Paris (Continued) The Old Jewish Quarter

Today we decided to just take it easy and stay fairly close to home.  We did take the Metro to the Old Jewish Quarter which required a change at Chatelet station.  The walk between the metros underground was forever.  This guy was on the Metro playing his horn.  Of course he passed the hat, especially if you took his picture.

We ended up walking home and it it was way faster.  Sometimes you should just walk. 

Anyway, we came up out of the Metro on the Rue Rivoli a main thoroughfare

and a big shopping street.  We took off of that into the Jewish Quarter where they say the night life is great.  Lots of jazz clubs and restaurants.  During the day just lots of quaint shops and restaurants.  Lots of falafel eateries and delis.  Grab it and go.

Found this little tea shop and bought two kinds of tea.  Terry got one good for Detox and I got the Love tea.  Very good iced. She had samples.  We will share.

Narrow walking street

We had lunch at a little cafe and then headed back down the Rue Rivoli looking for the Hotel de Ville.  We kept looking for an actual hotel, and walked all around this building.  We saw signs for Hotel de Ville parking, shopping and Post office.  We finally googled it, and a picure of this building popped up.  Who names City Hall Hotel de Ville.  Jeez!  Anyway, on to the facts:

The Hôtel de Ville, City Hall, is the building housing the city's local administration. Standing on the place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville, it has been the location of the municipality of Paris since 1357. It serves multiple functions, housing the local administration, the Mayor of Paris (since 1977), and also serves as a venue for large receptions.

Just a few parting shots of Gay Paree

We left early this morning 9:00 to get to the train station ahead of the Tour de France which terminates today in Paris.  Not a bike in sight.  We arrived back in Amsterdam around 2:00 PM without incident.  No train changes so piece of cake.  That's all for Paris.  I did a lot of blogging entries on the train.  So now I'm caught up.

Paris (Continued) Rodin Museum

After my day of rest, we took the Metro back over near the Invalides and the Eiffel Tower to visit the Rodin Museum.

The Musée Rodin is a museum that was opened in 1919, dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites, at the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, and just outside Paris at Rodin's old home, the Villa des Brillants at Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine). The collection includes 6,600 sculptures, 8,000 drawings, 8,000 old photographs and 7,000 objets d’art.

While living in the Villa des Brillants Rodin used the Hôtel Biron as his workshop from 1908, and subsequently donated his entire collection of sculptures (along with paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Pierre-Auguste Renoir that he had acquired) to the French State on the condition that they turn the buildings into a museum dedicated to his works.  He moved into the Hotel Biron for the remainder of his life.

The Musée Rodin contains most of Rodin's significant creations, including The Thinker, The Kiss and The Gates of Hell. Many of his sculptures are displayed in the museum's extensive garden.

We visited the Hotel Biron and gardens and they are reallly worth seeing.

First things first, we had lunch in the gardens. A lovely spot in the shade.  A big chicken salad, which was delish.

The Hotel Biron looking from the garden

The Thinker

The Kiss (the big one)

The Kiss (the small one)

The Orphan from Alsace (Look closely and you can see the strands of hair on her head)

The Burghers of Calaise

The Gardens

The sculptures.  This one I can't remember the name of but the hands were from his favorite model Jacques de Wissant

Monument to Victor Hugo

From the Hotel Biron balcony

A rose (or possibly a thorn) among the Hydrangeas

Terry up to her usual taking pictures of my better side.

These are not Rodin sculptures

We decided we needed a coffee and ice cream before heading home, so we went  back to the garden cafe.

I swear Terry had ice cream, but she ate it already.

One last thing.  Look at this garden.  Looks real doesn't it.  Not so.  They are doing some restoration work on the outside of the museum area and so to make it look good, they cover up the work area with these beautiful canvases.  We have seen this a number of times while walking around the city.  Sometimes they will be pictures of the outside of the buildings.  Only in Paris.

 We headed back (me waiting on the Metro)

and I iced down the foot again.  

Later we went arount he corner to Place de Dauphine and had dinner outside at a lovely restaurant.  

Dessert which we shared was Terry's favorite "Profiteroles with ice cream and chocolate sauce.  Yum!  Somehow, I always get caught with the evidence of our indulgences.

Good night all.  Tomorrow is our last day.

Paris (Continued) Conciergerie and Sainte Chappelle

Ok after yesterday's marathon walk, I needed a day of rest.  Something going on with my right foot causing me some pain.  Not on the bottom but on the top.  Probably just stress and walking on a lot of cobblestones.  

Anyway, we decided to stay close to home and just walked down a block or two to the Conciergerie and the Sainte Chappelle.

"The Conciergerie was both a palace and a prison.  In the 6th century, Clovis, the first French King established his royal residence on the Ile-de-la-Cite.  Five centuries later, Hugues Capet, the first Capetian king, established his council and government in the Palais de la Cite, which thus became the seat of royal power.

Palais de Justice

In the 14th century, Philippe IV the Fair - continuing the work of his grandfather, Saint Louis - turned the Palace into a prestigious symbol of the monarchy.  It became the seat of the Parlement de Paris.

At the end of the 14th century, Charles V left the royal residence.  He appointed a steward, or "concierge", endowed with legal powers, to run the Palace and prison.  Numerous prisoners of State were kept here, such as Ravaillac, Henry IV's assassin.  In later times, the Revolutionary Tribunal sat in the Palace and used it increasingly as a prison.  The Conciergerie was listed as a historical monument in 1914".

The most interesting of periods to me was the Revolutionary.  All you book club members will remember this period from reading "Madame Tussaud".  Over 1793 and 1794, more than 2,000 people appeared before Fourquier-Tinville, the tribunal's public prosecutor, including Queen Marie-Antoinette and Robespierre.  The trials of famous people gave way to collective trials.  In 1794, witnesses and defenders were eliminated and tens of people were guillotined each day. After the fall of Robespierre, the Tribunal was dissolved in May 1795.

During the trials the prison had a reputation for being the toughest of all prisons.  During the Reign of Terror, its cells held hundreds of prisoners kept in unhealthy and crowded conditions.  Prisoners found guilty and sentenced to death, were allowed to enjoy a final feast, before being "Guillotined".

Queen Marie-Antoinette spent her last days in the Conciergerie.  She was guillotined at what is now Place de la Concorde.

Marie-Antoinette and her guards

Next door to the Conciergerie is Sainte-Chappell

"The Sainte-Chapelle, Holy Chapel is a royal medieval Gothic chapel.

Begun some time after 1239 and consecrated on 26 April 1248, the Sainte-Chapelle is considered among the highest achievements of the Rayonnant period of Gothic architecture. Its erection was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion Relics, including Christ's Crown of Thorns - one of the most important relics in medieval Christendom.

Along with the Conciergerie, the Sainte-Chapelle is one of the earliest surviving buildings of the Capetian royal palace on the Île de la Cité. Although damaged during the French revolution, and restored in the 19th century, it retains one of the most extensive collections of 13th-century stained glass anywhere in the world".

The upper floor of the Chapel. The pictures do not do it justice.  I recommend you google it.  There is a terrific photo on Wikipedia of this gorgeous Chapel

The lower floor

Went back to the apartment and iced my foot.  Consider this my meltdown day.  Since it was a pretty easy day, we walked down the street and had some pretty good Mexican food at a restaurant called Fajitas.  More tomorrow.

Paris (Continued) The Marathon Walking Tour

As walking tours go, this one was a dandy.  It was free.  If you come to Paris look it up at http://www.wegowalking.com. Our guide Paul was one enegetic young man who never stood still and kept up a good pace on the walk.  He literally walked us from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower with many stops in between.  I suggest being well rested before taking this tour as you will walk your legs off and wear out your walking shoes.

Paul, our leader 

This was basically our itinerary.  No stopping to go inside, just long enough to get the history and stories about each site.  

Ile de la Cité                                        Jardin des Tuileries

Notre Dame de Paris                          Arc de Triomphe Carousel 

Km. 0                                                  Musée du Louvre

La Conciergerie                                   Place de la Concorde

La Sainte Chapelle                              Champs Elysées

Pont Neuf                                           Grand Palais

The Seine                                           Alexander III bridge                                                  

The Bookinistes                                  Invalides

Academie Francaise                           Napoleons Tomb                  

Pont des Arts                                      École Militaire

Lovers Locks                                      Tour Eiffel

Notre Dame

Academie Francaise where they write the French dictionary.  It is written by a group who call themselves "The Immortals".

Pont des Arts and the lovers locks.  It is said that a couple will stay together forever if they write their names and date on the lock and then attach it to the bridge. They then must throw the key into the Seine so that the lock can never be opened.  The authorities do not encourage this as the locks are added, they get so heavy that they pull the fence down.

On across the bridge to The Louvre.  Looking back to the Academie Francaise through the arch leading to The Louvre.

The Grand Palais from 1900 Worlds Fair.  Meant to be temporary, but still in use for big events and exhibitions

Alexander III Bridge

"The Beaux-Arts style bridge, with its exuberant Art Nouveau lamps, cherubs, nymphs and winged horses at either end, was built between 1896 and 1900. It is named after Tsar Alexander III, who had concluded the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1892. His son Nicholas II laid the foundation stone in October 1896. The style of the bridge reflects that of the Grand Palais, to which it leads on the right bank.

The construction of the bridge is a marvel of 19th century engineering, consisting of a 6 metres (20 ft) high single span steel arch. The design, by the architects Joseph Cassien-Bernard and Gaston Cousin, was subject to strict controls that prevented the bridge from obscuring the view of the Champs-Élysées or the Invalides.

The bridge was built by the engineers Jean Résal and Amédée d'Alby. It was inaugurated in 1900 for the Exposition Universelle (universal exhibition) World's Fair, as were the nearby Grand Palais and Petit Palais".

Les Invalides Constructed in 1670 by Louis XIV in order to provide accommodation and hospital care for wounded soldiers. In 1815, after Napoleon's abdication, over 5,000 survivors of the Great Army were listed there. Napoleon inspected the place and visited his men in 1808, 1813 and 1815.  It now houses the French Military Museum

and Napoleon's Tomb. The chapel of the Invalides was built at the end of the 17th century by Jules-Hardouin Mansart and contains Napoleon's tomb. In 1840, during the 'Return of the Ashes', a law passed on 10th June ordered the construction of the Emperor's tomb below the dome of the Invalides.

 and last the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower. It was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it was initially criticised by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but has become both a global and cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.

So ends the tour and our day.  I barely had the stamina to get back home.  I am doing little or nothing tomorrow.  

Oh yeah, after resting a bit I did have the strength to go eat.  Never to tired to eat.