Paris
Art in the city of beauty
We traveled to Paris from London on the Eurostar high-speed train that arrives at Gare du Nord, in the 10th arrondissement of the city.
The forecast predicted rainy days, but luckily it failed and we were only accompanied by a few drops of water that first evening and early the next morning.
But how could we complain if, as the lady who served us the delicious breakfast told us, "Paris sans le pluie ce n'est pas Paris" (Paris without rain is not Paris). So it was that those first days of September we were able to tour it in a very pleasant way and with good weather.
We stayed at the Hotel Massena in the Madeleine area, very well located. We were able to get this accommodation at an affordable price because we booked it well in advance, as usually strategic hotels are expensive. Besides the location, the breakfast was memorable for its sweet croissants and baguettes with French cheeses.
We left the carry on, grabbed the umbrella and went for a walk. First we visited Printemps department store on boulevard Haussmann. In addition to its stained glass dome, it stands out for the excellent viewpoints of its rooftop restaurants and bars, with panoramic views of the Tower and the Opera.
We continued with a quick tour of the Galeries Lafayette, also on the boulevard Haussmann. It's not about shopping, but about appreciating the beauty of the main hall with its balconies and canopies.
The grand avenue owes its name to the ideologist of modern Paris.
Haussmann was the one who transformed the city during the Second Empire, in the second half of the nineteenth century, implementing an urban planning project that involved its modernization. He widened the streets, landscaped the roads with trees, imposed a maximum construction height and the following of building codes, all of which generated the current identity that distinguishes the city.
From there, a short walk to the Perfume Museum. Free admission and without reservation, the Musée du Parfum tells the story of the perfumery opened in 1926 by the Fragonard family, who have the savoir-faire (knowledge) of the world of fragrances. The orange blossom eau de cologne - Eau D'orange - proved hypnotic for @tripticity_.
Just a few meters away is the monumental Palais Garnier Opera House, also built during the rule of Napoleon III, a masterpiece of eclectic style architecture.
A quick stop at the Parisian-style Starbucks located at 3 Bd. des Capucines, is only fifty meters away.
The drizzle had subsided so we continued walking to Passage Choiseul.
First a clarification. Also in the nineteenth century, passages couverts emerged that allowed Parisians to cross streets sheltering from the rains so frequently present, while enjoying the canopies of the stores that opened there.
It felt so Parisian to cross the Passage Choiseul!
Then we entered the beautiful Bibliothèque Nationale de France – Richelieu, to enjoy its oval wing open to the public, majestic and imposing.
We then crossed to Galerie Vivienne, with its glazed ceiling, mosaic floors and outstanding stores, such as the Ancienne & Moderne bookstore, the Mad et Len author perfumery or the super peculiar store selling map scrolls and globes. A beauty, as well as the very secluded cafes and restaurants.
Next door, the Galerie Colbert invites you to another discovery, with its glass dome and its spaces dedicated to culture. There you will find the Parisian brasserie Le Grand Colbert. Another delicatessen.
Continuing on, we stroll through the Jardin du Palais Royal, with its neat grove of trees, on our way to the Louvre. On the way we enjoyed the Domaine National du Palais-Royal, this monumental complex and its galleries.
The scene composed by the Louvre Palace and its pyramid, by the architect I. M. Pei, is colossal. It was the ideal place to end our first tour of the city.
The next morning, we were scheduled to climb the Eiffel Tower.
We took a bus from the hotel. In this regard, a clarification: the Paris Metro is one of the most connected in the world; now, with the Google Maps tool and outside peak traffic hours, the urban bus is an excellent way to move around the city.
And so we arrived at Rue de Monttessuy in a novel drizzle to get our first great panoramic view of the Tower.
Then we climbed to the top as the clouds began to dissipate. From the top you can appreciate the beauty of Haussmann's urban plan, with the diagonals that characterize the city. It is inevitable to discover one by one the great monuments such as the Arc de Triomphe, the Basílica of Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre, the Hôtel des Invalides, to name just a few.
And while we were enraptured with these images, the sun came out to shine on the whole city of light.
The option of the viewpoint on the second floor is a somewhat cheaper option and also very beautiful.
From there we headed towards Pont de Bir-Hakeim, with its metallic colonnade and its attractive decoration with lampposts and statues. The formation has two floors, the lower one for pedestrian and vehicular traffic and the upper one where line 6 of the Metro runs, which just across it, offers a great view of the Eiffel Tower and a very fleeting view of the Statue of Liberty in Paris, the replica located in the Seine.
An uphill walk took us to Av. de Camoens, the remarkable little street from which we get one of the most photogenic Parisian images with the Tower in the background.
We returned to the base of Eiffel's genius to take the characteristic Bateaux Mouches on the banks of the Seine. It is a boat that offers tourists a ride along the river to Île Saint-Loui, passing by the Île de la Cité and the historic Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris.
It was getting late in the afternoon and time to discover another great district on the left bank of the river (the Rive Gauche). We started at Place de l'Estrapade, another little square in the city that gained notoriety after being one of the main settings of the Emily in Paris show. We knew that the Moderne Boulangerie (also starring in the streaming show) was one of the award-winning pâtisseries, but we never imagined that we would be so delighted with its mille-feuille, a sublime combination of puff pastry with vanilla cream and raspberries.
Just meters away is the Pantheon, a church project that after the Revolution became the mausoleum of the illustrious, with its elegant neoclassical style and colonnaded facade.
Another walk, in which we began to feel the tiredness of the day, and we arrived at Le Jardin du Luxembourg, to take advantage of its public furniture, sit down and regain strength with that great postcard.
We crossed the Pont Neuf to visit the exclusive Samaritaine store before our appetizer at Maison Maison, a restaurant on the right bank of the river ideal to close the day toasting to love, life and travel. With some empanadas, like good northerners.
The next day, we started our circuit at the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre and its lively staircase, always full of tourists wanting to get the best catch.
We got to the top in an uber, more for the young and fits can be climbed on foot.
Walking through the little streets of Montmartre, beyond the immense number of visitors that invade it, is an experience not to be missed. And so, wandering around, we arrived at another favorite of walkers, Le Mur des Je t'aime. In a small square a wall is stamped with the phrase I love you in countless languages. Yes, very Instagrammable, too much perhaps, but fun.
About a ten minute walk away is Moulin Rouge, the theater where the cabaret characteristic of the Belle Epoque became famous.
We then quickly visited the small Musée de la Vie Romantique, in what was the former residence of painter Ary Scheffer, whose display includes an exhibit dedicated to writer George Sand.
We took a bus to the emblematic Rue Montaigne, with its stores of great European designers, as we had tickets taken out to visit La Galerie Dior. What a comforting surprise! @tripticity_ is as fascinated by Christian Dior's biography as she is by his iconic designs of elegant gowns, but visiting that gallery was truly moving. The exhibition is a walk through the creativity and perfection of the genius's textile workmanship. The curatorship achieved an extraordinary exhibition, entertaining, amazing, not only for fashion lovers.
Before continuing, we stopped for an ice cream at the Pistacherie, right in front of the Pont l'Alma, where the Lady Di Memorial is located, for being the place of her accident. This store is a must for any pistachio lover, as they offer all kinds of pistachios in every imaginable version.
Next, we made our visit to another design mecca, the Louis Vitton Foundation in the Bois de Boulogne, a monumental building designed by Frank Gehry, which evokes the hull of a ship.
Then, we crossed the city on the Metro to Les Halles for a last appointment at Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection. What used to be the palace of the stock exchange houses an art collection.
When we left, tiredness prevailed, but we took courage, made a stop at a random little market, where we stocked up on snacks, a couple of plastic cups and a rosé wine and set off to Jardins du Trocadéro, to wait for the nightly light show of the Torre Eiffel. Every hour, the lights are automatically turned on, illuminating it with golden sparkles. A spectacle not to be missed.
The atmosphere is quite amusing as street vendors not only offer souvenirs but also fresh wines with disposable glasses to set up the small romantic picnic, which we had improvised on our own that warm September night.
Our last day in the city coincided with the first Sunday of the month. Many of the museums offer free access on that day, so we took advantage of it and put together a circuit to make the most of the proposal.
We started with the opening of the extraordinary Orangerie, located in Jardin des Tuileries. Monet's glorious water lilies are exhibited there. There are eight murals that the artist conceived as a space for reflection. As we entered early in the morning we were able to enjoy some solitude, understanding the magnificence of this iconic work of impressionism.
We crossed the Seine to its left bank for the next visit, none other than the Musée d'Orsay and its inexhaustible art collection.
In what used to be a train station, the museum exhibits masterpieces, both impressionism and post-impressionism, as well as romanticism and realism, absolutely inexhaustible. We applied our "sweeping" technique, which involves walking around these immense galleries with quick glimpses, attentive to the shortage of time and the enormous amount of great works hung in these rooms.
By the time we noticed it, more than three hours had already passed, so we had a rest, took some pictures of the majestic clock overlooking the Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre and left for the Musée Delacroix, in what was the artist's residence on a second floor with access to a very nice garden, at 6 Rue de Furstemberg. We visited his studio and gardens, in a very Parisian building.
Touring museums is a favorite of @tripticity_, but it is exhausting. So, before continuing, we stopped at Ladurée, a traditional French patisserie, famous for its macarons. It was hot so we ordered a cool wine and a selection of macarons, including pistachio and raspberry.
From there we continued to the Musée de Cluny to enjoy its phenomenal display of relics from the Middle Ages. There you can see monumental statues of the kings of Judah that dominated the western facade of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, which were removed during the French Revolution and found in the 1970s; religious paintings; tapestries; ancient sculptures and manuscripts, such as the Treatise on Combat, with illustrations on the handling of weapons for the young princes of the nobility.
And we finish at the Centre Pompidou, for the best exhibition of modern and contemporary art, pure avant-garde.
Works by Vassily Kandinsky; Robert Delaunay; Otto Dix; Marc Chagall; Henri Matisse; Piet Mondrian; Joan Miro; Marcel Duchamp, to name just a few.
It was our last night, so we had to say goodbye to beautiful Paris by enjoying a typical dish of French gastronomy. So, we headed to Les Halles towards Le Petit Bouillon Pharamond; a traditional restaurant with local food at a very reasonable price. We tried the bœf bourguignon and a jambon braisé with mashed potatoes, while toasting with the liter of wine in a carafe they served us.
It was the best way to end this four-day getaway to Paris, the beautiful city steeped in art and bohemia.
