Quick trip to Paris – part 2

J’ai beaucoup de charme!

I left you in the rain right by the Place de la Concorde with those “welcoming hands”. Very soon after, the weather got better. I walked across the Jardin des Tuileries to the Louvre. I was still in explore mode but I don’t think I would have gone in anyway. I exited the area though some archways on my right and walked along the Seine for a bit. There hadn’t been much possibility to sit down, but I found an empty, dry bench at a bus stop. My feet needed a rest and I needed to look at a map quickly. I’m exceptionally bad at taking breaks, so this took about two minutes. I wanted to go to the Marché des Enfants Rouges and had to figure out how to get there. It would have only been a 28-minute walk, but my feet decided it was time to hop on a metro. That way I only had to walk to the metro station Châtelet.

A French person asked me for directions – I guess I totally looked like a local. It was definitely not that I was the only person around or anything like that.

My metro stop was Arts et Métiers. I absolutely loved it. I could have and probably should have spent more time looking around. It was all about arts and métiers – obviously. Shortly after leaving the metro station, I saw a café called Social Square. It had a nice feel to it, and I thought “what a lovely place to have a bite to eat”. I did want to go check out the market first as they also had food there. It was like food stands with seating areas. And it was a bit more cramped than I would have liked and I knew I would feel much more comfortable in that other café. I did check out all the different food they had though. Can’t remember it all but let me share two experiences with you.

First, this Italian man tried to explain Italian food to me – in French. I asked him to tell me in Italian. That sure made his day. All their dishes had sea food or fish in them, so it really wasn’t for me. Too bad, they were really nice.

As I wandered around, I was deep in thought looking at pictures of dishes, trying to check out what people had on their plates, not really paying too much attention to anything else. So, this older French gentleman said “bonjour Madame” which is what one would expect, right? To me it came out of the blue and being called Madame is always a bit weird but that’s a different story. Because I was lost in thought my reply came out all cheery and I went “Bonjour!” flashing a big old smile at him. Made him laugh. Must have looked and sounded funny. He did tell me “vous avez beaucoup de charme Madame”. Totally made me smile even more.

All in all, the Marché des Enfants Rouges was a good experience. I would have loved to have eaten something there, but there was nothing I really fancied and sitting on those bar stools did not look to comfortable. Also, it was a covered market but you were still kind of outdoors. Anyway, I liked the area and walked around for a bit before heading back to the Social Square. I was having a look at the menu outside when one of the waitresses came out and told me that I wouldn’t find better food anywhere in Paris. I mean, who can argue with that?

She asked me where I wanted to sit and then suggested a small table next to two lovely gentlemen (her words not mine). I was read the specials, but I already knew what I wanted. I wanted a proper croque monsieur. This one came with some salad and fries. It was really nicely done. A posh version of the dish. I also asked what a croque madame was – apparently, they add an egg. I think I kind of knew that. Anyway, all this happened in French.

But Evelyne, French is spoken in Switzerland as well and I’m sure speaking it is not a problem for you, I hear you thinking. Well, it’s complicated. Speaking French was never really fun or something I wanted to do. We had to learn it at school to talk to the Swiss French speakers and that’s still the case today. It always felt like a chore. I never really enjoyed speaking French until this trip. So, it really is a new thing and just a change I noticed. I’m also reading another book in French (I bought it at Gare de Lyon). Enjoying that too – it helps a bit that the family in the book is traveling around Sweden.

Where was I? Oh yes, I was about to tell you about the two lovely guys sitting at the table next to me. We started talking when they were waiting for their desserts. I found out that one of them had a birthday coming up (72 he volunteered – I didn’t ask, that would have been rude). I asked him if it was okay in France to say Happy Birthday before the actual day. He told me that his wife says it was bad luck. So, I didn’t say it, just in case. It was a lovely chat.

Still in explore mode I had checked a map for other things in the area while waiting for my food. So, I asked for the check without much delay and off I went again.

I really loved the feel of Le Marais, the area I walked through on my way to Le Centre Pompidou. Glad a friend had mentioned it to me. I walked by the Centre Pompidou and on to the metro station I already knew – Châtelet. There’s a tower in a little park next to the station. It’s called Tour Saint Jacques and it’s the remaining gothic tower of a church that once stood there. At this point it was time to make my way back to the hotel. I took the metro from Châtelet to Ecole militaire, picked up some fruit at the local supermarket and was back at the hotel by 2.30 PM.

Yes, I did all that in 5.5 hours. There was a lot of walking involved too. My feet really hurt as it was mostly on paved roads. The plan was to rest for about an hour or so. Looking at the next outdoor pictures on my phone it was closer to 5 PM when I left the hotel again. I really needed that rest.

I had tickets for the 6.30 time slot at Musée d’Orsay so I decided to walk there. On my way I walked past the Hôtel des Invalides; down the Esplanade des Invalides; took a picture from the Pont Alexandre III (gorgeous sunset); passed the National Assembly; realized that it looked out onto the Pont de la Concorde and the Place de la Concorde – that made perfect sense to me; I was confused by the statue of Thomas Jefferson by the Seine - until I wasn’t; and arrived at the Musée d’Orsay at around 6 PM. We were allowed to get in line but had to wait for our timeslot.

I was at the Musée d’Orsay for the “Van Gogh à Auvers-sur-Oise. Les derniers mois.” It was about van Gogh’s last months. There was a lot of information in there I didn’t know and so many paintings I hadn’t seen. I’m gonna put the link in the Notes so those interested can go check it out. I do have a new favorite van Gogh painting. I bet you can spot it in the collage of pictures below. I also loved that he told his brother Theo in a letter that "there is a lot to draw here”. And he did draw and paint a lot. I was stunned and amazed and just blown away by the number of paintings that came out of that pretty short period of time.

The rest of the museum was closed off since it was a special night opening for just for this exhibition. We were able to catch a glimpse of what else is there. Something for next time, I guess. I left the museum feeling sad for Vincent van Gogh and the fact that he never knew how much people appreciated his work. It made me think. There was also a quote saying that he hoped to find the means to put on his own exhibition at a café. That made me even sadder.

It was a thought-provoking experience. It might take some time until I’m ready to actually read more about it.

It had gotten cold, but I still opted to walk back to the hotel. Of course, I made a little detour and walked to the Place de la Concorde and then along the Seine to the Place Diana. Somebody had mentioned it to me. It’s on the Avenue de New York and you have a nice view across the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. And it’s where the accident happened in August 1997.

Oh, and I also passed the Petit Palais and the Statue of Winston Churchill. Totally random, I know.

Well, what can I say – I was there until Sunday, and we’ve only just reached Friday night. You better have some popcorn ready.

Notes:

https://www.musee-orsay.fr/fr/agenda/expositions/van-gogh-auvers-sur-oise