1982 Paris, France (7/25/1982)

Sunday, July 25, 1982

We had ordered breakfast for 7:30, but it didn’t come until 7:50. We gulped down the tea and one roll with butter, and put the rest of the rolls in the food bag, so that we could check out at 8:00. Outside a huge market was set up, and we walked straight through it to the train station to catch the 8:15 train to Paris, arriving at 11:18. In the station there were lines everywhere; for youth info, tourist info, and money exchange. There was a board listing hotels and prices so we got an idea of the costs. Walked outside of Gare du Nord and started hotel hunting. The first two hotels did not have any double rooms, but the third did for 112 FF/$16.70. We took the room and although it was only 11:30, we were allowed in the room to leave our bags. We had come in the rear door of Hotel Albert 1er. As we left through the front door, the desk clerk gave us a map of Paris.
We walked the short couple of blocks to the Gare de l’Est to check train schedules. Bought a 2-day tourist pass for the Metro for 40 FF/$6 and used it to go to the Palais Royal station, from where we went to Le Louvre. A crowd of people were waiting to get in, and they were let in in small bunches. Finally it was our turn, and we made a beeline for La Joconde (the Mona Lisa, 1503-1506, by Leonardo da Vinci), who behind her glaring/reflective protective glass smiled benignly and kept an eye on everyone. Winged Victory of Samothrace (2C BCE) and Venus de Milo (c. 100 BCE) were the major works to see. It was so crowded because Sunday is a free day at the art museum.

Outside there were a lot of toy (wind-up flying birds), jewelry, and art vendors. We headed to Jeu de Paume, but found our way blocked by a police cordon lining the major road around the Louvre end of Tuileries Gardens. Bicycles with pacers on mopeds zoomed by. We returned to the Palais Royal Metro station and Sue pointed out a Paris Metro T-shirt that I bought for 45 FF/$6.70.

Took the Metro to the Bastille to see the Colonne de Juillet/July Column (1835-1840) with the gilded statue of Génie de la Liberté/Spirit of Freedom by Auguste Dumont. Walked to Place des Vosges with its 17C arcaded façades and the Victor Hugo Museum, free today, to see all the sketches and paintings, knick knacks, etc.

Victor Hugo Museum ticket

Next to Carnavalet Museum to see old Paris objects, Louis period rooms, and Marie Antoinette’s locket of hair.

Carnavalet Museum ticket

Napoleon’s glove was in the only closed section of the building, which was in the form of a cross in a square so that you toured in figure eights.

Took the Metro form the St Paul’s station to the Franklin D Roosevelt stop and came up by a McDonald’s. But Sue wanted a Frenchier place for lunch! Because of the crowds lining Avenue des Champs-Élysées, we had to cross underground. We were looking for a place that served omelettes and ended up at the New Store Restaurant. We went to sit down, and were told to go further back if we wanted to eat. The waitress at the bar sent us further back and we sat near a fish tank. A snotty waitress gave us menus in English and made us point at the item we wanted. Another waitress came to help with translation, but she only spoke French. So we just ordered in French, two cheese omelettes with tea and limonade. With 15% service, the bill came to 56.80 FF/$8.50.

We worked our way through the crowds and shuffled through a bottleneck caused by a sidewalk café that extended almost to the street which was blocked. Vendors were selling foot-long bicycles. (NB. This was day of the final leg of the Tour de France!)

From FDR, we went one stop and changed to go to the Varenne station, and walked to visit the Rodin Museum which was half price today at 4 FF/60 cents.

Rodin Museum ticket

Saw Le Penseur/the Thinker (1902) and the variety of sculptures by Auguste Rodin. Walked around L'Hôtel national des Invalides/the National Residence of the Invalids (1670-1676), a hospital and home for war veterans. We saw one of the residents tooling along in his power wheelchair. Passed the Panthéon (1758-1790), a mausoleum for French notables, notably Napoléon Bonaparte.

Found the La Tour Maubourg station to take the Metro to Concorde where we came up in the Place de la Concorde, which was being cleared of barricades and traffic was coming through. This time we got to the Jeu de Paume Museum, but it was closed for restoration.

From Concorde we metro-ed to Charles de Gaulle-Étoile to walk around the Arc de Triomphe (1830s). Took the Metro to Bir-Hakeim and walked along the Seine River to the Tour Eiffel (1889). One elevator had just shut down at 18:30, as we got in line for the east pillar elevator. Paid 26 FF/$4 to take the incline elevator to the second level, and you actually had to go down a landing to wait for the elevator to the third level.  We were told there was an hour wait, but we had a 15-minute wait. Halfway up this section we had to change elevators by walking right from one into the other. Made it to the third level by 19:30, for a fine but grey view of the city, and picked out landmarks with the help of labeled photographs. We discovered stairs to a 4th level. Eventually made our way back down, and waiting for the elevator to go down took almost as long as to come up!

We went to the Champs de Mars Réseau Express Régional/Regional Express Network (RER) station to get a train along the Seine to Pont St Michel. St Michel Place was a lively place with fountains, street musicians, and crowds of people. Walked along Rue de la Harpe which was full of little restaurants, then to Rue St Séverin to the Restaurant Vieille Paris for paella alicante and couscous poulet which was to take 20 minutes to make, but took a half hour. The paella came in a skillet and what little rice there was cooked to a hard crunchiness, but it included a quarter chicken, 2 crayfish, several shrimp and pieces of squid, a few mussels and a couple mystery meats. The couscous came in a separate dish with a bowl of vegetable stew (celery, turnip, carrot, chick peas) and a grilled half-chicken, plus a teensy pot of hot sauce. There was a basket of bread that we didn’t touch. The total bill with 15% service charge came to 96.60 FF and we left a 100 FF/$15 bill because the waiter was so much friendlier than the waitress at lunch. We were too stuffed to get dessert at a crêperie like we had planned. At the restaurant across the street they were roasting a whole pig.

Wandered in Place St Michel to listen (because we couldn’t see) the street musicians, then caught the Metro from St Michel to Gare de l’Est back to the hotel. Passed hundreds of single guys with gym bags headed to the station.
[I was in Paris in 1979 and 1980.]