Paris, Part the Second

We wanted to see the Conciergerie, that imposing edifice of terror, but after searching in the wrong quarter of Paris for quite some time, we found it to be closed for the day. Special circumstances, apparently. We abandoned culture for the Galleries Lafayette (more specifically, Printemps department store)(see: Jane Shaw, Crooks Tour) and enjoyed wandering over eight floors of goodies - they have an amazing kitchenware department. Just down the road, we joined a small group of people doing a free tour of a little perfumerie. Unfortunately the tour was in French only, but it was good to wander around following the guide - one could pick up on the general gist of what was happening. We had a nice time smelling different scents.

The Musée d'Orsay was another museum on our 'must see' list and, once there, we made straight for the Impressionist wing. It was amazing to see works by Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, etc. "in the flesh", as it were. We spent a long time wandering by ourselves through the building, taking lots of photographs and again spending a bit of time in the bookshop. We like museum bookshops.

Having ascertained that the Conciergerie would be open on Friday we made for it by a more direct route and were x-rayed and allowed in. The first room one enters is the giant Men-at-Arms hall. Adorned with great arched pillars and whopping fireplaces, we spent ages trying to sketch the vaulting. Apart from being a huge dining hall, this was also where impoverished prisoners slept during the reign of terror. Through to the left were the concierge's rooms, cells for slightly more wealthy prisoners, and other 'reception' chambers. These had great information boards in both French and English, and we learnt a lot. One room was particularly interesting, with the names of guillotined 'traitors' listed all around the walls. I was intrigued to notice that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were listed under 'L' and 'M' respectively, not under Capet. Odd. The female prisoner's courtyard was very nice - they had a fountain to wash in and everything. We were also able to see the cell where Marie Antoinette was held. It has been bisected, and half is now part of a chapel, while the other half has been restored to look as it did when she was there.

We next took the Metro up to Montmartre, to look in some of the arcades dotted about. One we particularly enjoyed was the Jouffroy, which specialises in toys, miniatures and crafts. There was lots of inspiration there. We returned to the Louvre for their Friday late night, and this time enjoyed the Dutch and French galleries. We got a little lost looking for some areas (ending up in the foundations of the Palace a few times) but again found our way to the bookshops before closing. It wasn't getting dark until after 10o'clock while we were in Paris, so we decided to hang around the pyramid for a while, watching the lights coming on and taking multitudes of photos. It's a great environment, just lying around on the pavement squinting at the pyramids from different angles and watching the street lights coming on. We were somewhat surprised on leaving to find our way across the road blocked off by crowds and gendarmes. There was a roller derby on, down one of the main streets of Paris! Hundreds of skaters (interspersed with policemen wearing regulation 'blades and helmets) were whizzing past us into the night. It was great! Everyone was having a wonderful time. We stood and watched for about a quarter of an hour before they had all gone past and we were able to get over the road and back to our hostel.

On Saturday morning we went a-market hunting. Arriving at Montmartre, we first came across a tacky market area with nothing of any taste whatsoever. Feeling that we had been duped, we were not in a mood to spend long there, but thankfully caught sight of a sign before we left which listed the different arcades and markets, and showed where they were. We just needed to go a bit further, and we found them! They still weren't exactly what I had been looking forward to, but were fun to wander around nevertheless. Though we decided we would be much more enthusiastic if we had a few thousand euro each and a container ready to tote our goodies away. Ah well.

One of the highlights to our visit to Paris was our tour of the Paris sewer system. Drawn in by the romance of Jean Valjean, we descended below the street and spent a couple of hours learning about one of the most advanced sewer systems in the world. Strolling along metal grilles over the rushing streams below, we were shown the history, technology and workings of the amazing 'city below Paris'. Aside from the dire warnings posted, threatening you with dread diseases if you touched the pipes or walls or ate anything whilst below, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, ending in the Visitor Centre where we watched a touching documentary on the 24 hour hotline one can call if one drops a wedding ring down the drain, or accidentally flushes a goldfish that wasn't quite gone yet. Being a fully accessible system, they can rescue pretty much anything. Pretty impressive!

Saturday evening was spent munching pastries from Paul down by the Seine, watching the world go by. A very pleasant past time.

On Sunday morning, after a fruitless attempt to find somewhere that would sell us a hot breakfast (or at least something more than the vending machine pain au chocolat we got from our hostel), we made our way to an English speaking church we had found. After the service we caught a train out to Versailles, where we grabbed a bite of lunch before queueing for the palace. We bought tickets allowing us access to the palace and grounds, and obtained audio guides to tell us what was what. Some hightlights were: the Opera theatre - a beautifully arranged room decorated in light blue and gold; the Hall of Mirrors (obviously); Marie Antoinette's rooms - I liked her decorating style; and, of course, the views from the windows of the gardens below. The gardens were amazing, with probably more fountains than reside in the whole of New Zealand. We wandered for a bit, eating ice creams, and sat by a large fountain where we witnessed a proposal of marriage! Robyn tried to take a paparazzi photo without being too conspicuous, but I think they may have noticed us. . .

Monday morning was our last in Paris, and we set off by train, hoping to stop at Giverny on our way to Rouen. Unfortunately everything in Giverny proved to be closed on Mondays, so we just made straight for our next stop.