April 19-June 23, 2000

Don and Geralynn’s French Adventure

April 20

After much rushing around tending to those myriad last minute details, we left San Francisco Airport at 7:50 PM on April 18, 2000. Curt Thiem gave us a ride from Sunnyvale and we made it in plenty of time.

Our flight was a direct flight with no stops, so it only took us 10 hours, and most of that was at night, so we were able to sleep part of the way. The flight was pretty comfortable, although in the seat in front of Don was occupied by a very large fellow who forgot to take his bath. We each had our own little personal television screen and they showed 4 different movies simultaneously, plus PBS shows, so we didn’t get bored when we were awake.

When we arrived our friend, Albert Accardo was waiting for us. We packed up our bicycle suitcases and backpack/duffel bags and he took us to 165 Boulevard Voltaire. There was a bit of trouble locating the key, so we went back to the Accardo apartment for some juice and a quick visit with Therese, Albert’s wife. We met two of their grandchildren, Morgane and Thomas, the daughter and son of Laurence.

After a short visit we returned to the apartment and got the key and passwords to enter the building. We found our studio apartment and settled down for a shower and nap. Our apartment is a one room studio and quite comfortable. We get very good exercise hiking up 6 floors of stairs. The bed is very comfortable and we have a little kitchenette and bathroom with shower.

After our nap we took a stroll along Boulevard Voltaire, hitting the ATM for money and stopping at a cute bistro for a light dinner. After dinner we continued our stroll, picking up some fruit, butter and jam for breakfast at one of the little neighborhood markets.

This morning, Thursday, Don and I are sitting at our table, enjoying our typical French petite dejeuner of baguette, croissants, butter and jam, with coffee. A quaint little boulangerie is just two doors down a side street, so we can get fresh baguette and croissants every morning. We overlook a classic Paris city street lined with trees just beginning to leaf out. Ahhhhh, April in Paris!

Today we plan to take the Metro to the Champs Elysees, where we will take a stroll and stop in at a few places to tend to some travel details. Then we are off to the Orsay Museum to enjoy the Impressionist paintings.

April 21

We enjoyed our visit to the Champs Elysees yesterday. We took the Metro to Boulevard Franklin D. Roosevelt, and then strolled through the beautiful gardens of the Tuileries. The springtime weather has put the gardens into full bloom, with huge tulips on tall stems, surrounded by bright blue and pink forget-me-nots. The purple lilac lightly scented the air, and the roses and peonies are beginning to blossom. We walked through the park to the Place de la Concorde. There is an enormous Ferris wheel just near the monument, and it makes a spectacular scene with the huge circle around the monument and framing the park. I would like to see it at night when it is lit up.

From the Tuileries we continued along the Champs Elysees, looking at the shops and the people. Along the way we stopped at the Citibank branch to use the ATM machine, and the poste to mail a birthday card to Geralynn’s father for his 80th birthday, and at the Tourist Information Center to buy a Carte Musee (museum pass). The Tourist Information center was very busy, inefficient and didn’t have most of the information we asked for. But, we did get our three-day museum pass after a long wait.

At the end of the Champs Elysees is the Arc de Triomphe, and we took the underground walkway to the center of the huge traffic circle to visit the monument. The elevator was not operating, so we hiked up the narrow, spiral staircase to the observation platform. We were quite breathless by the time we
reached the top. From the top of the monument the streets look like spokes of a wheel, with about 10 spokes feeding traffic into the circle. Geralynn likes to watch the traffic go round the traffic circle, weaving in and out as they enter from one of the side streets and then try to exit to another side street. It is a true challenge to merge into 8 lanes of traffic going round and round the circle zigging into and darting out of the circle as they make their way to their destination.

The view from the top of the monument is spectacular, and it is a nice way to begin a visit to Paris, because you can get an idea of where each point of interest is located in the city. We could see the Tour d”Eiffel , Notre Dame, the Pompidou Center, and the new, huge Arc de Defense.

After spiraling our way back down the stairs and crossing under the traffic circle again we took the bus to the Musee d’Orsay where the Impressionist art is housed. Before entering the museum we grabbed a quick sandwich made of herb roasted chicken in a crusty baguette. As we sat in the plaza outside the museum, munching our sandwiches we watched several living “statues” perform by standing completely still while the tourists taunted them trying to get a smile. There were three performers to enjoy, one King Tut and two made up to look like Grecian statues. We had to wonder at the “talent”.

The line at the entrance to the museum wound around the side and to the back of the building. Our Rick Steves guidebook said we could get around the line by entering through the basement, so we wandered around looking for the secret entrance. Finally we found the way in through the bookstore on the river side of the museum, and it did save us a lot of waiting; we just passed right through the checkpoint with no line at all. The French word for bookstore is “librarie” (a library in France is called a bibliotech), and so that is how to find the secret way in and skip the line. The guard will ask to look in your bags for a security check.

Once we got into the museum we were so disoriented that we couldn’t find our way, even with the map. The museum was terribly crowded. After a few false starts we decided to focus the on displays that included the Renoir, Degas, Monet, Manet, Sisley, and VanGogh paintings and sculpture. This floor also included Tolouse Lautrec, Gaugin and Serrat. The displays are well presented, and there is so much to see, that after touring one floor we were exhausted and decided to return another day to see the rest of the museum.

We headed back to our apartment by bus and took our afternoon nap. For our evening we went to the Accardo’s home where we enjoyed a lovely meal of Tarte de Poivron et Tomate, Duck with garlic sauce, potatoes, salad, and assorted cheeses, all accompanied by an aperitif of Champagne, and two excellent Bordeaux wines. We returned home at midnight and hit the sack to rest up for our next day.

April 22

The day dawned sunny and blue on Friday. After spending some time in the morning writing and catching up our diary, we headed out by Metro to the station to catch the train for Versailles. We had hoped to get more information about the train to Bordeaux there, but no luck. I think the clerk just didn’t want to try to deal with my accented French.

The train ride to Versailles was quick and comfortable, and we arrived with hordes of other people to view the palace. This may not be the high season, but you couldn’t tell that from the crowds of people. There must have been 100 buses in the lot.

We stopped for a quick lunch in the town. Our very enterprising waiter stood by as we checked out the menu and extolled the grastronomique virtues of each item on the menu. He was so cute we decided not to look further and sat at one of those itsy, bitsy round tables that can hold one glass and an ashtray. We had beer and I had a nice salade Norveigien with smoked salmon and shrimp, while Don enjoyed the house omelette and pommes frites. Our waiter really scrambled, handling all of the tables outside, regaling passers-by (tourists only) with lavish descriptions of the meals to be had if they would only take a seat. The locals came in, raised a finger, their item was brought, they paid and left, all in a few minutes, but ours took much longer to arrive. One French woman, elegant in her fur-trimmed coat, took a seat and ordered her café au lait, and when it hadn’t arrived the next time our waiter came out the door, she really gave him a tongue-lashing. He had that cup on her table in nothing flat.

After lunch we strolled up the main street of the town of Versailles, and turned left to look up the wide, impressive entrance court once serving princes and noblemen, and their entourages, as their carriages arrived for visits, parties and hunting with King Louis XIV. The castle housed 5000 servants for the King’s household, plus 1000 visiting royalty, each of whom had 4 personal servants. What a crowd.

Once again, we took Rick Steves’ advice and found the secret entrance at door B with no line to get in.

We decided to take the self-guided tour and obtained a map and proceeded to the lavishly decorated chapel, with a painted domed ceiling, gilded ornaments and marble altar. All of the artwork, craftsmanship and furniture were created by well-known masters—Van Cleve, Coustou, Mansart.

Continuing through the palace, we visited the Grand Apartment, consisting of several rooms, each with huge frescoes painted on the ceiling. These rooms once were used for meetings with officials and the public. We also saw the formal sleeping room for King Louis, where the public could visit him in bed, and the throne room. The fabulous Hall of Mirrors must have been something when it was all lit up, with the royalty and their guests dressed up in fancy costumes, chatting and dancing the night away. The Queen’s Suite overlooks the flower gardens, which were in full, colorful bloom. The grounds at Versailles are vast. Most of the gardens are configured in geometrical patterns, with a several fountains and the huge Grand Canal.

We returned to the train in the afternoon, and got off at the Musee d’Orsay to finish up there. We again entered through the secret door and visited the lower floor, which includes the later works of the well-known impressionists, and on into the realist movement. While we were there we returned to the upper floor in hopes that it would not be as crowded, but no luck. We made our way through the rooms crowded with people and grabbed the subway back to our apartment.

We stopped in to visit Christine, the sister of Francoise (exchanger), who lives on the first floor. She was very friendly and she and her friend helped us with a few details-coffee cups and info.

That evening we stayed in and had bread, cheese and salami with fruit for dinner. Don worked on downloading his pictures and I played Monopoly, then off to bed to get ready for the Louvre tomorrow.

April 22, 2000

The thunder and lightning started about 4am. By the time we got up it was pouring rain, and the streets were filled with commuters under colorful umbrellas. Geralynn ran downstairs and picked up the daily baguette along with some quiche for breakfast. On the way down the stairs I met Madam Figeac, the 93 year old aunt of the people we are exchanging with. She was making her way up the spiral staircase to her 6th floor (which, as Don insists on reminding me, is really the 7th floor) apartment across the hall from ours. She looks great, a tiny woman, but very capable of hoofing it up those stairs every day. We ate our breakfast and got ready to be the first ones at the Louvre.

We took the #76 bus over to the Louvre, and once again went to the “secret” entrance to shortcut the lines. This entrance is for museum pass holders. The line at the pyramid entrance snaked across the plaza and around the building. There was a line at the Richlieu entrance, but it was only 50 people, so once again we were able to get in before the crowds.

We started at the Denon wing, in the basement, viewing the early European sculptures, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Greek antiquities, including the Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and the Gladiator. On the first floor we saw Italian and French paintings, including the Mona Lisa (which seems somehow less impressive when viewed along side the numerous works housed in this wing of the museum).

We then went to the Sully wing, which has an interesting excavation of the Medieval Louvre. We got about half way through the extensive Egyptian display when we burned out, so we decided to go back to the apartment for lunch and a nap and then return in the afternoon when the crowds might thin out.

We made it in perfect time for the bus back home. Just as we boarded the skies opened up and dumped a serious bucket of rain. We were warm and dry on our bus, which let us off right at our door. When we got home, Geralynn went to the deli next to the bakery, and picked up cheese, pate, seafood stuffed avocado for lunch. After polishing that off we settled down for a little nap.

Well, we never got back to the Louve because Geralynn crashed after lunch and wouldn’t have awakened until 3am, except Don woke her up. He was having a wonderful time, inspired by Monet, making impressionism-styled artwork of his photos. He really did some beautiful work.

We took a stroll down Boulevard Voltaire and had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. Don had Veal Parmigiana and I had Veal Marsala. We scoped out the Laundromat on the way home, deciding to do some laundry tomorrow.