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The journal is posted in reverse chronological order -- the most recent at the top, so if you want to read the journal in order, from start to finish, you have to click on each post individually in the list along the right side of the page.  You will see a list of August postings and below that "July (6)".  Just click on the July to see the postings that were done in July (which would be the first 6 entries).  If you have any comments, please post them.

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Day 11  Travel Back Home

We met our driver in the lobby of the Hotel at 5:45 a.m. for a trip to the Rossy-Charles de Gaulle Airport.  We arrived at the airport at about 6:15 a.m.  Upon arriving at the airport, we saw one of the Air France Concordes that was on permanent display at the entrance.  We used the automated machines to check in and print our boarding passes, but we had to stand in line for about an hour to check our bags.  After checking our bags, we proceeded to our gate.  The security check was at the gate, and we breezed right on through.  We were at the gate by 8:15 for our 9:20 flight to Frankfurt, Germany.

Rossy-Charles de Gaulle Airport Terminal 1

Concorde at Paris Airport

Lufthansa Plane from Paris to Frankfurt

We landed in Frankfurt at about 10:45 a.m. and proceeded through the terminal to our next flight gate.  This was some distance away and we had to go through a passport check, but there was no difficulty.  We arrived at our gate at about 11:15.  We got a passport stamp for Germany, which was a surprise since we were only in the Frankfurt Airport.  Our next flight left on time at about 1:00 p.m.  This was the long flight to Newark, New Jersey.  It took about 8 hours, but since we gained 6 hours, we arrived at about 3:00 p.m.  The flight was uneventful even if uncomfortable.  The plane was modern and everything functioned properly.

We landed in Newark, went through immigration with no problems (even got a U.S. passport stamp), had a light meal in the airport, and made our way to the assigned gate.  It was raining and foggy.  The airport was downright cold.  Soon we realized that a good many departing flights were being delayed because the incoming planes were not arriving.  Ours was one of those delayed.  It was scheduled to leave at 7:40 p.m. to arrive home at about 11:00 p.m.  We sat there freezing until the delayed departure time of about 9:00 p.m.  At about 8:30 p.m., they announced that our flight would be departing from another gate in another terminal.  We had to scurry to find a shuttle an get to the new gate, but we made it.  The flight was uneventful, and we stepped out of the airport at about midnight to find 100° F temperture.  We hauled our bags to the car breaking out into a major sweat before we reached it.  We arrived home at about 12:30 a.m., finding everything as we had left it.  Home sure was comfortable.

Day 10   Paris -- Montmartre District, Pere Lachaise Cemeterie

Montmartre as seen from Central Paris

After our buffet breakfast at the Hotel, we departed by Metro to the Montmartre District of Paris.  This district is on a hill in the northern part of Paris and overlooks all of Paris.  When looking at the hill from anywhere else in Paris, you can plainly see the Sacre-Coeur Basilica sitting at the top of the hill.  This area is a famous tourist stop because of the Basilica and because of its colorful history.  The community has existed for almost as long as Paris has, but tourists like us have been most interested in its more recent past, especially the late 1800's and early 1900's.  At that time, it was the home for a collection of artists and writers who produced art and literature that has been appreciated and studied throughout the world.  These artists and writers created a bohemian scene when they gathered to eat, drink, and talk.  We found the district as expected, quaint and crawling with tourists.  The basilica was built from 1876 to 1912, so even though it looks older, it is from this same era.


Montmartre's Sacre-Coeur Basilica

The name "Hill of Martyrs," as it can be translated, comes from the fact that St. Denis who had been sent from Rome to convert the local heathens was beheaded and is buried near Sacre-Coeur.  He has become the patron saint of France.  In its past, the area served as a source of gypsum that has been used in Paris for centuries for coating buildings.  The gypsum was mined from the hill, leaving it honeycombed with tunnels.  The overlook of the city has made it  desirable from its use as a strategic military site. Then came the artists and writers.  Some of the artists who lived and worked there were Monet, Van Gogh, Utrillo, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Modigliani, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picaso and much more recently Dali.

Some of the famous writers were Zola, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Hughes, and Stein.  The composer Satie lived and worked there also.  Several movies have featured Montmartre:  Moulin Rouge, Amilie, La Vie en Rose.  And Puccini's opera La Boheme was based on a play set in Montmartre.

Montmartre Funicula

Now for our own visit to Montmartre:  We planned our Metro trip carefully because there were no direct lines from Plaza Republique to Montmartre.  We would have to take a train from Republique and change at Bellville to another train that would take us to Anvers.  This caused no problems and we arrived at the hill by mid-morning.  The first choice was whether to walk the thousands of steps up the hill or take the Funicula (for the same cost as a subway ride -- even using the same tickets).  We rode.  The top landing is near the Basilica, but there were many more steps before we were at its doors.  We mingled with the several thousand other people who were milling about the Basilica or touring its cool dark interior.  We went in and were astounded by the massive Roman structure with its domes and arches, its mosaics of tile, its massive stained glass windows set high near the ceiling, and its quiet, reverent atmosphere.  People were walking around the edges looking at the building and its artwork, but not talking.  People were sitting in the pews looking around and some appeared to be praying.  No photographs were allowed in Sacre-Coeur.  (Photographs of the Basilica, both inside and out are at http://www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com/us/basilique.html

Sacre-Coeur Entry

We emerged about 30 minutes later into the bright sun of the steps and gazed over the city from the vantage point.  Next we walked up the rue to the adjacent church, Sainte-Pierre.  This was a much older church and the information on it said it even contains some columns of Roman age.  Its history goes back to the 3rd century; it is thought to be the place of origin for the Jesuit Order; it was a Benedictine Abbey; it was destroyed during the revolution and rebuilt in the 19th century.  The stained glass windows of both Sacre-Coeur and Sainte-Pierre were destroyed by concussion blasts during World War II and have been replaced with new windows since then.

Sainte-Peirre Church

Sainte-Pierre Church Nave

Sainte-Pierre Window

We left this church to wander through Artist's Square where many artists were selling their works and others were producing sketches of people who would pay.  By now, we were hungry again and found the noted Bolulangerie (bakery) With a View.  We had chocolate croissants, which were very tasty, and sat and visited with another couple from our tour that we encountered.  Ignoring all of the tourist trinkets and artwork that was for sale all along the streets, we went to the Dali Espace, paid our admission of 11€, even though it seemed high, and went in to view the collection of Dali's work.  Here we saw the strangest collection of paintings, water colors, and sculptures that may exist anywhere.  Dali must have had an obsession with clocks (or distorted time) because there were clock faces (distorted) on much of his work.  It was interesting, but I didn't know what to think of an elephant with a glass pyramid on its back and long legs like a flamingo.  We left the Dali Espace and walked on down the hill  to look at Picasso's studio.  It wasn't open to the public, but we saw where he and a number of other artists produced their art.  There was much to see such as the Montmartre Museum and the Montmartre Cemetery, but we needed a rest, especially from museums.  We looked for one last sight, the Moulin Rouge.  We found it down the hill on a busy boulevard with a variety of shops and a large collection of bars and night clubs.  It had the windmill on the top and was painted red.

Montmartre Street Scene

Boulangerie with a View

Chocolate Croissant

Dali Elephant

Dali Clock

Picasso Studio

Moulin Rouge

After sitting on a bench in the boulevard's center island for a while watching people, we boarded the Metro bound for Pere LaChaise Cemeterie on the east side of Paris.  This is an old cemetery where many famous people have been buried.  It was full of old and new grave markers and stones, many of which were elaborate structures with statues and carvings.  Some of the graves were in extreme disrepair, while nearby ones were well kept -- we saw one that was being sanded and refinished.  We had a list of famous graves in this cemetery, and we set out on our treasure hunt to find them. 

Pere LaChaise Cemeterie

We found the grave of Jim Morrison, the rock singer, who died in 1971.  His grave was in a crowded section and had a small marker of granite and was outlined with stone.  The grave was covered with wilted flowers.  We were able to find it because here was a crowd of people around it.

Jim Morrison

Molliere

We found the grave of Chopin, which was marked with a statue of an angel (finding this one required the use of the GPS to identify exactly where we were and how the "chemins" were laid out). 

Chopin

Rossini

We found the graves of Rossini, Modigliani, Edith Piaf, Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, and others.  At Edith Piaf's grave, we saw a woman place flowers on the grave and kneel in meditation.  Gertrude Stein's stone was very plain with only her name on it, which made it hard to find.  Oscar Wilde's stone was surrounded with glass that was covered with grafiti. 

Edith Piaf

Holocaust Memorial

We were "touristed out," so we headed back to the Metro for a ride back to Republique Plaza and a rest.  We had dinner at a local restaurant, nothing special, and packed for our early morning departure back home.  Our exploration of Paris was over.

Day 9   Paris -- Marais, St. Chappelle

We began this day with a buffet breakfast in the hotel.  Then we met our guide for a walking tour of the Bastille/Marais District of Paris.  To get to the Bastille/Marais District, we needed to take the Metro.  Again, this was an easy, no transfer ride, exiting at the Bastille station.  Before we left the Bastille station, the guide pointed out some exposed stones which had been part of the foundation of the Bastille.  The Bastille was originally built in the 1300's as a fort to defend the east wall of Paris.  It was converted to a prison in the 1400's and served as such primarily for those who had angered the King.  It was stormed during the French Revolution on July 14, 1789 (Bastille Day) and demolished.  A good account of the Bastille is rendered in Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.  When we emerged from the station, the guide pointed out a circle of different stone on the street and sidewalk that marked the spot of the Bastille tower.  A new modern structure housing the Paris Opera sits on most of the Bastille site.

Paris Metro Bastille Station -- note stones that were part of the Bastille foundation

Bastille tower outline in stone on street and sidewalk

We proceeded walking along the streets, with our guide pointing out various spots that were significant in the history of the area and telling us the reasons that this section of Paris was important and how to read some of the historical signs.  For example, most of the buildings were, as in most of older Paris, 4 to 5 stories tall and narrow.  This was because taxes were based on the ground area covered by a building, and not on the total space of the building.  Taxes were also levied on the number of windows, so some buildings had few windows.  This area had grown and developed from the 12th through the 16th centuries.  One of the reasons this area had grown was that King Charles V built a mansion in the area in 1361 and resided there at least part time.  This sparked growth because all of the nobles who needed or wanted  to be near the King also built mansions there.  Thus, this area became the home of Paris' aristocrats.  We walked through the Place de Vosges, which is a residential community built around an open plaza.  It was built in the 1600's and remains an exclusive residential spot today.  It is very well maintained and has some shops and even a school.  The plaza was filled with people who were out enjoying themselves.  We even saw a couple of young guys throwing a baseball to each other.  One of the notable historical residents was Victor Hugo.  His home is now a museum, and I could just see him thinking out and writing Les Miserables here.  Many of these mansions today are museums, libraries, art galleries, and other public facilities. 

Paris Marais scene -- note width and windows of each building

Paris Marias Vosges Place

Paris Marais Vosges Place, Victor Hugo Residence

Paris Marias Fallafel Store

Paris Marais Jewish Bakery

In later centuries, this area became the center for Paris' Jewish community, and is growing as such even today with synagogues and Jewish businesses.  We also saw a middle eastern influence in the abundance of shops selling Fallafel.  On our walk through the area, we were able to see local residents going about their business without the crush of tourists that had plagued us tourists.  We finished our walk at Paris City Hall, an ornate structure originally known as the Hotel de Ville.  It has housed the city government since 1357.  Across the street, in a building with the Hotel de Ville in stone above the door, we found a large department store that was busy with shoppers.  Out in front of the city hall, the plaza was teaming with people.  Many were standing around and some were reclining on air mattresses watching a giant screen displaying the Olympic Games.

Paris City Hall

Paris City Hall Plaza -- Olyimpics on large screen with Notre Dame in background

Paris City Hall Plaza, Olympics Watchers

We had lunch at a small cafe on the plaza with another couple who had been part of our tour.  We then proceeded across part of the Seine to the Ile de Cite, walking by Notre Dame Cathedral again on our way to a nearby church, St. Chapelle.  It was on our list to see because it is noted as being the most beautiful of Paris' churches.  We found the church and a line waiting for admission, which cost 6€.  The church was hardly visible from the street because it is in the courtyard of Paris' Hall of Justice.  The Hall of Justice was once a royal palace and St Chapelle was built in the 1200's to house King Louis IX's collection of religious relics.  From the outside, the church was not as impressive as many others, but once we entered, we found out why it was noted for beauty.  We entered on the ground floor into the chapel.  It was highly decorated with an elaborate altar and some stained glass windows.  The difference from other churches we had seen was that the walls, ceiling, columns, and arches were painted in bright blues and golds with the Fleur de Lis pattern painted all over the gothic ceiling.  It was small (in comparison with the other churches we had seen), but was indeed beautiful.  However, we were asking ourselves where are the noted stained glass windows.

St. Chapelle Chapel

We were directed toward a small spiral (really helical) staircase that wound upward for a long climb.  We emerged from the staircase to see what had precipitated the church's reputation.  This was the main part of the church, and it was spectacular.  The building had been built so as to support the walls and roof without the massive flying buttresses.  This allowed almost the entire wall space to be used for stained glass windows.  The effect was dazzling with all of the colors and patterns.  Each window was different.  We stood around for quite some time just in awe of the artistry before us.  In addition to the windows and painted ceilings, the floors were covered in colored patterned tiles.  We had not seen anything else like this before.  In seeing this, I wondered if St. Chapelle might have been the inspiration for the recent renovations and redecorations of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Tulsa with its use of colors and patterns.

St. Chapelle walls in tile and paint

St. Chapelle stained glass

After these tours, it was time to find our way back to the hotel.  This should have been simple, but a wrong turn took us in a direction away from our "known" metro station.  I turned on the GPS to find out just where we were and with that and a map, we located the station, the correct train, and rode back to Republique Plaza.  We had dinner in a small restaurant, walked around the area just a bit, and retired after a long day.

Day 8  Paris  -- D'Orsay Museum

Our boat trip was over.  We were taken by bus to our hotel at Paris' Republique Plaza.  This is north and east about 3 km from central Paris.  The hotel is in an old building, but it has been modernized so that inside, it was about like a hotel anywhere.  However, our room was on the fourth floor with a small arched window in a dormer (that would open) and a skylight (that would also open).  We had to stretch to see anything but the sky.  When we looked out, we saw the top floor of the building across the street.  It seemed to be apartments.  Soon after we arrived, our guide took us on a short tour of the surrounding area and showed us several restaurants that he thought we would enjoy.

Metro Station

              Then we set out for the D'Orsay Museum.  This museum is adjacent to the Seine in central Paris, so we needed transportation, or we would have a long walk.  We chose to take the Metro, Paris' subway system.  This meant learning how to buy tickets and finding our way to the appropriate train.  We managed with no problems.  A metro ticket cost 1.70 € (Euros) and once we were inside, we could go as far as the system went and transfer to other lines as much as we wanted with no extra cost.  With our guide's help, we determined that we needed to exit at the Concorde Plaza Station and walk the 2-3 blocks to the museum.  This was a simple ride with no transfers needed.  Concorde Plaza was the site of the famous guillotine used in the late 1700's to execute thousands of people.  We saw no evidence of what had happened there.  The plaza was adorned with an Egyptian Obelisk that had been a gift from Egypt and brought to Paris in 1836.  On the way to the museum, we walked through the Tulliares, the gardens  (mostly trees with some grass and a large octagonal pool and wide graveled walkways) that extend eastward from the Louvre.  There were hundreds of people sitting, running, walking, visiting, and just enjoying themselves.  There were a number of musicians playing at various places in the park providing a variety of interesting music.  We also had to cross the Seine River on a pedestrian bridge.  This bridge, the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, is famous for its thousands of locks that have been fastened to the sides.  The lore is that if the lock is labeled with the name of a loved one, fastened to the bridge, and the key thrown into the river, the love will last.

Concorde Plaza -- Egyptian Obelisk

Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor

            

D'Orsay Museum

             The museum in an old train station that had been converted when Paris decentralized its train stations.  It was a grand building with an arched, glass paneled roof.  We especially wanted to see the collection of Monet paintings (and many other impressionist artists) that the museum is famous for.  We saw paintings of the water lily pond that we had seen at the Monet home and gardens.  The paintings were beautiful and we could easily the see the impressionist style of paint dabs and marks that were used to make the images.  There were many paintings and sculptures in the museum, and we spent several hours browsing through.  There was even a large Van Gogh collection.  We stopped our browsing to have lunch in the museum, eating on a balcony that overlooked central Paris and especially the Montemartre District on the hills to the north.  We thoroughly enjoyed the museum, but several hours of browsing is really tiring.  So now it was time to find our way back to the hotel.  It was simple -- back to Concorde Plaza and take the subway back to Republique Plaza.  We had no problems and arrived safely back at our hotel.  We had dinner in a small restaurant near the hotel and then retired for the evening.

D'Orsay Museum

Day 7   Versailles - Paris

After breakfast on the boat, we boarded buses for Versailles.  It took about an hour to get there.  We parked at Versailles Palace, where we had a guide for a tour.  Versailles Palace was  built in the early 1700's and was the home of the French kings until 1804.  The French Revolution ended the monarchy, and most of the royal family.  Many other noble families were beheaded by the revolutionaries.

Versailles Gate

We began our tour with some of the more public rooms of the palace. These rooms were decorated with gilded columns and painted (artwork) ceilings. These rooms were showing the effects of time and the wear of thousands of tourists going through them. Eventually, we came to the throne room (which did not have a throne --we were shown the spot where the throne stood. This room was decorated with red silk wall covering and gold trim. The ceiling was painted with hunting scenes. Next we saw the Hall of Mirrors. This was a large room on the west side of the palace. The inner walls were covered with mirrors opposite a wall of windows. This meant the setting sun would reflect off water pools on the west side of the palace into the room and be reflected by the mirrors making this a light-filled room. There were large cut-glass chandeliers. These were not original; the original had been cut clear quartz stone. This hall was the place of many government activities and was the site of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I. From the Hall of Mirrors, we entered the King's personal chambers -- his bedroom was highly decorated and had a tall four-postered bed with drapes that could be closed around it. This room had the only original quartz chandelier that remains. Next we saw the Queen's chambers. These were just as large and just as ornate has the King's. We saw the bed where the Queens had their children and where Marie Antoinette had been captured by the revolutionaries to be beheaded. Places were pointed out where revolutionaries had fought with the King's forces, but apparently little damage was done to the palace. The opulence of the palace and the arrogance of the royalty were among the factors that precipitated the revolution.

Versailles Hall of Mirrors

Versailles King's Bed

Versailles Chapel (Larger than most churches)

Next, we saw the outside fountains and gardens.  These gardens are immense and elaborate, with each separate garden covering a different theme.  They usually had a central plaza with statues and arches and were surrouinded by plantings of trees and shrubs.  The only flowers surrounded the main fountain.  The fountains were coordinated with music that was played throughout the gardens.  We walked through several of the gardens; looking at all them would have taken days.

Versailles Gardens and Fouintains

 We returned to our boat in time for a late lunch and an afternoon of sights along the river as we progressed toward Paris.  On this leg of the trip, we saw the outskirts of Paris as we moved toward the central city where we would dock for the night.  We saw some factories along the river; none of them seemed to be spewing smoke or air pollution.  We didn't see evidence of drainage from these plants causing water pollution.  We also saw homes along the river, some of which were large elaborate chateaus.  Others were very small cabins that might have been vacation homes.  We saw skyscrapers at several locations along the river; places where Paris is growing into the modern world.  The central city's historic structures are protected so that new modern buildings cannot be built there.  We saw some familiar names on the buildings, such as Microsoft and Renault, but most had names that we did not know.  My conclusion was that much of French business was aimed at France rather than a global market.  Another interesting observation was that the many bridges across the Seine River were just utilitarian with no interesting architectural features.  Some of the bridges in the central city were highly decorated, but not that many.

Seine Waterfront near Paris

Seine Lock and Dam

Seine Lock opening

Seine Water Skier

Seine River Sail Boats

Seine River Skyline in West Paris

Seine River Near West Paris, Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower

We docked at the same port that we had left a few days earlier.   At this port, we were in view of the Statue of Liberty, which is a copy of the statue given to the U.S. by France and sits in New York Harbor.  This one was a gift from the U.S. to France.  We were also in view of the Eiffel Tower, which is lighted at night and sparkles every hour for about 5 minutes.  It was a fairly grand place to be.