Bonjour from Paris

On Thursday, our last day in London, we started the day at Buckingham Palace. The plan was to watch the Changing of the Guard. Unfortunately, the schedule we looked at on line did not coincide with the Palace’s schedule. There was some excitement, however. While we were standing around bemoaning the fact that we wouldn’t see the guard change, an ambulance helicopter landed in a grassy section in front of the palace. Several paramedics (helimedics?) got out, jumped in a police car and sped around towards the rear of the palace. We saw no news of this later so we are assuming the royal family remains healthy. So it was onto plan B, which was going to the British Library. We had been there before but it was still exciting to see original scores by famous composers and pieces of paper with the lyrics to famous Beatles songs written on them by Paul or John. Original magna carta documents were also on display. Tim cannot remember seeing those before. Gerry, Cathy and Lynda spent a bit more time inside the Library than did Tim. From the British Library we went on to the church where John Wesley original preached and where his tomb is located. Gerry and Cathy also found this interesting. After a bit of a break back at the hotel we went to the VIP reception at the art gallery where we bought the painting that hangs in our bathroom. We were warmly greeted by flutes of champagne and the young woman who sold us our painting. The reception was for an artist who was just opening an exhibition at the gallery. The artist was there and demonstrated an interesting technique he uses where he puts a piece of glass on an easel, looks into a mirror behind the glass and paints on the glass. He is basically painting backwards. The glass is then put in a frame. We’re not sure this is very good description, but the paintings were very interesting but not really our style. We finished the evening at a pub!

Friday morning we took the Eurostar from London to Paris. The train made one brief stop outside of London before whisking us off to Paris. There was no grand announcement that we were entering the Chunnel, the tunnel the train passes through under the English Channel. It pretty much felt like we were going through a very long tunnel. The trip from London to Paris took about 2 hours and a half, was very smooth and, unfortunately, because of the speed, made it quite difficult to watch the countryside. But it sure beat the heck out of going by plane. After checking into our hotel, conveniently located near the Pigalle section of Paris (Ugh), we had a quick lunch and headed up to the Sacre Couer, a beautiful 135 year old cathedral majestically located on a hill in Montmartre with a commanding and breathtaking view of Paris. It was a sunny day so the view was spectacular. We wondered a bit more around Montmartre, stopping along the way for a glass of wine. After a bit of rest back at the hotel, we took Gerry and Cathy to one of our favorite restaurants in Paris located on the Left Bank. We once again had a lovely meal at La Boussole after which we stopped at a bar and introduced Cathy and Gerry to Pastis, a licorice flavored liquor that is sipped very slowly with water. They both seemed very pleased to meet Pastis.

Our first stop today (Saturday) was at the Arc d’ Triomphe. Unfortunately, because of some unnamed problem the elevator to the top of the Arc was not open today. From the Arc d’ Triomphe we went to the Musee d’Orsay. The Musee d’Orsay was originally a train station that has been re-opened as an Art Gallery. The building is every bit as impressive as the art located in it. We all particularly enjoyed the impressionists: Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Renoir, et. al. We left Musee d’Orsay and found a cozy little bar just across the river from Notre Dame. Gerry and Cathy each had their first Croque Monseur sandwich, a ham sandwich with cheese on top that is put under the broiler. Sort of a grilled cheese sandwich only with ham, and not grilled, and served with a wonderful French wine, and a side of frites (French fries which are nothing like the American imitation.) While we walked about Notre Dame there was a chamber choir, maybe 12 voices, rehearsing for a concert this evening. The choir certainly made the walk about Notre Dame that much more enjoyable. The last stop of the afternoon was a Gare de Lyon, a train station in the eastern part of Paris. A friend of Gerry’s told him about a restaurant, Le Train Bleu, located in the Gare de Lyon which the friend thought was the best restaurant he ate in. Tim looked it up on the internet and found that it is, in fact, quite famous in Paris, but also quite expensive, so we opted to go there for just a drink. The restaurant décor was stunning. You would not have known that you were in a train station, Most every one is resting now in preparation for an evening boat ride on the Seine. It has been another beautiful day in Paris so the cruise on the river should be great fun.