The hotel, Hotel Londres Eiffel, was really nice - located on a quiet street (1 Rue Augereau, in the 7th arrondissement) lined with several restaurants, a hardware store, laundry, and boutiques. The room was average size, but the bathroom had a full tub - which we hadn't seen since our time in Rome. All the others had a shower that was about 2.5ft by 2.5 feet and squeezed into a corner.
Both of us were hungry, so we checked our trusty Rick Steve's guide and sure enough, he had two recommended right on our street - and one or two more nearby. It was just about 9PM, so we slipped into a little place called Philippe's - Restaurant La Varangue:
The owner, Philippe, came over and sat us at a small table and explained he was about to close and had only a few items available on his hand-written chalkboard menu. One of those was "boeuf bourguignon + garniture - which we had read was a traditional dish from Burgundy and is essentially a beef stew cooked with mushrooms and carrots in red wine - much like a recipe we cook occasionally at home we learned from Tyler Florence - Tyler's Ultimate Beef Stew. Philippe's didn't disappoint - and it took me all of about a minute to finish it - and wipe up the wine sauce with the bread. We had a house wine in a half liter bottle - when the young girl Philippe had working there brought the wine, she forgot to bring over any wine glasses. Not knowing this, I had already started pouring the wine into the little water glasses on the table - which is how most of the house wine we had in Italy was served. Apparently, the French are a little more particular, as she was surprised when she came back with some wine glasses that I had already poured. No worries. Knowing Philippe was closing, we ate quickly, but he was content to let us sit there and talk for a while, which was really nice. Finally, he came over, but instead of presenting a check, he smartly offered us desert. I had some strawberries with whipped cream, which were a nice lite ending to a great meal.
Being exhausted, we went back to the hotel for bed.
The next day, we got up late and lounged around for a while - I guess all the travel was catching up with us. We finally got going and had breakfast around the corner at a touristy 24 hour cafe with a partial view of the Eiffel Tower called Cafe le Dome. Surprisingly, their breakfast menu had omlettes and french fries - something we hadn't seen in Italy. An extra large cup of cappucino was also a nice change.
Our objective for the day was the Louvre - but first we had to figure out which bus to take to get there and where to buy bus tickets. A nearby tobacco shop had packs of 10 tickets which we could use for buses and trains whenever we needed - which turned out to be a good deal. We found the 69 bus route, waited a few minutes and were on our way.
Having seen many travel shows and read Rick Steve's books, we were expecting long lines at the Louvre - not to buy tickets, but because of the backup caused by the metal detector. Not the case today - we were inside the Louvre in less than 5 minutes. However - just standing outside and seeing how big this place was amazed me!
Since the Louvre is so huge, and we were so tired, we decided we'd seek out only the things we really wanted to see and then leave. Candice had those in mind and of course, they matched up with the quickie tour proposed by Rick Steves in his Paris book for just this purpose. Here are some pictures of things we saw along the way:
Winged Victory of Samothrace - one the the Louvre's great treasures is found at the top of the Daru staircase. The statue is believed to be from the Hellenistic period of 220-190 B.C. - one of the few original Greek statues ever found. It's been badly damaged - with the head and arms missing. The right wing is a plaster copy of the left. The detail of the wind-swept clothing over her body is really amazing - considering it's all carved from marble!
One of Winged Victory's hands was found separately and is displayed in a glass enclosed box nearby:
Next up was the very famous Venus de Milo - another incredible greek statue:
Next up was a search for the Mona Lisa. On the way, we ran into a Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267-1337). St. Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata (c. 1290)
Which is one of the earliest paintings known to depict man in nature - signaling the beginning of the renaissance period. Look in the lower right corner to see a man feeding pigeons - we thought this funny as we had just come from Venice where I had a run-in with a mob of pigeons myself.
Unfortunately, this was the last picture for a while in the Louvre - as most of the rooms with paintings restrict any photos. So, take my word for it, we found the Mona Lisa - which was surrounded by a mob of people - but with patience we were able to make our way up to the front and get a good view.
Shortly after, we got to see one of the largest oil paintings in the world, Napoleon’s Coronation by David. We also saw some Botticelli frescoes, The Madonna of the Angels by Cimabue, St. Sebastian by Mantegna, The Marriage at Cana by Veronese, The Raft of the Medusa by Gericault, Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix, among others.
Next up was a hall of Renaissance sculpture:
Slaves by Michelangelo:
And others:
This one for Candice's sister, Amy:
That was it for the Louvre - and just over 2 hrs! We must have been brain dead as we couldn't find the bus stop for the 87 which is right in front of the Louvre! Instead we walked around the enormous building and finally decided just to jump on where we got off before - knowing that it would be the long route around it's loop back to the hotel. After about 15 minutes, we decided to jump off at a square where we could see several places to eat - and they happened to be mentioned in Rick Steves' book. We chose a busy but inexpensive spot, Restaurante Sant Antonio, and ordered some pizza and wine (great combination!) Our table was outside, which was great for people watching until these two girls next to us decided to light up - nonstop for about 30 minutes - which is funny because I had just commented to Candice that it seemed like people smoked less in Paris than in Italy. Either way, this place had Chocolate Mousse on the menu, so I had to have one - it was worth it.
After our bite to eat, we stopped in a little bakery and bought a baguette to take back to the room. We caught the 69 on the other side of its loop and just before our hotel, jumped off at a fromage shop and bought some fresh Gouda. The owner was a kind man who when asked if he spoke any English, asked back if we spoke any French - it was a funny moment.
Returning to the room, we both crashed! In for the night.
Day 2 in another post...
1 comment:
OK, I am seriously jealous...
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