We awoke around 6:15a and were downstairs for breakfast right at 7a. Same breakfast as the day before — fried egg, two strips English bacon, baked beans, and toast. Yummy! The host at Luna Simone was so polite and it was a joy to see him interacting with the guests. Hope they are still around in 22 years if we again visit!
Headed back to the room and finished packing then lugged the two large pieces of luggage down the floor and a half of stairs to the lobby by 8:15a. Reception hailed us a cab. It came rather quickly. The driver was a delight and couldn’t be more English if he tried. Gave us a good-natured ribbing over European dominance at the Ryder Cup and mentioned that we were the last fare of the day for him as he was going to be home by 11a in time to watch golf all day. Said he came in for a few hours mainly to get some beer money for Monday, the day he plays golf with his mates, gets piss drunk at the public house (pub I guessed), then spends all day Tuesday regretting it. He was happy to see Tiger making a comeback as well. We also talked a bit about the NFL and that it was becoming more popular in the UK, and that ten games a year were played in London now. He said, however, that he hadn’t really followed it since the 80s when Chicago won it and Perry was playing.
European bathrooms are so small!
A look down the Luna and Simone’s stairs
He dropped us off at London St. Pancras International shortly after 8:30a. We had to wait until 9a to line up for departure on our 10:24a train to Paris Gare du Nord. At 9a we scanned our tickets and sent our bags through the scanner. The security lady decided to check one of our backpacks and she was very thorough, emptying *everything* and using some kind of residue detecting strip or something. Then it was up to us to re-pack everything. What a pain! Better safe than sorry, I suppose. Waited in the terminal a bit for the train to begin boarding, which it did from platform 8 right around 10a.
London’s St. Pancras International station
The ride was pretty uneventful. I slept and blogged mainly while Michelle slept. Thankfully, this time around we were facing forward. A screen did state that the Chunnel was 50km long or so and the speed record for the Eurostar was about 330km/h (so, around 200mph). Arrived at Paris Gare du Nord just before 2p (time went forward one hour between the UK and France).
Once there we got Michelle a scone so she could take her medicine. It wasn’t great but that wasn’t the point so that was OK. There were quite a few beggar ladies from the Balkans milling about the terminal asking for money. We then went to stand in the long (but thankfully fairly fast moving) line for the accredited Taxis. An unaccredited fellow tried to get us to go with him but we’ve seen “Taken” — no thank you! Our taxi driver spoke little or no English and was quite brusque, and I’m not really sure he knew where he needed to go (a stark difference from the Black Cabs of London which have strict exams on navigating London). He did get us to our hotel, Hotel Prince de Conti, though. In doing so we went by the Centre Pompidou as well as seeing Notre Dame in the distance to our left.
Check in went smoothly, room 32. Thankfully there was an elevator for this hotel! The lock on the door was a bit of a pain, requiring two tumblers to fall. The room itself was nice, ample size with a nice sized bed and a decent bathroom (though not a shower — rather a tub with a hand-held sprayer). It overlooked a charming courtyard and had walls covered in padded fabric designs.
We immediately headed out for Musee d’Orsay as it wasn’t open on Mondays. Our hotel was in a quaint neighborhood called “Monnaie” on account of the nearby Monnaie de Paris (Paris Mint), founded in 864 AD and the source of all of France’s euros (each country mints euros). It was quite quiet, it being Sunday afternoon, and the majority of the numerous galleries (sparse affairs with only a couple of pieces) were closed. We passed the Institut de France, a cultural center with an impressive dome and a quaint adjacent park.
Institut de France, Paris Left Bank
Emerging from the labyrinthine streets we came upon the Seine. Walking along the Left Bank for a few blocks we were soon at the Musee d’Orsay. The line was quite long but moved at a fair pace. We had arrived just before 4p and stood in line for 30m or so. Once in we made a bee line for the cafe by 4:15p. We both had ham and cheese baguettes while Michelle chose to finish with a chocolate muffin and I with a lemon cake slice.
The Louvre beyond a statue at the entrance to the Pont du Carrousel
M’O, Musee d’Orsay
Stylish awning on the Musee D’Orsay’s exterior
The building itself was grand, being converted from the Gare d’Orsay, a rail station built in 1898. I had previously been there in 1988 just a couple of short years after it opened (in December 1986) and enjoyed it very much. One impressive feature of the building was the beautiful clock at one end. Sadly I don’t think the building is as impressive as back then as some building had apparently been done and added some more modern elements to the beautiful building that I found a bit at odds. Some renovation was still on-going (a common theme on this trip, it appeared) with many lesser works not on display.
Musee d’Orsay, a former train station
Another view of the structure of the Musee d’Orsay
Grand clock at the building’s end
There were still quite a few on display, though. Near the cafe was a sculpture of a polar bear that we both really liked. As time was short we headed up to the top floor and breezed through Gauguin (never been a fan) to the Van Gogh gallery. I’m always impressed by his use of color and the way everything flows (at least in his later period). Several famous paintings were on display (no, not “Starry Night” — that’s in the Met in New York City, though “Starry Night Over the Rhone Arles” is in the Orsay) including the painting of a church featured prominently in a Doctor Who episode, “The Church at Auvers” — though the painting didn’t have the wounded inter-dimensional being in the window that the episode did! Also present was his famous self-portrait. We really enjoyed a painting of a couple of people lounging against a hay bale.
Sculpture of a polar bear at the Musee d’Orsay
Temporary gallery for Van Gogh’s paintings
We particularly liked this piece by Van Gogh, “Haystacks”
Next we went to a grand ballroom preserved from the hotel that succeeded the train station. Inside were displayed several metal sculptures. Additionally, there was an incredible view north across Paris and we even caught a glimpse of Sacre-Coeur! We then descended to the lower floors where I enjoyed some Egyptian and Arabian inspired art (popular around the turn of the century, particularly with the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in the early 1920s). Michelle was decidedly less enthused. As closing time neared we headed to the bookstore, bought a couple of magnets, and left the museum about 6p.
Ballroom at Musee d’Orsay
Detail of the superb ballroom
One of the metal objects on display in the ballroom
We could see Sacre-Coeur far to the north
Painting showing good times in Paris
Nifty Arabian-themed painting
Returned to the hotel around 7p after a leisurely stroll along the Seine in which we admired the booksellers’ stands which folded up tight at night. We rested a bit but I got a headache. Finally about 10p we realized we really needed to eat so headed out to Bistrot Mazarin nearby. Not before we walked past the Paris mint with its posters about Mickey (Mouse) in France. The bistro was a quaint place playing 80s music like Ray Parker’s “Ghostbusters”. Michelle had a ham and cheese omelette and I had the beef bourguignon, a beef stew with carrots, potatoes, and pepper in a red wine sauce. It was fantastic! For dessert we each had a chocolate mousse and it too was incredible. Walked back to the room about 11:30p where Michelle did crosswords and I blogged and then turned in for bed.
Exterior of Musee d’Orsay
A Seine River boat cruising past the Louvre
Many beautiful trees lined the quay along the Seine
A Left Bank bookseller’s stand open for business…
…and another, closed up tight for the night
I really liked the vines’ horizontal growth above this shop
A nice garden retreat in the Monnaie district
Beef Bourguignon at Bistrot Mazarin — so very tasty!