Friday 28.10 : First evening in Paris

The trip was rather uneventful, except we had an unscheduled stop and then the train had to wait for traffic congestion , never heard of that in a train. And I was sure I reserved forward facing seats 😕. The train hit 293 km/h, normally TGV cruise around 250 to save a bit of energy. 

We arrived at Gare de Lyon with a 20 minutes delay. Which was OK with us, since we had no constraints😏. We went searching for the tourist office in this huge station, with two halls (like train terminals) and one limitless hall a level below. Could not find it where it was supposed to be (maybe because of the important renovation in progress?).

We went to the Citizenm Hotel and changed room as most beds were against the wall and one would need to climb over the other in the night. We got a very roomy room ;-).

We went out again and purchased metro tickets and a map and off we went to Hotel de Ville and walked around, and around Notre-Dame under major repair after the terrible fire.








We had a good dinner near the Palais de Justice and took the metro back.

The room is controlled with an Apple tablet. Very high tech, however the blinds got wrinkled (height adjustment faulty) and the ambiance light and sounds did not want to stop. I slept very well despite my cold.  The personal is very friendly and efficient.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday November 2nd : Sainte-Chapelle and metro tour of Paris (Bastille, canal St-Martin, St-Germain, Opera, and Pigalle)

Image
We took the metro (subway) to Castelet and walked to the Palais de Justice and visited the Sainte-Chapelle (10 minutes wait - we have the Museum Pass which has priority). Very nice, so tall and light. A must see. Then we went to la Place de la Bastille, had a coffee and walked along the Canal St-Martin, very nice and romantic, and back. Metro to la Place de l'Opera.  Metro station La Bastille over the Canal Saint-Martin Place de la Bastille, with the Colonne de Juillet . At the top is the golden GĂ©nie de la LibertĂ© (better click on the link for a good view). On the way, we had a peek at the  Place de la RĂ©publique  (with the Marianne on top) Since the Auditorium was closed, we did not visit the Opera, but had a beer across the street from it.  We then took the metro to Saint-Germain-des-PrĂ©s. A rich quarter with its old abbey (sorry in French)  (X and XII, that I liked very much, it is a historical transition architecture building). On the way back to the hotel, we got out at the
Read more

Tuesday 1. 11 : :Picasso, Banksy et Marsan par HĂ©lĂšne Darroze

Image
Picasso museum is mostly interesting for the description of his life and his relationships with his kids (mostly Maya). The major works are in other museum or in the hands or safe of other poor people. There were a few films on display about his life and his creation abilities. Picasso is a prolific genie ( yes, you can quote me on this :-)   ) Banksy is another genius, with a critical political and sarcastic (yes, very sarcastic) view of our society (World of Banksy, really worth the visit). and many more ( online examples (many not in the exhibition) ) We had lunch at Les PĂątes Vivantes (46 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre) just next to World of Banksy. I had a wok of beef green curry. Then we returned to the hotel and changed to the "Tenue exigĂ©e" (the only indication I found on the Internet was for *** restaurants. It turned out that we were quite well dressed (Re had a jaquet while many male had a polo or just a shirt). Marsan par HĂ©lĂšne Darroze has ** according to Michelin. W
Read more

Thursday, 3.11 - Musée d'Orsay, musée d'art moderne, balades et souper

Image
Tour de l'Horloge (Gare de Lyon) and our Hotel   MusĂ©e d'Orsay Beautiful museum which should have been destroyed. It has been renovated as a museum. We spent many hours looking at the art works. Difficult to make a selection. There was a temporary show by Munch (3 works below). And a few beautiful Van Gogh (I am not too fan of Monet, Manet and other classic painters). L'Origine du Monde de Courbet  (beware, can be shocking) was on display, it seems it doesn't upset nobody no more. MusĂ©e d'art moderne We found the displayed work average. The Arlequin sculpture by Picasso did stand out. On the way today Our hotel From the MusĂ©e d'Orsay
Read more