Another begging first this morning as a man picks up a wedding ring and hands it to Rob who says it is not his. Oh well says the man, bonne chance, and starts to walk away. Just as I am saying to Rob this feels like a scam he returns to ask Rob if he can give him some money to buy his morning coffee. Rob tries to give him the ring, which he is refusing at this stage, but soon takes it and heads off as it becomes clear we have no intention of giving him anything other than short shrift.
Our first stop this morning is to the Palais Garnier - the Paris Opera House. Fantastic hardly does it justice. It is so big, so lavish, so resplendent that we are quite taken aback by it. Our only disappointment is that the very very plain fire curtain is on stage. We are able to enter the auditorium only by going into one or two of the boxes so viewing is limited as the crowds increase during the morning but worth it indeed. We didn't see any phantoms.
Back on our bus again we head off to the Arc de Triomphe to have a look at the restored carvings. Down the Champs Elysees which is very crowded and picnic lunch under a tree before we head off to the big one for the day - the Musee d'Orsay. Quelle horreur, it is closed on Mondays. Damn and double damn. Napoleon's Tomb then, which is open and is amazing. It seems to be a simpler design than most of the other constructions associated with Napoleon but it is still on a very grand scale - a scale he certainly favoured.
When we get to the Metro station the train on the other side comes to a halt and there is an announcement over the PA that of course we don't understand at all. Several people around us start to leave, but some stay so we wait... for the next unintelligible announcement. More people leave so we go up to see what is going on. Very nice chap in the ticket office explains that there is a police matter at another station and recommends that we walk to another station which is actually on our line. He writes on our single trip tickets that it is ok to reuse them and we head out again. This time there is a bit of a breeze. We are beginning to feel that we have walked enough. Success, the metro at Invalides is all right and we are home in double quick time. Rob is now having a siesta and I am going to catch up with a few things. We split up tomorrow - me to Germany, Rob to England .....
Paris has been great, and of course all too short. It was too good an opportunity to miss when we realised that we could add it to the list for a day or so en route to our separate destinations. We have not done it justice but my impressions of Paris is that we would certainly be better off with at least a week here as there is so much to see. And we would have liked to add a couple of day trips - perhaps to Versailles and to Rheims to sample the champagne. Never mind, another time. I think, however, that I would prefer to go somewhere less noisy, less grimy. It isn't that the streets are awash with rubbish, or dog droppings as one always heard about in the past, just that there is a sort of grimy deposit over just about everything. Maybe it is the cars, maybe not.
There is an installation that starts here tomorrow that I will be sorry to miss - Paris Plages. All along the Seine there are bathing boxes being set up along with other things that I couldn't see well enough to work out what they were for but the list of events sounded pretty good for both children and adults. We have missed festivals everywhere, often just before or after we were there. At least we now know what to look for if we make plans to return. It is a shame sometimes, but we had a great time anyway..
Back on our bus again we head off to the Arc de Triomphe to have a look at the restored carvings. Down the Champs Elysees which is very crowded and picnic lunch under a tree before we head off to the big one for the day - the Musee d'Orsay. Quelle horreur, it is closed on Mondays. Damn and double damn. Napoleon's Tomb then, which is open and is amazing. It seems to be a simpler design than most of the other constructions associated with Napoleon but it is still on a very grand scale - a scale he certainly favoured.
When we get to the Metro station the train on the other side comes to a halt and there is an announcement over the PA that of course we don't understand at all. Several people around us start to leave, but some stay so we wait... for the next unintelligible announcement. More people leave so we go up to see what is going on. Very nice chap in the ticket office explains that there is a police matter at another station and recommends that we walk to another station which is actually on our line. He writes on our single trip tickets that it is ok to reuse them and we head out again. This time there is a bit of a breeze. We are beginning to feel that we have walked enough. Success, the metro at Invalides is all right and we are home in double quick time. Rob is now having a siesta and I am going to catch up with a few things. We split up tomorrow - me to Germany, Rob to England .....
Paris has been great, and of course all too short. It was too good an opportunity to miss when we realised that we could add it to the list for a day or so en route to our separate destinations. We have not done it justice but my impressions of Paris is that we would certainly be better off with at least a week here as there is so much to see. And we would have liked to add a couple of day trips - perhaps to Versailles and to Rheims to sample the champagne. Never mind, another time. I think, however, that I would prefer to go somewhere less noisy, less grimy. It isn't that the streets are awash with rubbish, or dog droppings as one always heard about in the past, just that there is a sort of grimy deposit over just about everything. Maybe it is the cars, maybe not.
There is an installation that starts here tomorrow that I will be sorry to miss - Paris Plages. All along the Seine there are bathing boxes being set up along with other things that I couldn't see well enough to work out what they were for but the list of events sounded pretty good for both children and adults. We have missed festivals everywhere, often just before or after we were there. At least we now know what to look for if we make plans to return. It is a shame sometimes, but we had a great time anyway..
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