France Day 7:
We rolled out of bed this morning just in time to take advantage of the buffet breakfast at our hotel. It's insane... This whole restaurant is packed and we always get a table because of our reservations with Go Ahead.
They've got scrambled eggs (scrambled with cream and cheese), lardons (cubed and fried pancetta), croissants (regular and chocolate), fruit of every kind, fromage frais (a creamy cheese with the consistency of yogurt), juice, 3 kinds of cereal, baguettes, sliced meats & cheeses, any kind of cafe, and ONE PITCHER OF WATER. That's right...the French are a little stingy with water... How they get their 8 glasses a day is beyond me. :)
We were so close to just going back to sleep, but we forced ourselves out of the hotel, just to go see the Arc de Triomphe (a word of advice, get this done early in your trip...the 10 flights of stairs almost killed us!) and we ended up staying out in town for the whole day.
The Arc (that we got into for free with our museum passes), was spectacular and totally worth the climb. We looked out over the whole city and the view was so different from that vantage point, as compared with the Tour Eiffel. Something like 11 streets all meet at the circle around the Arc, and the symmetry of the lines is best viewed from atop the Arc.
After that, we meandered down the Champs Elysees and did a little shopping before jumping on the metro at Concord and heading to the Beaubourg district near the Pompidou. We had a cozy little lunch at a cafe and then made our way through the square at Pompidou into the Musée national d'art moderne(we also used our museum passes here!).
Another word of advice, go to the 5th floor first, especially if you're short on time. We wasted too much time on the super modern art (which frankly, even though I love all kinds of modern art, was a somewhat uninspiring collection) and were getting too tired to see everything on the 5th floor. We spent time in the Matisse room, saw everything they had by Pollock, Picasso, Dali and then just took a peek at everything else... But the collections are totally worth looking at and I highly recommend a trip to that neighborhood.
We wandered to the Rue Brismiche and bought crepes from a street vendor and watched all the acrobats perform near the Stravinksy fountain (also known as Fontaine des automates). The Beaubourg district definitely seems more real, and less snobby than parts of the left bank (St. Germaine, I'm talking to you...) and the shopping was much more affordable. I found a cute pair of shoes at a little shop on Rue St. Martin and popped into H&M (I finally got to shop at H&M and was disappointed...it all looked rather cheap and not that cute or interesting. go figure.) to escape a infamous Parisian rain shower. After that we hopped onto the metro at Chatelet.
The Chatelet metro stop should be experienced just for the sheer zaniness of it all. It's not just a series of hallways like the others...It's got fruit stands, book shops and all manner of vendors set up throughout the tunnels...we encountered all kinds of wacky musicians and crazy performers. It was a very colorful underground experience.
So, now we're finally back at our hotel...resting and preparing to pack for our long journey back to America tomorrow. We can't wait to see everyone and share our photos and stories with you. Abientot!
They've got scrambled eggs (scrambled with cream and cheese), lardons (cubed and fried pancetta), croissants (regular and chocolate), fruit of every kind, fromage frais (a creamy cheese with the consistency of yogurt), juice, 3 kinds of cereal, baguettes, sliced meats & cheeses, any kind of cafe, and ONE PITCHER OF WATER. That's right...the French are a little stingy with water... How they get their 8 glasses a day is beyond me. :)
We were so close to just going back to sleep, but we forced ourselves out of the hotel, just to go see the Arc de Triomphe (a word of advice, get this done early in your trip...the 10 flights of stairs almost killed us!) and we ended up staying out in town for the whole day.
The Arc (that we got into for free with our museum passes), was spectacular and totally worth the climb. We looked out over the whole city and the view was so different from that vantage point, as compared with the Tour Eiffel. Something like 11 streets all meet at the circle around the Arc, and the symmetry of the lines is best viewed from atop the Arc.
After that, we meandered down the Champs Elysees and did a little shopping before jumping on the metro at Concord and heading to the Beaubourg district near the Pompidou. We had a cozy little lunch at a cafe and then made our way through the square at Pompidou into the Musée national d'art moderne(we also used our museum passes here!).
Another word of advice, go to the 5th floor first, especially if you're short on time. We wasted too much time on the super modern art (which frankly, even though I love all kinds of modern art, was a somewhat uninspiring collection) and were getting too tired to see everything on the 5th floor. We spent time in the Matisse room, saw everything they had by Pollock, Picasso, Dali and then just took a peek at everything else... But the collections are totally worth looking at and I highly recommend a trip to that neighborhood.
We wandered to the Rue Brismiche and bought crepes from a street vendor and watched all the acrobats perform near the Stravinksy fountain (also known as Fontaine des automates). The Beaubourg district definitely seems more real, and less snobby than parts of the left bank (St. Germaine, I'm talking to you...) and the shopping was much more affordable. I found a cute pair of shoes at a little shop on Rue St. Martin and popped into H&M (I finally got to shop at H&M and was disappointed...it all looked rather cheap and not that cute or interesting. go figure.) to escape a infamous Parisian rain shower. After that we hopped onto the metro at Chatelet.
The Chatelet metro stop should be experienced just for the sheer zaniness of it all. It's not just a series of hallways like the others...It's got fruit stands, book shops and all manner of vendors set up throughout the tunnels...we encountered all kinds of wacky musicians and crazy performers. It was a very colorful underground experience.
So, now we're finally back at our hotel...resting and preparing to pack for our long journey back to America tomorrow. We can't wait to see everyone and share our photos and stories with you. Abientot!
posted by saucybritches at
5/17/2008 09:06:00 AM
1 Comments:
I love Parisian style. I like that they are cool and fashionable but not super trendy. They wear what looks good on them not what's "in". I always tell myself that I'm going to start buying pieces of clothes that are well made, good quality and more expensive, and then just buy fewer items. But, then I walk into H & M and there are shirts for $10-20 and they are super cute. So I buy them, and two or three washings later they have to be thrown away. Someday I'll learn my lesson:)
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