Monday, May 1
I woke up at 8:30, late for me, and was groggy. I headed out for breakfast and saw vendors everywhere setting up small lily of the valley bouquets on top of crates. Paul%26#39;s was closed for the Labor Day holiday and the cafe across the street from it was packed. I wasn%26#39;t really hungry, but thought I should probably eat, so I went back to the hotel and overpaid 10 euros for their breakfast. I was the only one eating in the second floor dining area.
No sooner was I back in my room than the phone rang. It%26#39;s the desk clerk with good news. My suitcase has arrived! The elevator acts a little wacky. I get all the way down to RC (for reception?), the door opens, but before I can exit, it closes again and takes me up to the fifth floor where a couple is waiting with their big suitcases. There%26#39;s not enough room for all. The elevator cranks its way back down to RC, and the same thing happens. This time when the door opens at 5, I suggest to the couple that they give me enough time to get off the elevator before they press the call button again. They must have understood what I said because this time I meet with success.
And there is my suitcase--full of various tags. I wanted to kiss it. I took it upstairs and was amazed and how everything had compacted since Friday. One of the attached tags was an apology from Air France by way of a coupon for 25 euros off my next Air France/KLM flight, to be used by August 1, 2007. It felt great to change clothes. On the way out, I asked at the desk about the significance of the lily of the valley sales. He said people buy them to give for good luck.
It was raining again, and I still needed my warm raincoat, but I head off for a walk through Montmartre. I bought my Carte Orange coupon yesterday (15.70E) so I can now get unlimited rides for the week on the metro and busses. I took the Metro to Anvers and walked uphill with the crowd on Rue de Steinkerque past all the open-for-business tourist shops, then rode the funicular up the next hill (my Carte Orange covered that too). Another flight of stairs brought me to the foot of Sacre Coeur chuch. The view is beautiful from here, all of Paris spread out below, and the area is as crowded as it was last July. When our tour stopped here last year, I climbed to the dome but didn%26#39;t have enough time to see the church, so that was my first piece of sightseeing. There was a service going on and, as with Notre Dame, we tourists shuffle slowly around the church, most of us quietly, yet it%26#39;s surprising how much noise shuffling feet can make.
After a peek into the church of St. Pierre-de-Montmartre (c. 1147 founded by King Louis VI), I walked through Place du Tertre which was a sea of umbrellas. I stopped in the Dali Museum (got the senior discount--7E). None of Dali%26#39;s major paintings are exhibited, mostly gouaches and small watercolors, but I loved the large sculptures. Going up the stairs to the exit, I read the funny interview of Dali along the way, complete with photos of his mustache in various %26quot;do%26#39;s.%26quot;
I had lunch in Place du Tertre at La Mere Catherine, the outdoor location. The round tables have umbrellas in the center and the hostess/waitress seated me near one of the heaters. I had ravioles au fromage (11E) and a Coca Light (4.5E). It was very good. The outdoor eating area is enclosed by a low white fence, and on the other side of the fence, artists have set up shop behind their easels. My table is situated so that I see the backs of their displays, where they are sitting and working, and I%26#39;m able to watch how they %26quot;create%26quot; their paintings. They bring out something that is pre-printed and then paint on top of it so that it appears to be an original oil.
After lunch, I followed the Montmartre tour in the Rick Steves guidebook and saw, among other sights, where Renoir, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, and van Gogh once lived (four different places, they didn%26#39;t live together); la Maison Rose Restaurant, which was made famous by an Utrillo painting; Lapin Agile Cabaret; Clos Montmartre Vineyard; and Moulin de la Galette. I meandered downhill along Rue Lepic past mostly closed shops to the Moulin Rouge. I took the Metro at the Blanche station rather than walk along past all the s*x shops, although the area didn%26#39;t seem dangerous, just not what I wanted to see.
As I was walking back to the hotel from the Odeon Metro stop, once again police vehicles roared by. I counted them. Sixteen. Some cars, some large armored type vehicles, and I wondered what was happening and where. This is at least the fourth time I%26#39;d seen such a lengthy line of police vehicles. On the way back to the hotel, I bought some lilies of the valley to give to myself and used a plastic wine glass as a vase. I unpacked (no closet, just hangers on hooks and a two-drawer chest) and took a nap.
I%26#39;d seen a poster for a concert at Ste. Chapelle at 7pm. At the St. Germain metro stop, I bought an oeuf/fromage crepe from the street vendor and walked around the corner to the little square behind St. Germain des Pres church where there are a few benches, and ate. So good! Then took the Metro to the Cite stop and walked a block to where a line was forming for tickets. There was a couple from San Francisco in line ahead of me. They said they flew Air France out of S.F. They were at the airport awaiting departure, but their plane never showed up. They had to stand in line five hours to change tickets and flew out 24 hours later than expected. Made me feel lucky with the glitches I had.
A different couple from San Francisco sat next to me for the concert and asked if I knew when Ste. Chapelle was built. I shared my limited knowledge of King Louis IX (St. Louis) returning from the Crusades with Jesus%26#39;s Crown of Thorns and building the chapel as his private chapel to house the C. of T. and a piece of the %26quot;true cross%26quot; that he also brought back. The C. of T. is now at Notre Dame from what I%26#39;ve read.
The concert was wonderful, performed by the Orchestre les Archets de Paris, hymns by Vivaldi. A mezzo soprano sang the first, then she was joined by a soprano for the second. Two very young and very talented women. Ste. Chapelle, with its awesome stained glass, was the perfect setting to hear beautiful music. The concert lasted an hour, over way too quickly, and the performers got such long and hearty applause that they performed a short encore.
I took the metro back to the St. Germain area to look for a cheap place to eat and walked down the one-block long street of St. Gregor des Tours which was lined with small restaurants. Some of them had %26quot;hawkers%26quot; out front, and I passed those by for La Citrouille, which had a 13E prix fixe menu and no one out front trying to drag me inside. My entree was two fried eggs with herbs (delicious and would actually have been enough food for me) and the four-fromage ravioli as a plat. I had a pichet of white wine with the meal and creme caramel for dessert. I was a little upset to see that when a few tables became available, one of the waiters went outside to draw people in. I guess every restaurant on the street must do that. It probably isn%26#39;t a place I%26#39;d eat again, despite the cheap price.
Then back to the hotel and bed. Had trouble getting to sleep even though the closed window kept out all sound, but at least when I woke up at 1 am, I went right back to sleep.
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So glad to hear you got your luggage. I felt so bad for you. I have been so afraid ours will be lost that I sent a package ahead to friends with the gifts we were bringing. The concert sounds lovely, would love to attend one when we come. Interesting about the paintings. Buyer beware I guess! We leave in 19 days!
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FYI, %26quot;RC%26quot; = rez-de-chaussée, ie ground floor (1st floor in the States).
You%26#39;ll find this on all French elevators.
As for the lilly of the valley, frankly, I don%26#39;t know why they are sold on May 1st. It%26#39;s a tradition, and it used to be the Communist Party%26#39;s virtual monopoly and big income source (being Labor day, big union demonstrations, etc. ). Not any more though, those were the days...
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I%26#39;m glad to hear that you enjoyed the concert at St. Chapelle. That%26#39;s on my list of definite things to do.
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My understanding of the lily-of-the-valley thing is that it originally had to do with May 1 being the only day of the year that the flower could be sold on the streets of Paris without the seller paying a tax to the owner of the forest where they were gathered (i.e., the Crown).
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Bob, thanks for your definition of RC. I thought maybe reception was one of those %26quot;ion%26quot; ending words that could be the same in French as in English.
I love the scent of lillies of the valley and having that little bouquet in my room all week was great. There were also some vendors that had lilacs, but I knew I didn%26#39;t have a container large enough for them.
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