Day Forty
Paris
16 September 2007 22:45

With the intention of seeing a lot of monuments since they were free, we set out early (for Paris).  We headed to the largerof the two islands and went straight to the old prison, The Conciergerie.  A large group of American tourists were standing around decididing it it was worth the entry fee; we just walked in.  If we had paid it would not have been worth it.

Even though the Conciergerie has a lot of historical value the place is empty so there’s nothing to see.  Nearby is Saint Chapelle and the Palais de Justice.  Both are closed but only for this weekend — what a gyp!

We headed into Notre Dame, a mass was in progress and even though we’re not religious the atmosphere is kind of cool.  The treasury, where Christ’s crown of thorns is stored was closed and for some reason the Crypt was still charging.  We didn’t bother going in.

Next we made our way to Champs Elysee where we bought Disneyland tickets and then had lunch.  We walked down to Place de la Concorde where I tried a second time to get some good photos.  The two large fountains seem not to like me as thy cycle between on and off and only seemed to go off as I walked towards them and off as I walked away.

Heading into Jardin de Tuileries (a garden near the Louvre), people were sunbaking near the large fountains.  A large concert band was plaing right on the edge of a tiny lake.  They had two encores, the first where they had stared packing up; they played the same song as the encore — weird.

As Chapelle Expiatoire was close by we strolled there (it was free too).  Small and not well kept, it was where Louis 16th and Marie Antoinette were originally buried.  Since the only guided tours were in French, we were left to our own devices.  It’s nice, but only if you’re in the area and interested in French history.

The last destination for the day — Basilique de Saint-Denis — was off our street map but wasy to find from the Metro.  The 15 or so stations we traveled were all underground.  The Basilica’s style is very similar to the Notre Dame, just a lot smaller.  There are dozens of French royalty burned there (Louis 16th and Marie Antoinette are both now there) and it was almost empty which was a change.

We took the Metro home — I love many of the Parisian Metro stations, they look like Jules Verne or other 19th centry visions of what subways might have been like — but not before taking a detour to Montmatre.

As we exited the station an man selling lollies at a stand kept yelling “Taste! Taste!“  to us and others .  We did and had the most sour lollies we’ve ever had.  So we bought half a kilo.  We walked to the Moulin Rouge through the red light district and behind us were firemen breaking into a 5th or 6th floor apartment.  We we weren’t sure.  We stopped in at Sacre Couer as the sun set to take some photos and finally took the Metro home.

Dinner was tajine in a small restaurant nearby and it was really good.

Last night, we watched Moulin Rouge. Normally, I wouldn’t watch this sort of film since I’m not really a big fan of musicals. However, a few days earlier I happened across a few short snippets and thought, stylistically, the film looked interesting.

Coming out the other end, I’m glad I watched it but am not in any major hurry to revisit. Mainly, the sappy love songs are not what interests me and it took a bit of an effort to sit through some of them. I could tell they were “clever” with their use of other songs but didn’t really grab me in any way.

What I did like though, were some of the early scenes, like Christian’s “discovery” of absinthe (the green fairy was an interesting appearance, not because of the “actor”, but because of one absinthe’s many names was the green fairy) and the scene where the play’s story is first written (and told to the Duke). Had the film kept up with the lighthearted music video style I probably would have probably enjoyed it more.

Not bad, but not really my cup of tea.