Catacombs, crypts, Champs-Elysees

As Samantha has already mentioned, we had an interesting tour of the catacombs. Although I knew what I was in for, it was quite surreal to see all of the bones and skulls stacked floor to ceiling. They even have a sanctuary created down there where they used to hold mass for people who wanted to come to remember the dead. It was worth the almost 2 hr wait in line, but I don't think I need to do it again.

After we split up, Eric and I grabbed some velibs and made our way to Petit Palais. It was very hot, so we were both excited that there was a refreshing fountain outside for us to cool our tootsies. The Petit Palais is a small art gallery/museum. It was free and air conditioned! (Both a good sign!) Since it is not one of the major galleries, it wasn't very busy at all, but it had some very unique artwork. We saw all sorts of furniture like they had at Versailles (Louis XIV, XV, XVI) BUT we didn't have to fight any crowds - there was hardly anyone there and we could get very close to all of the pieces. My favourite part was an original Monet painting that I was able to get nice and close to. There was an artist in the gallery doing a reproduction of the painting.

After the Petit Palais, Eric and I were back on the velos and over to Rue Cler which is a very traditional market street. We happily shopped our way along the street picking up things for our picnic supper. We both loved the Fromagerie - wall to wall cheese - each different but all from France! We got a chevre and brie but of course chose two kinds we'd never tried before. (I was flattered when the woman in the cheese shop asked me how long before I was returning to Quebec and I needed to explain to her that I was from the predominantly anglophone province of Ontario.)The boulangerie had delicious fresh out of the oven baguette. We got fresh figs and lemonade at a fruit market. I was very happy to be in a very French street without any other tourists (I didn't hear any English while I was there! And yes, I know...I am a snobby tourist.)

On the velibs again and over to the Eiffel Tower. We had a leisurelly picnic at the base of the Eiffel Tower while we waited until it was time to meet with Matt, Jacqueline and Sam.

As Sam already said, we got rained out before we got up the tower but it was quite exhilerating to brave the storm just the same!

This afternoon, Eric and I were back on the velibs and over to the Pantheon. Once again, we were able to avoid large crowds of tourists because the Pantheon is not a huge draw, however, it was still quite interesting. In the basement is a large crypt with many famous French people entombed there (ie Rousseau, Voltaire, Hugo, Marie Curie, Louis Braille) It wasn't very busy so we were able to take our time to look at what we wanted. We were both intrigued by Foucault's pendulum, a special ball suspended from the dome of the Pantheon that tells time using the rotation of the earth. It really works too...we were able to see the difference in the pendulum swing between the time we arrived and when we departed.

On the velibs again (Eric and I definitely got our money's worth on those!) and over to the Louvre/Tuileries. Pause for a chocolat chaud in a cafe. On to the Louvre...This was the first time I had actually been able to look from the Louvre all the way up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. I must say that Louis XIV and Le Notre knew what they were doing when they designed that! We walked through the Tuileries gardens to the Orangerie museum. I was quite disappointed that the guidebook said it was open to 9 p.m. but we arrived to find out it was only open until 6 p.m. (We arrived at 6:15) However, lest you think based on my Versailles blog that I am not a flexible traveler, I will have you know that Eric and I moseyed up the Champs-Elysees, window shopping as we went. Eric was delighted to go into a few stores only to find out that they were way too expensive (like trying to find bargains on Fifth Avenue in New York). We walked the whole street and then climbed the Arc de Triomphe for the view there. It was very dark and had been raining off and on, so we got some great views of SacreCoeur, Champs-Elysees, Eiffel Tower, La Defense, etc. Eric paid to look through one of the viewers and I was amazed to look down the Champs Elysee and see that the obelisk on the place de Concorde really does line up exactly with the arch at the Louvre - how did they manage that a few centuries ago?

We didn't want to brave the rain all the way home, so we hopped the metro for the long ride home. The landlord has just been here to inspect to make sure we didn't trash the place and to return our deposit. We're going to head out for one last crepe before turning in.