May 20-24, 1984

May 20-24, 1984

Before leaving Boston, Dave and I bought Eurail passes for unlimited travel. We drove back to London, dropped off the car, and hopped on the train to Paris. Train travel is advanced in Europe. Not only do the trains travel frequently, on time and seemingly everywhere, they also figured out how to make them float. The train can actually load onto a ferry. We saw the white chalky Cliffs of Dover while making the crossing of the English Channel.

In Paris, using our Lets Go Europe guidebook, we chose the budget Hotel Diana on Rue St Jacques. My newly minted French came in handy helping me get a room for us. The hotel is located near the Sorbonne University in the Latin Quarter of the Left Bank (of the Seine River). We are a short walk away from Ile de Cite, a little island in the Seine River, that is the heart of Paris and the site of Notre Dame Cathedral. Notre Dame is a classic medieval Gothic Church whose thin walls are supported by external supports called flying buttresses. The thin walls allowed the extensive use of stained glass windows bringing light into normally dark spaces. We climbed the stairs to the roof of Notre Dame to see the famous gargoyle statues keeping evil spirits away.

A few blocks from Notre Dame is the smallish Sainte Chapelle Church. This royal chapel built to hold the Crown of Thorns relic is almost a shrine to stained glass. Here the stonework has been so reduced the walls are almost a continuous wall of stained glass). Stunning!

Paris, like London, has a wonderful and extensive subway system called the “Metro”. We bought some passes and made the Eiffel Tower our next stop. There we took the elevator to the top for great views of the city. This 1000-foot icon of France was built for the 1889 World’s Fair and was the tallest structure in the world for 41 years.

Later we walked down the traffic-filled Champs Elysees Boulevard, famous for its high-end shopping. This very wide street ends at an enormous traffic circle containing the Arc de Triomphe, a massive monument begun by Napoleon to celebrate his military victories.

Paris is one of the art capitals of the world. The Louvre Museum, the world's largest, is the centerpiece. The collection resides in a former royal palace and opened after the French Revolution to hold all the art confiscated from the royals. We spent many hours here quickly browsing the treasures that include Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” and the ancient Greek “Winged Victory” statue. The Louvre only holds art up to 1848.

I am a big fan of French Impressionist art so another day we visit the Jeu de Paume Museum. I am not disappointed. It is wonderful with extensive collections from Renoir and Monet. It is a great tie-in with the two Art History classes I took in college.

The rest of our visit in Paris was like an architectural walking tour visiting historic structures and beautiful gardens. There was a lot to see. We visited the Basilica of Sacre Coeur, a relatively modern church situated high on the hill of Montmarte, the highest point of the city. We stopped at the Opera house to see its Marc Chagall painted ceiling, at the Eglise de Madeleine Church, that looks more like a Greek temple than a Catholic church and went up the sole modern skyscraper Tour Montparnasse for an evening view of the city.

Also we saw the Grand Palais, a historic grand exhibition hall with a glass roof, the Pantheon, a neoclassical building reminiscent of the original Roman version, and Vendome Plaza, a central square containing a monument to one of Napoleons victories.

We also went to the Palais du Luxembourg, an estate built for a 17th century queen mother. It has beautiful gardens surrounding it. Another stop was the Hotel des Invalides, a series of grand buildings and military museums that contain the tomb of Napoleon.

We also walked thru the beautiful Tuileries gardens that lie on the site of an old royal palace. It is named for the “tile” factories that predate the palace destroyed during a French uprising. Next-door is Place Concorde, an immense public area, infamous for where the guillotine was used to execute thousands during the French Revolution. Dominating the center is a red granite Egyptian obelisk.

The inexpensive “pensione” hotels in Europe all serve some kind of breakfast in the morning in a common room. While eating breakfast at our hotel in Paris, I noticed a diminutive girl across the room who I was sure was sister of a college roommate. Sure enough it was her. Like us she was backpacking in Europe with a friend. We also met up with a couple students from Duke University. As is common, we all decided to travel together till we got tired of each other or our trips ended.

The last morning we took the commuter train south to the Palace at Versailles. It used to be the French King’s country estate, but it is now enveloped by Paris suburbs. It is vast. No wonder the French overturned their extravagant monarchy. Unfortunately the palace is starkly empty. The English-speaking guide blamed this on the Americans. He said our revolution incited their peasants to behead the king and ransack the palaces. The most extravagant room was the very long Hall of Mirrors.

After the tour, we walked the garden in the back. Garden is an understatement. It is the size of several city parks combined. It has manicured lawns, sculpture and fountains as far as one can see. The centerpiece is a fountain with a statue of Apollo driving a four-horse chariot from the sea.

Parisians have not been as friendly as the English but the food was awesomely good. I think I probably had a better experience with the French than most people because I had at least attempted to speak French. But like London, Paris weather sucks in the spring. Still no sun! We need to head further south.