FRI., OCT 28, 2016 - PARIS, FRANCE -After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we verified our check-out time and determined that our schedule for the day would not allow us to return to the hotel prior to it. So, before departing for the day we completed the check-out process and placed our luggage in the storage area.
Our first item of business was to walk the short 2 blocks to the St. Michel Metro (subway) station to purchase a book of Carnet (subway) tickets, 10 for 16 Euros. Then, we used 2 of those tickets and rode to the Cardinal Lemoine metro station, outside of which we were to meet the guide for the 10:30 a.m. Paris Walks tour, "Hemingway's Paris". The 2-hour tour was both well-presented and well- attended. We enjoyed it immensely. Meanwhile, I had received a text message from Marc (agent for the rental apartment) telling me that he could check us in earlier than the stated time of 3 p.m. So, we made the appointment for 1:30 with the delightful thought of getting into the apartment early and getting settled for a week ("not living out of a suitcase").
Our Paris Walks tour had ended in an area unfamiliar to us. So, we stopped for lunch before we wandered about for some time looking for a metro station. Soon, we began to feel panicky, realizing we needed to return to the hotel, collect our luggage and get to the rental apartment in a very short time. So, we located a cab with a driver who spoke some English and engaged him to return us to the hotel. At the hotel, I asked him to wait while I collected the luggage and then to take us to the apartment. That seemed a good idea and would have been even better, but the one hotel clerk on duty was engaged checking in a guest and so retrieving the luggage took about 1/2 hour. We then proceeded to the apartment, located in the 15th arrondissement near the metro station of Pasteur. If I remember correctly the taxi fare with all that waiting time was about 45 Euros.
As soon as we were basically settled in the apartment, we checked the supplied info for the nearest grocery store and walked a few blocks to it. That store was actually a corner convenience store. We made the assumption that it was the only store nearby and started loading up with items for the week even at the more expensive prices of a convenience store. On the following day when we walked to locate the metro station, we found a much larger, supermarket type establishment that we visited almost daily, stopping by on our return from an excursion that required us to use the metro.
Below, are our pictures related to the 8th-floor rental apartment. As a side note, when we first arrived home from this trip I took the time to divide the total rental cost for this apartment for the 7 nights and saved it for this blog. Cost for apartment - 7 nights - 664.06 Euros ($691.24), or 94.87 Euros ($98.75) per night. Because our rental was not available the previous night, our one night at the Holiday Inn $160 + 20% tax
Below is the view from our balcony, the apartments across the street from us. Our building was similar size and height to this one shown.
The angle of this shot shows more of the garden and on the right the railing and a very small part of our balcony.
Inside, Sylvia is in living area with kitchen in background
bedroom
entry hall
and, looking down entry hall toward living space
Not shown, we had a divided bathroom (shower, built-in lavatory, stacked washer/dryer in one room) & in a separate room across the hall, the toilet with small sink. Also, the kitchen had nice, but small frig; dishwasher, & regular appliances such as toaster, coffee maker, etc. [Walked today 7.39 miles]
The "gardens" looked like an overgrown, untended space.
...that we normally would not pay to view.
This was a house on the property where had Monet lived.
and some more of the overgrown, untended spaces...
The water garden appeared beautiful and much more pleasing to this writer. Perhaps, that's because it didn't show the need for "tending" as much as the land growth.
We finished up our tour and were able to make it to the bus prior to departure for the return trip to Paris. [walked today 7.19 miles]
Sun., Oct. 30, 2016 - (Paris) -Today was the designated day in Europe for the continent time to return to "winter" time, so at 2:00 a.m. the clocks were set back one hour, the same as happened in North America the following Sunday, Nov. 6. And, today was the day we began to use our 5-day metro pass. It's a very convenient little card, about 2" X 1" with a barcode that can be used for the metro on an unlimited daily basis, with the first day used showing if viewing the barcode and counting as "day one". Our plans for today involved a 10-12 hour Viator Loire Valley Castle tour that we needed to arrive at the departure location no later than 6:45 a.m. Therefore, we had to take the first metro train of the day at approximately 5:45 a.m. to travel across Paris to the outskirts of the city. The trip for the day was in a minibus for a maximum of 6 participants. All arrived on time and we were soon on our way. Our driver/guide, Gael, was very nice and helpful. However, one participant, a woman from California, had studied French and wanted to use it so she spoke her "version of French" to the guide and he, most times, corrected her choice of words in French and then, in French, replied to her. That made for a somewhat confusing exchange of information. It seems to this writer that people who speak English as a second language tend to have somewhat of an accent that one must listen to very closely and almost "re-think" what has been said in our vernacular of the day, to arrive at the meaning of a statement. As I found myself dealing with the accent thing along with mixed French being corrected, it was a somewhat confusing day, to say the least.
The drive to Loire Valley, approximately 2.5+ hours, seemed long and boring for the most part and probably we each slept some, off and on. But once we arrived, a whole new world opened up. Relative to Loire Valley, the Viator website states: "The gentle green landscape of the Loire Valley lies within easy reach of Paris. While not lacking in scenic vistas and historic towns, it is the region’s magnificent concentration of chateaux which make it an irresistible detour from the French capital. Just as the Renaissance was ushering in a new age of learning, investigation and artistic excellence, French aristocrats were following the monarch’s lead and building lavish residences on or near the Loire River, commissioning the finest architects and artisans in France and beyond. Over 300 chateaux were built in the region, but only a handful are open for public visits".
Below, through the mist is the royal Chateau de Chambord. Chambord is one of the most recognizable chateaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture which blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Renaissance structures. The building, which was never completed, was constructed by King Francis I of France. Chambord is the largest château in the Loire Valley; it was built to serve as a hunting lodge for Francis I, who maintained his royal residences at the châteaux of Blois and Amboise. Although Leonardo da Vinci may have been involved, the original design of the Chateau de Chambord is attributed to another Italian. Chambord was altered considerably during the twenty-eight years of its construction (1519–1547). In 1792, in the wake of the French Revolution, some of the furnishings were sold and timber removed. For a time the building was left abandoned, though in the 19th century some attempts were made at restoration. During the Second World War, artworks from the collections of the Louvre (including the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo) and works from another Paris museum were moved to the Château de Chambord. The château features 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces, and 84 staircases. Four rectangular vaulted hallways on each floor form a cross-shape. Leonardo da Vinci may be responsible for one of the most compelling details of Chambord – namely the double-helix staircase, where two sets of stairs interweave without meeting. Chambord’s façade is one of the Loire’s most famous, rising from a solid base and becoming more fanciful the higher it climbs, with a jumble of gable windows and towers jutting from its roof.
Below through the mist is Chateau de Chambord..
The chapel
interior...
Below is a portion of the double helix staircase referred to earlier with other pictures,.
At the heart of the Château d' Chambord lies a double helix staircase designed by Leonardo da Vinci. It is, in fact, two staircases that begin opposite one another, neither visible from the other. From the ground floor of the massive chateau, these two staircases wind around a central illuminated well, visible to each other only in glimpses through small opposing windows. They twist up to the top of the chateau where they meet in the roof. Legend suggests that this configuration was designed so that Louis XIV, the Sun King, could arrange clandestine meetings with his mistresses at the top. The steps are supposed to be sufficiently shallow that a lady will not tire in ascending them.
Directly above and below pictures, are viewed from this tower.
Just before noon we completed our time at Chateau de Chambord and drove to the village of Amboise where we took our lunch break before continuing on to the tour of Chateau d'Amboise.
The second chateau of our day tour was the Chateau d'Amboise. Expanded and improved over time, in 1434 Chateau d'Amboise was seized by Charles VII of France after its owner, Louis d'Amboise, was convicted of plotting against Louis XI and condemned to be executed in 1431. However, the king pardoned him but took his château at Amboise. Once in royal hands, the château became a favorite of French kings, from Louis XI to Francis I. Charles VIII decided to rebuild it extensively, beginning in 1492 at first in the French late Gothic Flamboyant style and then after 1495 employing two Italian mason-builders who provided at Amboise some of the first Renaissance decorative motifs seen in French architecture. King Francis I (1494-1547) was raised at Amboise, which belonged to his mother, Louise of Savoy, and during the first few years of his reign, the château reached the pinnacle of its glory. As a guest of the King, Leonardo da Vinci came to Château Amboise in December 1515 and lived and worked in the nearby Clos Luce, connected to the château by an underground passage. It has been assumed that the Italian genius is buried in the chateau’s chapel of Saint-Hubert.
The chapel dedicated to St. Hubert, the patron saint of hunters and burial place of Leonardo da Vinci.
interior
Loire River...
castle interior
lovely gardens
Finally, our last stop of the day: Chateau de Chenonceau spans the River Cher near the small village of Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley. It is one of the best-known chateaux of the Loire Valley. The estate of Chenonceau is first mentioned in writing in the 11th century. The current château was built in 1514–1522 on the foundations of an old mill and was later extended to span the river. The bridge over the river was built (1556-1559). The structure is an architectural mixture of late Gothic and early Renaissance. Other than the Royal Palace of Versailles, it is the most visited château in France. (By the time we arrived it seemed that the whole of France was there. Only at Versailles have we encountered such a crowd in France).
Diane de Poitiers was the unquestioned mistress of the castle, but ownership remained with the crown until 1555, when years of delicate legal maneuvers finally yielded possession to her.
After King Henry II died in 1559, his strong-willed widow and regent Catherine de'Medici forced Diane to exchange it for another chateau. Queen Catherine then made Chenonceau her own favorite residence, adding a new series of gardens. As Regent of France, Catherine spent a fortune on the
château and on spectacular nighttime parties. In 1560, the first ever fireworks display seen in France took place during the celebrations marking the ascension to the throne of Catherine's son Francis II. The grand gallery, which extended along the existing bridge to cross the entire river, was dedicated in 1577. Catherine also added rooms between the chapel and the library on the east side of the structure as well as a service wing on the west side of the entry courtyard.
In 1589 Henri IV obtained Chenonceau for his mistress by paying the debts of Catherine de' Medici. Through an arranged marriage, the chateau eventually belonged to Caesar de Bourbon, Duc de Vendome (son of Henri IV). The château belonged to the Duc de Vendôme and his descendants for more than a hundred years. The Bourbons had little interest in the château, except for hunting. In 1650, Louis XVI was the last king of France to visit. The Château de Chenonceau was bought by the Duke of Bourbon in 1720. Little by little, he sold off all of the castle's contents. Many of the fine statues ended up at Versailles.
After almost 200 more years of various owners, José-Emilio Terry, a Cuban millionaire, acquired Chenonceau in 1891. Terry sold it in 1896 to a family member, Francisco Terry. In 1913, the château was acquired by Henri Meinier, a member of the Menier family, famous for their chocolates, who still own it to this day.
Chateau de Chenonceau
Beautiful walk from the entrance gate to chateau.
Pine trees are some of our favorites.
Interiors:
Gardens
This part of the tour was to end with everyone meeting at a stated time, at a stated location. Due to the communication problems, Sylvia and I misunderstood the meeting location. We began to walk back and eventually became disoriented. Finally, in desperation, we totally retraced the route we had followed to get into the property. There we found the group waiting for the two of us who were now about 10 minutes late.
Our driver/guide, Gael, was a very capable and smart driver. We began the trip back to Paris with all six of us sleeping while he drove. We traveled in a normal fashion until we reached a place somewhere about 30-50 miles outside of the city where the traffic jams were so intense that traffic was backed up for miles and stopped. With the usage of his GPS and some local websites, Gael was directed to surface streets that would allow passage. It was not a pleasant return which took over 3 hours. But we made it, very tired from the days' activities. [walked today 12.05 miles]
Mon., Oct. 31 (Paris) Our schedule for the day was to arrive at the metro station Cite shortly before 10:30 a.m. for the Paris Walks tour "Ile de la Cite & Notre Dame". At the beginning of the tour, the Paris Walks representative passed out the Nov. schedules which excluded all the afternoon tours. Because the specific Nov. schedule had not been posted on the internet, prior to our leaving home, I had followed the schedule that read "every month", giving afternoon times for tours. So, I had planned for a 2:30-afternoon tour for Mon., Tue., Wed. and Thu. What a disappointment. I doubt that we will ever return to Paris for those missed tours. During our 2014 visit to Paris, we had planned to take more Paris Walks tours than we were able to make. So, we had planned this return trip with 7 days and time to attend most all the Paris Walk tours that we thought interested us.
Below, our pictures begin with a Statue of Charlemagne - In front of Notre Dame Cathedral”
heads decorate the bridge on the Seine
the Seine
high rise buildings line the bank opposite Notre Dame Cathedral
And, the Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris France
The Cathédrale Notre-Dame makes a grand first impression. From its splendid location on the Ile-de-la-Cité, the cathedral's towers, spire, and flying buttresses seem to magically spring forth from the Seine River and soar ambitiously towards heaven. The 230 feet high cathedral was, for centuries, the tallest building in Paris. A masterpiece of French Gothic architecture, the Notre-Dame is one of the greatest monuments of the Middle Ages. Although it may look archaic when compared with modern landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, the cathedral features a revolutionary medieval design. The innovative Gothic technology of "flying buttresses" (support beams) were used to reinforce the massive structure.
The Notre-Dame Cathedral was founded in 1163 by King Louis IX (Saint Louis) and Bishop Maurice de Sully, who wanted to build a church that rivaled the Basilique Saint-Denis. It took almost 200 years and countless architects, carpenters, and stonecutters to construct the Notre-Dame Cathedral. The result is perfection of Gothic design. Visitors marvel over the fabulously detailed facade and are awestruck by the enormous nave. The serene sanctuary is a soul-inspiring space. Ethereal light filters through magnificent stained-glass windows, and in the evening, the illuminated votive candles add to the spiritual ambiance.
Our Paris Walks guide paid very close attention to the exterior of the building, describing it in detail as she pointed out various items. However, we did not go inside the cathedral on this tour. (We have toured the interior more than once on previous occasions).
gardens
flying buttresses
Look closely at these figures and all the carvings of saints near the entry door.
entry door
in the pavement on north end leading to entry door
outside, south end, opposite that of entry
Dome & cross above the altar
the base of the spire with statues of saints ascending upwards...
This building has a plaque on it
that reads (translated) "The dock along the Seine across the North East of the island of the City, which was first called Quai Napoleon, date of 1802."
We crossed the river...using a bridge
and walked 2 blocks to the south and one block to the west to the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore/café.
Then, we located a lunch stop and ate before continuing on with our activities.
The next item on our list was a boat ride on the Seine. (In 2014 with our package of tickets for "skip the line, etc" at various museums we were given a ticket for a boat ride on the Seine. We were unable to take advantage of that opportunity). So, this trip we chose to spend 34 Euros and take a ride on the Batobus boats, boarding from the left bank side of the Seine a short walk from the Shakespeare bookstore.
Below, I've shown how we boarded the boat because I wanted to call attention to the bridge on the Seine in the background. This is the first of multiple bridges I show in the blog.
Below, Pont de Neuilly bridge, c.1940
Below, Pont au Change bridge (named for the goldsmiths & money changers who established shops nearby): (I have no idea what the circle above the bridge might be; perhaps something floating in the air or on the screen of the camera).
Below, Pont Neuf bridge, the oldest bridge in the city; completed 1606; the heads (mascarons) are actually the 381 stone masks on the structure
Constructed from 1887–89 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair, it was initially criticized by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015. (more info later)
Pont Alexander III bridge
The Pont Alexander III bridge is widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in the city.
We passed the d' Orsay Museum before completing our ride back to the starting point.
Once off the boat, we returned to the apartment. [walked today 7.99 miles]
Tue., Nov. 1, 2016 (Paris) - Our first activity for the day was getting to the metro station St. Paul to meet the guide for the Paris Walks tour, "The Marais Circuit 1".
From there we walked into the neighborhood that makes up the portion referred to as "The Marais Circuit 1" which basically covers the old Jewish quarter and includes some of the most important architecture in this part of the city, such as former private homes that have since been converted into museums and other public buildings.
There was even a bakery with beautiful items shown in the windows.
We stopped at the Shoah Memorial and the Holocaust Center
visited inside a Roman Catholic church
and, outside
and, ended in front of the Hotel du Sully at the wonderful Place des Vosges the oldest planned square in Paris and one of the finest in the city. It was a fashionable and expensive square during the 17th and 18th centuries, and was one of the reasons Le Marais become so fashionable for the Parisian nobility.
This tour ended at 12:30 and we made our way back toward the neighborhood of metro St. Paul where we had lunch, then continued on. Our next stop was Metro Chaussee to locate the Galeries Lafayette Department Store. Once inside the main building, we immediately could see why our friend, Sarah, had recommended we visit this department store.
I snapped this picture of a potential seating place for Santa in the upcoming season.
We returned to the apartment mid-afternoon for a little rest before adventuring our again that evening to a concert at La Sainte Chapelle. In the neighborhood of the Notre Dame Cathedral is located the La Sainte Chapelle.
Wed., Nov.2, 2016 (Paris) - This was the day of our Viator Opera Garnier tour, set for arrival time at 10:30 a.m.
The Palais Garnier (Opera Garnier) is a 1,979-seat opera house which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. The Palais Garnier has been called "probably the most famous opera house in the world, a symbol of Paris like Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, or the Sacre Coeur Basilica. This is at least partly due to its use as the setting for Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera and, especially, the novel's subsequent adaptations in films and Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular 1986 musical. Another contributing factor is that among the buildings constructed in Paris during the Second Empire, besides being the most expensive, (over 36 million francs in 1875), it has been described as the only one that is "unquestionably a masterpiece of the first rank."
As our guide told us about this absolutely beautiful building she wove together the stories of attending the opera in Paris. Specifically, that the performance was the least important item of the evening--rather being seen and parading and posing being most important. Incidentally, the (auditorium) performance hall was closed on this day because of a rehearsal taking place there. (We were told and given admittance verifications to return the following day to see the performance hall. We did return; it was again closed for rehearsal).
Of all the opera houses we visited in Europe--Vienna, Budapest, and Paris--this one was the most outstanding! And, it is the original setting for "Phantom of the Opera".
Our tour ended and overwhelmed, we stopped for lunch and then made our way back to the apartment. The afternoon schedule was open until we returned to the Eiffel Tower for our 8 p.m. tickets to the second level.
Early in the summer as I researched details for this trip I came across the link to purchase tickets directly from the website. A date and time was posted for when the tickets for our days of visit would be available. I marked my calendar with the correct time when sales began, and that evening I patiently waited for that time and purchased the tickets directly from them, ATOUREIFFEL, with no added charges from a second supplier.
So, at about 5:30 p.m. we departed from the apartment for the trip across Paris to the Eiffel Tower.
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At 8 p.m. we boarded the elevator to travel to the "second level", i.e. 172 feet above the ground level.
Here, the view of the city makes it worth the ride, at least for this writer. I don't think Sylvia necessarily agrees with me on this! We didn't even discuss going to the 3rd level (top). I took lots of pictures. "You know who" would hardly look out and never down, staying away from the sides of the platform.
It was past 10 p.m. when we departed from Eiffel Tower area and made our way across Paris to the apartment. [walked today 9.35 miles]
Thu., Nov. 3 -(last full day in Paris) -Since we had missed our afternoon Paris Walks tours, we decided to stay away from the one we had planned for this morning, "Saint Germain-des-Pres. Instead, we decided to go to the d'Orsay Museum, for an entrance fee of 12 Euros each. In 2014 prior to arriving, we purchased a large museum pass that included this museum. Alas, we were unable to fit in the visit. So, with no pass, we wanted to visit now.
The Museum d'Orsay is located on the left bank of the Seine in Paris. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the largest collection of impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters including Money, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Gaugin, Van Gogh, and a long list of others. Many of these works were held at another Galerie in Paris prior to the museum's opening in 1986. d'Orsay is one of the largest art museums in Europe.
In 2014 while on a river cruise on the Rhine River, we visited the city of Colmar, France, birthplace of Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi who created the Statue of Liberty that is located in the harbor of New York City. As we entered this museum today we found the info below about Bartholdi and info related to the statue. On the occasion of the Exposition Universelle of 1900, Bartholdi crafted a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty, which he subsequently gave to the Musée du Luxembourg. In 1905, the statue was placed outside the museum in the Jardin du Luxembourg, where it stood for over a century, until 2012. It is here where the statute currently stands at the entrance to the Museum d'Orsay; a newly constructed bronze replica stands in its place in the Jardin du Luxembourg.[1]
Museum's main hall
Clock
On the street that we walked to/from the metro station near our apartment, I snapped a picture of this car that I'm told was made immediately post World War II in Germany
[walked today 6.47 miles]
Fri., Nov. 4, 2016 - Paris, France to Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX USA - Our flight departure from CDG to DFW time was 10:30 a.m., so our Viator transfer that we used when arriving picked us up for our departing flight at 6:30 a.m. and we were at the airport by 7:30. A delay in departure was necessitated because some gauge that checked the engines were giving a warning message regarding failure on one engine while flying to Paris (I assume from the USA). The pilot explained it that there were multiple warning gauges for that engine that were showing "ok", so it was determined that the engine was ok, but the warning was faulty. Delay was instituted while a very high-level person made the decision to use the plane with a warning message showing. Anyway, from all that, we departed from Paris about 11:30-12 and arrived at DFW not too much later than our scheduled arrival time of 3:35 p.m. Using our recently obtained Global Entry hardware attached to our passport, customs and entry into USA consisted of completing one form, swiping our passport through a machine, standing in front of the camera on the machine to match our photograph to that on file, placing our hands on a screen to match fingerprints to those on file, and proceeding to a line of about 15 people to walk through a gate, giving the agent our completed Global Entry form. By about 5 p.m. we were on our way in the shuttle to get our car. And, by about 9 p.m. we were home. [walked today 3.29 miles]
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