At last, Paris!

At last, Ann has reached Paris! This is the next instalment in her adventures. Read Delicacies of San Sebastian, Mad about Madrid, Historical Cordoba and The people you meet to see her previous updates. 

At last I am in Paris. I just hope I have the stamina to enjoy it. We’ve been away five weeks through four countries on planes, trains and once by rental car and nine stops of between two and six nights. This is our last week. This is the icing on the cake. The place I’ve been dreaming of.

Our first day we take the metro into the heart of Paris. First stop the Louvre. It is huge. You could spend a whole week there. Of course you have to see the Mona Lisa. Actually, you can’t really get close enough to have a serious look for the crowds of people taking selfies and she’s behind glass anyway.

We enjoyed the sculptures more. Their serene beauty is calming.

We stroll through the Jardin Des Tuileries, a vast park and sit and rest by one of the ponds before find in our way to L’Orangerie. It’s late afternoon and not as crowded as the Louvre. Seeing Monet’s water lilies in the venue for which they were designed is very exciting. Although I have to say that I think the Monet in Japan exhibition I saw twelve years ago in Perth and the Monet’s Garden show in Melbourne a couple of months ago, were actually better displays. I remember a luminous quality to the paintings there that is not evident here. Nevertheless, these huge images on the curved walls in the oval rooms are astonishing. But tomorrow in Giverny I’ll see the real thing.

We catch our first glimpse of La Tour Eiffel as we walk beside the Seine back towards the Louvre then stroll to Opera with a couple of rest stops in the bars along the way. Every cafe is also a bar, in France, so you can sit and enjoy a champagne, coffee or beer, a meal or snack, at almost any time of day or night. Outside seating faces the passing parade and inside atmosphere is charming.

Paris, like most cities in Europe, is well served by public transport. You’re never far from a metro station and we never waited more than three minutes for a train. They can get crowded in peak hours and the PA system announces to beware of pickpockets but we had no troubles. We did have difficulties almost every trip though with tickets that did not work in the automated barriers. My rudimentary French was important in getting replacement tickets from station staff but locals helped out by doubling us through on their tickets on a couple of occasions when there were no staff around.

Ann’s blog #24