Hotel national des Invalides

Mon, Sep 7, Paris:  We decided to go see Invalides today. So after breakfast at our hotel we headed out to catch the RER train. Got on the train going in the wrong direction, so got off and then found the platform for the train going in the right direction. Got off at the Invalides station and walked up the Esplanade des Invalides to the main gate. I thought this used to be a palace, but it was always a hospital for wounded soldiers. Pretty fancy, I’d say. Napoleon I is entombed under the golden dome. It is now a war museum. Mike got all excited when he heard that. Had lunch here at the café, which was very good. After lunch we headed to one more exhibit and then back to our train under leaden skies. We were shortly back to Saint Michael Notre Dame and our hotel. Headed to the downstairs bar and enjoyed a glass of wine. Partly cloudy today and probably low 70s.

Hotel national des Invalides. Founded in 1670 by Louis XIV to house disabled soldiers and veterans. It is now the Musee de l'Armee.

Front gate.

Mike striking a pose on one of the canons.

The armor exhibit.

I don't know how they could move in all this armor--especially the horse!

They call this the soldier's church.

This they call the royal church.

Beautiful dome!

Napoleon I tomb under the golden dome.

One of the windows.

Check out the floor in this place.

Napoleon I tomb from the lower level.

The double decker RER train.

The little outside bar downstairs off the lobby.

Moi in the downstairs bar enjoying a glass of wine. Salut!

Laverie experience

Sun, Sep 6, Paris:  I had kind of wanted to see a ballet while here. But, after checking, there is nothing I wanted to see—on point, that is. But, last night while surfing the French TV channels, voila! A ballet was being presented in its entirety. Very unusual--sort of Arabian Nights on point. Beautiful costumes and a wonderful orchestra. The theater was probably L’Opera here in Paris. Mikey lucked out. He didn’t have to get dressed up to attend a ballet. Meanwhile, back to reality, our first priority is to do some laundry, now that we found out where the laverie is. We have to buy some laundry detergent first. Maybe the little grocery next to the hotel.

Later: Luckily, the little grocery store next to the hotel had the detergent we needed. So, off we go. We missed the laverie somehow and ended up way down the block. But there were some neat galleries in the area. Back on track and found the laverie. Of course the place is slammed. It’s very small anyway and very narrow, so everyone was getting in everyone else’s way. Here, you put your clothes in the washer, then the soap, then go to the payment kiosk, enter the number of your machine, then put in 4 euros, and voila! The machine starts. Same thing with the dryer. After getting our clothes in the dryer, we headed across the street to a little cafe and had some breakfast—a croissant and coffee/tea. Then back to fold our clothes and back to our hotel and put everything away. Hung around for a while and then up to the rooftop bar for a drink and then out for a sandwich which we brought back to our room. Except for the laverie experience, it was a nice relaxing day.

The Paris Metro.

Dichotomy of the rooftop chimney pots and a TV antenna.

At the rooftop bar.

Palais et Jardins du Luxembourg

Sat, Sep 5, Paris:  After breakfast at a little café this morning, we headed to the laundromat (they call them laverie here). The girl at the front desk gave us an address. So we headed out walking. Found it pretty easily and then checked out how to use it for tomorrow. We’re standing in the street across from the laverie and ran into an Australian couple. Talked with them for a while. They were trying to find the Jardin du Luxembourg. We helped them find their way (really?) and then we decided to head there ourselves. You can’t go into the palace because I think it houses their senate, but the gardens are beautiful. Walked around there for a while and then headed back to a café we spotted for a light lunch. Had a couple of glasses of wine and a plate of cheeses. Hit the spot. Then back to our room and relaxed before heading out for dinner. Think we’ll go to the little café we went to on our first night here. A nice day today. Mostly cloudy and in the upper 60s.

Jardins du Palais Luxembourg

Bon Jour!

What a comedian!

Palais du Luxembourg

Cute butt!

Reminds me of David.

Little pond where you can sail your remote controlled boats--just like Central Park in NYC.

Enjoying our dejeuner.

Fromage plat.

Doors of Paris.

Musee de O'rsay et le Louvre

Fri, Sep 4, Paris:  Decided to do the Musee d’Orsay and Le Louvre today. Checked out the RER C train which we’ll take to Versailles in a few days, and found out we could take this train to the Musee d’Orsay. So we boarded the train, and in one stop we were there. I wanted to see the impressionist’s exhibit and Mike wanted to see some of the sculptures. After that we walked over to the Louvre. Because we have a Paris Pass, we got fast-track access and didn’t wait in line at all. We checked out some of the really old sculptures and then I wanted to see the apartments of Napoleon III, so we set off in pursuit. I told Mike I could care less about seeing the Mona Lisa, but in trying to find the exhibit for Napoleon III we stumbled into this room with—the Mona Lisa! So, took a couple of pictures. It’s very small and behind bullet-proof glass with lots of people around. But not as crowded as we thought. After much angst we finally found the apartment of Napoleon III. Mike’s back is really killing him at this point. Walked around these impressive rooms and then headed back. Decided to walk back to our hotel, hoping we’d find a place to eat some dinner. We actually found a Canadian place near our hotel and had dinner there, which was quite good. Back to our hotel and I wanted to go down to the bar and have another drink. So, off we go. Sat outside enjoying our drinks and there were some people there from Wisconsin. Sat at the table next to them and had a great time talking with them. They’re leaving tomorrow morning. Stumbled back to our room and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Musee d'Orsay--this building was once a train station slated for demolition. Thankfully, they saved it, and now houses the museum.

This poor horse!

La Louvre

This is a very small painting--maybe 20 by 14.

One of the ceilings.

This was once home to Napoleon III.

Another beautiful, ornate ceiling.

Amazing chandeliers.

The dining room.

His bedroom. What's with all the chairs?

A little cradle.

Doors of Paris.

Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus Tour of Paris

Thu, Sep 3, Paris, France:  Decided to do the hop-on, hop-off bus tour today, so after breakfast we walked over to Notre Dame where there is a stop. No good! We were told we had to go across town to the main office to validate our ticket and pick up the bus. After much bitching and moaning we ended up getting a taxi because we couldn’t figure out how to get there on the metro. The London tube was much more efficient and easy to use. We still haven’t figured out the Paris metro yet. Got on the bus finally and got off at the Arc de Triomphe and strolled the Champs Elysees for a while. Back on the bus and got off at the Eiffel Tower and after deciding not to go up in the tower we got on a boat cruise of the Seine. A nice day for it, but the wind made it feel pretty chilly. The boat cruise took an hour and then we walked around and got an ice cream and sat under the Eiffel Tower to partake. Back on the bus and got off at Notre Dame and had dinner at a restaurant on the way back to our room. Back to the hotel for a shower and relaxation. No drink at the bar tonight.

The French version of our Congress.

Arc de Triomphe--a driving nightmare free-for-all.

Strolling the Champs Elysees.

Stopped at a Mercedes dealer along the Champs and ordered my new car...

On the Seine cruise.

Beautiful Alexandre III bridge.

Some really interesting house boats...

The Eiffel Tower is lit up at night with about 30,000 lights. First it starts with 5 minutes of twinkling lights, and then the whole thing is lit up with a search light at the top. The lights were installed by Alpine mountain climbers.

Place Vendome

Doors of Paris.