A Free Man (and Woman) in Paris, Unfettered and Alive . . .

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving! Although we went to bed so early, we slept until 8 am – and felt great! We were lucky and correctly avoided any jet lag. While Mr. Bean was getting ready, I ate my left over sandwich with some Orangina - YUM. We then packed up our stuff to leave in the lobby office (locked but with Mr. Bean grumbling all of the time) and went on our way to see Notre Dame.

When trying to figure out metro stops for this day, I for the life of me couldn't figure out why any route I chose would not have me go from Trocadero to the Cite stop, where the tour book I had started the tour. Instead, it brought me to a stop which was not on the Ile which I didn’t like. I was DETERMINED to find a way to do it and it looked easy on the Metro map. Take line 6, direction Nation, get off at montparnasse-bienvenue; and then Take line 4, direction Porte de Clignancourt, get off at Cite.

Well, let’s just say there’s a reason the metro website does not recommend this way to get to Notre Dame. OH MY GOSH, it was a LONG walk between Line 6 and Line 4 – so long there were many, many moving walkways. The moving walkways though are something we have never seen before. Yes, we’ve been on moving walkways, such as those at airports, etc. But good gosh, these are the fastest ones I’ve ever seen in my life – in fact, they are so fast that you go in three speeds, you walk, then another faster level and then as fast as Flash – it was pretty crazy but we loved it. I think we were going 9-10 km an hour. I have to admit, I was a little nervous with how we were going to get off – it literally slides you off like we were in Risky Business – dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun “Take those old records off the shelf”, um, anyways, I laughed the whole way – you would have thought I was on a Disney ride or something I was giggling so much. So after walking up, down, flying across walkways, around corners, etc. for at least 15 minutes we then got busted. Yep, the metro police were there checking metro tickets. And yep, we still hadn’t gotten our pictures yet because we hadn’t found a photo thing yet. And yep, we did get busted on it by someone who, although VERY cute and nice in his uniform, spoke no English. Although I speak French pretty well, I sometimes have trouble hearing it. But I think it worked for us in this case because we got to use the dumb American ploy. One thing that drove me crazy was the officer asked me when we bought the tix and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember the word for yesterday (hier). I was getting so mad at myself as that is one of the first words you learn in French I in high school for crying out loud. Finally, I gave up and used the date instead. My sadness in French worked well and he marked our tickets, giving us 24 hours to get photos. Phew, no fines. So Gay Expat was right; and we screwed up. Mr. Bean was annoyed with me because he kept saying we needed to get photos; but I wasn’t so worried about it. Oops! What’s even funnier, and what he won’t even know until he reads this report, is that if we had gone the route the metro website recommended, we never would have met up with the police in the first place. But I was bound and determined to find a way to the Cite metro stop.

So after 20 minutes of walking, we got on the metro and got off at the Cite metro Stop. Wala! A photo machine! We were so happy – but we couldn’t figure how to get it work. Instead of a passport like photo, I got a stupid photo of me on the body of a girl in a bikini. It was taking forever to try to figure out and we just got frustrated and gave up. Plus we needed more change as we used it all up for the lovely picture of me on the beaches of Hawaii.

After the debacle with the photo machine, we got to the top and it started to sprinkle; but I had my handy dandy umbrella. Mr. Bean then decided he was hungry. I wasn’t because of the sandwich and was raring to go – guess who won? So we stopped at a café across the street from the Palais de Justice. Mr. Bean had an omelet, I had a croissant (most of which I gave to Mr. Bean as I was still full) and two café au laits. The sum was about 30 E which I thought was highway robbery but whatever. What was fun during breakfast though was watching everyone going to work. I know it’s silly, but we were remembering it was Thanksgiving in the US so everything closes down for the most part. But obviously not in Paris and they were all off to their lives and jobs. Also, I was still lamenting the fact that I couldn’t remember the word for yesterday and a kind (and cute) gentleman at the table next to us reminded me it was “hier”. Thank goodness because I would have literally gone crazy the whole day trying to remember it.

After breakfast, we were then off to Notre Dame. As a side note, I wanted to add here that, before the trip, I warned Mr. Bean that I wanted our Christmas card this year to be a picture of us in France so I would be asking A LOT of people to take our picture as a couple. Mr. Bean hates when I do that on the trip – but then he is always glad when he looks at the picture at home. And he knew on this trip, when I was determined about something, there was no getting me to back down – and this issue was it. And let me tell you, everyone raved about our Christmas card this year. So, I’ll tell you all of the pix we took as a couple, and I’ll let you guess at the end which one

we picked for the card.

Once we got to Notre Dame, I saw a father taking a picture of his wife with five kids. I asked if he wanted me to take a picture of them all together and if he could then take one of Mr. Bean and I. I learned they were from New Jersey, but currently living in Rome for the husband’s work – I was so jealous! We traded pix (COUPLE PICTURE #1) and “Happy Thanksgiving’s”; and then Mr. Bean and I were off to go inside. We had been there before but Mr. Bean wanted to do a podcast from inside and I had a new camera so I wanted new pix. As I was taking pix though, I lost Mr. Bean for about 30 minutes. This continues to be a pattern with us as I take forever to get the “perfect” picture which drives him nuts because he wants the time together. I know he’s right, but I swear it’s a sickness in me!

I finally found him and he wanted to go into the museum part. Of course our museum passes don’t cover that so it was an extra 5E I think to go in – first question – what happened to the crown of thorns? Didn’t it used to be in there? It wasn’t that day which really confused me. Mr. Bean was then bad and got behind the pulpit in the one room and of course I took a couple of photos. Then Mr. Bean lit a candle for his grandmother which he always does whenever we visit a church. We have photos of each time he does this.

We then waited in line for the towers. The museum pass covers this entrance. I was excited and nervous at the same time. You see, last time we went up in 2002, by the time we got to the top, I looked and felt like I was going to die. Mr. Bean was kind enough to take a photo of me miserable. Granted, I loved the view and was happy I did it; but boy was I out of breath and exhausted from the 400+ steps. This time though, as of that time, I had lost 60 pounds (I’m up to 90 pounds lost now); so I thought I would do much better.

And I was right! Even though it was tiring, I was not exhausted, not out of breath, and really happy and proud with myself. So at the top, I had Mr. Bean take a picture of me in the exact spot as last time but this time with a big grin and a thumbs up from me. We also had a picture of the two of us taken with the lovely view. COUPLE PICTURE #2.

There is actually two additional levels to look at and on one level, you can see the home of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I have always loved that story, and especially with the Disney movie adding to the fun, I enjoyed seeing that area immensely. The picture on the left is the door to the Hunchback's home; and I am with the famous bell.

At the end though, we had to wait in line for about 20 minutes before they would let us descend. I still don’t know what took so long. And although it was beautiful, it was starting to get chilly and windy. So we were up on top about an hour.

After we descended, Mr. Bean was hungry again – I don’t know what it is about French food – you are always hungry. Before though, we went into the Notre Dame Crypt which is also included in the museum pass. I believe they found the crypt when they were attempting to build an underground parking lot. I thought it was enlightening and really interesting to see the old streets and buildings, but Mr. Bean got bored quickly and hunger was taking over.

We were going to eat at Le Vieux Bistro - 14 rue du Cloîture Notre Dame, 4e, based upon all of the recommendations from Fodors and Frommers; but it was packed except for one small table by the door and I just wasn’t up to eating in that spot. So another reason to return to Paris. Instead, we ate two doors down on the left if you are facing Vieux Bistro at a place where I don’t remember the name. But it was really good. I had a ½ carafe of red wine, croque monsieur platter and Mr. Bean had orangina and steak frite platter – it came to about 50 E. Thankfully, we had that money with us as their credit card machine was down.

We then made our way over to Sainte Chapelle but it was closed until 2 p.m. So we went across the street to an avocat (lawyer) store where they sold black robes for the attorneys. This is where I first realized that French attorneys, no matter their age, are required to wear black robes with the white frilly piece at the neck. This excited Mr. Bean and I as we are both attorneys ourselves. I wish we had something like that to wear, but no, just boring suits for us. So we went into the store and boy were we met with a cold stare. It was a very small store; and the woman could have burnt a hole into my brain. I explained to her, in French, why we were in there; but she could have cared less. She was the only one though who was not friendly to us on our trip.

So with our tail between our legs, we went two doors down to another café directly across the street from the line into Sainte Chapelle and had wine for me and café au lait for Mr. Bean and waited for them to open. It was very relaxing for only 8 E.

We then got into line when we noticed how slow it was. Because the Palais de Justice (court house) is also there, they have to check everyone with a fine tooth comb to make sure no one was carrying anything dangerous. We finally got to the front right before going through the detector when of course we were the ones stopped. Finally, after about 10 more minutes, we got through. We went into Sainte Chapelle which has A LOT of stained glass windows, as you can see from the pictures. There are two levels, the "paupers" level for their service which of course is the bottom floor, and then the second floor, with all of the glass windows, was for the rich people. Nice to see segregation, even in a church setting. This was another place our museum passes were used.

We first went to Sainte Chapelle. And I probably will be flamed for this, but I wasn’t as excited about it as I was for Notre Dame. Although pretty, it didn’t have that wow factor for me and Mr. Bean agreed.

What was more exciting for us; and what I didn’t realize when deciding to go to Sainte Chapelle, was that we would also be able to see the Palais de Justice, a French courthouse in action. It was really neat seeing all of the attorneys, wearing their robes, going to do their work. We saw some courtrooms and a law library. It was magnificent. I wanted to ask an attorney if I could take my picture with him but Mr. Bean forbid me (he was mortified); and I can’t say I blame him. I wouldn’t want someone to ask me when I was in the middle of work either. I did one sneak picture, however, which I've posted below!

Although I had a lot more on my list of things to do for the day, Mr. Bean decided he was done. He wanted to go back to the hotel, see his room, and rest up for dinner which was going to be our special Thanksgiving dinner.

First though, we went to the flower market at the top of the Cite metro stop to look around. I bet it’s beautiful in the spring and summer. It was okay now and had some Christmas things; but I was surprised that a lot of it looked very American and not very French. I didn’t get anything. We then went back to the Cite Metro stop and saw an old French woman trying to use the photo machine – she was having huge problems too. I felt better knowing it wasn’t because of me being American – it was because the machine was a pain! After she was done, we finally got our pictures figured out and taken. Mine had me with a big cheesy grin on my face; and Mr. Bean’s looks like a criminal with a perma-scowl – that’s the Bean Family!

So we went back and got our room – room #42. I was excited to get this room because it got rave reviews on TripAdviser and boy were they right! We had two windows, both of which you could open wide; and looking to your right, an amazing view of the Tour Eiffel! I was so happy! And even better, Mr. Bean admitted I was right in wanting to move. I have to admit I never thought I would have (or afford) a hotel room with such a nice view. We were so silly about it. I would stand in the far window from the Tour Eiffel, Mr. Bean would stick his head out the near window, and I would take a picture of him with the view; and vice versa. We did this both during the day, and at night with it lit. We also liked the bathroom better because we had a real shower/tub. Still immaculate and very nice.

After resting, we got ready, dressing nice for Thanksgiving dinner – French style. We were going to Le Train Bleu, based upon recommendations from Fodors. I even put on heels for the dinner! This ended up being a mistake later on as you will see shortly.

We took the metro to Gare de Lyon where Le Train Bleu is located. After we walked down the steps to the metro, because of the combination of my heels and the wet concrete from the rain, I took a header. Well, really I took a knee-er, as my left foot went straight out in front and I went down hard on my right knee (and boy did I get a souvenir bruise for the trip!). Mr. Bean was so shocked he didn’t help and a kind stranger did. Talk about embarrassing! Mr. Bean was actually recording at that time; so I personally think he didn’t want to help because he thought it would make good radio! So then I was limping my way to the metro.

We then got on the line; and boy was it packed – rush hour, everyone going home from work. And there was this guy packed close to us who was crazy and kept bumping into me – I kept giggling because I couldn’t believe it. Then, this guy had this HUGE sneeze right on me! This other woman made eye contact with me and rolled her eyes – one of the many reasons I love the metro!

So we got off at our stop and went to the restaurant. One of the many interesting things about Le Train Bleu is that it’s in the train station and it’s a really fancy restaurant. Once you go up the stairs to go there, before you go in, turn around and look at the view. It’s amazing how huge the station is and is really pretty. I wish we had train stations like that in the United States. We went in and boy, it’s like another world. It’s like a museum with the paintings and gilt on the walls and ceiling – it’s just gorgeous. We had made a reservation; and I would recommend you doing so as well.

We were seated at a nice table and could tell a big group was going to be next to us. As the tables were close, I was a bit concerned about them being too loud. I couldn’t have been more wrong and they were lovely. They were from Boston, Rhode Island and Belgium and they all met in Paris to celebrate one of their birthdays. I took a picture of their group; and when Mr. Bean went to the restroom, they were kind enough to keep me entertained.

We had a wonderful meal. I had red wine, Chicken liver pastries with spicy morel mushroom sauce and roquette salad for an appetizer and Roast leg of lamb, Fourme d’Ambert blue-cheese potato gratin for an entrée. Now if you like lamb, you must get this entrée as they make it a big production and carve it at your table. I took a picture of them carving it which you can see here. And the blue–cheese potato gratin was to die for! Mr. Bean kept stealing mine! Mr. Bean had a dozen escargot for an appetizer; and Grilled filet of beef in béarnaise sauce with early green beans and tender potatos for an entrée. He also enjoyed his meal immensely but liked my potatoes better. The one thing they didn’t have a great selection of, in my opinion, were desserts. We decided to forgo getting dessert and get some later. The meal came to 118E which I thought it was well worth.

After we ate, we took a tour of the facilities and saw the bar area. It was not only beautiful but comfortable as well with leather couches and chairs and they even had their own mascot – a cute calico cat! I of course had to take another picture.


After dinner, it was about 8 p.m. and we didn’t want to go straight back to the room. We first thought we would go to the Bastille, but I honestly wasn’t sure how to get there from the metro stop so we decided to go to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees instead. We got to the Arc and just made it before it closed. We used our museum passes to get in and started walking up the steps. Now this was crazy for three reasons: (1) I was wearing heels; (2) my knee still hurt from my earlier embarrassing stumble; and (3) we were both stuffed from our dinner. So, I didn’t do this climb in the happy go lucky way I did that morning’s Notre Dame Tower climb. This time, I was huffing and complaining. We got to the top 200 + steps later; but it was tough, I admit. Note to self: no climbing on a full stomach and with heels. We looked at the beautiful view – it was both of our first time being on the top of the Arc at night – we’ve only done it during the day before. Once again, I was being a fanatic with the camera, taking a million pix to get the “perfect” one which was driving Mr. Bean crazy who was trying to be romantic. Oops. Afterward, we walked back down. We were going to walk on the Champs Elysee, but my feet were tired so we went back to the room again.

Once we were back in our room, we then took pictures of each other sticking our heads out of the window and the Tour Eiffel in the background. It worked out perfectly because there were two windows. The one taking the picture was in the window the farthest from the Tour Eiffel; and the other would stick their head out of the closest window. Never in the U.S. would we be able to stick out of the windows like that in a hotel! Afterwards, we then watched some French television – a reality show which was a cross between American Idol and Big Brother – I loved it! And we went fast asleep at about 10 p.m. Another lovely day and a lovely Thanksgiving in Paris.