We packed our bags, after a lesuirely breakfast and left the hotel and caught the Metro across town to our new hotel. The Hotel Marignan on Rue de Sommerand was recommended to us by our dear friends Greg and Judy. They did warn us that this was a cheap 1 or 2 star hotel, but as it was located in the Latin Quarter it was close to everything that we wanted to see in Paris. How right they were, although they did neglect to tell us that there was no elevator and our host "Paul" was quick to tell that we had our own balcony and toilet and then mentioned the shared shower and FIFTH FLOOR!!!!!!!! This meant a narrow spiral staircase and 92 steps (yes, I counted them - everytime I used them). David could make it in one go, but I could only make to the third or fourth floor before having to take a breather. Ahhh Paris!!!!
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David in the cupboard that is the toilet! |
Breakfast was included in the price of the room, and when we arrived we were led to a very small table and asked "en kaffee or chocolat?" Hmmm decisions? The very matronly French woman brought us a tray of goodies to eat including fresh bread sticks and butter, along with canned fruit salad, packaged jam, nutella and cheese. It went down a treat! (I ate the bread being Gluten free and all - isn't fresh white bread and butter worth the risk?)
We then spent the day wandering the Paris streets and found some wonderful shops...the display in the windows were amazing. Meats, cheese, marionettes, very stylish plastic chairs, parasols (I wanted one very badly), flowers, etc.
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A window of cheese..the one in the middle looks like something that was left in the back of my fridge for a few months!! |
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Ibu (African artefacts merchant and his two young daughters. Try to guess how old he is... |
We found a market with fresh produce, foie gras (we spoke to the producer "David" who said that his south eastern property has been featured on SBS Food Safari), wooden African artefacts (spoke to Ibu and his daughters - see photo) and a bakery of course! We bought a selection of cheese to have for our French lunch in the Menage (kitchen garden) of the Museum de Cluny with its Roman bathhouse ruins dating from the 1st century...very chic!
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What a feast in the kitchen garden of the Museum de Cluny...gorgeous! |
The Paris streets of the Latin Quarter are fascinating and we spent quite a lot of time wandering. We frequented "our" Lebanese cafe a couple of times and enjoyed wonderful food and their own special tea: orange blossom, thyme and some other herb...very delicious. Ahhh Paris!
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David and the Dame "Our Lady of Paris"! Beautiful place of worship and prayer. |
Next we took in the Orangery...a Museum which houses Monet's Water Lilies. I think David expected this to be a place outside where oranges used to grow...which is an easy mistake!! But we were delighted to wander around and around the beautiful Water Lilies and view these from every angle. We were also allowed to take pictures of the paintings but I found out that I cannot put these on the blog, so you will have to wait till I get home to have a look at them. There was also an exhibition of a photographer of the late 1800s - early 1900s, Heinrich Kuhn, whose works were stunning (Google him!). He used very advanced techniques to great effect. So, another delightful afternoon. We wandered home again through the streets...crowded but great for people watching. Ahhh Paris!
On our last day in Paris we wandered off to the Louvre, as one does! We travelled by Metro (even though only a few stations) and found ourselves in the shopping centre leading to the Museum and guess what? We found the little triangle meeting up with the big triangle and short queues into the Museum. This was a great start to our 8 (EIGHT) hour wander through the Louvre...oh yes, there is a lot to see in the Louvre...lots and lots and lots. (Statistics: if you look at everything in the Louvre for 30 seconds, it would take 3 months to get through everything there...scary!)
We took an audio tour to start with which took us past the important pieces eg Mona Lisa (I got a front row view of her and took her picture as well.) I think they have given up trying to stop people from taking photos in the Museums, but they do specify no flash..but even then people were using flash, which was slightly annoying! Anyway...what else did we see: Venus de Milo, Winged Victory (magnificent even without her head!), Hammurabi's Stone (Google!), Rameses II statue, lots and lots of magnificent statues...I do love the lovely "bottoms" on these statues, the French and Dutch masters...lots of paintings. We had to stop a few times. We had lunch in their very classy cafe and enjoyed a delightful meal with white wine...Ahhh Paris! (I haven't been able to post any pictures of the Louvre or the Orangery as the blog somehow or another censors these pictures and shut down the blog - I thought I had lost everything but was able to find it all again...very scary! So you will have to wait for these when I get home!)
We were foot sore to say the least, but decided to walk home along the Seine...and what a magical walk it was. The trees along the banks where lit up and looked stunning in their autumn colour. All the buildings along the way were also lit up including our lady of Paris...Ah Paris!
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Paris at nightime...gorgeous! |
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Along the Seine...takes your breath away! |
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Our last view of the Eiffel Tower! Stunning! |
As we were travelling down the escalators the next day on the way to Madrid, we looked at each other and declared our love for Paris (and each other!) and we promised to return one day...Ahhhh Paris!