Arrives at Parc Royal AirBNB around 3pm. Michael (driver) picked us up inMercedes van & enjoyed a quick ride in to Paris. After Paul showed us our apartment, we walked the neighborhood & stopped at the cafe nearest our place for wine and a ‘mixte panaches’- delicious. Early to bed and a great night’s sleep.
Up around 7. Caffe & croissant from nearby boulangerie- delicious! Group bike ride tour of Paris with Cameron (from Australia). He said traffic was terrible because of the terrorist trial going on that closed so many streets near St Chapelle. The whole city was a mess, traffic-wise.
Saw all the sights- Ile de St Louis, St Chapelle, Louvre, Orsay, Les Invalides, Arc de Triomphe & Eiffel Tower, where we celebrated with champagne.
Dinner in Place du Marche St Catherine square at Le Bistrot de la Place, where Cathy had 6 hour beef roast and I enjoyed a great duck dish, both with delicious sauces.
Picked up OJ & milk on the way home for breakfast.
Slept in way too late (10:30a)- I guess that was a bit of delayed jet lag. Felt great, had croissants & pastries for breakfast then off to the Georges Pompidou Musee for some serious modern art.
Museum is on floors 5 & 4 (you start from the top), with 5 exhibiting modern art up until the mid 60’s , with the 4th floor everything more recent. 5 was much better art, while 4 included so many abstract & bizarre artworks, including a number of full-room pieces, that it was a real turn-off for me. So much was totally self-indulgent, trying so hard to impress, that you can see why people questions it’s value as art.
The afternoon was a stop for lunch at Place de Saint Catherine- Le Marche was the restaurant, nice cheese plate & salad- then off to the Musee Picasso.
A disappointment to me, as the complete exhibit was a focus on Picasso & Rodin’s relationship and influences on each other’s sculptural works. Very few of the paintings that typify Picasso’s style. I was eager to learn more about his development from realism early on to the abstract pieces so associated with him. There were more examples of those at the Pompidou than here.
Dinner at __________
Lots of walking Sunday. We slept in a little bit today. I went out for a walk and to see if I could find some inspiration for a late breakfast. I walked all around the Marais and over to the Bastille where I found a huge Sunday street market. Everything you might imagine, including clothing, housewares, linens, furniture, cheese shops, butchers, vegetables, fruits, fish mongers and so much more.
I went back to the AirBNB, and Cathy had the great idea to go to Rue de Rosiers for breakfast in the Jewish district. She had a onion latke and a perogie (I think) and I had a bagel that was not at all like bagels at home; it was very light- not doughy at all. We sat outside the bakery and ate. We’re both amazed at how Parisien’s will sit outside to eat and drink no matter how chilly it is outside.
We made reservation to see Saint Chapelle chapel at 4pm (beautiful), then we walked across the Siene into the Left Bank to see Luxembourg Gardens. It is a huge 60 acre+ park with fountains, ponds, tennis courts, basketball courts and the home of the French Senate (Senat).
We walked back to Notre Dame and saw the devastation of the 2019 fire. Sad. We walked to Ile St Louis and had a mediocre dinner at a very small, cute restaurant. A+ for ambiance; C- for food, our first disappointing meal. Cathy made up for it with a wonderful gelato.
Today we navigated the Paris Metro. We bought a ten pack each of rides and Ray mapped out our itinerary. He has a natural instinct for directions. We began with the Arc de Triomphe. Climbed close to 300 steps. View magnificent. Afterwards, lunch on the Champs Elysees and a quick stop into Tiffany’s. Ray encouraged the purchase of a beautiful Tiffany signature bee necklace with diamonds, but Cathy graciously declined.
Another subway ride to see the Banksy exhibit, consisting of subversive art found in NYC and other large metropolises. Then on to Montmartre for a quick refreshment of wine and cheese before heading to Sacre Coeur for Mass at 6:30pm.
After mass, all in French, we took the Metro back to our neighborhood of the Marais and dinner outdoors at a place offering fresh fish. Ray had a seafood platter consisting of oysters, clams, shrimp and cold, cooked snails, more than he could eat. Cathy had ceviche.
Went home exhausted!
Slept in till 8:30 am. Navigated the Metro again to the Luxembourg Gardens for a quick stroll before visiting the Luxembourg musee to see the Vivian Maier photography exhibit. She is one of the most influential photographers from the 1950-60’s photographing scenes of people, mostly in NYC and Chicago.
After a delicious lunch in the St. Sulpice area it was off to the War Musee (Les Invalides). Stopped at the Rodin Museum on the way and walked around the beautiful gardens. Then on to the war Museum where we perused the WWI and WWII exhibits. Metro back to our pied a terre.
Dinner on Rue de Rosieres at the falafel place Lenny Kravitz liked.
Today we visited the Louvre. We had an 11:00AM rez, but arrived about 30 minutes early. We followed the Rick Steve’s audio guide downloaded to our phones which gave us an overview of the highlights. There was a snaking line to view and take photos of the Mona Lisa, which we didn’t participate in. My favorites were the Crown Jewels.
Afterwards, we lunched at a small, busy place in the 2nd arrondisment. I had a slice of quiche and a pasta dish with what looked like sliced deli ham, but was very delicious. Afterwards we went into E. Dehilleran’s, a kitchen store from 1880 and a kitchen gadget lover’s dream. Bought a whisk and a few cream brûlée ramekins for Patrick. Went home and Ray rested for a bit. Cathy checked out the Khiel’s store and bought some Parisian jam for Dee and a few pastries for morning breakfast. Dinner that evening was Chez Janou, recommended by both Marguerite and Rick Steve’s. Delicious.
This morning lounged at our apartment on the Parc Royal. Had a 1:30PM rez at the L’ Orangerie. Arrived a little earlier and strolled the Tuileries Gardens. After viewing Monet’s Water Lilies, and a quick salad lunch at the Musee cafeteria, we strolled over to the Musee D’Orsay. It’s a lovely museum of Impressionist paintings. All of the great artists. Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Van Gogh, etc. Afterwards, Ray again navigated the Metro, putting us in the ever so lovely Rue Cler area for a glass of wine and fromage. We shopped an exquisite store for balsamic vinegar, mustard and other delectables for gifts to give our children. We shopped the outdoor market for our dinner, including a bottle of wine, to take home. We stopped and picked up pastries for dessert. The eclairs were to die for. Off to bed.
Last full day in Paris. Cathy took some good pictures of our place (Carmen @ 12 Rue du Parc Royal) and we went to meet JoAnn and Terry Vogt as we’ve planned for a couple of months. The we’re passing through Paris for one day/two nights on their way to Bordeaux for a family trip. Had a great meal at Au Bougnat (recommended by Liz Maguire, my physical therapist) and drank wine into the afternoon. We departed and took a long walk back to our place via Saint Eustace (seemingly very old, with strange music playing!) the proceeded to do laundry and pack.
I went to Suzette’s right around the corner for crepes, after failing in my quest to buy the best eclairs we’d ever had- they were out. Set the alarm for 6 am and our train from Gare de Lyon.
Took the 8AM train out of Gare de Lyon. Had to lug all our luggage down the street to the Metro station in Paris- surprisingly painless. Had seats on the top level of the TGV (bullet) train to Lyon, where we got our car and headed to Switzerland.
We stopped in Geneva to see the city and the lake. Very much a business district, but with lots of watch shops. Walked around the lakeshore for a while and headed out to Lausanne in the afternoon.
Lausanne is a larger city than we thought. The Hotel Des Voyageurs where we stayed was in a steep shopping district, where we drove along a pedestrian mall through shoppers to get there- interesting! Had dinner at Cafe Grutli- Cathy had sausage she said was one of her ‘five best meals’. Very expensive and we had to tip for the first time in Europe.
Left kind of early the next day bound for a Gstaad visit & Chamonix Mont Blanc.
Our first stop of the day was the town of Gruyere. We stopped and bought some Gruyere to bring home.
Drove to see Gstaad on our way to Chamonix. Very cute ski town, although you can’t see many slopes from the town itself. The ski town we saw were so unlike American ski resorts- here we found cute towns with wonderful shops & restaurants, but there were no lifts you could walk to- apparently the skiing happens at a number of dispersed lifts across the area.
Took some pictures/videos of a lift base (with cows grazing) and some ski runs to share with Jack, and a pastoral video of cows grazing. The roads today were very narrow and windy- a lot of fun to drive.
Spectacular town- amazing views! Our hotel is Hotel Mont Blanc, a five star we got reasonably because of COVID. We have a fifth floor (top floor) room with a large balcony overlooking Mont Blanc and the town- amazing spot!
Amazing dinner at a small restaurant right on the river. It was very quiet and we were served by the owner- a very nice Swedish woman- who’s menu was interesting and delicious. Cathy had pork belly with apple rhubarb chutney and celery purée -the chef had just created the purée and was thinking about adding it to the dish, so the owner wanted Cathy’s feedback. I had an amazing veal T-bone steak that was very delicious.
Fir desert, the owner had created a mushroom tiramisu which sounded questionable but was so good that even Cathy, who doesn’t like tiramisu, loved it.
Checked out of our awesome hotel just before 11AM and walked around Chamonix a bit before departing for Lyon. Had an interesting detour through a small local village (because of road work on the main road) on side roads through a forest and stopped for a picnic. The rest of the drive was on highways.
In Lyon, we couldn’t get a reservation at Danial et Denise (Mary B recommendation) but Cafe Comptoir Abel was around the corner from our hotel and came recommended by the concierge. Cathy had the Lyonnaise salad and the pike quenelle. Ray had the chicken and rice. Everything delicious! Unbelievable sauces. Afterward we took the funicular up to Notre Dame and saw the city lit up. As we came down the funicular we saw the Daniel et Denise restaurant at the base of the funicular.
Today I went to the Resistance museum. Ray declined to come along. Oh well, it’s nice to be alone sometimes. The building was the Gestapo headquarters.
Today I went to the Resistance museum. Ray declined to come along, but had a wonderful time at the Place de la Bellecour reading and wandering. Oh well, it’s nice to be alone sometimes.
The Resistance and Deportation Museum focused on the pivotal role Lyon played as the center of the resistance movement in France during WWII. It really delved into the particulars of the Vichy government. The building was used as the Gestapo HQ.
That afternoon Ray and I walked about Lyon along the Place de la Bellecour. We stopped into a little cafe and had coffee and pana cotta.
Dinner that evening was a cute, local place down the street. I had terrine of pork, which was a cold mixture of pork and spices, like sausage. It was homemade on the premise and was devine.
Today we headed out of Lyon, driving up through the Loire Valley on our way to Le Mans, France. We stopped at this chateaux and took a tour. It was built from 1604-1634 and is in the same family, the Huraults, who live on the third floor.
Arrived at our hotel late in the afternoon. Exhausted from driving, Ray went around the corner and got hamburgers and fries for dinner. Early to bed.
Today Ray went to the LeMans car museum. Cathy walked the quaint streets of the town looking for eclairs to surprise Ray.
After meeting up , we drove through town to stop somewhere for lunch. Ray ended up driving through the narrow streets, alongside pedestrians. We got ourselves out of the tangle of the old town and onto the thoroughfare. We parked, meandered around the shops, stopping at a toy store, and found a little wooden car for Griffin. We asked the shopkeeper for a lunch recommendation. With her limited English and our even more limited French, she suggested a local place nearby. It was a delicious, sunny spot in the plaza. Afterwards we stopped by the toy store to tell her “merci”.
We drove that afternoon to Normandy, checking into our seaside hotel in Arromanches.
Spent the day in Normandy with our guide Pierre. Utah and Omaha Beaches. Dinner in Bayeaux.
Got up early. Drove through the most historic old Normandy villages in the early morning light on the way to Charles de Galle airport. We were bumped to First Class at the last minute. Wonderful three hour flight with snacks, beef fillet and bernaise sauce dinner and French champagne. Arrived at hotel exhausted
After daylight, 9:30 or so, we took a drive through Thingvellir National Park. Hiked into the ancient Parliament columns.