Paris Frenzy

Do you ever find yourself doing things faster than you can keep track? Well here I am. In a perfect world, I am about to tell you about three days in Paris and two days in Normandy. In this more likely world, I will just write about Paris and go to bed when I finish in two hours. Bets anyone?

Well slept from our Christmas amusements, we hit Musee d'Orsay early on Boxing day. Tyler and Rachael utilised a Rick Steves audio guide (I will save my rant on Rick Steves for another blog) while my parents and I took a slightly more natural approach. Recalling from my previous visit (2008), I took hem around this extremely peculiar gallery; the railroad station-shaped layout, the massive clock, the strange conglomeration of Louvre rejects... but this time I found a much greater understanding of the works owing to my expanded knowledge. Naturally, Van Gogh's self portrait and studio were two great works, but this time I also recognised 'Whistler's Mother' and Detaille's 'Le Reve.' I also had a better appreciation for the sculptures and was happy to see my parents take a liking to Impressionism. 

Moving on from the odd museum, I took my parents along the Seine (Tyler and Rachael had a significantly more complex itinerary than we, so we parted ways) up to the Pont du Arts, where thanks to a little foresight, I was able to produce an engraved lock for them to add to the literal thousands that adorn the bridge. Of course the story is that a couple who puts a lock on the bridge and throws the keys into the water will have a lifetime of happy marriage, or something like that. Playing the role of 5th wheel, it's not my job to know these things... only to provide locks engraved with T&R and R&E to respective couples. Anyway, this led to sauntering through the Latin Quarter accompanied by a pair of crepes, as we approached the Pantheon.

Wait, another Pantheon? Indeed, my second in just a week, but it was oh so good. I had never been inside in my previous trips, so I was enamoured to learn about the world's first Foucalt pendulum (a pendulum that keeps time) and the many people buried in the crypt - Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, the Curies, Alexandre Dumas, among others. Who knew? So head to head: architecture- Roman pantheon win. History- again Rome. Science- Paris. Cool dead people- Paris. Mom is still getting both confused with the Greek Parthenon. Unrelated much?

That wasn't enough activity for one day, so I grabbed street chicken and roasted potatoes on our way to the Louvre. Oh yeah, we also took a walk through of Notre Dame,  decked out for Christmas. We were pretty knackered by the Louvre, which made it tricky to keep our focus. Thus we pretty much hit highlights (though I decided that my third visit made a guide book worthwhile for details). Winged Victory, Mona Lisa, The Wedding Feast at Cana, Venus de Milo, and Hammurabi's code completed the standard repertoire. I also quite enjoyed 'The Coronation of Napoleon' by JL David. Having met up with Tyler and Rachael and lost the fight to exhaustion, we quit the Louvre in favour of dinner (Onion Soup; some call it 'French') and sleep.

Another reason for the 'early' quit was our impending day at Versailles. Located outside the city, we caught the train out before walking up to the guilded gates. Unbelievably shiny, yes, but somehow surreal, and almost fake. They were strange. And that is a perfect word. The building and rooms were grand, but certainly strange. The chapel was the best looking room (though they had the in-palace opera house closed off), and the others were just... there. Actually, I did enjoy the hall of battles, full of massive paintings depicting major French military victories (Did you mean, 'French military defeats'?) including Charles Martel, Yorktown, and myriad Napoleonic conquests. I think the best part of the estate was the gardens, in spite of all the statues being covered and the fountains still. The main concourse was massive, and we walked almost endlessly to get to Marie Antoinette's two summer retreats, the greater and lesser trianons (which were palaces in their own right). Louis XIV was clearly reckless with half of France's GDP; it's no wonder why the people rebelled against the later, weaker Louis XVI. Surprise of the day: The Treaty of Versailles (settling negotiations between axis and allies after WWI) was signed in the Hall of mirrors. No mention of this fact is made is

on palace grounds. Anyone know why?

So that basically took a whole day. Friday was back to the Paris madness. At the Rodin museum - or should I say 'Ro-Dan' - I successfully imitated almost all of the master's displayed works, including 'The Thinker.' In my excitement to see the 'Gates of Hell' however, I failed to make an impersonation. Interesting that I have now seen Gates of Paradise and Gates of Hell in consecutive weeks. What does it say about the two that the first are in gold and the latter simply bronze?

Once again, Tyler and Rachael chose this time to part company for the day in an effort to complete their ambitious itinerary. My parents and I walked across to Invalides in order to see Napoleon I's tomb. The Invalides has a gleaming gold dome that can be seen aceoss town. The emperor is laid in what seems to be a 'humble' two-story red granite coffin adorned with almost zero decoration. Nonetheless, it sits on a pedestal in the crypt with an open ground floor above, such that it lays immediately below the brilliant frieze in the top of the dome. It is an amazing sight, and hard to believe that this man was worth such adornment. 

As we soon walked north with baguettes in hand, we crossed the Alexander III bridge, which I think is the city's most splendid. Since it was on our way and we had a bit of extra time to play with, we stopped by the L'Orangerie gallery, home to Monet's 'Water Lillies.' These two pastels fit within a pair of large elliptical rooms with no beginning and no end. Blues with a few oranges and greens fill the continuous band of each painting. Though I had not heard of (nor therefore included) this gallery before the trip, it was a pleasant surprise to visit, a definite highlight of the Paris leg! 

Speaking of definite surprises, our last major stop was the Opera Garnier. The National Opera is, of course, the inspiration for Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera. I came last year with Kalli to marvel at its corridors (its hall of mirrors is actually much more splendid than Versailles'), but this time the loges were open and I could gaze around the marvellous theatre. Unique modern ceiling art, guilded everything, lush red velvet seats... mark my words, I will see an opera there some day. I insist!

Finally, we went out for a nice dinner at La Coupole. I went with roasted duck served with glazed apple and mango. I also opted for Crepes Suzette, a sugar crepe, flambeed in Grand Marnier. It was very orangy, but very very tasty. Alas, good bye Paris. An amazing week gone so soon, and as yet so much still to see and do. Good thing there's always a next time!

And as for the real world, I am 90 minutes in and falling asleep. So good night, sleep well, and see you soon for Normandy!