Paris Untour, Fall 2002
by Charles & Margaret Gates, Little Rock, AR
Here are a few things we enjoyed and some things we learned on our recent untour to Paris. Hope it will be helpful to other untourists.Our apartment was roomy, well furnished and comfortable. It was located in an upscale residential/shopping area of Paris and we had to take the metro to all things that would be of interest to tourists. We had a large grocery store inside a mall right next door and it was wonderful. Everything in this area was very modern and the people very busy. There was a wonderful Italian restaurant down the street from us called Pastivino we highly recommend if you are in the 16th e.
We enjoyed seeing St. Chapelle and looking around the Latin Quarter. We spent most of an afternoon at Invalides (Napoleon's tomb), also other museums in the complex including the World War II museum which was most interesting and emotional. Charles could remember a lot of the military equipment on display from his service days so it was especially meaningful to him as he had been stationed in Orleans, France. During our visit to Invalides they had an important awards ceremony with a military band and when they started to play the Marseillaise (forgive the spelling) we rushed out to watch and it was quite thrilling. We also got to witness a large military parade on the 16th for which they cleared the Champs Elysee all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. The street was lined with mostly older men carrying their unit flags and when the group got near they would fall in line. They had on all their medals and ribbons and were so proud we got a thrill out of it all.
We also visited Rodin museum almost at closing time and had to rush through it. It is near Invalides so you can do those two together. We visited the Louvre, JacqueMart-Andre Museum, Museum of MontMartre, Picasso Museum, Victor Hugo Maison and museum, and one I believe called Carnavelet which was a museum of Paris. We strolled around Place Tertre, saw the Sacre Coeur, rode the little train and had lunch at Cremillion at Place due Terte. We also went to the Pompidou center but we couldn't get much into the modern art. The entertainment outside the center was good too.
A favorite splurge was a dinner cruise on the Seine with Parsienne Bateaux. We took the premium and got to sit right at the front of the boat and had a wonderful meal, entertainment and saw all the monuments illuminated. The boats depart from the Seine at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. We had to reserve it about three days in advance - they were booked up.
We enjoyed a walking tour (on our own) of the Marais where we visited a lot of the museums mentioned above, also visited Place de Vosges which was lovely and admired the art galleries. We found a little out of the way restaurant (I think it had been mentioned in Bon Jour Paris newsletter) called Le Tabarin, no tourists, only locals and had a real Paris atmosphere for me.
There is a wonderful market on Sun. morning on Richard Lenoir Bd near the Bastille. Seems like all of Paris was there shopping. They had food and other things also. Then we took in the brunch at the Le Tabarin restaurant where we had previously lunched. The day was pretty and sunny but cool and we strolled about for a while.
We visited Versailles and it was nice but very, very, crowded even though we went early, tour buses lined the parking lot. The rain didn't help matters much. We had got there early and thought we were smart but went we took the little train down to see the Petit Trianon and the Grand Trianon, we found they didn't open until 12:00. We were disappointed. It might be better if you go later in the day after the tour buses leave.
Another favorite thing was a train ride to Rouen which was mentioned in the Paris on-site guide book. It's a lovely medieval town with a great cathedral and we took in the Joan of Arc museum and visited the site where she was burned at the stake. They have built a church on the site and its very modern and nice. We had a good lunch at a restaurant called the Maraichers (I think). This is a great town to do some serious walking and sightseeing. We highly recommend this trip.
We also enjoyed the Idyll sponsored dinner and getting to talk with the other untourists. You should take note that even though we were told the metro stayed open until around midnight it was closed at 10:30 when we left the restaurant but we had no problem finding a taxi. [editor’s note: the early Metro closing could have been due to construction or some such anomaly, the Paris Metro normally does stay open until midnight or later, sorry you had a problem, Ms. Gates! ] Both times we took taxis we felt they were very reasonable.
Just want to make mention that the weather in Paris in Oct. is very changeable and so there were no picnics in the park but most of the time we were able to sit in the sidewalk cafes (outside). Some of them have awnings out over the tables and there are still lots of people you can watch.
This covers a wee bit of our Paris adventure. Hope future Paris untourists will be helped by the information. Mostly you have to discover Paris or let it discover you.
Special moments experienced in Paris:
- the woman stopping to help us as we looked at a map on a street corner
- the charming smile of a beggar when I placed a coin in his hand
- the old woman we helped in a laundromat by loaning her our cell phone
- laughing with a waiter at a sidewalk cafe as a dog walked by carrying his own leash
- special feeling when the same waiter told us he liked Americans and wanted to go fight in Afganistan
- the french woman asking us to help her with directions on the metro map