Month: December 2017

We have been in a lot of churches over the course of our travels but nothing equals Sainte Chapelle with its stain glass displays of Biblical stories. Built at the direction of King Louis IX over the course of seven years, it was and completed then consecrated on April 26, 1248. Built to hold the King’s collection of holy relics from the Crusades, it has become a must see destination for anyone visiting Paris. The Crown of Thorns, however, is now at Notre-Dame.

Located not far from the Cathedral of Notre-Dame it was originally part of the King’s Palace, it was originally intended to house the relics acquired by King Louis IX he acquired including fragments of the True Cross, the Holy Lance and the Crown of Thorns. The Church is divided into two levels –

a lower level was a place of worship for the Palace Staff and others while the

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

upper level that is truly monumental and sumptuously decorated with stain glass was for the King and Regent Queen. Around the upper level are among the finest of their type in the world, are the great stained glass windows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you first walk in, on the lower level, you see the structure of the building, some stain glass above the lower walls and a statue of Saint Louis. Along one side are souvenir stands and some commentary but nothing really dramatic. However, after navigating the spiral stairs (that were originally for the servants as the King entered at the upper level) you get to the main event.   Fifteen huge mid-13^th century windows fill the nave and apse while a large rose window with flamboyant tracery dominates the western wall. There are 1,113 stained glass windows! Much of the chapel, as it appears today, is a re-creation, although nearly two-thirds of the windows are authentic.

The Audio guide takes you though most of the windows, the sculpture and other features of the room. We spent the better part of a couple of hours going over the place – listening to the audio guide, reading the information and generally taking it all in. Each stain glass widow tells a story – most from the bible but a couple about King Louis and his life. All in all it is really an impressive place – almost overwhelming with the beauty.

 

After we finished up with Saint-Chapelle we went next door to the Conciergerie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formally part of the palace it became a prison,  a revolutionary court and Marie Antoinette’s prison until her trial and execution.   The upper floors of the building now house various courtrooms and government offices while the basement has representative rooms showing the cells that were used and information about the revolution and the Reign of Terror.

After finishing up here we headed out for lunch across the Seine river at L’Epi Dupin. This was a recommendation from a friend in LA, Randy, and it was not a disappointment at all.

Ryan acquired the chef’s cookbook. We chose to have the tasting menu and three bottles of wine!

 

After enjoying our lunch, we took the bus to the Eiffel Tower arriving early evening (6ish or so).

Janeen and I headed back to the apartment while Ryan, Chris and Claudia waited in line for tickets to go up the tower to the second level of observation.

 

Christmas in Paris – yes, we have been able to stay long enough that it is actually Christmas in Paris.  Gift giving was limited as you might imagine – what with our flying back to the US in a couple of weeks and Ryan and Chris not in their final apartment yet it didn’t make sense to buy a lot of stuff now.

 

 

 

 

And it wouldn’t be really Christmas with out Rice and Curry as the main meal of the day.  So, Ryan and Chris have put together a lovely lunch with all the various side dishes and tasty things to go with it for our late lunch.

After relaxing and getting everything cleaned up we headed out for an evening bus tour of Christmas Lights.   There are lots of lights and the double deck bus with an open top was the way to go.  An hour and a half trip around some of the neighborhoods and shopping areas was a nice way to take in the sites.

 

Of course we went by this place a couple of times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course we went by this place a couple of times.

Our friend, Claudia from Morro Bay has joined us for a couple of weeks at the apartment.  When we visited with her in late June I had invited her to join us for Christmas and New Years.

Well she did and what a treat it is for all of us to have her here.  During her first full day her, after having dinner with us when she arrived, we all boarded the metro and went to the market.  Just like the last time we went it is an experience to walk up and down the rows of stalls and see all the wonderful foods available – all fresh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following day, Claudia, Ryan and Chris took a couch to the Beaches of Normandy and Janeen and I stayed home and relaxed.  The following day we were off again to have brunch at Angelina’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angelina is a famous tea house and is known primarily for its almost pudding-like hot chocolate and for its Mont Blanc dessert. We sampled all of that along with bunch prior to heading out to the Christmas Market

The Christmas market was a huge affair at the end of one of the metro lines.  There must have been several hundred different stalls with all kinds of stuff for sale.  Some of it interesting others not so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are roasted chestnuts everywhere including on shopping cart grills along the street.  This was a much more formal spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were lots of places selling food items – sausages in all sizes and types were available here.

 

 

 

Of course, there were places to eat and drink.  Mulled wine seemed to be a favorite given the 45 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the last several days we have ventured out to various parts of Paris – looked upon wonderful sites and had some good times.  Lots more to come over the next couple of weeks!

 

 

 

 

The last few days have been filled with adventure – even if we didn’t do anything major. We went to a small Christmas market, the Louvre for a few hours, bought some macaroons at Ladurée, walked by the Arc de Triomphe and generally had a fantastic time. So I have put up some pictures for your general enjoyment.

 

Our deliberate decision to try a restaurant on the Michelin three star listing was while we visited in San Sebastian Spain at Arzak. We went to this restaurant after speaking to friends who had either been to the restaurant or heard people who had been there. Arzak received its third Michelin star in 1989 and has maintained them all since that time. The lunch we had was extremely memorable and has continued to be a fond memory of our trip to Spain. Sometime after going to Arzak I learned about another listing of the 50 Best Restaurants in the world and found Arzak located at number 30.

Since that time we have visited a number of great restaurants ,two of which were on this listing – Le Caladre #29 in Rubano, Italy and The Ledbury #27 in London. Now we are in Paris where great restaurants are plentiful and there are four of the 50 best restaurants and we decided to try Arpège – listed as number #12 (lowest number on the list in Paris) for a lunch.

Arpège received its third Michelin star in 1996 and celebrated its 30^th anniversary in 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Owner – Chef Alain Passard removed red meat from his menu in 2001 and the following year he bought a biodynamic farm in Sarthe and since then has acquired two more farms in Eure and Manche. Produce from one of Passard’s three gardens is delivered to Arpège on a daily basis arriving just in time for lunch service. These vegetables are famously known to “never see the inside of a refrigerator”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were four menu options – a ‘surprise’ vegetarian menu, an a la carte menu and a tasting menu. We selected one ‘surprise’ and one tasting menu for our adventure down this road.

Wine was either by the glass or bottle and we choose to start with a glass of Champagne, added a bottle of Sancerre and a Domaine Saint Nicolas from the Loire.

Starting with the Amuse-bouche and ending with 3 desserts, the meal lasted the better part of 4 hours! Never rushed, always-attentive service and wonderful tastes were presented for our pleasure. While we tried to keep some idea of what we were having it was impossible to keep track! There was at least 12 courses and we didn’t have the same menu so there where LOTs of different things to sample. Yes, I did get a menu for review at home but even with that it is difficult to bring the pictures together with the descriptions. Pictures, below, are “maybe” in the order presented to us but it’s really hard to decide!

 

Would I go back to this restaurant? Without a hesitation! However, there are so many other great restaurants to try all over the world so my goal is to continue to visit those places on the listing. Next up are those five restaurants listed in the USA!

Disneyland Paris! Both Ryan and Chris had worked for Disney at the Disneyland Resort for the past 13 years or so, they had been given several park hopper passes that could be used in Paris. They were so generous to save a couple for us so on a bright sunny Tuesday; we headed out for a day of Disney Magic.

With our Metro passes, we were able to take metro and train all the way to the Park. The final stop of the train is called Marne-la-Vallèe Chessy (cheesy), which seems very appropriate according to James Bell. The metro and train ride was about an hour and we made it without any problems. The weather was very cooperative no rain, but fluffy clouds in blue skies.

First stop, Main Street and blue Christmas trees! Of course, sapphire is the color of the Disney 25^th anniversary as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were going to ride down main street but decided to walk – which was nice. While it is the Christmas time there really were NOT any crowds!

Onward to Peter Pan and Pinocchio rides in Fantasy Land. Both are very similar to the Anaheim rides but just different enough to be interesting and enjoyable. Neither ride was narrated which we thought was strange – but then they would have had to do the narration in both French and English.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After two rides and a quick snack, we dared to ride Big Thunder Mountain. The Island isn’t an attraction to visit like Tom Sawyer Island, but it is the home of Big Thunder Mountain.

You board the train car and it goes under the river and circumvents the island. A really good ride! From Big Thunder we boarded onto the

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Main Street Holiday parade gave us hand clapping music and colorful dancers and floats, and Santa and his reindeer. So as the sunset, we dared to view the Phantom mansion with its abandoned bride and gold rush western town ghosts.

 

We also did Haunted Mansion – again, no narrative but very similar to what we know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ryan and Chris walked through The Nautilus attraction and David & Janeen found spots in the main square near the castle to view the lights and fireworks on the castle.

 

Sunday, Market day and we headed off to The Bastille Market. This is one of the largest partisan markets in Paris and stretches from the Bastille and Richard Lenoir metro stations and has 150 plus stalls.

Stalls are piled high with fruit and vegetables, meats, fish, shellfish, cheese and lots and lots of other things. There was also a spattering of clothing – wallets, handbags, scarfs and even some wine.

We walked most of the market, fortunately after the rain had stopped, and picked up a few things for our kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I fully expect we will hit another one or two while we are here.

On Thursday, we flew from Edinburgh to Paris and took a cab to our VRBO apartment to join Ryan and Chris. While the apartment isn’t as close to the center of the heart of Paris, it is certainly close enough to the metro that we can get there easily enough.

Our first outing, on Friday the 8^th was to get metro cards and have lunch at Le Rèminet. Of course,

 

 

 

 

 

 

we did get to Notre-Dame for a quick photo prior to going back over the river to Le Rèminet.

Le Rèminet is a small bistro we discovered during our last visit to Paris and have wanted to return. It is not far from Notre-Dame and we were the last people to get seating for the lunch period – they don’t take new reservations after 2:30 and we saw them turn several people away after we got seated.

The entire restaurant, at least on the main floor, seats only 30 people. They can put a few chairs outside but only during good weather. The entire staff was very considerate of our language issues (although Ryan is really getting quite good with speaking French) and we had a very pleasant afternoon.

 

 

 

From there we got back on the metro and returned to the apartment for the day.

Saturday was just a perfect sunny ‘tour’ day for visiting various places Ryan and Chris have discovered prior to our arriving with an interesting lunch at a place that serves baked potatoes with all the trimmings – you choose what you want. We also found an Office Depot store. Next time we cruise, we might need a post office, a barber, and a place that sells pillows that please David, and a nail salon for Janeen.