Category: Découvrir la France

Today, we visited the ever popular cimetière du Père-Lachaise. Grubb was aiming to find the final resting places of several notable historical figures such as Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. The cemetery is huge, divided into…well…divisions. Numbered. One to somewhere in the 90’s. No, it’s not a grid. It’s like a kids drawing…

The only ticketed item we had in store for us this Saturday (9:30 AM) was the Cluny Medieval Museum on the Left Bank.  (The Left Bank named for the side of the Seine you’re on in the direction the river is flowing.)  And, mirabile dictu,  we were on time!  It was too early for the crowds to start showing…

Ahhhhh. That’s a big sigh of relief. No Louvre, no Versaille. We started the day at the Musėe de Cluny, specializing in medieval art. Not big on the “must sees” for most folk.  Except Grubb. Plenty of room and quiet to enjoy the art. No one wanted a selfie in front of a carved wooden altar…

Dinner tonight somewhere off Saint Germain, not far from Notre Dame which is where we were when we got hungry. Shared starter: Escargot (snails) in a buttery pesto sauce. A first for Ella.  Quite pleasant.  On the right side of the plate you can see a clamp-like device that lets you hold the shell while you dig…

Friday we took the train to Versailles.  We joined the passengers getting out at the final stop to take the short walk up a tree-lined street that led to the parking lot outside the palace.   Gold-tipped gates were the first clue that we were approaching the Sun King’s domain.  Inside the gates, the palatial spread of…

The dodo? At 103, mom decided learning to play the piano would be a nice challenge to add into her life. My brother, Mike, found a guy on Facebook marketplace and took her to look at a small selection of pianos. The next day, said piano was delivered.  I dug into my old piano bench…

Why so crowded in off season? Is there even an off season anymore? From Google’s Search Labs | AI Overview. “Major tourist areas are increasingly crowded during the “off-season” due to a combination of factors including the rise of remote work, increased accessibility through low-cost airlines, the impact of social media promoting popular destinations, and…

Tonight we headed for French cuisine right down the street at Le Robinet d’Or Restaurant & Bar Canal Saint Martin. I had roasted Camembert with honey to start and creamy risotto with scallops for my main. Delicious. Grubb had cassoulet of scallops in cream to start and flambéed kidneys with roasted potatoes as his main.  Served…

Why is it that seeing things in a swarm of jostling, packed-in crowds is so enervating? Versailles was no less crowded than the Louvre and far different from the last time I visited.  As I scanned the crowds, it was clear very few people seemed to be stopping to enjoy the many palatial rooms. As we…

After following countless Sortie signs leading us down endless corridors lined with casino-style shopping outlets, we escaped the monumental confines of the Louvre and had a café brunch of eggs Florentine before heading into the Tuileries park… …along with a stream of people half of whom, in my opinion, should have been in school.  Green metal…

It was a quick metro ride from where we’re staying to the Louvre.  It was easy finding the entrance to the museum—just follow the swarming humanity.  The Louvre is laid out like a large limestone palace enclosing a large courtyard.  I expected touring this monstrosity to be taxing when it came to attention span because there’s too much…

Jam packed day along with jam packed streets. We began the day at the Musée du Louvre  (Grubb will post about that, um, “experience”), twiddled through the Jardin des Tuileries, strolled the Champs-Élysées, eyed the Arc de Triomphe, hopped a metro to the National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture (being a spur of the moment choice,…

Yesterday, after our smooth arrival, we walked the streets for a few hours, perusing menus at various cafes until our eyes crossed and vision blurred. When we were at the end of our energy rope, we dottered inside a Senegalese eatery collapsing on a couple of metal folding chairs.  Our friendly waiter explained the options. Thieb…

Sunny Paris in the mid-sixties is quite spectacular.  No one seems to be eating indoors if they can help it.  People are splayed out over the grass in the parks, sitting on the benches along canal walkways, meandering among the pigeons in the squares.   We are staying in an Airbnb on the Fauberg Saint Martin in the…

Before I get totally immersed in Paris…a few days before our flight, we celebrated my mother’s 103rd birthday with a few family and friends. More happy birthday wishes mom! She is pretty darned amazing. The birthday gal in white.