Wayne and I said goodbye to Jorgia and boarded the train bound for Paris. I had booked an Airbnb in the 10th Arrondissement near the Canal Saint-Martin. The claim to fame of the building we stayed in was that it was the site where the Mona Lisa was hidden for two years after being stolen in 1911. Véronique, the owner, has really decorated this apartment beautifully and everything you could possibly want was supplied. We would say to each other, “It would be good if there was such-and-such here,” and next minute we would find the such-and-such.
On our first morning in Paris, we met our Vichyssoise friend, Anne, at the Madeleine church and she had a special surprise for our 25th wedding anniversary – breakfast at the very fancy Fauchon. Founded in 1886, Fauchon is a gourmet food company which produces its own lines of baked goods, conserves and confectionary and its name is synonymous with luxury. We enjoyed a delicious omelette and a selection of decadent pastries. What a great way to start the day.
I had booked a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of Paris for the following two days and we certainly crammed in a lot of sight-seeing. Both days saw us exploring the streets of Paris for 12 hours (the massage chair back at Véronique’s apartment was certainly appreciated at the end of the day).
On the first day, we visited the Louvre (just the exterior because we had both been inside before and I don’t think Mona has changed much in the intervening years), then Notre Dame Cathedral (where we found “kilometre zéro” in the square out front. This spot is considered the official centre of Paris. Inside, the grandeur of Notre Dame never fails to impress. On this occasion, we also caught the start of a mass.
Next we walked around to Sainte-Chapelle, yet another French gothic church on the Île de la Cité built between 1242 and 1248. We had to pay to get into this church and on the ground floor, while it was impressive, I thought we had been duped a bit because I didn’t see €8 worth in it… then I realised there was an upstairs. WOW!!! This was absolutely breathtaking. The stained glass windows dominate the chapel and the stonework is nothing more than a delicate framework. I had never been here before and Jorgia recommended it to us. I certainly pass on that recommendation to anyone visiting Paris. It is probably the most beautiful church I have ever visited and unfortunately the photos just don't do it justice.
We hopped back on our tour bus and got off at the Champs Élysée. Walking past Cartier and Tiffany, I suggested to Wayne that we could pop in to pick me up a nice anniversary present (haha).
We made our way under the famous Arch de Triomphe roundabout and marvelled at the sheer size of this monument. We decided not to go to the top because the elevator was broken and we knew we still had lots of walking ahead of us, so the 284 steps did not sound like a good idea.
Back on our bus we headed for the Place du Trocadéro. Unfortunately, the view of the Eiffel Tower is somewhat obscured by scaffolding (which has been the case the last couple of times I have been there). We wandered down and bought our tickets to go to the second level. Here, Wayne presented me with a beautiful ring to celebrate our 25 years of marriage. He couldn’t have picked a better spot to do it.
After the Eiffel Tower, we went to the Christmas markets which are set up along the Champs Élysée. While they look pretty impressive, the products on sale there were nothing out of the ordinary and many of the stalls sold the same things. The one thing we did indulge in was a lovely “vin chaud” – hot wine. Yum.
As it was starting to get dark and our tummies were starting to grumble (even though by French standards it was WAY too early for dinner) we decided to head to the restaurant I had chosen for our anniversary dinner. I had been to this little Moroccan restaurant with our friends Roland and Christine six years ago and I was really keen to go back. For any of you who might be visiting Paris, it is not far from the Île de la Cité. It’s called “Au Bon Couscous” and is found at 7 rue Xavier Privas. We enjoyed a beautiful couscous royal which comprised couscous with a selection of five spiced meats and a vegetable sauce washed down with a Moroccan wine. Of course we could not finish our meal without sampling some delicious Moroccan pastries.
With our bellies full, and exhausted after a very busy day, we headed back to our apartment.
While I said to Wayne that our second day in Paris would not be so full-on, it actually ended up that we were just as busy. We started the morning with a visit to the Montmartre district and Sacré Coeur Basilica. This required climbing a ridiculous number of steps and I insisted on taking the funicular to descend. After a few quick photos outside the Moulin Rouge we boarded our bus again and drove past many sites including the Hard Rock Café and the famous Rex cinema. I’m not sure if it is the same at home, but Star Wars is bigger than Ben Hur over here at the moment and at the Rex cinema, the queue to get in would have been at least 200 metres long.
We then got off our bus at the Opéra Garnier and visited the Galeries Lafayette department store. The Christmas decorations were just stunning.
On a side note, security has certainly beefed up in Paris since the last time I was here and, obviously, since the November 13th attacks. At all tourist sites our bags were inspected and/or put through X-ray machines, we often had to pass through sensor gates and have the wand passed over us (this was probably happening last time I was here) but now, even department stores and other smaller shops have the same security measures. Security guards were stationed at Ladurée (a very famous macaron shop) and other such stores and our bags were thoroughly searched on entering Galeries Lafayette. In addition, the military are out in much greater force than I have seen before, often circulating in groups of 3 to 6 around popular tourist sites along with police officers. However, life seems to be going on as normal.
I have been wanting to go to the Musée d’Orsay for quite a while. I am not really an art lover, so the €11 entry fee was probably a bit steep for my liking because I was only really interested in seeing the Gauguin and Van Gogh pieces. I’m sure there were other people there who had been in the museum all day musing over the different artworks while Wayne and I zipped through in little over an hour. We were probably just as impressed by the layout and architecture of the museum, along with its massive clock, as by the artwork (sorry art aficionados).
Our final stop for the day was back at the Eiffel Tower to get a night time picture and then we headed back to our apartment, happy after an incredible two days in Paris.
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