Europe on a shoestring - Day 13 (Paris) [October 6, 2005]

This was going to be the last segment of our trip - in a way there was a sense of sadness among us, that our amazing adventure was on its final lap... in a way it was a sense of relief since by now we (at least I for sure) were sight weary travellers - having seen more than our adequate share of art, architecture and nature in two weeks than most others may have seen in a lifetime. I guess in a way I should consider myself blessed that I had been given the opportunity and the resources to undertake this venture.

Anywho we arrived at Gare Austerlitz (Gare == station) early in the morning from Nice. It was an overcast day, not too cold but definitely nothing like the Cote d'Zur. Although the Russian travelling with us had indicated that the MIJE hostel Le Faconnier was not too far away and we could walk the distance we decided to take it easy and use the metro.
Now the Paris metro (pronounced as ma-eee-th-ro in a la Francais) is an underground maze with snakes its way and different lines are connected by a subterranean maze of walkways. What we did'nt realize was that the walkways were not short distances, but could possible be a hundreds of meters. In fact, come to think of it we may have walked half the distance and taken a train for half the distance. After picking up the billets (tickets) we went to St. Paul.
Again following our policy of street walking we had chosen a place right in the middle of the city - in the Marais (formerly a swamp) area. We first stopped at a boulangerie for a cup of cappucino along with some kiesche.. the food was Samir's idea - and yeah it was quite filling. Yeah there places are all around these areas and are absolutely fabulous. Then we continued our march towards La Faconnier through some narrow alleys/roads. It was just as I imagined it - a large old aristocratic mansion covered from top to bottom in ivy.

Our room - spartan but just fine.... with a sweet view outside

Inside there were a lot of teenagers having a breakfast. Sadly for us the checking time was 15:00 but the lady at the front desk (Fatima) allowed us to keep our backpacks in a secure storage and to freshen up. So after an hour or so we moved on to begin our exploration of Paris.
We began by moving to the Il de la Cite - the island between the left and right banks which housed the Cathedral Notre Dame. We first walked about the gardens surrounding it - spending time reading about the Cathedral itself (given that it would be common courtesy to keep quiet within) and admiring its exterior facade - with its towering turrets and grutesque gargoyles. We moved on to see the interiors - but not before enjoying the front door arch with its comical potrayal of the good and the bad with the devils looking quite like naughty children and the facade filled with the sculptures of the altar boys adorning it.
Inside it was dark with a magnificant altar and several side altars dedicated to different saints. Moving on we went past the Palais de Justice to the Sant Chapelle. We had to wait a bit, security being tight since it also housed the French supreme court - but once inside had a quick look at the lower chapel - housing the commoners chapel - and then through a winding narrow staircase to the upperchapel. This I would say is the most spectacular chapel I have ever seen. the entire walls are made up of panels upon panels of stained glass. The panels (more than 1000 in number) capture details of both old and new testament as vivid picture potraits on glass. It begins from the story of Adam and Eve and ends with the Revelations. Using the handout (our guides were too simplistic for these kind of descriptions) we sat, looked and read about the history and stories embodied in the panels. By then time had passed quickly but there was one more stop I wanted to take before lunch - this was the Conciergerie - the prison where the prisoners, including Marie Antoinette were held during the french revolution. Luckily we had bought our French Carte-pass at Sante Chapelle so from now it was all paid for. Inside it was a huge cavernous structure with segments partitioned off for the kitchen, the FINAL preparations and guard quarters. Moving on there are vivid representations of the jail cells (both the poor or the rich) and finally the cell of marie antoinette... with a mannequin with its back to the viewer as a poignant reminder of how someone must have felt spending ones last days before facing the guillotine.
By now it was nearing 15:00 and we went in a hunt for perfect eating place. Of course i wanted a proper sit down meal - and after a bit of searching I found what I was looking for - a hole in the wall called 'Les Degres de Notre-Dame'. For sure it was off the main street and we would not have discovered it if not for a guide book. Now we had to hope that we were in time for the 'plat de jour'.. and although it was closer to 15:30 than 15:00 they agreed - and what followed was a fantastic three course meal with me having some beef thingie with veggies and followed by some good dessert. I do not remember what exactly we tried by did remember that one of Samir's french choices turned out to be yoghurt .... so much for trying something too outlandish, which may give us something ordinary. On our way back on interesting thing did happen .. we saw two beautiful lamborghini's making their way one behind the other through the crowded Paris streets - one Murceliago and one Gallardo.

this is also art.... at least the way I see it!!

Obviously I gave chase - and I was not alone with a couple other tourists running behind the cars clicking away furiously. Wonder what the drivers may have been thinking - stupid, pathetic Americans...? maybe..
We then returned back to the hostel and were given our room - a fully contained three bed room with included shower, but with a common toilet for each floor. The building itself was all wood panelled - with the rooms themselves a bit more modern in appearance. The windows opened to a quiet courtyard which shows off the ivy covered buildings. Ideal environment to enjoy a good nights sleep after walking through the city.
After a refreshing shower (our first in 36 hours since we didnt have the luxury of a 'douche' in Nice) we decided to head off again - this time along the Seine towards the Musee de Orsay. Since Paris is inundated (yes literally inundated) with museums and other historical sites it was a big deal to sort through the whole list to figure out which ones we could (or wanted) to see in three days. Musee de Orsay has one of the biggest collections of modern art - think Van Gogh, Rembrant, Monet which were post Renaissance art, which is different from what we had seen in Italy. In addition it is ensonsced in an old railway station, and if location was not a priority - well it offered extended visiting hours till 21:30 on wednesday. Walking along the Seine gives you an idea of the 'Romance' what people associate with Paris. All along on one side you can see places like the Hotel de Ville, Notre Dame, Louvre (yes, you walk right by it), the sedentary Seine flowing along, with the spot beam from the Eiffel Tower sweeping great swaths at regular intervals.
Anyways once we were in - totally side stepping the huge queues which would normally flood this place we spent around 2 hours inside. There were interesting art - especially from Monet and Van Gogh - but tragically we ran out of time before the museum shut down for the night.
By now it was close to 22:00 and we were wondering where we could go to grab something to eat. After some debate we selected the area in the Latin Quarter where the Sorbonne was situated - in the hope that the presence of a student population would possibly serve 'value for money' meals. In this we were not disappointed and dug into a gargantuan double pizza topping it off with ice-cream. I think the place was a kind of sports bar with flags of Paris St.Germain, Juventus and others adorning the place... would be interesting to come and see a game here - the atmosphere would certainly be electrifying! The ice-cream though (even giving the fact that you could have as many flavors as one wanted if it fit into the cup) didnt cut it as good as the ones in Italy - perhaps it felt a tad too artificially flavored - i dont know... On our way back we were treated to spectacular nighttime Parisian scenery which we duly captured through our lens for eternity before retiring for the night. That said I must add one another interesting titbit - the nightguard was an Indian, a Goan named Wilfred who had come here around 15 years ago. It was at that time I realised that throughout Paris we had seen this - although the facade was french, a lot of the housework, cooks in the restraunt, security staff - were all from the Indian subcontinent (India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and possibly Bangladesh). Felt a tad bet sheepish at that time, here I was in Paris, wandering far and near for a taste of traditional Parisian cuisine which was duly dished out by a fellow countryman - or maybe its just that the world is a smaller place these days.