7/2/97

I missed my breakfast. I took a cup of coffee at the Mc Donald’s just opposite of the railway station Gare du Nord. The next step was going by subway to Monte Parnasse. Exiting the subway station I saw beautiful wall paintings. I was lucky taking the stairways otherwise I hadn’t see these paintings. On street level you could see house from the early days. I walked towards Montmartre. Artists were making paintings of people who were visiting Montmartre. One guy approached me to make a painting of me. I refused my intentions were just to have a look. I visited the near by Eglise St. Pierre. After the visit to St. Pierre I continued my journey to the Sacre Coeur. No video allowed within the Sacre Coeur. They didn’t sell any videotape of the inside of the church so that was a mystery to me. I took a look a the Crypte and the Dome. The Dome is famous because of its magnificent view. Due to the fact that it was a little bit foggy, I couldn’t see very far. The Eiffel tower was in sight. The climb up took a lot off steps (one-way). I noticed a lot of police at the Sacre Coeur. In Holland you see them but not in this numbers. Walking down the hill I took a baguette (French Bread) which I ate at the foot of the hill. I went by subway to the Notre Dame. No video restrictions over here (only silence). I looked around and didn’t visit the treasury chamber (entrance fee 15FFR). After my visit I went into the "Cartier Latin" (Latin Quarter), to visit the "Jardin du Luxembourg". Halfway I visited the local Mc Donald’s. It was decorated in the same style as the other building in the quarter. The place were you could sit down and eat your meal was decorated with books (fake). It looked very nice just like a library. Let’s go to the gardens. After arriving at the gardens I found out that they were closed. So I had to walk around them. Then you notice really how big they are. I took the subway to the Champs Elysee. Visited the Chicago Pizza Factory again tasting a different pizza a pizza express with mushrooms. I had a Harvey Wallbanger cocktail up front. As desert brownies with ice cream. This was just a delicious combination. Back to the hotel by subway.

8/2/97

Breakfast at 9.30. It’s a typical French breakfast containing a cup of coffee with milk, a croissant and a fresh bread small with butter and jam. The French are using ordinary milk for their coffee. So because I drink my coffee black, I had also a cup off warm milk. After breakfast I went by subway to the Louvre museum. The exit of the subway station is also an entrance of the museum. At the entrance there is a luggage check. Even an armed security person with a metal detector was present. This probably due to the last bombing events in Paris. All trashcans in the subway system are sealed. So you have to take your litter outside. A precaution to prevent the placing of bombs in trash cans. The Louvre museum is very large. I saw only a small part of it. I saw the famous picture of Mona Lisa. I thought I would be much bigger painting. It’s a relative small painting comparing it to the other paintings in the same room. After more than two hours walking around the museum, I left and took a look at the outside of the Louvre museum. Because I arrived by subway, I didn’t see the exterior of the museum. It was bigger than I expected. A glass pyramid covers the underground entrance. If you want you can spent more than one day at the Louvre. It covers history from Greek to Egyptian and of course French’s paintings and sculptures. I walked along the river Seine in the direction of the "Centre Pompidou". I took a baguette with cheese and tomato for lunch. Because of the very mild weather I ate my lunch in a park nearby. Next to the "Centre Pompidou", actually they call it "beauborg", because they don’t like to call it after a diseased person. The former president of France Pompidou created this building to mark his name in history. The collection in the museum contains modern art. I saw some really awful things. Fine, everybody has a different taste. I decided not to see any of the expositions. In stead I went by escalator to the top floor. The escalators are situated outside the building and are inside glass tubes. So travelling up gives you a view of the building opposite to the "Centre Pompidou". The terrace just closed when I arrived. So I had to drink my beer inside. This was pity because the sun was shining. It felt really good to sit down after a long walking experience. Looking down the building I could see a pond with modern art placed into it. Object spouting water in different ways. It’s really nice to see something different than the regular ponds. I continued my journey by subway to "La Defense". That’s what I thought. I had a subway card "Visite Paris" which covered 3 zones. Unlucky for me "La Defense" was further than I could travel with my subway card. So I had to get off at Port Maillot. The distance to La Defense was only three subway stations away. I decided to walk. When I came back to surface, I could see the Arche de La Defense. Eyesight can be deceiving. The walk to the La Defense area took a long time. It’s located on the outer skirts of Paris; you have to cross the Perferique (Beltway around Paris). Finally I arrived and saw that it was possible to go to the top. Which I did. At the top there was more than a lovely view of Paris. A gallery was held at the top level. So you could enjoy a gallery of art also. Back down I went to the Mc Donald’s to get some refreshments. They way back by foot was heavy. I was thinking about taking the subway, which means to pay for the zone’s which didn’t the subway card cover. Due to the fact that I don’t understand French very well I walked back to the subway station in the zone in which I left the subway earlier. A guy who entered the subway station a few minutes before me was lying on the stairs. Apparently he fell down the stairs; he was bleeding out of his mouth. People were assisting him already and paramedics were on their way. I took the subway to M1 Chatelay changed to the 4 to Gare du Nord. I saw earlier that morning that there was a Mexican restaurant in the neighbourhood of Gare du Nord. So I decided to eat over there. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed when I arrived. In stead I went to a Pizza restaurant nearby. I ordered Pizza di Parma and a bottle of Lambrusco. As desert chocolate mouse (Tiramisu was on the menu but not available). I finished with coffee. After this exiting day I went to bed.

9/2/97

The last day in Paris i visited Hotel Des Invalide and Place de la Concorde. At 16.00 hours back to the Gare Du Nord to fetch the Thalys to Amsterdam Central Station.