Paris

Instead of going to Italy, we met Sarah in Paris for her fall break. Sarah has seen most of Italy and thought Paris would be fun. The short video clips are a sampling of our 1800 pictures that we took in Paris.

We arranged for an apartment. However due to flooding in the building we were moved to a small hotel in the Latin quarter. We were a 5-minute walk from Notre Dame in the center of the museums of Paris. We purchased a museum pass where we averaged about 3 museums per day.

We found that people were very pleasant and polite. We had no problem with the language because English was widely spoken. All the museums (except for the Louvre) had everything written in French and English. In our part of town food was very expensive. A soft drink ordered with a meal was $5. Most meals in the cafés were more than $20. However sandwiches on the street corners were about $7.50.

Traffic was fast and furious with bikes, motorcycles, cars and trucks sharing imaginary lanes. After our taxi ride from the airport, we chose to walk everywhere except Versailles where we took the subway. The subway was quick and efficient.

Our first day we visited Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, Conciergerie (prison of Marie Antoinette) Cluny Museum (medieval art and sculpture), Pantheon (tombs of the great and noble people), Jardin du Luxembourg and St. Severin.

Our second day we saw the Orsay Museum (sculpture and art… our favorite), Rodin Museum(sculpture), the Dome Church (Napoleon’s tomb), the Army museum and the Eiffel tower.

On third day we visited the Louvre (twice), Tuileries garden and the Orangerie Museum.

The fourth day we saw the Pompidou Center (modern art) and the Carnavalet Museum (history of Paris).

Our last day we saw Versailles (the Royal Palace and grounds).