Gare du Nord & Montmartre

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Checked out the Gare du Nord train station to figure things out before we leave on Friday for Amsterdam.  It was easy and cheap to get there by bus. We usually use the bus instead of the Metro because we get to see the city and some of the Metro stations are a confusing maze of walkways, stairs, escalators and even elevators.

Matt Damon. Looks like he landed in the train station.

Who is that photo-journalist?  We decided to go to Montmartre since it was close to Gare du Nord.

Basilica Sacre Cour high on a hill overlooking Paris.

Looking at the Paris rooftops from the steps of Sacre Cour.  Notice the French soldier with his Automatic weapon.  They travel in packs of 3 or 4.  I remember the days when the Nuns provided the church security with their rulers to the knuckles.

We walked down these steps to get to the bus stop.  We were hoping to see Jason Bourne flying down the steps on a motorcycle or driving a small car.  No luck.

Montmartre is a pleasant neighborhood. It feels a bit like Sausalito, just north of San Francisco.

Sacre Cour as seen from the neighborhood.

Back at the River Seine with the Eiffel tower in the distance. 

The Seine.  The blue barge is our dinner destination on Wednesday. Supposed to be tres romantic!

Along the Seine, Shots by Andy

This morning we went back to our old neighborhood near the Sorbonne, where we stayed for a month in 2009. It was nice to be back. We knew our way around, no map required.

This afternoon Andy walked around in our current neighborhood and got some really good shots. –E.

I wanted to see what all the fuss was about the famous bridge that couples put locks on and then throw the key into the Seine, thus ensuring their undying devotion to each other.  Here is the photo.  There are locks hooked onto locks hooked onto locks.  The bridge, pont des Arts, is pedestrian only, partially made out of wood, and was suffering from the weight of the locks.  In the photo, the pink in the background is the bridge.  The locks are now only allowed on the fence leading to the bridge.  In case you forgot to bring one, there are guys there selling locks and pens so you can write your names on the locks.

Autumn in Paris.  Beautiful but not quite New England.  View from Pont des Arts looking at the western tip of Isle le Cite.  The spire in the background is Notre Dame.

Looking east towards the Right Bank.

Houseboat/barges complete with their own mini-forest.

The glass pyramid by I.M. Pei at the Louvre, as seen through an arch.

Street scene along Rue de Rivoli, leaving courtyard at the Louvre.

Detail of Louvre from inside the courtyard.

Forget the map, it just creates false expectations!

The cycle: give up on map, ask someone (mostly pointless), wander, whine, try map again.

. . . but everyday we start out with objectives, some of which we meet. If you try too hard to find something, you miss the little gems that you come upon by chance.

AW. Garbage day in the hood.

AW. Early Sunday morning, searching for open patisserie.

Poodles are out, these guys are in.

Street market.

History of Paris museum.

Impromptu concert.

Saturday at the Pompidou

We decided to go to one major museum, the majorly confusing Pompidou Center. Picture, if you will, that Ikea is a museum, but the escalators are on the outside of the building, and some are not working. Oh, and the sales clerks are French. (You can click to enlarge any photo.)

Me and my posse getting ready to head out. The French can be somewhat stiff.

Near our apartment.

Skyline from the Pompidou Center.

St. Martine Church.

From the Pompidou.

Fifty degrees? Non. Forty degrees? Oui.

So, we were expecting the 50s but infact it's in the 40s. Today I had 3 layers on plus my jacket, tomorrow 4. Oh, and it's cloudy, and sometimes windy. But we march on. We walked to Isle St Louis which in in the Seine. Very nice, quiet . . . chilly.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Isle Saint Louis

Unusual doors, almost everything is perfectly maintained.

Paris has charming shop windows.

The very old, tiny restaurant we we had lunch.

Everybody Dance Now!

. . . ah, 70s disco hits are alive and well in Paris. We were walking down to the Seine when it started to drizzle. So we popped into the busiest cafe we could find (busy is good?) and had a quick dinner, serenaded by American disco music.

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The disco cafe, no dancing though.

Street scene.

French postcards.

Our apartment is over a cafe. We're on the first floor, the one with the potted trees. A patisserie is about 30 steps away and cafe is pretty good, plus the waiters speak English.

Oh Mon Dieu!

Did I really say that I would start blogging today. We have never been so jet lagged. I couldn't sleep at all on the plane. (I know, "Oh, boo hoo Ellen).

So here are just a few shots of the view from the apartment. It's a busy area, meaning that everything is close by, in walking distance, which is great. Also the windows are double? triple? glazed. There is no street noise at all.

Much more later.
E&A

Scenes from 9 Rue Saint Denis.