Paris
UNTOUR, 2009
Paris
On September 8, 2009, at 4:30 p.m. we left the Orlando airport, arrived in Atlanta, then left Atlanta at 8:40 p.m. arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport at 11:30 a.m. We were met at arrivals by our Untours reps., Joanna and Jane. We were the first to arrive, but everyone came shortly after. We met three couples, Elaine and Harvey; Michelle and Rod; and Barb and Pat. We all rode together to our respective apartments.
On arrival Don and I took a walk to familiarize ourselves with the neighborhood, the 15th Arrondisement. We followed the directions in the apartment to the grocery store (found a closer one on our return) where we picked up some supplies. We then walked towards the Eiffel Tower. It was further than we thought so we stopped for dinner at Carmine’s on Av. De Suffren. The waitress was very friendly and helpful, but, unfortunately, our food was only mediocre. We then walked by Invalides (Napoleon’s Tomb) and headed back to the apartment. We were in the Frederic Magisson apartment which is small but well appointed with views of the rooftops of Paris. The elevator is small so just one person with suitcase can go at a time. We would stay here again because the location is excellent, very close to the Metro and many shops, restaurants and bakeries.
September 10
The next morning we returned to Invalides to tour it, then took the excellent Paris Metro to the Saint Michel/Notre Dame stop to join the Untours group at “Le Navigator” for our orientation. The ambiance is very nice, and we were served beverages and sweets. After orientation we had some time to wander the neighborhood before our Untour event which was dinner at Le Navigator. We took the advice of Joanna to find a shop to buy a telephone card.
At dinner we sat with Elaine and Harvey; Michelle and Rod; and Barb and Pat. We had wine, Don’s appetizer was steamed mussels, Debby had avocado with caviar; Don and Debby both had the confit de canard (duck) with potatoes. Don had dessert, and Debby had a chocolate delicacy. We enjoyed Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower at night before heading back to our apartment.
September 11
We decided to go to the Louvre today. On the way we passed the L’Orangerie. Deciding that we didn’t want to miss Monet’s Water Lilies we using our Museum Pass for the first time. If you haven’t seen them, this is a must do. The paintings are hung in a circular room by themselves with benches in the middle for viewing. As we were heading downstairs to see the extensive collection of Impressionist and other works we stopped in the gift shop. Who do we see but Harvey and Elaine (from the Untours group). As we were chatting, Michelle and Rod walked in. It was a small world in Paris that day.
After leaving the L’Orangerie we decided to walk down the Champs d’Elysees to the Arch de Triomphe (we didn’t have our distances firmly in mind yet). It turned out to be such a long walk that we slipped down a side street to have lunch instead. After lunch we took the Metro back to the Louvre. On Fridays, the Louvre is open late until 10:00 p.m. so we were able to enjoy our visit, seeing the most important works of art, i.e. Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo. Back in our neighborhood we had dinner at La Table Libanaise on the corner of our street. We had Kir, an appetizer of Kebbe Krass, grilled chicken, escalope Cordon blu and baklawas for dessert.
September 12
We arrived early at the Musee D’Orsay after stopping at our local bakery for a sandwich to take with us. We rented an audio guide (having found that our Rick Steves downloads were difficult in some of the museums like the Louvre and D’Orsay because objects had been moved. They were invaluable at Versailles and in Italy). We are fans of the Impressionists so were very interested in all of the artwork here. After several hours, we had lunch in the courtyard, then walked across the street to the National Museum of the Legion of Honour and The Orders of Knighthood. It is free and houses a wonderful assortment of awards including the U. S. A. Medal of Honor. It is worth a visit.
September 13
Before our departure from home, we had made arrangements with one of Untours “Ask a Local Expert” ( Vicki-Marie) for a tour of Chateau de Vincennes on the far eastern side of the city at the last stop covered under your single Metro tickets. It is a medieval castle that has only re-opened in the last two years to tours. It was a fascinating tour and worthwhile if you are interested in that time frame. She does other tours, too.
Since our tour only took about 1 ½ hours, we had time in the afternoon to explore Montmartre where we discovered Saint-Paul Saint-Louis Church. We then climbed up the hill arriving at Sacre Coeur in time for Saturday evening mass. It was quite full with tourists and locals alike. The views from Sacre Coeur are fantastic. If the walk uphill seems too much, there is a funicular for the cost of a Metro ticket. The view of the Eiffel Tower is great for photos. We then walked past the Moulin Rouge but declined to go in. After some meandering we decided to try to go up the Eiffel Tower since we had arrived too late the first time. But, when we arrived the line was 2-3 hours long. We decided it was not worth the wait since we had been at Sacre Coeur with its views. We walked along the Seine and had lunch sitting alongside it.
September 14
On Monday, many of the museums are closed so we headed to the Arc de Triomphe where we climbed the steps to the top and enjoyed more beautiful views of Paris seeing Sacre Coeur in the distance. Since we had not been able to enjoy Musee de l’Armee when we visited Napoleon’s Tomb (les Invalides) we returned there for all things French military even the armory which still houses armor and ancient arms.
We walked around our neighborhood looking for a local restaurant and stopped at A La Tour Eiffel at 96 Rue Du Commerce. We had wine, escargots, duck, planche auvergnate, and coffee. It was probably our best meal in France.
September 15
We left Versailles until Tuesday hoping the crowds would be less, plus we took Joanna’s advice and arrived early before the tourist buses. We took the train from Paris with a return ticket. You can’t miss it as the train doesn’t go any further. The line was only a few people long, and we took the whole tour in about 2 hours. We decided against the garden, returning to Paris in time to tour Museo Carnavalet which is the history of Paris. It is a great museum except everything is in French making it hard to follow the story at times.
Tonight is packing and organizing for our departure for Rome.
September 16
We were picked up without incident and taken to the airport to await our flight to Rome. The story will continue under Rome triplog.
Paris
On September 8, 2009, at 4:30 p.m. we left the Orlando airport, arrived in Atlanta, then left Atlanta at 8:40 p.m. arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport at 11:30 a.m. We were met at arrivals by our Untours reps., Joanna and Jane. We were the first to arrive, but everyone came shortly after. We met three couples, Elaine and Harvey; Michelle and Rod; and Barb and Pat. We all rode together to our respective apartments.
On arrival Don and I took a walk to familiarize ourselves with the neighborhood, the 15th Arrondisement. We followed the directions in the apartment to the grocery store (found a closer one on our return) where we picked up some supplies. We then walked towards the Eiffel Tower. It was further than we thought so we stopped for dinner at Carmine’s on Av. De Suffren. The waitress was very friendly and helpful, but, unfortunately, our food was only mediocre. We then walked by Invalides (Napoleon’s Tomb) and headed back to the apartment. We were in the Frederic Magisson apartment which is small but well appointed with views of the rooftops of Paris. The elevator is small so just one person with suitcase can go at a time. We would stay here again because the location is excellent, very close to the Metro and many shops, restaurants and bakeries.
September 10
The next morning we returned to Invalides to tour it, then took the excellent Paris Metro to the Saint Michel/Notre Dame stop to join the Untours group at “Le Navigator” for our orientation. The ambiance is very nice, and we were served beverages and sweets. After orientation we had some time to wander the neighborhood before our Untour event which was dinner at Le Navigator. We took the advice of Joanna to find a shop to buy a telephone card.
At dinner we sat with Elaine and Harvey; Michelle and Rod; and Barb and Pat. We had wine, Don’s appetizer was steamed mussels, Debby had avocado with caviar; Don and Debby both had the confit de canard (duck) with potatoes. Don had dessert, and Debby had a chocolate delicacy. We enjoyed Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower at night before heading back to our apartment.
September 11
We decided to go to the Louvre today. On the way we passed the L’Orangerie. Deciding that we didn’t want to miss Monet’s Water Lilies we using our Museum Pass for the first time. If you haven’t seen them, this is a must do. The paintings are hung in a circular room by themselves with benches in the middle for viewing. As we were heading downstairs to see the extensive collection of Impressionist and other works we stopped in the gift shop. Who do we see but Harvey and Elaine (from the Untours group). As we were chatting, Michelle and Rod walked in. It was a small world in Paris that day.
After leaving the L’Orangerie we decided to walk down the Champs d’Elysees to the Arch de Triomphe (we didn’t have our distances firmly in mind yet). It turned out to be such a long walk that we slipped down a side street to have lunch instead. After lunch we took the Metro back to the Louvre. On Fridays, the Louvre is open late until 10:00 p.m. so we were able to enjoy our visit, seeing the most important works of art, i.e. Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo. Back in our neighborhood we had dinner at La Table Libanaise on the corner of our street. We had Kir, an appetizer of Kebbe Krass, grilled chicken, escalope Cordon blu and baklawas for dessert.
September 12
We arrived early at the Musee D’Orsay after stopping at our local bakery for a sandwich to take with us. We rented an audio guide (having found that our Rick Steves downloads were difficult in some of the museums like the Louvre and D’Orsay because objects had been moved. They were invaluable at Versailles and in Italy). We are fans of the Impressionists so were very interested in all of the artwork here. After several hours, we had lunch in the courtyard, then walked across the street to the National Museum of the Legion of Honour and The Orders of Knighthood. It is free and houses a wonderful assortment of awards including the U. S. A. Medal of Honor. It is worth a visit.
September 13
Before our departure from home, we had made arrangements with one of Untours “Ask a Local Expert” ( Vicki-Marie) for a tour of Chateau de Vincennes on the far eastern side of the city at the last stop covered under your single Metro tickets. It is a medieval castle that has only re-opened in the last two years to tours. It was a fascinating tour and worthwhile if you are interested in that time frame. She does other tours, too.
Since our tour only took about 1 ½ hours, we had time in the afternoon to explore Montmartre where we discovered Saint-Paul Saint-Louis Church. We then climbed up the hill arriving at Sacre Coeur in time for Saturday evening mass. It was quite full with tourists and locals alike. The views from Sacre Coeur are fantastic. If the walk uphill seems too much, there is a funicular for the cost of a Metro ticket. The view of the Eiffel Tower is great for photos. We then walked past the Moulin Rouge but declined to go in. After some meandering we decided to try to go up the Eiffel Tower since we had arrived too late the first time. But, when we arrived the line was 2-3 hours long. We decided it was not worth the wait since we had been at Sacre Coeur with its views. We walked along the Seine and had lunch sitting alongside it.
September 14
On Monday, many of the museums are closed so we headed to the Arc de Triomphe where we climbed the steps to the top and enjoyed more beautiful views of Paris seeing Sacre Coeur in the distance. Since we had not been able to enjoy Musee de l’Armee when we visited Napoleon’s Tomb (les Invalides) we returned there for all things French military even the armory which still houses armor and ancient arms.
We walked around our neighborhood looking for a local restaurant and stopped at A La Tour Eiffel at 96 Rue Du Commerce. We had wine, escargots, duck, planche auvergnate, and coffee. It was probably our best meal in France.
September 15
We left Versailles until Tuesday hoping the crowds would be less, plus we took Joanna’s advice and arrived early before the tourist buses. We took the train from Paris with a return ticket. You can’t miss it as the train doesn’t go any further. The line was only a few people long, and we took the whole tour in about 2 hours. We decided against the garden, returning to Paris in time to tour Museo Carnavalet which is the history of Paris. It is a great museum except everything is in French making it hard to follow the story at times.
Tonight is packing and organizing for our departure for Rome.
September 16
We were picked up without incident and taken to the airport to await our flight to Rome. The story will continue under Rome triplog.
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