May 22 - Paris

What a day this has been.  We are exhausted and sore all over.  We had read several different books on Paris, such as Rick Steve’s French tour book, but we ended up walking much longer than we had anticipated.  Marg has tweaked a hip muscle and is in some discomfort and my feet are very sore and tired.  I suspect we walked for about seven hours in total today.

We started off this morning in a heavy rain.  Initially we were going visit to the Arc de Triomphe. The Google map instructions had us going to a subway station about a 15 minute walk away from our apartment.  As it turned out, the subway station was right next to the Paris Opera House.

We decided to see the Opera House.  What a magnificent theatre this is.  Opulence is the only word that comes to mind when describing the facility.  Marble floors and columns and fresco paintings on the ceilings greet the patrons when they arrive.  The actual theatre had plush seating in the theatre with a crystal chandler that was enormous.  It would put the prompts for the Broadway play “Phantom of the Opera” to shame.  Of course only the elites of the Opera perform in this venue.  It should also be noted that Camille Saint-Saëns, at famous composer, is buried there.

Paris Opera House

Paris Opera House

We took the subway to the Arc de Triomphe.  The arch is in honour of those soldiers who fought for France during the Napoleonic Wars. This monument is two hundred years old having been completed in 1813.

We climbed the stairs all the way to the top of the monument. It was 300 steps in total in a very narrow circular stairwell. The climb was well worth it as the view of old Paris was spectacular.

Arc de Triomphe

Staircase in the Arc de Triomphe

After paying our respects to the “Unknown Soldier” at this solemn memorial site underneath the Arc,  we then went for a stroll down the Champs des Elysees. The Champs des Elysees is a grand tree lined boulevard filled with high end shops, cafes and theatres.

We stopped at the world famous George V hotel for lunch.  It was nothing special except for the people watching along this famous boulevard.   I ordered a “club sandwich” which was unique.  A more accurate description would be a toasted egg salad sandwich combined with chicken with  back bacon on the side.  It was very good.

Champs des Elysees

At this point our muscles starting acting up.  I guess we over did it.  It took us another 60 minutes to get to our final destination. 

We went to the Orsay museum where they have all the best of the European artists for the mid 1800’s to the beginning of the 20th century.  Here we saw paintings from the Impressionist school of art by Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh. The most famous picture from a North American point of view is Whistler’s Mother.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of the art work.

The Musée d'Orsay is in an old railway station on the Left Bank of the Seine River.

Orsay Art Museum

For supper we went for a walk along the rue Reaumur.  This street is filled with bars and Irish pubs.  We did find a restaurant on a side street called Frenchy’s.  It was excellent. Marg had crispy chicken that she said she would go back for.  It had chicken, salad and cream cheese combined in a crust.  For our wine we had excellent Bordeaux from the Chateau des Gravieres.

The TV in the apartment has only one English channel and it shows old sitcoms and movies from the past 10 years.  I guess it is better than nothing.