A little while ago we tried to fly home to Canada and opted for a few different routes, but were unable to get across the Atlantic. As it happened on our third try we flew to Paris hoping to find a seat with any airline, but realized after a few hours that would not happen. Thus, after a quick online booking the Hotel Mercure Opera Louvre became our home for the next four days and we were all set to explore Paris. We thought we were lucky to stay in this nice, old building built around 1900 and converted into a hotel. It was in a central location with easy walking access to the Opera, Galleries Lafayette shopping, many covered shopping passages, metro stations and even the Louvre. We booked a premium room with a terrace on the fifth floor and loved it. Looking over the roofs of the surrounding buildings we enjoyed afternoon snacks and some easy dinners in the fresh air on our own little patio.
On our very first 3-day-visit years ago we skipped the main attractions of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum afraid that the masses would repel us and lessen our enjoyment. But I had since the chance to explore both with a friend and learn about the best visitation hours: We knew arriving early in the day when the attractions open would carry the lowest risk of crowds. Don’t get me wrong: it is still busy, but there is room to move around, the wait for tickets is less than half an hour and one is not stuck in a mass of bodies. The views from the Eiffel tower are all worth it and we even had time to go to the lower deck and learn about the construction of the tower for the World Fair in 1889 and the family history of its engineer Mr Gustave Eiffel.
One can easily recognize many of the important buildings and landmarks: Montmatre’s Sacre Coeur church, the Seine winding its way to the Louvre, The Arc de Triomphe and the beautiful gardens leading to the Military school (Ecole Militaire). The Rodin museum was chosen by my husband as our next destination, a good 45 minute walk from the Eiffel tower. Rodin’s “The Thinker” drew us there The Rodin museum surprised us in more than one way: beautiful gardens showing his larger sculptures next to a cafe/bistro to sit surrounded by green trees, bushes and flowers to enjoy a snack or lunch. All for quite decent prices given that many restaurants offer only 3-course lunch menus which were often too much for us. We enjoyed strolling through the park finding many of his pieces displayed next to benches or chairs to rest and contemplate the view. It takes a good hour to visit the park and another hour to see the exhibits of his smaller works, sketches and antique arts collection. My favourite piece was “Age of maturity” for its dynamic of a mature man being wooed by death and leaving youth behind. We skipped the Kiefer-Rodin display in the entrance building since our capacity to enjoy any more art had been saturated. This museum is definitely worth a visit and particularly on a sunny or overcast day. It never felt crowded even with the many visitors.
Our next day brought us to the Louvre, a behemoth of a museum and soon to open an offspring in Abu Dhabi, to have a look at three specific areas: Islamic art, Italian and French masters. We started with the Islamic art which was a “poor” decision in hindsight as that particular exhibit is never really busy. Next came the Italian masters which were amazing with their evolution of art from strictly Theological topics towards landscape scenes and family portraits. By accident – there were so many signs and arrows one couldn’t miss it – we ended up in the room displaying the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. It was already somewhat crowded in front of the that highly guarded painting hidden behind two layers of glass/Plexiglas and two adjacent security staff. We were still able to snap a photo of the most well-know painting on Earth. But with the shiny layers on top reflections were distorting the beauty of it and made the snapshot more a memento than a photograph to display. Once we left the room the tour groups started to arrive and the air became warm and sticky. Time to escape to the French masters which didn’t draw the tourists as much. After two hours steeped in art and in close proximity of too many tourists it was time to enjoy some fresh air and find my favourite French family restaurant “Vero Dodat” for lunch again. A great two-course menu with a quiet rest in the old shopping passage was what we needed to feel relaxed and ready to see more of Paris.
A leisurely walk from our hotel brought us to the lower parts of Montmatre with its quirky, small shops and restaurants. A real Belgian waffle and ice-cream stand just opened for the evening and tempted us with some salted caramel in a waffle cone. We found this glass mural (photo above) on one of the buildings and marveled at the Quarters history and architecture.
For our last day we wanted to explore a bit more on foot and made our way to the Jardins De Luxembourg, a big park for the enjoyment of locals and visitors alike. Besides large green spaces and beautiful horticulture (among others an apple garden with tenths of varietals) one could find facilities to play tennis and boule, a playground and lots of chairs and benches to sit and enjoy the views. Many sculptures decorated the park and small plaques told of political events and gestures. This is a great spot to take family and friends for a picnic and a stroll. A further twenty minute walk brought us to the Pantheon, a building built as a church and nowadays a mausoleum, dedicated to the historic figures and legends of France. Big wall murals depict the life of Joan D’ Arc and St Genevieve on the main floor, which houses Foucault’s pendulum (proof of the rotation of the earth) under one dome as well. The basement hosts the remains and coffins of important members of French society. From Voltaire and Rousseau to writer Alexandre Dumas to scientists Marie and Pierre Curie and more have been buried there. A walk through the crypt is less creepy than one might think and the history present is impressive. Compared to other burial grounds of famous people the tombs are well marked and it is not too crowded to read and find a particular person of interest.
Saturated with good food, wine and many impressions of a beautiful city we left to embrace our summer at home.
Thank you, for visiting and reading my blog! Until next time, Maike
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