Day 5 - Dec 19 - La Musee D'Orsay

Day 5 - Dec 19 - La Seine

Day 5 - Dec 19 - Le Tour

Day 4 - Dec 18 - French supermarkets

Day 4 - Dec 18 - Le Louvre

Day 4 - Dec 18 - More Around Paris

Day 3 - Dec 16 - Around Paris

Day 2 - Dec 16 - Centre Pompidou

Another picture of us consulting maps. This one (I think it was at Chatelet des Halles) had LEDs representing each station, and when you pressed a button corresponding to the station you wanted to go to, the recommended route would light up.





Next stop - le Centre Pompidou - the inside out building containing a collection of modern art. If you're a Tintin fan you might recognize the rocketship in the banner. Apparently there was to be an exhibit there, but it started the day I left.





Between the station and the museum we picked up some baguettes for breakfast the next day. Apparently their price is fixed at 0.80EU (at least at bakeries). So, we went to the museum with baguettes, cheese and pate which we checked with our coats.

Day 2 - Dec 16 - To market, to market

One thing I really wanted to do in Paris was to see a 'French market' so we set out in search of one. Our first attempt was a little unexpected. The market turned out to be a single grocery store - not quite what I was looking for, but we can call it a fine excuse for wandering the streets and admiring the buildings. This picture is of us (ok, the three of them) studying the maps on a bus shelter.


Our second attempt was a success - an indoor market bearing much resemblance to the St. Lawrence Market. One of the first stalls we came against had two boars suspended head down from the top of the stall (photograph foreground), and a boar's head in a basket on the counter. Also lots of birds hung up as well. That seems to be a popular way of displaying fowls here - upside down, head on, with some plumage.







A produce stand. I just liked the pinkness and whiteness of the radishes.








What Joyce termed 'brain cheeses'. They look mouldy to me - not sure if that is actually what the chalky exterior is. I did take an extremely long time to choose another cheese to buy - Mont d'Or. It was soft and a little stronger than brie.






Pates. Two different pates were purchased.









Fractal vegetables aka Romanesco which was labeled as brocco-flower. However, this site states that they are in fact different things. Coolest vegetable ever, non?

Day 1 - Dec 15 - Random walk

Using medium-sized pictures is proving to be a little troublesome in terms of formatting...

The journey begins along les Champs D'Elysees where I am quickly accosted by a Mandarin/broken English-speaking Chinese lady who wants me to buy purses from LV for her using this wad of 900EU. I have never seen a wad of anything worth near 900EU before and am rather skeptical of her story. After I leave, I see her approaching other random tourists trying her luck. Sketchy. How would she possibly think that I in my sneakers, jeans and battered looking travel purse could possibly look not out-of-place in that store?

I keep walking, mainly admiring the window displays. I am a little intimidated about going into the stores, especially the ones that aren't very full. It reminds me most of the Magnificent Mile, but with wider sidewalks (see van backing up into a car-sales shop above). The Mile is positively claustrophobic with all those shoppers and tourists crammed on narrow sidewalks. Paris strikes me as more pedestrian friendly.

There are a lot of these trees all along the streets and the river. The hanging spiky balls make me think that someone has decorated the trees for the holidays. I've seen them here before too, but I've never found out their name. How do you google a tree? Joyce mentioned a friend of hers called the spiky balls 'itchy bombs'. Googling that term, I think these may be sycamores.



I branch off from the Avenue at some point to find the Seine. The sun is on its way down after all and I want to see how the sunset compares to London's. The light is right for some great silhouettes, but a little more cloud was needed to up the colour factor.

I criss-crossed along the bridges making my way up to the obelisk, where there is now also a ferris wheel installed. Nothing the scale of the Eye, but it directly faces the Arch. One side of the sky is a fiery orange, and the facing side is a light pink. I see the same hot air balloon (photo below) that I had noticed going up at the Arch.



Next, I make my way through Jardin des Tuileries. I note that French gardens seem to involve wide expanses of gravel, rather than lawn. I sit at a (free) chair beside a fountain and consult my map to figure out where I am in relation to Notre Dame. Apparently the Louvre is ahead.




Criss-crossing some more I come up to l'Ile de la Cite. Lights start to come on along the Seine. I get a little lost trying to find Notre Dame. I see what I think is it from a distance, but as I get closer, I no longer see it because all the buildings are so tall. I ask a lady for directions, and obviously misunderstand her, as I end up walking off the island, back towards the Louvre. Finally, I turn a corner and there it is, all decked out with a giant Christmas tree in front. And there's Jo, with my suitcase!

We walk to the St. Michel area for dinner. Soupe a l'oignon, steak au poivre et tarte aux pommes. The steak was decidedly on the tough side, but everything else was quite nice, including my first baguette. After dinner, we killed a little time before going to pick Joyce up at the station. Paris reunion :)

Day 1 - Dec 15 - l'Arc de Triomphe

After meeting up with Jo at Charles de Gaulle Airport, we took the RER back to her work for lunch and some caffeine. While changing trains at Chatelet des Halles, there was a brief moment of confusion where police appeared on the platform and herded everyone up the escalators as a train pulled in. Then, everyone came back down and boarded the train. I had no idea what was happening, but the first thought was bombs. After a lunch of roast chicken, noodles and beans with Jo and her colleagues, I briefly struggled with a French keyboard to let people know I had arrived alive. Then, I consulted a Paris map and set off to explore the city before meeting Jo again dinner.

The plan was to start at the l'Arc de Triomphe, because it involved a simple ride on the train (no switching lines) and I wanted to get the lay of the land. Emerging from the station stairway was my first glimpse of downtown Paris - tourists at a giant roundabout taking pictures of the arch (lower left hand corner of this picture).



I crossed the street via the underground tunnel and saw my first of many vendors selling mini Eiffel Towers. I walked around the bottom of the arch for a little bit before going up. I had never realized before that this was a 4-way arch rather than a 2-way one.





At the top. First sighting of le Tour. And Paris radiating in wedge-shaped blocks from the arch. All under wonderfully clear skies (I had landed in thick fog). I was extremely excited to be traveling again, with a new city full of things to be explored and photographed. My first walk would be from the Arch to Notre Dame (rendez-vous point).

Back!

Ok, so I did not actually really blog while I was in France, but I will be retroactively blogging and posting pictures. I'm not sure how long it will take.


First post - Dec15 - l'Arc de Triomphe

Je suis arrivée

Writing fro, the co,puter lqb in Joùs school: Once qgqin tryin to use these french keyboqrds: i think you cqn get the gist of whqt i`m trying to sqy: I cqnùt seem to find the quotqtion marks '?`?