Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Geoffrey enjoying the Sun 17 May 2012
The weather in Paris at the moment is a bit like Melbourne weather - 4 seasons in 1 day. Last year, in Paris, all of May was very warm. this year, I still have not worn summer clothes.
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| A pre-lunch beer in the sunshine. |
The Catacombs 22 May 2012
Went on another Paris Walks tour.
15 euros each plus 6 euros each for the entrance fee.
Metro: Denfert-Rochereau in the 14 arrondissement.
We met Chris, the guide, at the entrance and walked straight in, avoiding the long queue of people waiting to enter. Apparently, you can be lined up there for 2 hours.
The entrance to the Catacombs is south of the former city gate the "Barriere d'Enfer" at the now Place Denfert-Rochereau.
The catacombs are 20 metres underground within a labyrinth of over 300 kilometres of tunnels under the city, the Left Bank and the Right Bank. The cemetery covers only a small section of the tunnels - 1.7 kilometres. The tunnels are the remains of the limestone quarries, mined for the construction of Paris' buildings and bridges.
The Catacombes de Paris are an underground ossuary. The official name for the catacombs is
"L' Ossuaire Municipal". Skeletons from the Innocents and other cemeteries were transported here at the end of the 18 century. It holds the remains of about 6 million Parisians. They are the bones of the dead exhumed from mass graves. The bones are stacked neatly in various caverns creating kilometres of walls of human bones. Quite eerie!
The Cemetery of the Innocent which was close to Église Saint Eustace, in the district of "Les Halles" (this is the area we lived in last year), and had been used for nearly 10 centuries and had become the origin of infection for the people who lived in the area. The bones were transported and deposited in the Catacombs between 1786 and 1788. All existing parish cemeteries within the then city limits were then condemned and all Paris'dead were transferred to the Catacombs.
New cemeteries were created, which was then, outside the central area of Paris:
Montmartre Cemetery
Père Luchaise Cemetery
and later, Montparnasse Cemetery.
Once inside the catacombes there is no flash photography.
To go out of the catacombes, we had to walk up a very narrow stone spiral stairwell of just over 80 steps. Not very enjoyable at all. Geoffrey had to pull me up the last 10 steps!
We were then a few metro stations away from where we started the tour.
After outings like this and being right on lunchtime we generally give ourselves a bit of a treat.
Today, it was lunch at:
Le Zeyer
62 rue d' Alésia 75014
90 euros for 2 courses, 3 drinks each and a coffee.
Very good.
15 euros each plus 6 euros each for the entrance fee.
Metro: Denfert-Rochereau in the 14 arrondissement.
We met Chris, the guide, at the entrance and walked straight in, avoiding the long queue of people waiting to enter. Apparently, you can be lined up there for 2 hours.
The entrance to the Catacombs is south of the former city gate the "Barriere d'Enfer" at the now Place Denfert-Rochereau.
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| This is in the middle of Place Denfert-Rochereau. It is a small bronze version of Bartholdi's 'Lion" in commeration of Colonel Denfet-Rochereau's successful defence of Belfort in 1870-1871. It has no tongue. |
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| This is one of the custom houses which is an example of Ledoux' city gates and toll-houses, which were around "the wall of Paris". The other one is behind me next to the entrance to the Catacombs. On the liberation of Paris in August 1944 it was found that the resistance Movement had established its headquarters under these houses and in the catacombs. |
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| This is a skull that Chris, our guide is going to return to the staff at the Catacombes. Someone on a tour had pinched it but agreed to have Chris return it to the staff. |
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| To go into the tunnels, you enter down a narrow stone spiral stairwell of 19 metres. |
The catacombs are 20 metres underground within a labyrinth of over 300 kilometres of tunnels under the city, the Left Bank and the Right Bank. The cemetery covers only a small section of the tunnels - 1.7 kilometres. The tunnels are the remains of the limestone quarries, mined for the construction of Paris' buildings and bridges.
The Catacombes de Paris are an underground ossuary. The official name for the catacombs is
"L' Ossuaire Municipal". Skeletons from the Innocents and other cemeteries were transported here at the end of the 18 century. It holds the remains of about 6 million Parisians. They are the bones of the dead exhumed from mass graves. The bones are stacked neatly in various caverns creating kilometres of walls of human bones. Quite eerie!
The Cemetery of the Innocent which was close to Église Saint Eustace, in the district of "Les Halles" (this is the area we lived in last year), and had been used for nearly 10 centuries and had become the origin of infection for the people who lived in the area. The bones were transported and deposited in the Catacombs between 1786 and 1788. All existing parish cemeteries within the then city limits were then condemned and all Paris'dead were transferred to the Catacombs.
New cemeteries were created, which was then, outside the central area of Paris:
Montmartre Cemetery
Père Luchaise Cemetery
and later, Montparnasse Cemetery.
 |
| Above the entrance into the catacomb area there is a sign": Ärrête! Cést ici L'Empire de la Mort Halt! This is the Empire of the Dead |
To go out of the catacombes, we had to walk up a very narrow stone spiral stairwell of just over 80 steps. Not very enjoyable at all. Geoffrey had to pull me up the last 10 steps!
We were then a few metro stations away from where we started the tour.
After outings like this and being right on lunchtime we generally give ourselves a bit of a treat.
Today, it was lunch at:
Le Zeyer
62 rue d' Alésia 75014
90 euros for 2 courses, 3 drinks each and a coffee.
Very good.
Friday, May 18, 2012
My cousin Jack and Catherine in Paris 11 - 14 May 2012
Jack and Catherine came and stayed with us for 4 days and what a hectic 4 days it was.
Jack and Catherine caught the RoissyBus from the l'aéroport Charles de Gaulle to the Palais Garnier (Opera House) at Place de l'Opéra. We met them there and walked back to our apartment past Le Printemp and les Galeries Lafayette.
We had a great time. By showing Jack and Catherine a few of the sights of Paris, it gave Geoffrey and I another opportunity to revisit them.
The weather was glorious. We certainly walked a lot but also had a lot of Metro rides.
On Friday afternoon we walked from our apartment to Sacré Coeur past Place de Clichy and the Moulin Rouge.
On Saturday morning we walked through Parc Monceau, which is only a few minutes walk from our place and then up to the Arc de Triomphe.
We walked from the Arc de Triomphe down the esplanade Champs-Elysées, past the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais and on to the Pont Alexandre III on the River Seine.
From Les Jardin des Tuileries we took the metro home from Concorde in time for us to watch Collingwood beat Brisbane.
That afternoon we caught the metro to Tuileries and back into Les Jardin des Tuileries, through the Arc de Triomphe Carrousel and to Le Louvre. We also showed them around where we lived last year at de la Ferronnerie in the 1st arrondisement. This included where Henry IV was assassinated in our street, la Fontaine des Innocents and la Tour Saint-Jacques and on to la Cathédrale Notre-Dame to the Square Jean XXIII and across the Pont de l'Archevêché on to the Left Bank and a bit of a look at les Bouquinistes and then the Metro home.
The Square Jean XXIII is at the rear of La Cathédrale Notre-Dame on the Île de la Cité. It is named after Pope John XXIII. From the Square you have a good view of the flying buttresses of the cathedral and also the 90 metre high spire. The spire cannot be seen from La Place du Parvis Notre-dame at the front of the cathedral.
Jack took us out for dinner on Saturday evening to a very nice French restaurant called Un Air de Famille in the 17 arrondissement, a few minutes walk from where we live.
Sunday afternoon, we caught the Metro to Cardinal Lemoine on the left bank in the Latin Quarter to show them the beautiful Église St-Etienne-du-Mont which is just next to the Panthéon.
The Rood screen in Église St Étienne-du-Mont, is the only complete Rood screen left in Paris. The Rood screen was used to separate the elite from the the ordinary people in the 16th Century.
Also, to the side of the church are the steps where Owen Wilson sat as the 1920 Peugot Landaulet, drove up to him - the car used in the Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris. See my blog 2 March 2012.
Jack and Catherine caught the RoissyBus from the l'aéroport Charles de Gaulle to the Palais Garnier (Opera House) at Place de l'Opéra. We met them there and walked back to our apartment past Le Printemp and les Galeries Lafayette.
We had a great time. By showing Jack and Catherine a few of the sights of Paris, it gave Geoffrey and I another opportunity to revisit them.
The weather was glorious. We certainly walked a lot but also had a lot of Metro rides.
On Friday afternoon we walked from our apartment to Sacré Coeur past Place de Clichy and the Moulin Rouge.
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| on our way to the funiculaire at Sacré Coeur |
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| Église du Dôme from Sacré Coeur - a gilded dome visible from all over Paris. Napoleon 1 remains are underneath it. |
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| Tour Main-Montparnasse - a skyscraper in the low-rise area of Paris and the Eiffel Tower from Sacré Coeur |
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| Eiffel Tower from Sacré Coeur |
On Saturday morning we walked through Parc Monceau, which is only a few minutes walk from our place and then up to the Arc de Triomphe.
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| A turtle in Monceau Park |
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| Jack, Catherine and me alongside the lake in Monceau Park |
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| once again, the waterfall at Monceau Parc |
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| Arc de Triomphe |
We walked from the Arc de Triomphe down the esplanade Champs-Elysées, past the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais and on to the Pont Alexandre III on the River Seine.
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| Charles de Gaulle outside the Grand Palais |
Behind charles de Gaulle is one of the two 4 horse-drawn chariots that adorn either side of the Grand Palais. They are called the Récipon Quadrigas.
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| Walking towards Pont Alexandre III with Église du Dôme in the background. |
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| A closer view of Pont Alexandre III and Église du Dôme in the background. |
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| Pont Alexandre III in the foreground as we walked along the River to la Place de la Concorde and into Les Jardin des Tuileries |
From Les Jardin des Tuileries we took the metro home from Concorde in time for us to watch Collingwood beat Brisbane.
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| Jack enjoying a well earned pre-lunch Guiness on our balcony. |
That afternoon we caught the metro to Tuileries and back into Les Jardin des Tuileries, through the Arc de Triomphe Carrousel and to Le Louvre. We also showed them around where we lived last year at de la Ferronnerie in the 1st arrondisement. This included where Henry IV was assassinated in our street, la Fontaine des Innocents and la Tour Saint-Jacques and on to la Cathédrale Notre-Dame to the Square Jean XXIII and across the Pont de l'Archevêché on to the Left Bank and a bit of a look at les Bouquinistes and then the Metro home.
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| In the Jardin des Tuileries, Geoffrey playing with his hired yacht - 2 euros for 15 minutes. For Geoffrey this is one of the absolute highlights of living in Paris - being there in the gardens when the yachts are available. There are no set days when the yachts are there. For more photos see blog 1 March 2011. |
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| The cart of yachts for hire. |
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| The fellow who hires out the yachts |
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| Orchestra playing in Square Jean XXIII at the rear of la Cathédrale Notre-Dame. It is just great to live in Paris. |
Jack took us out for dinner on Saturday evening to a very nice French restaurant called Un Air de Famille in the 17 arrondissement, a few minutes walk from where we live.
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| Jack and Catherine greeting us as we returned from le Marché Grenelle. Jack having another well earned Guiness. While we were at the market, they had been to Mass at Ste-Trinité. |
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| Jack eating a snail. It has become rather traditional for visitors to have snails from le Marché Grenelle. |
The Rood screen in Église St Étienne-du-Mont, is the only complete Rood screen left in Paris. The Rood screen was used to separate the elite from the the ordinary people in the 16th Century.
Also, to the side of the church are the steps where Owen Wilson sat as the 1920 Peugot Landaulet, drove up to him - the car used in the Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris. See my blog 2 March 2012.
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| We are in a traditional English Pub the Bombardier where we watched Man City v QPI with the Église St-Etienne-du-Mont in the background. |
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| The farewell dinner. Jack insisted we have champagne. What a treat! |
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| and what a finish! Jack and Catherine put their names on a love padlock. The tradition is that the 'cadenas de l'amour' be attached to the Pont des Arts, a metal pedestrian bridge across the Seine and the key thrown into the River or attached to the Pont de l'Archevêche. |
The next morning, we made sure they caught the bus back to the airport!!
à bientôt
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Les Invalides Friday 4 May 2012
As a first visit, we were there for only four hours. Of course we will go there again. We hired audio-guide headphones and they were a big help.
Housed in l'Hôtel des Invalides is the Musée d'Armée which has one of the largest collections of arms, armour and displays on the military history in the world.
The museum ticket also included entry to the Musée des Plans-Reliefs (scale models of fortified sites of towns and the surrounding countryside), the Historial Charles de Gaulle ( an audiovisual centre about his career), the Musée d'Ordre de la Liberation and Napoleon's Tomb.
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| North Entrance from le Métro Invalides |
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| Statue of Napoleon 1 |
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| A Mortar - fired incendiary bombs |
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| there's more than 60 cannons on display |
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| Dôme Church Ceiling |
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| Tombeau de Napoléon 1er (Tomb of Napoleon 1) |
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| Armour of Francis 1 and horse barding |
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| South Entrance Église du Dôme |
By the time we finished walking around Les Invalides we were exhausted and had lunch at an Italian restaurant La Romantica Caffé 96 boulevard de la Tour Mauborg 75007 Paris. 72euros 3 course business lunch. Excellent food and service.
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