Last March, our son Jason and his family moved to Wiesbaden Germany. He (Jason) had accepted a position with the US Army and moved the family. This was a dream of his for the last several years which finally came to reality earlier this year. About a month after they moved, Ryan and Chris went back to France with the intention of purchasing a property to turn into a Bed and Breakfast. This is happening in the Normandy area of France.
So, for the last several months, we have been planning a trip to Europe. Originally, we were hoping to stay for 6 months or so, but health took a turn, resulting in a shorter stay. After making several changes in our plans, we finally boarded a flight to Paris on September 4th arriving the morning of the 5th at Charles de Gaulle airport. Once we cleared customs, got our luggage, we were met by Chris who took us to the car with Ryan behind the wheel. Once together, we drove over to the Bastille area where we checked into a B&B. Madame Dy, the owner, welcomed us back as we had stayed with her several years ago – and Ryan and Chris had stayed with her several times. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the lovely Paris weather, walking around a bit and having a lovely lunch at Bistro 65. This is managed by the same guy who was the manager of Le Réminet – just a few yards away and owned by the same people. As it had been a very long day we went back to our B&B and called it a night.
The following day we headed out to The Musée Carnavalet. This is one of Janeen’s favorite museums in Paris was closed in 2016 and only reopened late last year.
The Musée Carnavalet in Paris is dedicated to the history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, the civil servant who transformed Paris in the latter half of the 19th century, the Hôtel Carnavalet was purchased by the Municipal Council of Paris in 1866; it was opened to the public in 1880. By the latter part of the 20th century, the museum was full to capacity. The Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau was annexed to the Carnavalet and opened to the public in 1989.
One of the first hallways you enter is the Sign Gallery. These are signs that were around the City and have some historical significance.
Rue Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin and boulevard Saint-Germain, 7° arr.
Second half of the 18th century
This sign represents a famous tree of justice. Planted in front of the Eglise Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais (church), this elm tree, under which lords and judges meted out judgment, was cut down shortly before the Restoration. The crossroads had long been called the “elm-tree crossroads”. At the end of the 19th century, this sign was transferred to above a shop on rue du Temple, where Atget photographed it, shortly before its acquisition by the museum.
The building, an historic monument from the 16th century, contains furnished rooms from different periods of Paris history, historic objects, and a very large collection of paintings of Paris life. Many of the paintings and various displays depict the city’s history and development, and its notable characters.
One of the unique things about the Museum is the recreation of actual rooms and spaces from buildings that have long since been destroyed.
In 1941, the jeweller Georges Fouquet donated the remarkable decors from his boutique to the Musée Carnavalet. Designed by the artist Mucha in 1901, this decor had been conceived as a total work of art. Inspired by jewels, the floor, ceiling, furniture and lights reflect the natural curves of flowers and plants.
After walking through many areas of the museum, and learning a lot about the history of Paris, we stopped for lunch in the courtyard.
This museum is clearly a place we will return to time and again as there is a lot to take in and always something new to discover. It also doesn’t hurt that it is free entrance. After spending the better part of the day at the museum, we headed back to our B&B and a evening with Pizza at a local spot.
The following day we headed out for a Mademoiselle Angelina at the Musée du Luxembourg. This is a much smaller version of the famous Angelina’s that opened in 1903 and has a much smaller menu but was very pleasant for sure.
After our late breakfast – early lunch we wandered through the Luxembourg Gardens and find this lovely reflecting pond. In 1862, the drilling of Medici Street by Haussmann led to the displacement of the fountain and its rapprochement of the Palace by about thirty meters.
The architect Alphonse de Gisors then built a basin about fifty meters long in front and ordered new sculptures from Ottin.
Thursday morning we did a quick walk around of the Bastille Market before heading out for a birthday celebration.
Ryan had found a special place and made reservations at Le Train Bleu.
Le Train Bleu is a restaurant located in the hall of the Gare de Lyon railway station. The restaurant was originally created for the Exposition Universelle (1900). Each ornate dining room is themed to represent cities and regions of France and they are decorated with 41 paintings by some of the most popular artists of that time. Initially called “Buffet de la Gare de Lyon”, it was renamed “Le Train Bleu” in 1963, after the famous train of the same name.
The decorations throughout the restaurant were beautiful and show various cities the train passed through.
Over the course of several hours, we had a lovely meal with wonderful service and great conversations.
- Amuse Bouche- to get the meal started
- Minced octopus marinated in lime, creamy chickpeas with cumin, condiment with spices and fresh coriander
- Supreme roasted farm poultry, eggplant velvet with candied lemon, crispy Parmesan, devil sauce
- Rabbit ballotine à la provençale, sweet sour vegetables, pearl juice
- Half-cooked swordfish with Indian peppers, fricassée of potatoes shot and new
After spending the afternoon enjoying the Le Train Bleu, Ryan and Chris headed out to get our car so we could pack it for our trip the following day and Janeen and I headed back to our B&B.
We were only in Paris for a few days but it was a lovely time. It’s nice to come back to a place we have been and realize we don’t have to see everything in a limited amount of time. This was our 4th or 5th visit to Paris and maybe our shortest one – having stayed for 6 weeks twice over the last 4 or 5 years. Paris is a place we will always enjoy and have special places we want to visit. The work on the rebuilding of the Notre-Dame Cathedral continues with a hoped completion by the 2024 Paris Olympics. Once reopened, I am certain we will make trip to see how it has been cleaned and redone. For now, however, we head to Germany to see our son Jason and wife Terri and our two granddaughters. More about Germany and France in our next post.