Paris, Part Un -- The Sights

We went to Paris for the three-day weekend (also, coincidentally, my b-day ;) ). I have always been a little nervous about Paris because I speak no French and you know what they say. Well, it was no problem at all. Bonjour/bonsoir/madame/monsieur/merci/parlez-vous anglais/au revoir/and lots of smiling sweetly sufficed.

ITINERARY

Saturday

1. 11:00 am: The Louvre. We started out big. With our Museum Pass (if you're planning to go to more than one museum, get one), we breezed right in. We followed Rick Steves' museum tour, which I thought was great. Most importantly it gave us direction. The Mona Lisa sat demurely for the screaming masses. I actually kind of had to jump up and down to see her; not a classic viewing technique really.
2. 2:00 pm: Walk along the Seine to the Charlemagne Statue for our bike tour with Bike About Tours, which didn't happen because our tour guide didn't show up(!!), so we went into the Notre-Dame instead.
3. 4:30 pm: Deportation Memorial – a memorial for the 200,000 deported to Nazi Concentration Camps during WWII.
4. 5:00 pm: Ile St. Louis for ice cream.
5. 5:30 pm: Walk along Blvd. St. Germain (the Left Bank). We saw the famous Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots, but couldn’t stop because my allergies were killing me.
6. 8:30 pm: Dinner in Le Marais (see “Paris, Part Deux” coming soon).

Sunday

1. 11:00 am: Rue Cler Market, which is adorable. The flower shop had a line stretching halfway into the street. I would have bought peonies.
2. 12:00 pm: Walk to/under the Eiffel Tower.
3. 1:00 pm: Musée du quai Branly for the Planète Métisse (Mestizo Planet) exhibit, which was interesting, particularly because of the way it was presented.
4. 3:00 pm: Napoleon’s Tomb, which is…decadent.
5. 3:30 pm: Rodin Museum – The Thinker is really beautifully displayed outside in the garden. I was happy we squeezed this museum in actually; it was very enjoyable (especially with our Rick Steves’ tour :) ).
6. 5:00 pm: Musée d'Orsay. We had one hour exactly before closing so we raced, and I mean RACED, through the 5th floor (the Impressionists). The collection is actually pretty amazing, but how many museums can one do in a day really.
7. 6:00 pm: Hotel for shoe changing and power napping.
8. 7:30 pm: Hemingway Bar at the Ritz.
9. 9:30 pm: Up the Eiffel Tower! I think we made it to the top at about 10:30 pm and it was gorgeous (albeit windy). There was some sort of French pop concert happening in the Trocadero, which provided some needed entertainment while waiting in line (in the rain).
10. Midnight: dinner in Le Marais.

Monday

1. 11:00am: Arc de Triomphe – We probably wouldn’t have gone up if we hadn’t had Museum Passes, but the view is gorgeous, as is the Arc itself.
2. 12:00pm: Champs Elysees – We got about half a mile down (didn’t pass any stores of interest really – we popped into the Peugeot store and looked at the garish bags in the window at LV) and then somehow Eliot managed to drag me off track for lunch and then before I knew it, it was time to go back to the hotel to checkout. No clothing and, more importantly, no shoes were purchased. How did this happen??
3. 3:30pm: RER back to CDG. :(

Stay tuned for “Paris, Part Deux – The Food”