PARIS: TRIP REPORT, DAY 1: CDG TO CITY, CHECKIN, LOUVRE

May 16, 2014, Friday:

 CDG to city:

This was a 17-day, 4-city (Paris, Roma, Firenze, Venezia) trip.

This is the google map prepared for the Paris portion of this trip, you can zoom in and see the details.

We were flying in from different locations and landing at CDG airport 1 hour apart in the morning. We met up at terminal D, at the Sheraton lobby right near the RER B station.

Sheraton lobby in terminal D of CDG is a great meeting place and easy to reach. If your party is arriving by different flights, Google and find out where your flight lands and check out the CDG floor plans and you’ll know how to reach terminal D. Just follow signs of Paris by train if landing in terminal E or take the shuttle from terminal C.  Of course have contingency plans; if one of the flights gets too delayed, we had planned to move on into the city and reach the hotel on our own.

The Sheraton lobby is a great place to wait—it’s well appointed and you don’t get disturbed/questioned. We’ve done this a couple of times and it’s been smooth.

We marched on to the info booth right in front of Sheraton to buy our RER B Tickets, bus/metro carnets, museum pass etc; they told us it’s available only in the tourist booth at terminal C.

(As mentioned in previous post, I had read about the unsavory elements near ticket machines at metro stations and also about how the machines take only coins or cards with chip and pin. So decided to load up at the info booth in the airport—no line and it was easy with US card with no pin.)

When everything is available at the airport, we felt it was better to load up on our essentials. The tourist info booth supplied us our 4-day Paris museum passes €56 each, 2 sets of carnets and 2 RER B tickets. Our total amount was €163 —€ 112 for the 2 4-day museum passes, €20 for 2 RER B tickets, €20 for 2 sets of carnet.

2 petition girls were hovering around signaling they can’t see/hear. We knew they are just scammers but were surprised to see them right at the airport! We had read they frequent tourist attractions and scam people who engage with them. 

We should have drawn some money at the ATM, forgot that at the sight of the girls! The tourist info booth side was a little safe from them, so we put away our new acquisitions, credit cards, valuables, repacked our bags and then walked back to terminal D to the RER B station.

Taxi from CDG to Paris is a flat €55/50, definitely well worth it. There is a flat fare of €55 between CDG and central Paris south of the Seine (left bank), and €50 for central Paris north of the Seine (right bank). From Orly, the equivalent fares are €30 and €35. These fares apply to all Paris taxis, replacing the previous metered charges.

Ignore people approaching you inside the terminal.  Follow the taxi signs at the airport to the official taxi line just outside one of the terminal doors. You can use the free baggage carts available at the baggage claim and wheel directly to the taxi Take official taxi with the Taxi Parisien sign on the roof from the taxi line outside. Have the address of your destination, including zip code, printed or hand written and hand it over to the driver

We had decided on the RER because of reading about a gang of motor cycle borne thugs smashing cab windows at traffic signals and snatching bags from passengers on the way from airport to city. Also trains don’t face traffic jams on a weekday.

At the RER B station at CDG, there were lines at all the ticket machines. We happily swiped our pre bought tickets and boarded the train which was already there after checking the direction. We even got seats and watched the station fade away as the train started off.

We began ticking off the stations from our list got from the website but the train was stopping randomly. When it stopped at station named Paris Nord, there was confusion among all of us in the coach. A bunch of north Americans were getting down but a Spanish speaking family assured us this was not Gare du Nord. We decided that it was indeed Gare du nord and got down.

We were staying at an apartment in Residence Blanche, adjacent to Moulin Rouge. We had to take the line 2 direction Porte Dauphin from Gare du nord.

A regular had advised the transfer will be easy through a long tunnel. The tunnel was on the 1^st floor though and we looked around a bit before finding an elevator.

Then we made the mistake of taking the train in the wrong direction before getting down at the next station, changing sides and going our way.

From Blanche metro station, our apartment was right across. We rang the bell at the red door and were buzzed in. Climbed the stairs and arrived at the reception room.

Our apartment was not ready as it was not even noon. The lovely lady gave us our keys and instructions and told us we can leave our bags there.

 There was a room with a sofa near her office room. We took out our daypacks and packed some snacks, our bus/metro maps, research material, Louvre map etc.

We could use the washroom adjoining the room for freshening up. I always bring a pile of home made whole wheat tortillas –the dough is made with warm milk and after cooking smeared with butter. So it’s very soft, tasty and lasts for a week. Some tomato, garlic, onion relish to go along with this makes for a heavenly brunch.

Seeing us eating, the lady opened up the kitchen segment of the room, showed us the drinking water, gave us some glasses and we appreciated her gesture. She did not give us her name and we decided not to ask her. Feels kind of stupid when mentioning this without her name but we don’t mean any offence.

We had similar treatment at Roma, Firenze apartments as well till we hit a horrible patch in Venice. Anyways, no need to digress… that’s for the Venice report …

After confirming with her that bus 68 will take us to Louvre and getting gently kidded by her on our pronunciation of Richlieu entrance, we left our bags and were on our way.

We used the bus extensively in Paris and loved it. We had downloaded the full bus map from RATP site and then looking at lines that may serve us, got the specific plans for those lines also—it proved mighty useful.

The uniform blocks of buildings with rounded edges set at axis from radiating roads made for a pretty sight.

We passed ornate buildings like Opera Garnier before reaching Louvre.

Took a few pics outside before looking for museum pass entrance.

Arc de triomphe du Carrousel

Arc de triomphe du Carrousel in the background here... 63 feet (19 m) high, 75 feet (23 m) wide, and 24 feet (7.3 m) deep. The 21 feet (6.4 m) high central arch is flanked by two smaller ones, 14 feet (4.3 m) high, and 9 feet (2.7 m) wide. Around its exterior are eight Corinthian columns of marble, topped by eight soldiers of the Empire. ... bas relief thru'out.

It is a triumphal arch in the Place du Carrousel.

Built between 1806 and 1808 to commemorate Napoleon's military victories of the previous year.

 The more famous Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile nearby was designed in the same year, but it took thirty years to build and is about twice the size

Peace riding in a triumphal chariot at the top of the arch... originally surmounted by the famous horses of Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice, which had been captured in 1798 by Napoleon.

 In 1815, following the Battle of Waterloo and the Bourbon restoration, France gave back the quadriga to the Austrian empire which had annexed Venice.

The Austrians immediately returned it to Venice.

(we saw the horses in Venice at the end of the trip)

The horses of Saint Mark were replaced in 1828 by this quadriga depicting Peace riding in a triumphal chariot led by gilded Victories on both sides.

LOUVRE

In practice, Richlieu entrance was not functional. The officer told us we should take the 1st line in front of the pyramid as we had the museum pass… there was none, only a long 2nd line. We were a little confused before realizing we can just breeze through. Put our bags through the scanner and entered the museum.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108910506663540711253/6272982759068429265#6272987538890581906
has our video of Louvre set to music.

Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. 9-6 is regular timings. Wednesdays and Fridays, extended timing up to 9.45pm. So we had plenty of time at our disposal, it being Friday.

Louvre Palace, which houses the museum, was begun as a fortress by Philip II in the 12th century, with remnants of this building still visible in the crypt.

 The word 'Louvre' may refer to the structure's status  (from the French L'Œuvre, masterpiece)

The Louvre Palace was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages.

In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and in 1546, Francis I renovated the site in French Renaissance style.

 After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, constructions slowed;

During the French Revolution the Louvre was transformed into a public museum.

On 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property.

I had already looked through the museum site and marked up our targets.

http://www.louvre.fr/en#main-nav-content-bt-informations

http://www.louvre.fr/en/plan

gives the interactive plan, you can get bus, metro info too, you can download your info pdf from here in language of choice.

Musée du Louvre contains more than 380,000 objects.

Displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments.

 60,600 sq m (652,000 sq ft) dedicated to the permanent collection.

We hit medieval Louvre first before going to the 1^st floor.

Plenty of awesome statues...the creases/folds on the robes, the hair and the sheer texture of the skin make one wonder how such perfection has been achieved on a stone like marble.

These are called caryotids... they carry the weight bearing structure,









There are lovely ceilings, with stucco work in borders and murals in the center... ...stucco is lime, marble powder and water which can be molded into shapes by craftsmen and is used extensively as decorative element.













There are frescoes in the ceiling...(frescoes are painted directly onto the wall... the word derives from the Italian word affrescho meaning painting on fresh plaster). Murals are paintings on canvas which are stuck to the ceiling



The interiors are opulent as it's a palace. The art is a bonus,

This is a Greek sarcophagus... used for burying noblemen.

Hermaphrodite...obviously the front side is shocking. The sheer beauty of sculpting marble to seem like a cushioned bed and soft fleshy body is remarkable

The floors have exquisite mosaics.

These are porphry columns...

Decorative arts, Napoleon III’s apartments, Apollo gallery with the crown jewels were all great as expected.

Pics with Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo were also quite easy to come by.

Mona is small and you hardly get to see the details the brush stroke etc. at the distance. We are huge fans of Leonardo da Vinci and think he’s the most gifted person that ever lived. However, this painting does not wow.

Venus de Milo is an ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture.

Created sometime between 130 and 100 BC, it is believed to depict Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty (Venus to the Romans).

It is a marble sculpture, slightly larger than life size at 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) high.

The arms and original plinth were lost following its discovery.

It was discovered on 8 April 1820 by a peasant, inside a buried niche within the ancient city ruins of Milos, on the island of Milos in the Aegean, which was then a part of the Ottoman Empire.

French naval officer recognized its significance and arranged for a purchase by the French ambassador to Turkey

The great fame of the Aphrodite of Milos during the nineteenth century was not simply the result of its beauty, but also owed much to a major propaganda effort by the French authorities.

 In 1815, France had returned the Medici Venus to the Italians after it had been looted from Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte.

The loss of Medici Venus, regarded as one of the finest Classical sculptures in existence, caused the French to promote the Venus de Milo as a greater treasure

The de Milo statue was praised dutifully by many artists and critics as the epitome of graceful female beauty!

So PR work does pay off!!

In early days, religion and portraits were the only subject of paintings... till the school of Impressionism came along when ordinary people and natural scenes became the subject matter for paintings.

Jesus giving the keys to the Pearly Gates to St Peter

There are many medieval religious paintings.

Galleries are huge; one does not feel hemmed in even when there is a crowd...

There are seats to rest on and enjoy the art.

The Coronation of Napoleon (Le Sacre de Napoléon),  1807,  has imposing dimensions,  10 m (33 ft) wide by 6 m (20 ft) tall, took 2 years to complete. You feel as if you are part of the scene, looking on.

The Wedding Feast at Cana, 1563 painting depicting the Bible story of a marriage banquet at which Jesus converts water to wine; the work is the largest (6.77m x 9.94m)  most extensive canvas (67.29sq.m) in the paintings collection.  Again, we feel part of the feast.

The sculpture section in the court under the pyramid as well as the Greek, Roman section is awesome.

The Horse Tamer by Marly is at the top in the picture. The Marly horses were commissioned in 1739 and are admired for their dynamic movement so well captured .

The Apollo Gallery houses the royal crowns and collection of artifacts: the ornate high vaulted ceiling is an attraction in itself

These gem artifacts belong to the royal collection.

This is the ceiling of Apollo gallery.

 

These are mosaics on display in the Apollo gallery.

These are the royal apartments of Napoleon III (not to be confused with Napoleon Bonaparte):

These are the ceilings in these royal apartments

This is the Decorative art section. So lovely...

Crystal chess board

These are religious reliquaries... to hold holy items from Saints...

Bible cover with gems.

Ivory carvings...silver enamel pieces...

Huge ivory altar piece...

Stained glass...

The Egyptian section and Assyrian palace stuff were as good if not better than the British museum and MET, NY.

With no restriction on photos, we went berserk and clicked away to heart’s content.

The ventilation was quite good –we never felt tired/sleepy. I had once read a funny comment that museums pump in air that can knock out a Kenyan marathon runner, ha, ha… but we were fine.

Just as an aside, Louvre staff had gone on strike in 2013 because of the increased presence of pickpockets who did not spare even the staff... pickpocket warning signs are prominent in many places. 

After several hours, we came out by 9 PM, spent some time in the courtyard admiring the fountains and the pyramids.

Louvre Pyramid, a large glass and metal pyramid, serves as the main entrance to the Louvre Museum, in the main courtyard (Cour Napoléon) of the Louvre Palace.

Now the challenge was not to give the appearance of a subway entrance, though it basically serves the same purpose of accessing the underground lobby.

Much effort was made to make the pyramid as transparent as possible.

The 675 diamond-shaped and 118 triangular panes were specifically fabricated to make them completely clear.

Attention was also paid to the 128 steel girders and 16 steel cables that hold the panes together.

Technology from high tech yachts was used to make them as small and unobtrusive as possible.

This futuristic edifice surrounded by 3 smaller pyramids and reflecting pool and fountains has now managed to blend with the classic architecture of the rectangular Louvre Palace.

We looked for bus 68 going in the opp direction and reached our apartment.

We were expecting a tiny apartment and so were not too surprised.

We were grateful for the lift, its tiny size elicited a laugh!

The lift

Chest of drawers, a folding table, 2 stools, big window

Sofa bed, kitchen to the right...

2 burner stove and sink

It was quite ergonomic though, the sofa bed was quite OK and there was dish washing liquid and scrubber in the small kitchen.

There weren’t many vessels but I bring my own set of 3 vessels and lids, spoons, knife and I was good.

Rice and Soup ready in a jiffy.

A tiny table could be opened up from the wall for eating and there was a small wardrobe as well.

Only whinge may be the super tiny washbasin which resulted in the floor getting wet with spilled water.

ATM was just adjacent

There was a well stocked big Franprix a few steps away and a monop as well; so quite user friendly. We kept the window open and slept off to a lot of noise from the near by restaurant and Moulin Rouge.

http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/04/paris-trip-report-day-2a-sacre-coeur.html
covers the first part of day 2: Sacre Coeur, Orsay museum, Orangerie museum