be overwhelming.  I saw several pieces that I really enjoyed [other than the ones that I came to see, which, naturally, I ate up.]  A unique aspect to this museum was that they have an outdoor terrace on the roof of the place, which had a fantastic view, particularly of the Basilique du Sacre Coer (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) which is on a hill overlooking the heart of the city.  It also had a great breeze, and since the air conditioning (even in museums) is spotty in Europe, it was a welcome relief on this unusually warm day.

After this we were positively cooked.  We agreed to head back to the hotel to take a nap, freshen up, and then see if we could find a dinner cruise. (Keith had suggested a cruise to D as being quite the lovely way to see the city.  Elizabeth had warned me that they can be a bit like cattle cars or sardine cans, so I got the idea in my head that a dinner cruise would be perfect.  Now, finding said cruise, booking and getting there are all details we hadn't yet figured out, but D is a resourceful man, and we were too tired to figure it out before the nap.)

It is remarkable the difference an hour of good sleep can make to your disposition.  That and a good bath.  Hmmm, it was great.  So, we decided to see if our friends at the front desk could help us out again.  Gratefully, the hotel again came up big and got us reservation for 9pm on a dinner tour of the Seine. (These Parisians really eat LATE.  Oh well, I guess the "When in Rome..." adage works in Paris too.)  Since we had a little time to kill, we decided that a nice aperitif at the Bar Hemingway was in order.

The Bar Hemingway is named after Ernest Hemingway who spent a good deal of his time in this bar when he lived in Paris in his later life.  It is a tiny establishment.  The wait staff is positively entertaining and remarkably attentive and the drinks come with a constant supply of homemade potato "crisps," olives and warm slightly salted almonds - and the price reflects these amenities [oh, and my drink was served with a fragrant and perfect rose, which despite myself, won me over].  It was a fun experience in a delightful atmosphere.  It was filled with tourists (shocker) but we did get out of there before the real crowd hit, which was a bonus.

The dinner cruise was just fantastic - it started beautifully with us taking a cab from the Bar Hemingway to the port, my feet were so grateful!  We had a perfect table just for the 2 of us next to a window.  The boat was not overly crowded and had soothing mood music lightly playing, which meant that the romantic atmosphere was maintained throughout the night.  Dinner wasn't bad (compared to the night before, it had no chance) but the overall experience was really so nice.  We went by all the highlights: Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville (Town Hall), Eiffel Tower, baby Statue of Liberty, the Louvre, as well as many gorgeous bridges and other beautiful buildings.  We took as many pictures as we could (hard to get them to turn out) and enjoyed each others company and the romantic atmosphere.  We both enjoyed the short walk home and fell blissfully into bed.

The next morning, knowing that we were going to have to leave sooner rather than later in order to be back in Mons for the "Tanks in Town" event, we decided to just go to Notre Dame.  Since it was Sunday morning, we were pleased to make it there in time for Mass.  Much of the music was in Latin, which I thought put the majority of us on equal footing - no one understood very much.  (I later discovered that we were attending the "Gregorian Chant" mass, which then made the Latin make more sense.) The church really is beautiful and it was quite an honor to be able to participate in worship there, even if we didn't understand as much as we would have liked.  After the service, we walked around and reveled at the stunning stain glass and architecture.  We went around the outside (around back) just to see it all, and as we were coming up to the front again, we were able to witness the procession of the choir, alter boys, priests and the presiding priest - I think it was the archbishop by the way he was dressed, but I don't know for sure - coming in for the next mass.  Quite a production.  I was grateful that they allowed tourists in to participate.  I guess size isn't a problem there, so no need to keep us out.

We headed back to the hotel to check out and start our ride back home. We were feeling so great about the trip.  This is when the "bone crushing traffic" (or BCT) came in again.  D helped define it for me.  BCT is not just being at a stand still for long periods of time, having no idea what is wrong or when/if it will be cleared, it has to include pedestrians jumping in at any moment in front of you as well as side streets dumping into your flow of traffic, causing you to have your attention frayed in a multitude of directions.  Apparently, these additional components cause the stress to go through the roof and shave years off your life (perhaps and exaggeration...you will have to ask D.)  The police closed down several key roads leading out of town, which meant that there were a lot of us trying to find alternative routes.  The Garmin helped once we were convinced that she wasn't just trying to get us back to that same closed road - old fashioned map reading was necessary until then.  Once we blessedly got on the highway, it was clear sailing on home.