Louvre is too popular
After some morning rain, it was mostly sunny and warm. Perhaps unseasonably warm?
I took the bus to the Arc de Triomphe but got on the bus going the opposite direction. I realized it when I looked at the GPS. Bus drivers here are completely walled off by lucite and don't talk to passengers. It is unbelievable!
Finally he pointed in the other direction so I got off and waited much longer this time and it was so crowded. I gave my seat to a disabled woman and climbed unceremoniously over a man who berated me (in French, of course, so I am not sure what he said) so I could sit down.
But the bus terminated quite a ways before its stated end and so I had to walk a half hour. I decided to stop for breakfast; I had purchased yogurt but it turned out that fondant is NOT yogurt but some kind of gelatinous dessert. So I was hungry!
A couple had coffee and I heard them speaking Spanish so I talked to them. It was so nice to be able to talk to someone! They were from Chile and perhaps didn’t like the new left wing female president.
Then I walked to the Arc de Triomphe and the circle had so much traffic and no crosswalk! I finally found the tunnel you had to use to get to the middle island where the Arc is. I guess that's half the adventure!
The employee was very friendly and gave me no problem with my Paris Museum Pass. But then she told me how many steps there were and asked if I wanted to use the elevator. At first I hesitated but remembering how out of breath I was with Laurence's 4 flights of stairs, I said yes.
It was very impressive, both the history, the sculptures and the amazing view!
Walking down the Champs Elysee, I was disappointed to see how commercial it was. A long line to enter Louis Vuitton! McDonald's! Foot Locker! Nothing that interested me except a passageway with beautiful soaps for sale.
But then there was Le Petit Palais. Free (most of it) and it was NOT petit! Le Grand Palais was closed for renovation (thank god). It went on and on. I was asked by a security guard to wear my backpack in front. For MY security or theirs? (I found later it is because when the galleries are crowded, people's backpacks can brush against paintings without their awareness and also hurt or just bother other people)
After that I was about to collapse but found the Jardin Tuilleries and there was art with young people next to it to help explain it. One of the first was by Niki de Saint Phalle who I have read two books about so that was a thrill! There were 36 works of art!
With help I got the bus back. While waiting for the bus an elderly man tried to talk to me but I couldn't understand much more than "Joe Biden".
After a rest I found a delightful area of Montmartre called Place du Tertre and a small restaurant to have what I was craving, onion soup. They let me eat there though I didn't have a reservation. The soup was only so-so and I decided to have another craving, crème brulée, at a restaurant with live music. The two guitarists (and one played violin) were great and I spoke Spanish to the Peruvian woman next to me, out celebrating her birthday with her 25 year old son. They both live in Paris. Marina was very nice.
Comments
Post a Comment