June 27 Paris

Last updated on September 6th, 2023 at 03:51 pm

Photos from Paris
Video Summary of the Day

Yesterday, when we arrived, we were told breakfast would be in the restaurant off the 2nd floor lobby of the hotel. When we arrived for breakfast, along with some other Viking folks, we were told breakfast would be on the 3rd floor and that we should access it with the escalator. There were elevators near us we tried to use, but they only took us to the lobby and down to the hotel entrance. We couldn’t use the elevators to our rooms because when we tapped our key card the elevator wanted to take us to our room. Just too smart for us old folks!

Someone finally realized if we pressed Mezzanine on the pad in front of the elevator instead of using our key card, we were taken where breakfast was located. Breakfast at the different location was for more than just Viking folks as several families were eating also. Most appeared to be English speaking. A teenager in line in front of Joyce asked how he could get an omelet.

Breakfast was laid out in several rooms, so it was a bit confusing. Joyce ended up with some continental breakfast items she really didn’t want until she didn’t realized there were hot breakfast items in another room. It all worked out as the sisters from southern California has saved seats for several of us from Viking and we had a nice breakfast.

After breakfast, we began the panoramic bus tour of Paris. When we were looking out our hotel room window, we were puzzled that we weren’t able to see the Eiffel Tower. Turns out a large black building taller than our hotel, near our hotel was blocking our view. Our guide told us it was referred to as the ‘Awful’ Tower. This building, Tour Montparnasse, is actually the second tallest structure in Paris at 689 ft, so even though we were on the 17th floor, the tall building was only 400 meters from our hotel, and so it exactly blocked our view.

Our hotel was in the Montparnasse area of Paris, which is an up and coming area with housing for young professionals. There was quite a bit of traffic and construction we encountered throughout our bus tour. Paris is preparing for the 2024 Summer Olympics so they are sprucing up everything! As we slowly (slowly!!) made our way toward the city center, we passed many sidewalk cafes, many decorated with colorful awnings and imitation flowers and flowering vines.

We drove by an old military area which included the Hospital des Invalids created by Louis XIV. In front of the hospital were many trees and bushes sculpted in cone shapes to resemble bullets. Near the hospital is the Dôme des Invalides, where Napoleon is buried. Our guide told of the dilemma of what to do with Napoleon’s body as he was not a king. Since he was a great soldier, he was buried with soldiers.

No far from the Dôme des Invalides, was the Museum of Rodan. A sculpture of The Thinker could be seen from the street along with cone shaped trees. We drove by the Grand Palais and Pon Alexander III, a bridge named after Tsar Alexander III, who had concluded the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1892. It was completed in time for the World’s fair of 1900. The Grand Palais was also under construction in anticipation of the 2024 Olympics.

We drove through the tunnel where Princess Diana died. We made it safely, but then, paparazzi weren’t following us! From there is was on the the Eiffel Tower, completed in 1889. We stopped in front of the Palais de Chaillot in the Place de Varsovie, both also under construction. A large street with many busses separated us from the Eiffel Tower. The bus stopped for a very quick 5 minutes for us to take pictures and then it was back on the bus!

We next drove past the Monument aux Volontaires Americains (Monument to the American Volunteers), was dedicated on July 4, 1923 to honor the American volunteers who helped the French army during WWI.

From there it was on to drive around the Arc de Triomphe, built by Napoleon to celebrate his many battle victories. You’ve probably seen the giant rectangular arch during the Tour de France or other events that take place in Paris. The names of the cities Napoleon conquered are written on the inside walls of the arch. Our bus driver drove around the Arc twice.

Then it was on to the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, which began as a garden. It runs for a little over a mile (1.9 kilometers; 70 meters wide) between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is located. It is commonly regarded as the “most beautiful avenue in the whole world”.

Along with the construction for the 2024 Olympics, preparations for the July 14th national holiday (Bastille Day) were also ongoing, which made traffic especially heavy and slow going. Along the Avenue we saw theatres, cafes, luxury clothing and perfume shops. The line waiting to get into Louis Vuitton was pointed out to us as we passed.

When we reached the Place de la Concorde at the end of the Avenue, we could see The Luxor Obelisk, a gift from Egypt, though there were a lot of construction fences and a glaring sun, so it was hard to see much more than a quick glance. The Place de la Concorde was the site of over 1100 public executions, including King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. The square is the largest square in the French capital.

We then drove along the Seine, seeing (from the bus) Parliament, Garden of Tuileries, and Musée d’Orsay, housing perhaps the world’s finest collection of Impressionist art.

We passed along the back side of Musee du Louvre, maybe the most famous art museum in the world. Sadly, we didn’t have tickets to any of the major sites in Paris, so seeing them from the outside was what we got this time around. The Louvre was originally built in the late 12th to 13th century and in the 1500’s became the principal residence of French kings until Louis XIV chose Versailles. [Henry IV ended war against Catholics]

We passed briefly by the Louis Vuitton headquarters covered with primary-colored dots, an installation commemorating contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, complete with an oversized statue of the artist.

Not long after that, we could see Palais de la Cité, a medieval palace that was the residence of the Kings of France from the 6th century until the 14th century ans has been the center of the French justice system ever since.

Finally, we reached our stop at Notre Dame. Near there was the Saint-Jacques Tower, which stands alone, a vestige of the former church of Saint Jacques de la Boucherie. We got out of the bus several blocks away and walked through a flower market named in honor of Queen Elizabeth II. Near there, we saw a movie photo shoot taking place, but we couldn’t identify who the actors were that were there, though there was a fair amount of security presence.

We weren’t able to get very close to Notre Dame de Paris, since it is madly undergoing reconstruction after the devastating fire in April 2019. It is hoped that the work will be finished by the end of the year, to be ready for the crowds that will come for the 2024 Olympics in Paris next summer. When we return for a more comprehensive look at Paris, we’ll certainly have this cathedral on our list to visit.

Now we were walking in the Latin Quarter, named for the Roman Catholic influence, not because of a geographical We also walked past the area where police started resisting the Nazis in August 1944, which was commemorated by a plaque honoring the fallen. The official tour was now ended at Square René-Viviani, a small park near Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, which is now a Greek church. There is an odd-looking fountain, known as the Saint Julien fountain, that was erected in 1995. It is emblematic of the legend of St. Julien the Hospitaller, a tale, now largely discounted, involving a curse by witches, a talking deer, a case of mistaken identity, a horrific crime, several improbable coincidences, and a supernatural intervention. 

Nearby was the famous English-language bookshop, Shakespeare and Company. Alan wanted to visit, but the line to get in was quite long, and we only had about 30 minutes to do some exploring.

Instead, our guide pointed out that Odette Pastry Store, noted to have the best Cream Puffs in Paris was nearby. Can you imagine a pretty Parisian store filled with display shelves of only creme puffs? Well, Odette, is such a store. Nestled in amongst its surrounding buildings is well known for selling only creme puffs, or as they are as named in French, choux à la creme. We elected to try them out, and ended up with a ‘flight’ of 4 that we shared: Pistachio, Vanilla, Carmel, and Chocolate. They were delicious!

We then walked several blocks back to the bus, passing through a comic and toy store area, for our ride back to the hotel. We were tired, but talked through some options for the free afternoon, and finally agreed that if we were in Paris, we probably needed more than just 5 minutes several blocks away from the Eiffel Tower. We were also interested in seeing more of Napoleon’s resting place, which appeared to be a doable distance from the Tower.

The first steps were among the hardest – trying to find the right subway station. Since we hadn’t taken the Metro in Paris, we had a bit of a learning curve. Once we found a station that seemed to be the most direct, and then understanding that paying for a trip meant anywhere in the Metro system, we were more comfortable. We talked to a man at the ticket window who directed us to go to the Trocadéro stop, which was a couple past the stop that we thought we would need. He wasn’t very confident in his English, but it was way better than our French! He wrote the name of the stop down for us.

A quartet of women, including our sister friends, were arriving in the station about the same time, and were even more tenuous than we were, and got our advice. (We were relieved to see them back at the hotel later, so we didn’t send them too far astray!) Now, it was on our way on to a very crowded subway car. We watched as we made our way along the route, and then got out at Trocadéro. Joyce was a little uncertain as we exited the train station as there was no tower to be seen. We followed the crowds and as we turned a corner around a building, there it was!

Our French ticket seller was right! The view was magnificent. Alan quickly figured out that we were now at the top of the hill that we saw the Eiffel Tower from at the quick stop in the morning. Joyce was a little overwhelmed at the sight, especially at the contrast from being skeptical of the Trocadéro advice and the view that was in front of us. There were lots of people on the esplanade between the two wings of the Palais de Chaillot that formed a wide arc and now houses a number of museums. We spent several minutes taking in the view and slowly making our way down the hill and to the Eiffel Tower proper

While it would have been fun to go up in the Eiffel Tower, again, tickets were needed, and we didn’t have them and they were sold out. Getting to the esplanade under the tower was even tricky. For security, there seemed to be only two entrances, and we had to make wide swaths around the tower base to get to the entry points. The lines were kind of long, but seemed to move pretty quickly, though with the signage being in French, we were uncertain if we were in the right lines up to the time we passed the security check.

The views up into the tower were pretty impressive. We had watched the 2021 movie “Eiffel” (a “freely inspired by a true story” telling of the French monument’s conception, construction, and the romantic connection threaded through Eiffel’s life that (the film supposes) inspired it) before we left, and seeing it in person seemed a bit surreal. Alan thought that it was possible to get up to the first level, but after walking all around underneath, could not find a way to do that without getting into a ‘ticketed’ line.

After some sitting and pondering, we left the restricted area out the other side from where we came in and started walking down the dusty central Champ de Mars to make our way toward Napoleon’s tomb.

We continued to run into many construction fences as we walked. It was hot! So, combined with the temperature, fatigue at the end of a long trip, and Joyce’s knee issues, the walk took about twice as long as Google told us, so we were walking close to 45 minutes. We passed young lovers necking in the grass, more monuments, cross dressers, and young people playing games in the grass. As we left the park area, we were into the regular city area, with buildings tall enough that it was difficult to get directions and landmarks sorted out. However, when all was said and done, we took about the most direct path to get to the Invalides area.

It was good to finally recognize what we had seen as we drove past on the bus. The Dôme des Invalides, mostly known as “The Dome”, stands out with its 351 ft gold gilded baroque dome and the courtyard of bullet shaped bushes. It is actually a complex of buildings containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, The complex also includes the former hospital chapel, now national cathedral of the French military, and the adjacent former Royal Chapel known as the Dôme des Invalides, the tallest church building in Paris at a height of 107 meters. The latter has been converted into a shrine of some of France’s leading military figures, most notably the tomb of Napoleon.

It turns out that the ticket was to whole Musée de l’Armée, but we were there within an hour of closing time, so we only visited The Dome area. As we entered, it was clear that this building was decorated very lavishly, with more gold, marble, and painted ceilings than we had seen in many of the cathedrals.

In the center was a large ‘well’ that was open to the floor below. In the center was definitely the largest casket we have ever seen. Alan supposed that it would have been possible for multiple Napoleons to be lined up standing inside! The red quartzite sarcophagus, resting on a green granite base and a black granite block, was finished in 1861, 40 years after Napoleon died. There are 12 marble ‘Victories’ statues in the gallery surrounding Napoleon’s tomb, with ten large relief panels with celebrate Napoleon’s achievements, and two commemorating the return of his body from it’s original interment site on Saint Helena.

There are nearly 100 other military figures who are buried throughout the facility, and there are smaller ‘chapels’ at each of the 4 corners around the central domes area that highlight some of the major men. It took nearly the whole hour we had available to just walk through the small area of the museum.

The walk to subway station was pretty easy, though it was still several blocks away. We quickly found the right platform and made our way back to the hotel area.

We were pretty hungry (and hot and tired) at this point, so we quickly decided on the convenient and enticing “Pizza Roma Bar Brasserie” even though we were in Paris. We ordered a pizza and a gorgonzola pasta dish, though the English/French confusion first brought out a more traditional spaghetti dish. As always, it was tasty, and even though we weren’t sure we would finish it all, we persevered!

Then it was back to hotel for resting, packing and a very early morning departure tomorrow, with a call for our luggage to be in the hallway by 4:30 am!