O•S•C•A•R© - Old Ottawa South

Page 22 The th OSCAR - OUR 40 YEAR
MAY 2012
By Marilyn Brown
(Dancey)
My daughter, a family friend
and myself planned a trip
to Paris for September of
2009. When the time finally came, we
were all very excited and headed out
for our overnight flight to Frankfurt,
Germany and then on to De Gaul
Airport in Paris. We took a taxi to
our hotel, the Pullman Tour Eiffel,
18 Rue Sufferen. We were a little too
early to get into our rooms, so decided
to sit and wait in the Lounge. All of a
sudden, I looked out the window and
discovered we were only a block and
a half away from the Eiffel Tower.
What a bonus, and a great landmark
on any of our trips, we always knew
where we were once we spotted it.
We finally got into our rooms and
freshened up, changed and headed out
for our pre-booked O Chateau Wine
Tasting, across from the Louvre. It had
been Madame de Pompadour’s 17th
Century Wine Cellar and was attached
through a tunnel to the Louvre. We
tasted some great French Wines, met
other tourists from Canada, the States
and other places. Had a ‘fun’ time,
and of course bought some wines to
bring home.
After that, we ambled along and
found a great Café/Wine Bar which
had been a 1940’s Smoking Lounge
close to the Louvre in the Palais Royal
neighbourhood. Of course now,
smoking is banned. It is said to have
been frequented by Hemmingway and
the likes.
Back to our hotel and ate at a
fantastic little café across the street
called Chez Ribe. It was a pleasant
surprise to find the food was great, as
opposed to some of the tales we had
heard before leaving home. Off to
bed for an early start next morning.
On Day 2, we had the Buffet
Breakfast in the hotel and hailed
a taxi to take us to Pere Lachaise
A Wonderful 8-Days in Paris
Cemetery. It is the largest cemetery
in Paris. The land had belonged to
Pere de la Chaise, Confessor to King
Louis the XIV. Such celebrities as
Jim Morrison, Oscar Wild, Edith Piaf,
Chopin, Moliere, Proust, and Maria
Callas, to name a few are buried there.
Some of the family Crypts, which
were in all sizes, had beautiful stained
glass, alters, kneeling benches and
candle holders. Oscar Wild’s huge
gravestone was covered with lipstick
kisses from his female admirers. Jim
Morrison’s grave was very plain and
had been fenced off, with beautiful
fresh flowers arranged, and thrown on
it. There had been a bust of him that
had been stolen, and that is why it is
now fenced, and has a security guard
posted. We spent half the day at the
Cemetery and then walked about
a block to A La Renaissance Café,
located at 41 rue du Repose. Once
again, a good meal, good service in
very pleasant surroundings which had
many artefacts from days gone by.
After our lunch, we taxied back to the
Eiffel Tower. Anne and Karren got a
lot of fantastic pictures from different
angles, and underneath the tower as
well as Statues, the Seine, and an old
fashioned Carrousel.
We walked back to our favourite
little Chez Ribe Restaurant/Bar where
it was great to relax, people watch,
feed the pigeons and pass the time until
supper. We heard a lot of cheering,
horns honking, etc., and a large group
of men and women on bicycles passed
by. Karren took pictures, and we
finally saw a sign that said ‘London
to Paris Cycle Race’. Amazing! Also
watched a lot of tourists going by
in Horse Drawn Carriages. We had
supper, and once it turned dark, the
Eiffel Tower is lit up beautifully, but
every hour on the hour, they put it on
‘Sparkle’ for 5 minutes. Beautiful
in the day, amazing at night, but on
sparkle, it’s ‘spectacular’.
On our third day, we had our City
Tour. First stop was Notre Dame
- the beautiful Gothic Church with
amazing carvings and statues, and
world renowned for its Gargoyles and
Flying Buttresses. We arrived at 10
a.m., and it was Sunday, while Mass
was taking place. We were surprised
that there were so few people in
attendance. We couldn’t use our
flash, and had to be very quiet. The
Relics of the Passion of Christ had
been kept in Sainte Chapelle. These
included the fragment of the Holy
Cross and the Crown of Thorns, but
they had been melted down during the
Revolution and the remaining ones are
now kept in the treasury of the Notre
Dame Cathedral. We continued on
our bus tour and drove by many of the
main sites of Paris such as the Gare
du Nord, the entrance to the Jardin
Luxembourg, the Sorbonne, etc., that
we would visit further during our
stay. We ended at the Eiffel Tower
and proceeded to the 2nd floor where
we lined up to buy our tickets to take
the elevator to the top. We spent
quite a bit of time there, the view
was fantastic from all the angles, but
I didn’t like the feeling of the tower
‘swaying’.
After a bit of shopping in the
Tower Souvenir Shop, we flagged a
taxi and returned to Isle du Cite for
lunch at Le Soleil D’Or before going
to Sainte Chapelle. It is a gem of high
Gothic architecture. It had been the
seat of Royal Power from the 10th to
the 14th Century. The stained glass
has no words wonderful enough to
describe it. Ste. Chapelle is now used
for concerts and of course, tours. At
the end of our tour, we bought our 2
day Paris Pass (Museums). Tomorrow
we are off to the Louvre.
As mentioned, our 4th day’s first
stop is the Louvre. It had started out
as a 12th Century fortress. Once
inside, we saw the Venus de Milo, the
Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory (190
BC). Beautiful ceilings, you didn’t
know whether to look at the Art pieces
or the ceilings. It would take a solid
two months to see everything. We did
see the Trojan Horse, and pieces in the
Etruscan Gallery, as well as King Tut
and many other Egyptian pieces, such
as the Louvre dungeons, etc. The
glass Pyramid that has been added
more recently and can be viewed
from the outside and the inside, is
actually very beautiful. We bought
a lot of Souvenirs at the Louvre shop
including the whole set of CDs of
Edith Piaff. Then, into Le Carousel
du Louvre for lunch - best fast food
service and menus I have ever seen.
We settled for a Quiche. After lunch,
into one of the most organized, clean,
scented washrooms I have ever seen
in all my travels. Now, back onto the
Hop On/Hop Off Bus.
We caught the bus right at the
Louvre, and our first stop that we got
off was on the Champs Elysees. We
couldn’t resist the Monoprix, which
is considered the Dollar Store of
Paris. Did a lot of window shopping,
browsed the Café’s and chose one for
a cold drink. Back on to the Hop On/
Hop Off to our hotel area for supper
that night at another outdoor café, Le
Beaujolais. It is so nice to be able to
eat a meal, or stop for a drink at these
outdoor café’s and not be bothered by
any insects. We could even leave our
windows open all night and not worry
about moths, etc. Creepy crawlers
are not on my likeable list at home or
while travelling.
On our 5th day, we had breakfast
in the outdoor garden of our hotel.
We enjoyed our leisurely walk
through the pretty park with a small
pond beside the Eiffel Tower. We fed
the birds and the ducks, and visited
with many little dogs that were out
for their morning walks. We got to
the main road and boarded the Hop
on/Hop off for the second day, which
was headed to the Opera Garnier.
This Paris Opera had been the setting
for the famous novel of the Phantom
of the Opera. We toured it from top
to bottom and it was marvellous -
marble staircases with brass railings,
beautiful chandeliers, carved wooden
panelling, etc. It was built in 1875.
Afterwards we went for a snack and
refreshments at the famous ‘Café de
la Paix’ nearby. Our next stop on the
bus was Place de la Concorde. This is
where the Guillotine was set up in days
past. It now has an Egyptian Obelisk
and beautiful fountains, which was
more to my liking. You can gaze
down the Champs Elysee and see the
Arc de Triomphe at the far end. Back
on the bus and our next stop was right
at the Arc. It had been commissioned
in 1806 by Emperor Napoleon. After
viewing the Grave of the Unknown
Soldier, and other touristy attractions
in that area, we stopped for lunch on
Avenue Victor Hugo. The Hop on/
Hop off was finished so we took a
cab to the Montmartre area. We did
a lot of shopping as the souvenir
shops were one after another in this
famous section of Paris which had
been frequented by artists, including
Toulouse Lautrec. We had supper at
the Café Montmartre and then headed
on another block or so to Sacre Coeur
Basilica, but it had just closed for the
night. It’s a beautiful Byzantine style
church set up high on a hill, accessible
by stairs or a funicular/elevator. We
passed by Moulin Rouge on our way
home, and I had bought a lovely ink
sketch of it.
After breakfast on our 6th day, we
had to meet our tour bus at the Statue
of Joan of Arc at Place des Pyramid to
head out to Giverny to visit Monet’s
house and gardens. The gardens were
beautiful and while he lived, he and
his children maintained all of them by
themselves. We saw the little Japanese
bridge over the Water Lily’s from one
of his famous paintings. His house
was tiny, especially for the amount
of people that lived in it, but well
looked after as a museum, with all
Cont’d on next page