Paris

Well we hit Paris in its busiest week.  Wonderful but exhausting.  We had an underground pass and a Museum Pass and thrashed both!  The bonus with the museum pass was that it allowed us to skip the queues and some of those queues were over 2 hours long!  Consequently by the end of our stay my legs were aching from climbing so many stairs.  Stairs everywhere – the underground, the museums, churches, monuments…I know yes they’re good for me but a girl only has so much stamina!

Day 1 – Orientation – wandering along the left and right banks.

Day 2

·         Sacre Coeur.  300 steps for 360 a panoramic view.  Wandered through Montmartre enjoying the buzz – cafes, caricaturists, painters, street performers.  All very touristy but fun to people watch. 

·         Explored Pere Lachaise Cemetery which opened its one way doors in 1804.  Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Chopin are buried here amongst many other famous people.

·         Obligatory photos of the Eiffel Tower

·         Lido Show in the evening on the Champ-Elysee.  Great costuming, staging and supporting act but thought the dancing/choreography was rather average. 

Day 3 (public holiday-groan) Museum pass so we were off! 

·         Spent most of the day at the Louvre (the royal residence in Paris until the French revolution).  I’d forgotten how vast it is.  Napoleon collected/stole all the best Greek, Italian and Egyptian artifacts as he conquered each country and although some of it has since been returned, the collection is mind boggling.

·         Took a break and visited exquisite Ste-Chapelle (thank you Robyn and Graeme for the heads up) and the Conciergerie which is next door. It is the old seat of government which was later partially turned into a prison.  Marie Antoinette spent her last days here along with many others who met their end during the French Revolution.

·         Evening meal out at ‘Le Marmite’ gotta love the name!  Then climbed the Arc de Triompe (more stairs) for a night view of the city.  Very pretty.

Day 4 Museum pass still valid so off to wring every last euro out.

·         Pantheon – a massive temple that honours the memory of the nation’s illustrious.  Checked out the tombs of Marie and Pierre Curie, Rousseau and many others.

·         Pompidou Centre and the National Modern Art Collection.

·         Yummy lunch at a rustic French restaurant using some of our Christmas money.  Thanks Dad and Leonie.

·         Orangerie – viewed impressionist Monet’s water lilies series as well as works by Picasso, Cezanne, Matisse, Renoir… Like a kid in a candy store.

·         Hotel Invalid – now a fabulous Army Museum and also houses the tomb of Napoleon.

Frustrations – Picture this: Selecting 3 different restaurants from the guide book and tearing from one district of Paris to the other only to find them closed for the holiday.  Nick was not a happy camper!

 Le Quesnoy (near the Belgian border and Flanders fields) - Temperature up in the 30’s again.

November 1918 NZ Forces liberated this town days before the Armistice was signed.  115 NZ soldiers died and many are buried in the beautifully kept Commonwealth Cemetery there.  There is also a memorial to the NZ soldiers and several streets with a NZ connection.  Avenue and Rue Neo Zelandais, Rue Helen Clarke and a square named after the All Blacks!

Off to Belgium and the Netherlands next.