mes pieds! - my feet! (french)
the pompidou center - c'est beau? oui ou non? ...enh.
you can take pictures of the art in european museums!well, if the europeans have no regard for copyright, then neither do i...
day 2: we're walking, we're walking...
dan suggested that i start this blog entry yesterday, since day 2 was such a long day it would take me hours to write this. i've decided to spare you the nitty gritty and just give you the more interesting bits of our 13 miles of walking.
we started off our day with one of the highlights - the hotel breakfast! i must say, the french know how to bake a carb. our table was crammed with tiny jam pots, baskets of croissants, brioche, and baguettes, and the all important coffee. there was fresh farm milk and yogurt as well. so much yumminess, so little time... .
we had a checklist that would take us through to dinner, however certain things on that list didn't happen. the madeline church wasn't as interesting as i had hoped, they wouldn't let the riff-raff (us) into the hôtel ritz, and the line was so long at the louvre we decided to come back another day. so, we walked around the lovely palais royal, which is probably lovelier inside, through the lovely st. eustache gardens, which will be lovelier in another week or two, past some lovely les halles shopping, which would be lovelier had we won the lottery, to the not-so-much-lovely-as-it-is-interesting pompidou center. being big fans of modern art, we had made this museum one of our top priorities. we just took the long way getting there.
the pompidou center houses a film library, a joint project for kids with the louvre, a cinema, the museum of modern art exhibitions, it's own exhibitions, and, of course, a café, which is where we went first. that's the trouble with sugar for breakfast. after sitting next to a gaggle of german children to re-fuel, we headed up the escalators, which are on the outside of the building, to the 6th floor exhibit on L.A. dan was so excited to see a little bit of home. alas, it was not the retelling of suburban boom that dan was hoping for, but it was interesting. it showcased modern art created by L.A. based artists from the 30s to the present. now, somewhere in the 70s and 80s L.A. artists became obsessed with the image of the phallis, so we took a seat in the theatre to watch a mockumentary. it was porn too, so we left that exhibit - we're trying to be european, but i'm still a bit squeamish. after stops in the modern architecture exhibit, moving images exhibit, and the permanent collection of the museum we were pooped.
after the museum we decided to check off another major site and headed for notre dame. the thousands of tourists streaming out of the church told us that it was closing time. no cathedral for us. oh well. we had a lovely walk down the île de la cité, through the square jean XXIII to the île st. louis.
i loved this part of the day. if i had to live in paris with no budget (twist my arm) i would live on this tiny little island in the seine. the buildings were beautiful and the shops were quaint and european. we stopped into a fancy jam and spices shop to pick up some souvenirs. i wanted to take home the entire shop! then we wandered into a chocolate shop where dan mistook an umbrella stand for a trash basket and was yelled with all of the flair and enthusiasm one might expect from a parisian chocolatier. pure theatre. i couldn't have staged it better myself.
after the islands we crossed over to the left bank in search of the latin quarter. here we found dan's favorite neighborhood, and more incredible shops. we stopped into a wine store where the man recommended médoc for those who like california cabernet. we bought a bottle and as we left he told us to stop by his sons' winery next time we're in napa. small wine world.
by now it was dinner time. we had a recommendation from the book that we were working toward. this would be the first time the book was wrong. we followed the little icon on the map. we walked around it in concentric circles in case it was just a little askew. finally, an hour later, we happened upon the restaurant on a tiny one block street not near the little icon at all. the place was full of hipsters wearing all black. one stood guard out front to warn the hostess over his secret service communication device that frumpy color wearers were at the door. we were turned away.
exhausted, with wounded egos and painful feet, we retraced our steps to a pizza joint next to a metro stop, where we were seated next to - you guessed it - german children.
we took the metro back to the hotel.
coming up in day 3: we get the hang of french queueing, or, 45 minutes from the back of the line to the mona lisa!
dan suggested that i start this blog entry yesterday, since day 2 was such a long day it would take me hours to write this. i've decided to spare you the nitty gritty and just give you the more interesting bits of our 13 miles of walking.
we started off our day with one of the highlights - the hotel breakfast! i must say, the french know how to bake a carb. our table was crammed with tiny jam pots, baskets of croissants, brioche, and baguettes, and the all important coffee. there was fresh farm milk and yogurt as well. so much yumminess, so little time... .
we had a checklist that would take us through to dinner, however certain things on that list didn't happen. the madeline church wasn't as interesting as i had hoped, they wouldn't let the riff-raff (us) into the hôtel ritz, and the line was so long at the louvre we decided to come back another day. so, we walked around the lovely palais royal, which is probably lovelier inside, through the lovely st. eustache gardens, which will be lovelier in another week or two, past some lovely les halles shopping, which would be lovelier had we won the lottery, to the not-so-much-lovely-as-it-is-interesting pompidou center. being big fans of modern art, we had made this museum one of our top priorities. we just took the long way getting there.
the pompidou center houses a film library, a joint project for kids with the louvre, a cinema, the museum of modern art exhibitions, it's own exhibitions, and, of course, a café, which is where we went first. that's the trouble with sugar for breakfast. after sitting next to a gaggle of german children to re-fuel, we headed up the escalators, which are on the outside of the building, to the 6th floor exhibit on L.A. dan was so excited to see a little bit of home. alas, it was not the retelling of suburban boom that dan was hoping for, but it was interesting. it showcased modern art created by L.A. based artists from the 30s to the present. now, somewhere in the 70s and 80s L.A. artists became obsessed with the image of the phallis, so we took a seat in the theatre to watch a mockumentary. it was porn too, so we left that exhibit - we're trying to be european, but i'm still a bit squeamish. after stops in the modern architecture exhibit, moving images exhibit, and the permanent collection of the museum we were pooped.
after the museum we decided to check off another major site and headed for notre dame. the thousands of tourists streaming out of the church told us that it was closing time. no cathedral for us. oh well. we had a lovely walk down the île de la cité, through the square jean XXIII to the île st. louis.
i loved this part of the day. if i had to live in paris with no budget (twist my arm) i would live on this tiny little island in the seine. the buildings were beautiful and the shops were quaint and european. we stopped into a fancy jam and spices shop to pick up some souvenirs. i wanted to take home the entire shop! then we wandered into a chocolate shop where dan mistook an umbrella stand for a trash basket and was yelled with all of the flair and enthusiasm one might expect from a parisian chocolatier. pure theatre. i couldn't have staged it better myself.
after the islands we crossed over to the left bank in search of the latin quarter. here we found dan's favorite neighborhood, and more incredible shops. we stopped into a wine store where the man recommended médoc for those who like california cabernet. we bought a bottle and as we left he told us to stop by his sons' winery next time we're in napa. small wine world.
by now it was dinner time. we had a recommendation from the book that we were working toward. this would be the first time the book was wrong. we followed the little icon on the map. we walked around it in concentric circles in case it was just a little askew. finally, an hour later, we happened upon the restaurant on a tiny one block street not near the little icon at all. the place was full of hipsters wearing all black. one stood guard out front to warn the hostess over his secret service communication device that frumpy color wearers were at the door. we were turned away.
exhausted, with wounded egos and painful feet, we retraced our steps to a pizza joint next to a metro stop, where we were seated next to - you guessed it - german children.
we took the metro back to the hotel.
coming up in day 3: we get the hang of french queueing, or, 45 minutes from the back of the line to the mona lisa!
posted by jordan at
5:15 PM
1 Comments:
My first view of the Eiffel Tower (daytime) also took my breath away! I'm staying on the Ile Saint Louis this trip. It is supposedly where the wealthy Parisians live. Sounds like you missed the best ice cream place in Paris (and one of the best in the world) on the Ile Saint Louis. I tried some when I was there last time, and it was manifique! We discovered a trick to getting into the Louvre faster than waiting outside - Enter thru the Metro station instead and there is no line! At least that's the way it was several years ago. I can't wait to be back in Paris!
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Anonymous, at April 19, 2006 7:37 PM
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