There's an App for that!

Greetings from Paris everyone!

What a crazy weather day. You would think we were in Southern Oregon! We had wind, rain, sun and cold. After a crazy rain and wind storm this afternoon (during our nap) the skies became completely clear for the first time since we arrived and the temperatures plummeted. It was worth it to see the full moon rising over Notre Dame tonight!

So getting around any big city can be a challenge. Taxi’s are expensive and buses – well, we’ve found them to not be too user friendly. You never know what stop you’re at as they aren’t labeled anywhere. On the other hand, there’s the subway system. The Tube/Underground in London and the Metro in Paris have been a life saver. And YES, there’s an App for that! Before leaving home, Rich downloaded two Apps to his iPhone that have been indispensable. The Apps are simply named Underground and Metro. They have a built in map of their respective subway system, but more importantly, the App will create the best route from one station to another without needing access to the Internet (important for keeping data roaming charges down). All we need is a map that shows the subway stations. In the App, we pick the station where we are starting as well as our destination station, and VOILA! The App creates a route including station names and transfers. It’s been awesome and has made traveling around these metropolitan cities very easy.

So, what did we do today, you ask? We started our day at the Rodin museum. It was an indoor/outdoor museum with many of his sculptures located in the gardens around the old Hotel Biron that houses his other works. The works of Rodin our fascinating and the collection was just the right size for a morning visit. The very first statue on the tour is the famous The Thinker. It sits high on a pedestal with the top of the Eiffel Tower showing behind him.

Next, we walked next door to view the Military museum where Napoleon’s tomb is housed. The building is another gorgeous structure with a huge golden dome. From there, we walked to the Alexander Bridge which has four huge columns, two at each end with statues and gorgeous ornamentation.

While we were at the bridge six police vans and policeman went flying by us. Since sirens are pretty common every day, we didn’t think too much of it. But as we walked further, we could hear what sounded like gun shots, cheering, and loud voices on a PA system. Will noticed it first and realized it sounded like some kind of demonstration. Just down the river from us was one of the government buildings and a hospital. Being the “ambulance chaser” he is at heart, Will set out at a fast pace toward the commotion. Sure enough, when we arrived, we found a full-fledged protest in progress. Most of the protesters were in hospital scrubs and one of the signs had the French word for hospital on it. From what we could tell it was some sort of strike or protest by the hospital workers. What was different was the tone of activism that permeated the area. The police had created a line across the street with their bodies, riot shields, and vehicles. They didn’t let us linger very long before they asked to leave. Just another action packed vacation day for Rich and Will.

We got back on track, walked by the Grand and Petite Palaces, now art museums, but built for the World’s Fair just as the Eiffel Tower was. A stroll up the Champs Elysees led us to lunch and watching people go by on the Champs Elysees.

A quick Metro ride got us to Saint Chappell, a gorgeous cathedral close to Notre Dame, but the line was quite long, so we headed to Notre Dame. We were soon inside the gorgeous cathedral gawking at the amazing architecture and beautiful statues. We discovered that there would be a concert of Gregorian Chants tonight. Now, we’re not huge Gregorian Chant fans, but the thought of hearing a concert in Notre Dame was intriguing. So, we bought tickets with plans to return later this evening.

After a nap during the wild rain storm (timing is everything), we headed to dinner in Little Athens. We ate at a French restaurant and ordered Boeuf Bourguignon, our first. We’re not sure it was up to Julia Child’s standard, but it was still yummy. We have been surprised at the popularity of frites or french fries in France. We had assumed that they were pretty American. We have been served frites with almost every dinner, especially the French meals. This is in addition to the obligatory baguette.

We returned to Notre Dame for the concert. Gregorian Chants are completely acapella, so all that is heard are the singers’ voices. Notre Dame amplifies the voices naturally and the sound travels throughout the cathedral. There are no bad seats, despite the massiveness of the space. The voices tonight were outstanding and very pure. They demonstrated the acoustics by walking throughout the cathedral for several of the numbers. It was beautiful. We could hear them clearly no matter where they were singing. It was quite an experience.

Another gelato after the concert, photos of the full moon over Notre Dame, and we’re ready for bed. Just two more days, and way too much to do and see. Thanks for keeping up with us and for all the positive feedback on the blog.

Bonsoir!
Rich & Will