[Ed: the full set of pictures can be found on my flickr page, but a selection appears below.]
The trip started off rather less wonderful than usual with a wallet going walkabouts and a rather roundabout walk to the apartment after midnight. Fortunately, both were manageable with a little bit of laughter and friendly support.
Since there were 5 of us all together, we rented a flat for the weekend in the really incredible Marais district. Stephen and I stayed in this area on our last trip and loved it - still central and so walking distance to all the major sites, but that has a lot of character and a "lived in" feeling that many major city centres lack. The flat was perfect - loft style with a little kitchen and just enough space for everyone to have a bit of privacy. I think we will definitely do this again when travelling with a bigger group.
Once everyone was arrived late Friday morning, we decided to meander from our flat over to the Louvre. This took us past the famous Les Halles and on Nathan's whim we walked into St. Eustache - stunning! I can't count the number of times that we've walked past this church in the past and never stopped in, but I'm so glad that we did this time. It's an amazing piece of gothic architecture with some really beautiful niches.
The "back" of the church
One of the first niches you see, just inside the main doors
a beautiful statue, I think it's supposed to be Joan of Arc, though I could be wrong there
looking back down the southern aisle
A plaque stating that St. Vincent du Paul was once a parishoner
The organ
standing under the organ looking back toward the main altar
From there we wandered past the old Bourse (or stock exchange), which unfortunately had only just closed the public gallery for the day (next time, Stephen). So instead we stopped into a local little brasserie for lunch (nothing special) and then over to the day's main event, La Louvre!
Nathan, not quite believing he's finally in Paris!
a staircase inside the glass pyramid
From here, we all split up - Nathan headed off to see just how much ground he could cover in 3 hours, Erica & Bobby to head over to the Dome Church on the other side of the river, and Stephen and I to wander through some of the galleries we hadn't seen before. One of the things I love about the Louvre is that it is highly conducive to meandering and people watching, filled with hidden corners and an interesting mix of people. As the weather outside was stunning and it was technically a weekday, it wasn't too crowded which gave us a bit more space than we probably would have otherwise had.
Some of our favourite pieces. . .
a statue of Athena with a rather adorable owl
loved how the sculptor depicted this veiled woman
One of the galleries - can you tell it used to be a palace?
clay pot with the figurines laid out which were found inside
Stephen drawn to things with words on
One of my favourite galleries
From there we headed into a new (to us) part of the palace, the rooms that used to belong to Napoleon III and are kept more or less in the same arrangement as he had them.
a beautiful clock in a niche of the informal sitting room
heading towards the formal dining rooms
see? dining room
By that point my feet were starting to ache a bit, so we headed back out to the main entry to wait for the others to finish their wanderings. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait very long, as all three of the others turned up quite quickly. From there, it was definitely time for tea. Fortunately a highly recommended place was nearby (turns out it was rather more of an institution than expected, but a rather lovely institution) called Angelina. The pastries were absolutely incroyable (incredible). I had the olympe tart with a cup of Earl Grey tea (I love Earl Grey with violet flavoured things). Stephen had a selection of their very classic macaroons with very good coffee. Nathan and Erica both opted for the rather impressively rich tartlette eva, Nathan pairing it with coffee and Erica with Angelina's apparently famous (and worthily so) hot chocolate. Bobby opted for their homemade glace (ice cream) also with coffee.
After that kind of indulgent afternoon, there are really only two options: a nap or a long walk. Bobby and Erica opted for the former while Nathan, Stephen and I decided to swing past the Eiffel Tower. Even though it didn't feel so late, it turned out that the timing was perfect to watch the lights come on behind the Eiffel Tower as the sun set. It was stunning and probably one of my all time favourite memories of Paris. Thank you Nathan for prodding us in that direction!
And just in case you don't believe me. . .
From the Champs de Mars side
From the Trocadero side, with a really cute carousel.
Feeling very satisfied with ourselves and starting to actually get hungry again, we headed back to the apartment to meet up with Bobby and Erica. On the way (and literally down the street from our apartment) we noticed a little bistro that had a tasty looking menu and friendly staff. We stopped in and they said, why yes of course they could fit in a table for 5. Come back in half an hour? It turned out to be the fairly well-known Au Fil du Saison. And it lived up to it's reputation. The staff were super kind, witty and laid back - tolerating with great ease our varying degree of fluency in their native tongue, joking with us about our mistakes and generally guiding us towards the tastiest treats on their very generally tasty menu. The highlight of the meal though was the sauce that went with Stephen's dessert - a warm sauce of nutella and vodka. When the staff saw us passing around S's little cup of the divine substance, they brought us out enough glasses for us all to have one! The perfect end to a fantastic meal.
Even better? It was stumbling distance back to our lodgings. And so ended a pretty fantastic day in Paris. Two more left!
The trip started off rather less wonderful than usual with a wallet going walkabouts and a rather roundabout walk to the apartment after midnight. Fortunately, both were manageable with a little bit of laughter and friendly support.
Since there were 5 of us all together, we rented a flat for the weekend in the really incredible Marais district. Stephen and I stayed in this area on our last trip and loved it - still central and so walking distance to all the major sites, but that has a lot of character and a "lived in" feeling that many major city centres lack. The flat was perfect - loft style with a little kitchen and just enough space for everyone to have a bit of privacy. I think we will definitely do this again when travelling with a bigger group.
Once everyone was arrived late Friday morning, we decided to meander from our flat over to the Louvre. This took us past the famous Les Halles and on Nathan's whim we walked into St. Eustache - stunning! I can't count the number of times that we've walked past this church in the past and never stopped in, but I'm so glad that we did this time. It's an amazing piece of gothic architecture with some really beautiful niches.
The "back" of the church
One of the first niches you see, just inside the main doors
a beautiful statue, I think it's supposed to be Joan of Arc, though I could be wrong there
looking back down the southern aisle
A plaque stating that St. Vincent du Paul was once a parishoner
The organ
standing under the organ looking back toward the main altar
From there we wandered past the old Bourse (or stock exchange), which unfortunately had only just closed the public gallery for the day (next time, Stephen). So instead we stopped into a local little brasserie for lunch (nothing special) and then over to the day's main event, La Louvre!
Nathan, not quite believing he's finally in Paris!
a staircase inside the glass pyramid
From here, we all split up - Nathan headed off to see just how much ground he could cover in 3 hours, Erica & Bobby to head over to the Dome Church on the other side of the river, and Stephen and I to wander through some of the galleries we hadn't seen before. One of the things I love about the Louvre is that it is highly conducive to meandering and people watching, filled with hidden corners and an interesting mix of people. As the weather outside was stunning and it was technically a weekday, it wasn't too crowded which gave us a bit more space than we probably would have otherwise had.
Some of our favourite pieces. . .
a statue of Athena with a rather adorable owl
loved how the sculptor depicted this veiled woman
One of the galleries - can you tell it used to be a palace?
clay pot with the figurines laid out which were found inside
Stephen drawn to things with words on
One of my favourite galleries
From there we headed into a new (to us) part of the palace, the rooms that used to belong to Napoleon III and are kept more or less in the same arrangement as he had them.
a beautiful clock in a niche of the informal sitting room
heading towards the formal dining rooms
see? dining room
By that point my feet were starting to ache a bit, so we headed back out to the main entry to wait for the others to finish their wanderings. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait very long, as all three of the others turned up quite quickly. From there, it was definitely time for tea. Fortunately a highly recommended place was nearby (turns out it was rather more of an institution than expected, but a rather lovely institution) called Angelina. The pastries were absolutely incroyable (incredible). I had the olympe tart with a cup of Earl Grey tea (I love Earl Grey with violet flavoured things). Stephen had a selection of their very classic macaroons with very good coffee. Nathan and Erica both opted for the rather impressively rich tartlette eva, Nathan pairing it with coffee and Erica with Angelina's apparently famous (and worthily so) hot chocolate. Bobby opted for their homemade glace (ice cream) also with coffee.
After that kind of indulgent afternoon, there are really only two options: a nap or a long walk. Bobby and Erica opted for the former while Nathan, Stephen and I decided to swing past the Eiffel Tower. Even though it didn't feel so late, it turned out that the timing was perfect to watch the lights come on behind the Eiffel Tower as the sun set. It was stunning and probably one of my all time favourite memories of Paris. Thank you Nathan for prodding us in that direction!
And just in case you don't believe me. . .
From the Champs de Mars side
From the Trocadero side, with a really cute carousel.
Feeling very satisfied with ourselves and starting to actually get hungry again, we headed back to the apartment to meet up with Bobby and Erica. On the way (and literally down the street from our apartment) we noticed a little bistro that had a tasty looking menu and friendly staff. We stopped in and they said, why yes of course they could fit in a table for 5. Come back in half an hour? It turned out to be the fairly well-known Au Fil du Saison. And it lived up to it's reputation. The staff were super kind, witty and laid back - tolerating with great ease our varying degree of fluency in their native tongue, joking with us about our mistakes and generally guiding us towards the tastiest treats on their very generally tasty menu. The highlight of the meal though was the sauce that went with Stephen's dessert - a warm sauce of nutella and vodka. When the staff saw us passing around S's little cup of the divine substance, they brought us out enough glasses for us all to have one! The perfect end to a fantastic meal.
Even better? It was stumbling distance back to our lodgings. And so ended a pretty fantastic day in Paris. Two more left!
Some lovely lovely pics.
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