May 22 - Bienvenue a Paris!
Day 1 begins with a red-eye flight on British Airways from Toronto to London, changeover in London, and then into Paris. Flight uneventful - watched Mystic River on the way in (good movie) which didn't allow for much sleep unfortunately. Does anyone else feel paranoid about being in the window seat of an airplane and worrying about waking or disturbing the aisle seat passengers to go to the bathroom? It's as bad as a roadtrip - have to time the bathroom breaks to minimize disruption to the other passengers. I always pray they don't go to sleep just when I need to go!
Anyway, not worth talking about the trip in except the annoying French travel nuisances. Namely:
1. WHY is there only 1 customs officer when there is a line up of 200 people getting off the plane?
2. WHY doesn't the metro automated ticket machine at the airport accept foreign credit cards or dollar bills? Honestly, how many tourists carry 20 euros in coins right when they get off the plane? All it means is that all 200 airplane passengers then have to line up at the friggin' metro office to buy a ticket into the city.
3. WHY do all the trains/metros have huge gaps between the platform and the steps, and then at least 1 or 2 steps up and down from the train? Why even bother putting a train in from the airport in that case? Does everyone who travels on the train carry no luggage?
4. WHY wouldn't the stupid metro let me out when I put my ticket in the exit machine? I was panicking, calling Min and then actually calling the subway people and trying to explain, in French, that I was trapped in the metro and couldn't get out. Finally I figured out there was a little gate behind me that looked closed but actually just pushed open. Thanks for the signs, French guys!!!
5. WHY did I think it would be fun to go to Paris after the red-eye, with all my luggage, and go sightseeing? Why why why?
OK. So after all that, the rest of the day was really great. I was still pretty awake by the time I made my way to the Musee d'Orsay, which, for the record, is like 100 times better than the Louvre. It's got mainly impressionist and renaissance paintings (I think) - at least, all my faves are there - Renoir, Cezanne, Degas, Monet...and some amazing marble sculptures too. I can't talk intelligently about the paintings, so I won't even try. Suffice to say, it was breathtaking and inspiring - and my favourite, which doesn't seem to be among the top 10 most universally popular, was called "The Dance Rehearsal". It's shown below, along with some other of my favourites.
Just walking to the d'Orsay was great. I got off on the other side of the Seine, and walked through the jardins (gardens) Tuileries, and saw the Place de la Concorde, and crossed one of the ponts (bridges), and saw Notre Dame, and....it was a great "welcome back to France" walk.
And then afterwards I had some spare time (although was dead on my feet at that point) so made my way back to the train station, went to the nearby Jardin des Plantes (pic below for Min's benefit - see, nothing much Min) and finally dragged myself and all my luggage onto the train bound for Lyon.
In Lyon, after a classic mis-encounter (Min was on the platform and I was in the basement) I finally found my long-lost friend and travel buddy, where Min greeted me in proper French fashion with bisses (bis is short for bisous - French greetings via kisses) on both cheeks. She and her colleague whom she was vacationing with in Lyon kindly took jet-lagged little me back to her friend's parents home where they wined and dined me with classic Lyon cooking and I finally got some sleep.
Anyway, not worth talking about the trip in except the annoying French travel nuisances. Namely:
1. WHY is there only 1 customs officer when there is a line up of 200 people getting off the plane?
2. WHY doesn't the metro automated ticket machine at the airport accept foreign credit cards or dollar bills? Honestly, how many tourists carry 20 euros in coins right when they get off the plane? All it means is that all 200 airplane passengers then have to line up at the friggin' metro office to buy a ticket into the city.
3. WHY do all the trains/metros have huge gaps between the platform and the steps, and then at least 1 or 2 steps up and down from the train? Why even bother putting a train in from the airport in that case? Does everyone who travels on the train carry no luggage?
4. WHY wouldn't the stupid metro let me out when I put my ticket in the exit machine? I was panicking, calling Min and then actually calling the subway people and trying to explain, in French, that I was trapped in the metro and couldn't get out. Finally I figured out there was a little gate behind me that looked closed but actually just pushed open. Thanks for the signs, French guys!!!
5. WHY did I think it would be fun to go to Paris after the red-eye, with all my luggage, and go sightseeing? Why why why?
OK. So after all that, the rest of the day was really great. I was still pretty awake by the time I made my way to the Musee d'Orsay, which, for the record, is like 100 times better than the Louvre. It's got mainly impressionist and renaissance paintings (I think) - at least, all my faves are there - Renoir, Cezanne, Degas, Monet...and some amazing marble sculptures too. I can't talk intelligently about the paintings, so I won't even try. Suffice to say, it was breathtaking and inspiring - and my favourite, which doesn't seem to be among the top 10 most universally popular, was called "The Dance Rehearsal". It's shown below, along with some other of my favourites.
Just walking to the d'Orsay was great. I got off on the other side of the Seine, and walked through the jardins (gardens) Tuileries, and saw the Place de la Concorde, and crossed one of the ponts (bridges), and saw Notre Dame, and....it was a great "welcome back to France" walk.
And then afterwards I had some spare time (although was dead on my feet at that point) so made my way back to the train station, went to the nearby Jardin des Plantes (pic below for Min's benefit - see, nothing much Min) and finally dragged myself and all my luggage onto the train bound for Lyon.
In Lyon, after a classic mis-encounter (Min was on the platform and I was in the basement) I finally found my long-lost friend and travel buddy, where Min greeted me in proper French fashion with bisses (bis is short for bisous - French greetings via kisses) on both cheeks. She and her colleague whom she was vacationing with in Lyon kindly took jet-lagged little me back to her friend's parents home where they wined and dined me with classic Lyon cooking and I finally got some sleep.
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