Musée d'Orsay, Lunch at Altitude 95!

 

Our apartment is located near a bakery, so Martin went down to get us our daily croissant, while I made a pot of coffee in the kitchen. We started off this day at the Musée d'Orsay, a 5 story museum which used to be a train station. Our Museum Pass covered the d'Orsay, and we also by passed the line to get in. A good tip is to go to the back of the museum, take the escalator to the top, and work your way down.

Unlike the Louvre, the d'Orsay contained more modern, 20th century pieces, such as Picasso, Monet, Gaudi.

We had to leave the d'Orsay early to make it to our lunch reservation at the Eiffel Tower's Altitude 95 restaurant. I booked our reservation on line, but you can call or email the restaurant. I don't know if booking online and prepaying for the prefixed lunch gave us better seats, but we had an unobstructed view of the Trocadero.

The food and service at the restaurant wasn't the best... but to bypass the long line to get on the Eiffel Tower was worth it!! We still had to purchase tickets to get on the elevator, but the ticket line and the line itself was not the same as the 1 hour wait that the other tourists had to stand in.

After the Eiffel Tower, we went to the Centre Pompidou, a museum that features a leading collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe. After we finished the Pompidou, Martin and I sat at the Starbucks and wrote postcards while Amanda got her portrait done by an artist.

Day 2: Louvre, Champs-Élysées

We started off our first official day in Paris with breakfast at a cafe across the street from our apartment. What's for breakfast? Chocolate Croissant, Cafe Creme, Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, what else?!

 
 

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Following breakfast, we went to the Louvre and purchased a 2 day museum pass. You can buy the pass in the Louvre at the Museum Pass office, located downstairs near the Starbucks (that's right.. Starbucks!). The pass doesn't really save you money, but it does help you bypass lines at select places. You can also get the pass at the T.I., the metro station, and other museums.

Of coures we had to see the Mona Lisa (you can't miss the sign telling you where to go!), and at mid morning, took at break at the cafe, which overlooked the courtyard and the pyramid. The cafe was a bit pricey, so if you want to eat at the Louvre, try eating at the ground floor. There's a cafeteria and sandwich kiosks, which I am sure was much cheaper!

I THINK she's having a good time??

 

 

 

After the Louvre, we walked (and walked!) to the Champs-Élysées, the most famous street in Paris. We took a peek at the Disney Store, and at the end of the boulevard was the Arc de Triomphe. The museum pass gave us free access to the Arc, so we climbed the 196 steps to the top of the Arc and saw a great view of the city.

The Arc has an elevator, but only if you are disabled. Bring water and hope you're in good shape!! Its a long hike!

Lord, I'm tired!

 

 

Dinner with Clement

I've known Clement for many years thru the Disney pin trading. We've chatted over the years via email, but never had the opportunity to meet in person.

My last trip back in 2004, his schedule conflicted with mine, but this time we made sure to meet for dinner. He took us to a cafe located outside the Paris city. This cafe didn't serve dinner until 8:00 so we chatted and had drinks until they were open for food.

The restaurant had some really good steak, pork, and duck. YUM!

 
   
 

Our Apartment, Notre Dame & St. Michel

Our apartment was located 1/2 block from Notre Dame, located on the 5th floor at 39, rue Galande, 75005 PARIS.

 

On our first day in Paris, we strolled around our area, had some gelato, went inside Notre Dame, and had dinner at a quiet cafe.

Below: The first picture is Amanda in front of the Notre Dame. The second is Notre Dame, and the third picture is a fountain of St. Michel, located just a few blocks from our place, and its where the metro stop is located. 

 

Notre Dame

St Michel

  

LONDON and Spamalot!

We get to London on Monday with a one night layover before heading to Paris. We arrived in London at 1:00, went through customs/passport control and checked into our our hotel (near the Heathrow airport).

After a 10 hour flight we wanted to freshen up before taking the tube to the City. In London we didn't ge much time to do much... walked around Leichester Square, ate dinner at a pub and then caught the 8:00 performance of Monty Python's Spamalot at the Palace Theatre.

After the show we walked around some more, saw Picadilly Circus, had some coffee at Cafe Nero and then took the tube back to the hotel.

Tuesday, June 24
We woke up at 7:00 am and had breakfast with my dear friend Jacqui at the hotel, before heading to Paris. Jacqu dropped us off at the tube, which we took to get to the Eurostar Chunnel (at Kings Cross/ Pancras station) to get to Paris. The trip took about 2 hours, and we traveled in 1st class, which was very nice.

Here is Amanda and me sitting in our "Chunnel" seats and with what's left of our lunch. Lunch was not bad, and we also had a snack and drinks as part of our fare.

Paris... Here we come?

 

Taking Amanda to Paris as her gradutation gift.

June 22, 2008
We're heading off to Paris... via London!

It was cheaper to fly from LAX into London ($500 cheaper!). Ironically we are flying Air France to get to London, only to take the chunnel to get to Paris. Go figure.Here is the 3 of us as we are heading out to the airport. Right now we are all clean, bright eyed and bushy tailed... ready to sit for 10 hours.