Back to Strasbourg

Today Jenni went to the Musee d'Orsay to look at the exhibition of impressionist art. I stayed at the hotel and did important things on the computer.

After we had checked out of the hotel we did a quick trip to the main shopping area that included Galleries Lafayette.   It was very crowded so we headed for the train station to catch the TGV back to Strasbourg. 

Galleries Lafayette

The Grand Hotel

The Paris Opera featuring busts of Beethoven and Mozart

Nicolas' mother Chantal and her husband Alex invited

us to stay with them in Strasbourg on our way back to Germany

Chantal cooked us an Alsacian speciality, usually

cooked only in winter, called Baeckeoffe.

It was three different meats covered with a

layer of potatos and onions.  Very nice.  

Chantal also prepared an ice cream cake

especially for us.  Very flattering.

The heat wave ended when a violent storm passed through Strasbourg.

Tomorrow we head to Ulm to join a friend of ours and then continue on to Nurmberg.

I'm not sure what the internet facilities will be like over the next few days so this may possibly be the last post for a while.

Paris - day 2

Today was our third day of heatwave conditions in Paris and my enthusiasm has completely evaporated. Despite the heat, we still saw some interesting things. 

We started the day by visiting the Institut du Monde Arabe. 

It features this incredible system to regulate the amount light entering the building. 

It works on the same prinicple that cameras use to regulate light.

From the top of the centre we get a good view of the rear

of the Notre Dame and the island in the Seine on which it stands.

We then visit the museum devoted to the works of  Auguste Rodin.  

This is his famous statue, "The Thinker" 

Inside the museum are some of his works, mostly meaningless to me.

This is smut.  Loathsome smut - the worst kind.

The gardens of the Rodin Museum.

This is the Museum of the Army.  Napolean's tomb

is located within the domed portion of the building

An extract from DeGaul's speech, after the fall of France, to rally resistance.

It is equivalent in majesty to Churchill's We will fight them on the beaches, etc

More about DeGaul's speeches

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.

Point zero. All roads radiating out from Paris are measured from this point.

The Notre Dame cathedral

The Saint third from the left, holding his head, is St Dennis.

He had a penchant for telling bad jokes.

More about St Dennis

Dinner in the Latin quarter

Crowds of people in the Latin Quarter

Crowds at the Fountain St Michele in the Latin Quarter.

You're famous Michele and I can confirm that you are a saint.

Paris - day 1

On our first full day in Paris, we walked to the Eiffel Tower and spent the rest of the morning on a hop-on hop-off bus. We also learned how to use the subway system.

In the afternoon we caught the train to Sacre Coeur cathedral, then walked, caught some more trains again and then walked back to our room at 11:00 pm.

My first view of the Eiffel Tower

9:00 am and already the crowds are excessive.

When you get to the front of the queue and pay your money,

 it's still ½ an hour from there

We took a bus ride to get the lie of the land.

Huge crowds at the Notre Dame

We got off the bus at the Arch de Triumph . . .

. . . and walked back down the Champs Eleysees.

This is for you Alison.

Some years ago at this place, Jenni and Alison

had pure melted chocolate served as a drink

The entrance to the Grand Palais

A Green-line train

The elevated parts of the train system look like Chicago.

Inside a subway station.

Sacre Coeur Cathedral, high on a hill overlooking Paris

The sun going down behind the bronze figure visible in the next picture.

We walk downhill and catch a train to the Louvre

Dan Browne's pyramid at the Louvre

The sun is setting as we walk across one of the

many bridges that cross the Seine 

We catch a train to the Eiffel Tower station and

spend €13 (about A$20) for two capuccinos.

The crowds waiting to ride/climb the tower are

even longer than they were this morning.

A huge lawn area runs for about 7-800 metres

from the tower  to the old Military School.

Possibly because it was still very hot, the crowds

occupied the complete lawn space.

It was 10:00 pm and finally becoming dark.

If you're up to it, click here for more pictures.

Paris 101

Bring plenty of money: €8.70 for a 500 ml (0,5 litre) beer,  €13.00 for two regular size capuccinos.
Paris is huge. You have to use the metro system if you want to get anywhere.
Don't come to Paris when the temperature is 34° like it was today.
Don't come to Paris in July because the crowds are enormous and you won't see anything unless you're prepared to wait in 34° heat for hours.
You must see Paris at least once in your lifetime. It is huge, fantastic, beautiful, unique and has an incredibly interesting history.

la Petite Pierre & Paris

Today's adventures varied between great and bloody awful.

We started the day by visiting a great little village

 in the Northern Vosges called La Petite Pierre.

Some of the buildings are classic Alsacian French

In the middle-ages, the village was built on top

 of a mountain and surrounded by stone walls.

Some of the older parts are returning to nature. 

But the most interesting part of the old town is preserved.

This is the picture-perfect main street.

A chateau is built at the very end of the village.

 It is  located in the most impenetrable position with the highest walls

The walls of the chateau must be 20-30 metres high.

That afternoon we drove to Strasbourg where we met Michele again

and parked the car in Michele's work space.

Michele then took us to the station to catch the TGV to Paris

This was a huge disappointment because the day was a very 

hot 35° and the air-conditioning was broken.

It was a stifling 40°+ inside the carriage.

After 2 hrs 20 minutes the train pulled in to Paris station. 

We were exhausted wrecks.

The room was awful. It was stifling hot and

 too noisy to open the window; it was too small and the internet didn't work

 The desk clerk spoke French only and couldn't help us.

Later in the evening we found a room in another hotel and reserved it for our final two nights in Paris. Anyone who knows Jenni would be aware that most of the problems with the room didn't bother her and I now have a fair bit of grovelling to do.