Paris Trip Report - Six Glorius Days in Paradise!

Paris Trip Report - Six Glorius Days in Heaven!

I have to admit that I love Paris. I read this quote recently: “Good Americans when they die go to Paris”, written by Thomas Gold Appleton. I have not died yet, but I think I am a good American, so I deserved to go to Paris again! Besides, my wife Margarita was going with me and she knows enough French to get around. Most young French now speak English, but the older ones may not know English. Margarita can communicate with them, and since she is so charming, she opens doors that are closed to others. She is especially useful in ordering food in restaurants. Also she is very observant and always points out things that I miss, since I am always in a hurry!

Our Hotel

I spent several months looking on the internet for a good hotel near the Opera, because it is close to the department stores on Boulevard Haussmann. I wanted to try a different hotel from the one I went to last year because it could be better. And I think I found a very good one this time. It was the Millennium Hotel on Boulevard Haussmann, one block from the Galeries Lafayette. It is a superior 4 star hotel. The lobby was big and elegant, with plenty of light because it had a large skylight.

On arrival I asked for a quiet room, and I got what I asked for. I am a light sleeper and any noise from traffic will wake me up. The room was the largest hotel room I have stayed in in Paris, where the standard room size is minuscule! There was space to move around in. The curtains were quite ornate and elegant, and the bathroom was quite big.

What makes a hotel great is the staff working in the hotel. The people at the desk were very friendly and professional, always with a smile. They all spoke very good English, so communication was easy with them. Whenever we asked for information about the city, they would always give us what we wanted. They were also helpful in booking two tours outside the city for us.

The breakfast was included in our hotel rate and it is served in the hotel’s brasserie. The food was plentiful and we were very satisfied. The people working in the restaurant were also friendly and helpful. You can get an omelet if you ask for it.

One day we had lunch at the hotel’s restaurant. The prices were moderate, but the food was great, served in such a big quantity that Margarita and I could have shared one plate, if we had known that the quantity would be so large. I had two glasses of the white wine on the menu. I cannot remember the name of the wine, but it came from the southwest of France, and was some of the best wine I have tasted in France. I would recommend highly this restaurant. The next time I stay at the hotel, I will eat here often because the food is wonderful.

I will definitely stay at this hotel the next time I go to Paris. I will recommend this hotel to whoever wants a great 4 star hotel in the best location in Paris.

Giverny

I booked a tour to Giverny to see the house and gardens of the famous impressionist painter Claude Monet. I had heard about this place before and seen books about it and the pictures in the books made me desire to see this place. The tour I booked through the hotel was done by Paris Visions Plus. They pick you up in a minivan at your hotel and drop you off at your hotel when the tour is finished. The minivan sits 8 tourists and the driver, who is also your guide. I asked for a tour in English. For our trip, our guide was Stephanie, a young French lady in her late twenties. We sat in front with her and we had very interesting conversations with her. As she drove, she gave us a lot of information about the places we passed and background information about Giverny. We left in the early afternoon and we were lucky that it was a very sunny day, without rain.

Giverny is in Normandy, north of Paris, and is about an hour and a half away from Paris. The good thing about the minivan is that it was like you were in your own car, much better than being on a bus. Besides you get a very personalized tour when you are with few people. More time to ask questions, and I love to ask questions.

We arrived at a small country town with a lot of charm. Stephanie parked the minivan at a parking lot and told us what time we had to be back. She brought us to the house of Monet and gave us our tickets. First we were to start with the water garden, across the street from the house. There is an underground connecting corridor and then you just follow the path that leads you to a very large pond, fed by water from a stream. There we saw the famous water lilies that Monet liked so much to paint. The paths were also bordered with flowers. We could see a professional gardener working on the flowers. Anyway it was very peaceful, just looking at the water lilies.

Then we went to see the house. The house is on a slight rise from the street. There were rows and rows of flowers, of many different kinds, all leading to the house. The perfume from so many flowers was intoxicating! The house is a large farm house. On the first floor we saw the salon where Monet painted. On the walls were reproductions of some of his famous paintings, all originals being in museums now. On the second floor we saw his bedrooms, most of them small in size. Later we went back to the first floor and saw the dining room and kitchen, both of these rooms being big. I can imagine that Monet was very comfortable in his house, and enjoying all his flowers.

Later we went to the American Art Museum, close to Monet’s house. When Monet was alive, many American and European artists went to Giverny to paint with Monet. They learned a lot from him and I think Monet liked their company. Many of these artists became impressionists also. This museum displays the work of these artists. The museum is owned by the Terra Foundation for the Arts, based in Chicago. We had seen their museum in Chicago in the past. This museum in Giverny had a very large bookstore selling a wide variety of art memorabilia.

Later we went back to Paris. I can say that this trip was a marvelous experience, something I will always remember in my life. The sunny day was perfect, and seeing all the flowers in the gardens was overwhelming for me. So much beauty! And to have seen the house of one of my favorite artists!

The Basilica of Saint Denis

The first bishop of Paris was Saint Denis and he is a patron saint of France. They built a shrine at his burial place in a northern suburb of Paris, in 628. Then they built a Benedictine monastery there. In the 12th century, the Abbott Suger wanted to improve the monastery and he worked with his architect to create the first Gothic church in Europe. They also invented the first rose window, done in stained glass. The church they built was so beautiful that many other cities competed to build a more impressive church, copying many features of St. Denis. They built 80 Gothic churches in France in the next 100 years.

St. Denis is the burial place of the French kings and their families. This is the royal necropolis of France and contains the remains of all the kings since the 10th century (except for three).During the French Revolution, they smashed many of the statues and dumped all the remains into a ditch in the garden. Napoleon ordered the church to be reopened. Since the remains in the ditch could not be sorted out, all of them were put into a crypt in the basement of the church. Since then, the tombs with their statues have been restored, and it is interesting to see them. Many statues of the kings and queens portray them lying down and in the nude! They cover their genitals with one hand! I never expected to see this! Anyway we saw the statues of Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette.

The basilica is beautiful with its stained glass windows and all the light that comes into the church. Creating the first Gothic church was an architectural breakthrough! We also saw in the treasure room the robe and crowns the kings used when they were crowned. Unfortunately the outside of the church needs to be cleaned up and restored.

Chez Edouard

Last year my wife discovered this very good restaurant that was close to our hotel. It is located at Place Edouard VII, 7. We decided to go back this year and had a very good lunch there. The maitre d’ is French and he is the one who greets the people who go to eat there. But we noticed that many of the waiters were Chinese. At the end of our meal, I went to the bar and asked the waitress working there if the owner of the restaurant was Chinese, and she said yes. Apparently he is from Peking! So that is the reason that they have so many Asian tour groups going there for meals, because the owner has travel connections in the Orient. The food is authentic French, so the Chinese cooks must have learned how to cook French. Anyway the fruit tarts are out of this world. I doubt that many other diners were as curious as we were and investigated who the real owner of the restaurant was!

Musee Marmotan-Claude Monet

After going to Giverny, we were very motivated to go back to this museum, where there are many Monets displayed in the basement. This museum is one of the impressionist centers of Paris. We enjoyed seeing the large format Monets which displayed the water lilies that he loved so much.

On the first floor of the museum is one of the largest collections of Empire furniture and the second floor has a large collection of the paintings of Berthe Morrisot, the female impressionist painter. The bookstore has a lot of Monet memorabilia, including posters.

Quai Branly Museum

The Quai Branly Museum was constructed by President Chirac so that he would be remembered. It is the museum of primitive art of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. The building was designed by the famous French archived Jean Nouvel, one of France’s leading architects. The design of the museum is very modern. You approach the building through the garden, which I did not like because it was too wild. When you enter the building, you have to go up a dim ramp. There are arrows on the floors to direct you where to go. Beside the ramp are displays of the best primitive art you can find. Apparently many museums like the Louvre had to give up their primitive art collections so that they could be concentrated in this new museum. Order from the president!

As you see the art, you can hear the music of the place the art came from. Much of the primitive art has to do with death and burial customs. I was impressed and a bit frightened when we came to the part of Oceania, because it contained towering totem poles with frightening images on them, together with poles containing skulls. In the dim light you get this frightening feeling! Especially with the spooky music surrounding you! And you see their weapons all around you. I think this would be a good setting for a spooky movie!

Restaurant H. Duhau

Very close to our hotel on 32 Boulevard Haussmann is the Restaurant H. Duhau. The restaurant is very clean and quiet. We had the menu of the day for 15 euros each. This included the first entrée, a second entrée, and dessert. The food was excellent! I enjoyed the quiet atmosphere, as opposed to the atmosphere of the typical brasserie that opens up to the street.

St. Germain des Pres

On the Left Bank, there is a district called St. Germain des Pres, where in the past writers and

artists frequented the place. It is supposed to be the most charming neighborhood in Paris. We went there and saw the church of St. Germain des Pres. The church is one of the oldest churches in Paris and was founded as a Benedictine abbey in the 6th century. The abbey was rebuilt several times and now has a Romanesque nave and a Gothic choir. It is a beautiful church but needs cleaning and restoration.

We walked along the Boulevard St. Germain, but there is very little of the unconventional left. Most of the boulevard has expensive stores of big companies and I do not think that this neighborhood is the most charming anymore.

Decorative Arts Museum

The Decorative Arts Museum is located at the western wing of the Louvre. The museum was remodeled and opened only recently. The museum displays furniture, interior design, altar pieces, religious paintings, objets d%26#39;arts, tapestries, wallpaper, ceramics and glassware, plus toys from the Middle Ages to the present day. The museum is quite big and you can see many period rooms. You see the best examples of French furniture, design, Lalique glass, Sevres porcelain, Aubusson carpets, among other things. I enjoyed particularly the Art Deco collections, which are quite extensive. The museum shows the history of French taste, design, and the decorative arts. This is one of the best museums of its kind in the world.

The Thunderstorm

When we left in the early afternoon to go to St. Germain des Pres, the sun was out and shining, so I decided not to bring my umbrella, because of the extra weight of the umbrella. When we left the Decorative Arts Museum, it was a few minutes before 6 pm. So we decided to walk back to the hotel. At 6 pm it suddenly started raining very hard and the thunderstorm started. We took refuge in a nearby Benetton store. The lightning and thunder were everywhere and all the people on the street took refuge in stores. It was like a tropical storm, with a huge amount of water falling as rain. I think that everyone was frightened, because it was so unexpected and because of the violence of the storm. We waited for about 45 minutes in the store and then the rain started to diminish. Luckily the store sold umbrellas and I bought one. Then we braved the streets and reached our hotel in 10 minutes, where we arrived safe, but quite wet. I made a resolution then to bring my umbrella all the time!

Fontainebleau

Another afternoon we went on another tour outside of Paris to Fontainebleau, the favorite palace of the kings of France, as well as Napoleon. This time Sophie, a young lady in her early thirties, was our driver and guide, and there were only two other passengers in the minivan. Fontainebleau means beautiful fountain, because apparently there were springs where the palace was built. The place is located south of Paris, about an hour and a half away.

First we went to the small town of Barbizon, where the pre-impressionists like Rosseau painted. The town has only one small street and is quite charming. Now it is filled with restaurants and apparently on weekends it fills with people from Paris. Beside the town is the forest of Fontainebleau, where people can go hiking, and apparently people who want to be close to nature go there.

The palace of Fontainebleau started as a royal hunting lodge in the 12th century. The kings then added more structures. The present palace was built in the early 16th century by Francis I. He imported Italian architects and artists to build the palace, the first Renaissance palace in France. The best landscape architects were hired to do the gardens. During the French Revolution, much of the furniture was sold to raise money for the government. When Napoleon came into power, he

had the palace refurnished and restored. He removed one wing in front of the main staircase so that an impressive driveway could be built. Napoleon liked to stay in Fontainebleau because the palace of Versailles had Bourbon connotations.

We arrived at the palace and the front of the palace is quite impressive. After that we entered the palace and Sophie gave us an extensive explanation for each of the rooms. The interior is done in the Italian Mannerist style. There are beautiful frescoes on the ceilings, chandeliers, stucco sculptures of angels and mythological persons, new curtains, and beautiful furniture, many copied from original pieces. This palace is probably one of the most lavish palaces I have ever seen and I was very impressed at all the beauty I could see. There were so many rooms and banquet halls that it was all overwhelming. Sophie did a magnificent job of explaining everything. She really was an expert, with a sense of humor. To have such a guide with such a small group is the best way to tour a palace like this.

After seeing the interior of the palace, we went outside to see the English garden, filled with statues and adjacent to a small artificial lake. We did not have time to see the formal gardens because the place is so huge that you have time only to see the main palace. I would highly recommend this palace to anyone who wants to see the grandeur of the French kings and Napoleon. Incidentally, we saw the simple table where Napoleon signed his abdication.

A Sunday Morning Walk

On Sunday morning, I wanted to see a museum located in Park Monceau, so we walked to the park. The museum was closed because it was Pentecost, so we decided to see the park instead. The park is very large, has many trees and flowers, and is a favorite for morning joggers. At the end of the park are some very impressive mansions, because this is a very good neighborhood.

In the distance, I saw the Arc de Triomphe, so we headed in that direction. Then we saw a beautiful building, that we thought was a hotel. We entered and found out from the receptionist that it was the Salons Hoche, used for wedding receptions and big parties. The receptionist told us that we could look around, and we did. The interiors of this building were impressive, some of the most beautiful that we had seen in Paris. There was a large ballroom that was also very elegant. I thought that this would be the ideal place to have a wedding reception because the place was so beautiful.

We continued our walk and went to the Champs Elysees, which end at the Arc de Triomphe. This wide avenue was full of people walking. To our surprise, many of the stores were open, so that tourists could buy things. I thought this was a good idea, because tourists have to do something on Sundays, and why not open stores so they can shop. The open stores were doing a lot of business. Then I saw the clouds moving in, and I had not brought my umbrella! So we decided to take the metro back to our hotel.

Opera Garnier

Before going back to the hotel, we stopped by the Opera Garnier. It is open to visitors, like a museum. Charles Garnier started to build the opera house in 1861 (finished in 1875) to be the most perfect opera building in the world, because he loved opera. It is a truly beautiful building. You can see the magnificent chandelier and the beautiful ceiling painted by Chagall.

When you enter, you see the grand staircase, something very impressive. You ascend and go to one of the boxes. Everything inside the auditorium is done in red, with red velvet chairs and curtains. You also see a lot of surfaces with gold leaf. Also on the second floor is the grand foyer, which takes your breath away. It is a huge salon with sculpture, paintings, and marble columns. This is one of the most beautiful halls that I have ever seen. It was worth seeing the building.

Outside the building there are many sculptures also and architectural details that you do not see in any other building. The Opera is the setting for the musical and movie “The Phantom of the Opera”.

Musee de l’Orangerie

Last year we wanted to see this museum, but the lines were too long. We went this year on a Sunday afternoon, and there were long lines again and it was raining, but I was determined to see this museum, so we took our time in the long lines. We saw an enterprising Hindu selling umbrellas, because many of the tourists did not have umbrellas and they were really getting wet. This time I had my raincoat and umbrella, so I did not get wet in the line. Finally we were able to enter the museum.

I forgot to say that the museum is located on the Place de la Concorde. The art gallery is dedicated to impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. On the upper gallery, there are two large oval rooms that house Monet’s Nympheas, or water lily paintings. The oval rooms were custom designed so that 8 huge paintings of the water lilies fit exactly on the walls. The paintings show how the water lilies look during the four stations of the year. Each painting measures 6 x 2 meters.

On the first floor there are large galleries that house the Walter-Gillaume collection of paintings. There are several hundred impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. Paul Gillaume was a famous art dealer who sold the art of the impressionists and post-impressionists. He collected their art also. When he died at the age of 42, his beautiful widow Domenica married the mining tycoon Jean Walter and later left the art collection to the museum. I was really happy to have seen this museum because the art inside is really impressive, filled with Monets and all his fellow artists, such as Renoir, Cézanne, Monet, Sisley, Derain, Modigliani, Picasso and Gauguin. You will notice that many of these artists painted Domenica.

The Rue de Rivoli Stores

Across from the Louvre there are arcades filled with stores that are open on Sundays. Many of these stores are now upscale and you can find beautiful merchandise in them. I remember that in years past, all you could find were stores selling cheap merchandise to tourists.

Observations and Conclusions

I again noticed on this trip how polite the French are. Whenever we entered a store, the owner or manager would greet us and ask if they could be of any assistance. I also noticed that the French never raise their voices. It is like they are whispering. They never shout! People from other cultures can learn a lot from the French in being polite.

When we go to Paris, we enjoy seeing all the beautiful designs in the stores. The window displays are simply beautiful. We went to the furniture departments of the big department stores and saw modern designs that were very beautiful, and the furniture was not expensive. If you lived in Paris, you could have the most beautifully furnished apartment just by buying furniture in the stores. What called my attention is that they are now selling beautiful Chinese carpets in modern designs. There was one of butterflies in pastel colors that was outstanding.

Another thing is that the Parisians love flowers. They have many parks and they are filled with flowers. When you go into the stores and hotels, you notice all the fresh flowers. That is one of the reasons that it is a joy to just wander around Paris.

Lastly I observed how slender French women are. They look very healthy, but they are very slim. And the men are very fit and not overweight. Definitely the French have a different culture and their standards of beauty are different from other countries.

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What a delightful report!!

I can%26#39;t wait to get back there! And yes, I always carry a small light umbrella with me when in Paris!!!

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What a fabulous trip report!!!

I only have 94 days left and this makes even more excited. Thank you for taking the time to write out all details.

Cheers,

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Benny,

This is a very nice trip report. I%26#39;m glad you had a nice time in France

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Excellent report: well organized, educational, entertaining, and opinionated. Thanks.

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This was such a great report.

Thanks.

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Folks:

Thanks for your kind words. I would suggest everyone write a trip report as soon as you go home from your trip. Write it in detail. As time passes by, one tends to forget the small details. When you have it written down, you can review what you wrote and you will get all your memories back and enjoy your trip again. I wish I had done this in my youth!

Yes, I am opinionated and I write very subjectively. I am the type of person who writes the editor of the newspaper to give his opinion, and usually my letter will be published. I usually write my trip reports for all of my friends in California who cannot travel at the moment. What they enjoy most is the biting satire I write with sometimes! I censor myself for this forums.

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Hi Benny

Thank you for your very interesting and detailed trip report. You should post your review of the Hotel Millenium on the hotel review section of TA if you have not done so already, as it was very informative.

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I feel like such a copycat, but I just have to compliment you for your very fine report, Benny.

Out of curiosity I took a look at the pictures your hotel, and it really does seem lovely. I%26#39;m glad you found such a nice place to stay.

One more thing........I love the way you referred to your wife as %26quot;charming%26quot;. A man who appreciates his wife can surely appreciate the beauty of Paris.

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%26quot;A man who appreciates his wife can surely appreciate the beauty of Paris.%26quot;

well said, shoesy! :)

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Dear Shoesy:

My wife is a native of Malaga and I really hit the jackpot when I married her. She was beautiful 32 years ago when I married her and she is still beautiful today. She is really a stunner! Today she is 57 years old but looks like 40, and everyone she meets wants to know her secret of youth! She watches her weight and weighs only a few more pounds than when I met her. Her secret is that she exercises and walks a lot. Also she uses the Mediterrenean diet religiously, eating mostly fruits and vegetables, little meat, and plenty of fish.

Best of all is that she cares for people, her family, and her friends. When a friend is sick, she will immediately visit that friend and bring her home made soup. Also she is not materialistic and lives within her budget. She dresses very well (on a small budget) and when we go out for lunch, the restaurant help go out of their way to serve her because they know she is somebody special.

What more can a husband ask for? I know I am the luckiest man in the world! One day I will share with the world the beautiful story of how we met in California, one of the most interesting stories!!!