The City of Light & Love

After only one small navigational glitch we made it to Orley airport by 10:30, and dropped off the car. Here’s a tip to fellow travellers: don’t trust the info you get from the Tourist Info desk at the Orley Sud (South) terminal! After giving us a map they tried to persuade us that the cheapest option to get into town (Orley is about half an hour’s drive South of Paris central) was an airport shuttle bus that would have cost us 16 Euro each – using our guide book we caught a local line for only 1.40 Euro apiece (takes slightly longer since it stops at every stop en route but SO much cheaper)! We also asked, since our guide book had mentioned it, if the Palace of Versailles was in fact closed on Mondays – not only did they not know but after 5 minutes of fruitless searching through their brochures they handed one over to us, and we spotted the confirmation in less than 30 seconds! Ah well, after so many great Tourist Offices I guess we had to find one below par eventually.

We have both been to Paris before, on more than one occasion each, but always on business and never together. The City of Light and Love is wasted if you don’t share it with the person closest to you in the world and so we were very excited about showing each other things we had liked on our own but were sure would be even better together (even if it is one of the most expensive places on Earth!). The reason we were keen to find out about Versailles was that we had arrived on a Sunday – and not just any Sunday, but the first Sunday of the month, which meant that entrance to The Louvre museum was free. The problem was, and it was a good thing we checked, had we used this chance we would have missed Versailles since it is closed on Mondays so we decided to do the Palace first and then cough up the entrance fee for Le Louvre on Monday since both were ‘non-negotiable’ attractions for our very short 2 day Paris sojourn.

Nothing Better than Being In Paris In Love

After a long hour of standing on the bus (I had given up my seat to an elderly lady and was cursing chivalry for much of the rest of the ride) we reached the terminus in an area we guessed to be Chinatown (the oriental-themed McDonalds was a definite clue!). We wanted to call ahead to find accommodation options from our guide book when we ran into the second major complaint that we both have about France – public phones. It seems that the French telecom companies have given up on coins – since no phone that we could find would accept anything other than a phone card, and after we had paid more than 12 Euro in Nice the last time we tried using a credit card to make a call we were not going to repeat that mistake! Loaded down with backpacks and keen to see more of the city we decided, after trying fruitlessly for some time to find a shop that sold phone cards, to chuck the calling ahead idea and rather just pitch up and hope for a spot. It is actually rather symptomatic of a wider French reality: that many French facilities (including, inter alia, bus and train services, public phones and availability of public toilets) are just not user-friendly or intuitive for non-French-speaking tourists.

Having worked out that Day Passes would be less economical we bought a book of ten single Metro tickets to share and hopped on a train for the Pont Neuf station. It was great to be back in Paris – the sights and sounds of the city are simply unique. We enjoyed the short walk over the River Seine and managed to locate our first-choice hostel, the Centre International BVJ Paris-Louvre which had rooms but turned out to be a real lemon (see separate review). After a brisk walk to the Musée d’Orsay station we hopped aboard a train for Versailles which is about 45 minutes outside of the centre. Another 5 minute walk through the town of Versailles brings you to the Palace. We stopped at the tourist office en route, which was quite helpful (they supplied us maps and reminded us that entrance tickets bought after 16:15 are at a reduced price – 10 vs. 13.50 Euro which includes an audio guide).

The Palace itself although really special was less impressive than either of us had expected – which may have something to do with the fact that you approach from the street side rather than the famous garden frontage, and that the street façade is under scaffolding and restoration. That having been said, Louis XIV and his various heirs and extended family certainly knew how to live the good life! The Palace is clearly the pinnacle of royal excess and opulence – reflecting the near divine status originally accorded the French monarchs. Highlights for us included the Royal Opera; the Chapel; the really impressive Hall of Mirrors (massive, imposing, and with an awesome view of the gardens but, sadly for us, also very much under restoration); and the separate Royal Apartments for the King and Queen (each a series of at least 5 rooms and antechambers). Also included in the ticket is entrance to Mesdames (the apartments in a separate wing that housed the daughters and other female relatives of the King) and the apartments of the Dauphin (Louis XV) – each with its own separate and included audio guide. Although we were quite rushed by this point we agree that we actually enjoyed the last two at least as much as the main palace (which was VERY crowded with pushy tour groups and which you are forced to view in a set order rather than to explore at your own discretion). Our final Versailles experience was of the famous gardens. They extend out of sight in all directions and are superb in every respect. The more than 1000 fountains and water jets are only turned on once a day (which we had missed) but the trees, shrubberies, lakes, and lawns are more than impressive enough. Highlights included the Apollo Fountain (the Sun God emerging from the waters with larger-than-life chariot and horses); the public boating on the largest of the lakes; the immense Japanese Koi (Carp) that flash to the surface from time to time; the ‘Auditorium’ and the mazes. By the time the PA system started asking people to leave we were pretty tired but would have loved to stay even longer.

After catching the return train we stopped at the Eiffel Tower and crossed the bridge over to the Trocadero Gardens with its massive semi-circle of buildings that is the best view point of the tower at night. We made it just as dusk fell and caught the glittering mini-strobe lights that flicker for only ten minutes at the start of each hour. After the show we walked a little further into Trocadero, across the traffic circle, to the Trocadero Café which I had visited once before and had suggested we try for dinner. It was a great meal of French Onion Soup, Seafood Salad and their trademark – a massive Crème Brule. After an exhausting day we trudged back to our hostel and collapsed – tired but very much in love with Paris.

On Monday we checked out of our hostel, leaving our bags in the Left Luggage room, and headed to the Musée du Louvre through the soaking rain (in our less-than-stylish green ponchos). In spite of its most recent appearance in the widely-seen Da Vinci Code movie it is not possible to appreciate the scale of France’s finest museum unless you have been there in person. It is gigantic, and impossible to even begin to fully explore in less than a week. With only one full day available to us we descended into the main entrance hall below the glass pyramid, bought our tickets (8.50 euro each), charted a basic route on the map (mainly heading for ‘must see’ exhibits) and rented an audio guide each (we made an exception and rented two since you need the freedom to explore the artworks that most appeal to you individually).

We spent the rest of day immersed in works of beauty – from the Roman & Etruscan exhibits and the sculptures of Italian and Greek antiquity like the Venue de Milo and the Winged Victory, to the large-format paintings including the ‘Big Names’ like Mona Lisa and The Wedding Feast at Caana. Neither of us have studied Art History or had more than a passing interest in the more well-known works but we were enthralled and by the time the museum closed (at 17:30) we were dashing from room to room to try to take in as much as possible before we had to leave. Words simply can’t do the Louvre justice and if there is one museum you visit – ever – this should be it. The one thing you should not expect to see however is a slew of impressionist, post-impressionist and Art Nouveau canvasses – the Monets, Van Goghs, and Renoirs are mostly in the Musée d’Orsay.

After collecting our bags we found and checked into our new accommodation – which was only marginally better than the hostel (see separate review), showered and then found an internet café. Dinner was some cheese, a few Vienna sausages, and a baguette from a local supermarket, which we set up and ate on a bench along on the banks of the Seine. It was really romantic and relaxed – apart from the junkies who had set up tents under the nearby bridge and were examining what we think were syringes on the next bench. After eating we walked along the Seine to Notre Dame cathedral, listened to the music of the accordion player and shared an ice-cream before heading back for the night via the Pompidou Centre – famous both for its collection of modern art (which we didn’t see) and for having been constructed with its fittings (water, air etc.) inside out.