Uncategorized
Room Numbers and Names
Richelieu wing
2nd floor
Room 802 – Rubens and 17th-century Flemish painting
Room 806 – Netherlands, second half of the 16th century
Room 809 – Netherlands, 16th century
Room 811 – Netherlands, first half of the 16th century
Room 822 – 16th-century portrait painters
Room 823 – Cousin and Caron
Room 836 – Holland, second half of the 17th century
Room 845 – Rembrandt
Room 863 – Germany and Russia, first half of the 19th century
Sully wing
2nd floor
Room 911 – 17th-century Parisian decorative paintings
Room 912 – Georges de La Tour / Le Nain brothers 17th Century France
Room 913 – Champaigne
Room 916 – The painters of Louis XIV
Room 917 – Watteau
Room 919 – The painters of Louis XV
Room 920 – Chardin
Room 921 – 18th-century genre painting
Room 927 – Salle Boucher (François) mid-18th Century France
Room 935 – David and his students
Room 940 – Ingres
Denon wing
1st floor
Large-Format 19th Century French Paintings Gallery
Room 75 (702) Salle Daru Neoclassicism, France
Room 76 Salle Denon
Room 77 (700) Salle Mollien Romanticism, France
Room 708 – Salon Carré
Room 709 – Salle des Sept-Mètres
Room 710, 712, 716 – Grande Gallerie
Room 711 – Mona Lisa Room
Room 717 – Salvator Rosa
Room 718 – Murillo
Room 732 – Painting in Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries
Pied du Corchon
https://www.pieddecochon.com/en/menus/
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ezkzpe/i-spent-24-hours-in-a-parisian-brasserie-that-never-closes
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/17/au-pied-de-cochon-restaurant-review-paris
https://www.timeout.com/paris/en/restaurants/au-pied-de-cochon
https://madaboutparis.com/restaurants/au-pied-de-cochon-night-birds-only
10 Special Things You Should Do (in Paris)
One (un)
Visit McDonalds on Rue de Rivoli before visiting Le Louvre
and have a Cafe Alonge, Pan du Chocolate and Jus d’Orange
Ask for a token de Toilet so you can take-a-pee before getting in line at the museum
(this is better than anything that you will consume in Le Louvre)
Two (deuz)
Ride the Velib Paris Bike Share
Paris is best experienced and navigated atop two-wheels
(experience the cobblestones, motorcycles and tiny cars)
Bring your helmet, it bolsters the degree of confidence. . .
(although bringing our yellow biking vest from home distinguished us from the other Paris bikers and we were given a ticket of over $100 – ½ for traveling through a red-light, maybe ½ for fashion faux pas)
Three (trois)
Buy a Paris Museum Pass,
get in line early in the morning
and go to as many museums as you can
Four (quatre)
Visit Maria Calas
Walk down into the Columbarium (Division 87) at Père-Lachaise to visit her remains
OK, her remains were stolen, then relocated
(but it like visiting Marilyn)
Five (cinq)
Climb the stairs up into the Arc de Triomphe (or the Towers of Notre Dame)
The staircase experience is better than the view at the top,
but you will always feel a special relationship to this monument on the Champs-Élysées
Six (six)
Go down into the Metro and use the subway as your primary source of transportation
Seems like you are with more Parisians than tourists (and that is what we look for)
Seven (sept)
Get Lost in Paris. It is so easy, and you will have a good story
This is the best way to see Paris
Eight (huite)
Go See “Lisa”
This is so trite and shallow and not so rewarding
But ya-gotta-see the Mona Lisa
The Salle des Etats is the most crowded room at the Louvre
which is why we are one of the 1st in line and we come here immediately
Then turn around to view the Wedding at Cana, painted by Paolo Veronese,
the largest painting at Le Louvre
Nine (neuf)
Run Paris
Join a MeetUp Group and run Paris with a Group
or go out and run down the streets and through the gardens
For us, there is nothing better than running through the Gardens of Versailles in the Dark early Morning
Ten (dix)
Go to a common Grocery Store and buy the things that you don’t see at home
Eat the Smelliest Cheese that you can find
Buy a loaf of Poilane bread and taste how it is special
Find the largest bottle of cheap Paris grocery store perfume and douse yourself, repeatedly
(as you stretch your wardrobe over 10 days)
This essence of Paris will be with you for some time
Our overriding principal concerning “what to do” is something which avoids the tourism of this highly visited tourist destination. Which means finding a way to avoid the lines, arriving early – before the lines. Go to church (Notre Dame) early. Sunrise Service on Christmas Day
Tour of Pere Lachaise
Maybe the best cemetery in the world
(although I have been to few of them)
Departing from the Metro:
There is a McDonald’s, which I don’t avoid
A Post Office
A Bank Branch
While in the Neighborhood:
And a Found a Bakery Down a Side Street with a formidable Pan d’Epice (Spice Bread)
On the street to the cemetery, I sometimes buy flowers to leave on graves
Abelard and Heloise (The Ancient Lovers)
Enter on the Uphill Side
and theoretically walk down to the lower entry
Bring a Map (the app is frustrating)
Parisians
Gertrude Stein (“Alice Tobias” on the backside)
Frédéric Chopin (Polish Composer)
Musicians and Composers
Maria Callas
Rossini
Jim Morrison (Rock Star)
Edith Piaf (Singer)
Hausman
Louvre Artists
Movies
Recording Artists
Artists
Serate
Baron Antoine-Jean GROS (Division 25)
Gericaut (Raft of the Medusa)
(Modigliani across the street and up the hill)
Performers
Sarah Bernhardt
Marcel Marceau (Mime Artist)
Marcel is the only individual at Pere LaChaise that I’ve seen-in-person
(At the Chicago Opera House)
Writers
Marcel Proust
Oscar Wilde (Author)
Les Cinq Hôtels
This year, we will stay in Five Hotels (Cinq Hôtels) during our time in Paris
We mostly stay at four of the big hotel chains
This is our preference developed over the eight years which we have traveled to Paris
Sofitel, Pullman, Mercure and Novotel
The rooms are clean and consistent
(we have sampled many others)
We stay on the outskirts of the Paris to explore the whole city
(away from major tourism, if you can achieve such a thing in Paris)
The rooms are Big and Affordable
Half the time we have Suites (“separate” bedrooms)
Most of the time, a generous “big-time” hotel breakfast is included
Versailles (outside of Paris in Versailles arrondisement)
Monday, December 23rd -Check-In (2:00)
Wednesday, December 25th -Check-Out (12:00)
Hôtel Le Louis, Versailles Château – McGallery By Sofitel
2 Bix Avenue De Paris, Versailles, Yvelines, 78000 France
Expedia Rating: **** (we rate it 4½)
We always return to this venue and have seen it ebb and flow
Since being acquired by Sofitel, the quality is supreme
We are not so crazy about touring the Palace, but we are impressed by its grand presence, just down the lane from our Hotel.
Most importantly, we can venture out into the morning darkness, when the gate opens and run in the Gardens of Versailles, virtually alone (Not everyone will appreciate this, but for us, it is a highlight of the visit)
If you can judge a hotel by it’s breakfast (which is actually a good indicator) than this is a great hotel
When possible avoid the crowded weekends in Versailles, when the train from Paris is a Zoo
We remember arriving in Versailles, the train doors opened and a rush a people tried to board the train before we could get off the train (terrible mob mentality)
Versailles is closed on Monday
Junior Suite: We paid $250 per night (with Breakfast)
Montmartre 18e
Wednesday, December 25th -Check-In (12:00)
Friday, December 27th -Check-Out (12:00)
Mercure Paris Montmartre Sacre Coeur, Paris
1-3 Rue Caulaincourt, Paris, 75018 France
Expedia Ranking: **** (we rate it 3½, although we love this place)
A reliable and relatively inexpensive favorite in Montmartre
The Privileged Rooms on the upper floors with views are our preferrence
The view of Sacre Coeur forces you to crane your neck, the view of the Eiffel Tower requires that you squint at a blinking light far in the distance.
The windows in the hotel room open (we really like that)
Rue Lepic, Sacre Coeur, Montmartre Cemetery, Moulin Rouge, Pathe! Cinema
Privilege Room with View: We paid $174 per night (No Breakfast – Why Not?)
Bercy 12e
Friday, December 27th -Check In (2:00)
Sunday, December 29th -Check-Out (12:00)
Le Pullman Paris Centre
1 Rue de Libourne, 75012 Paris
We have had mixed results here, even so, we strongly recommend it
(it is like the train, most of the time it is extraordinary, but when there is a problem – there is no one to talk to and they are extremely unresponsive to any problems)
Primo Facility and Staff
Excellent Breakfast Buffet
This is a place which we prefer to stay
Very accessible along the Seine on a bike path or nearby Metro
A Wonderfully Luxurious Hotel, affordable because it is on the periphery
Junior Suite: We paid $289.00 per night (with Breakfast)
La Defense (outside Paris)
Sunday, December 29th -Check In (2:00)
Tuesday, December 31st -Check Out (we will leave mid-morning to airport)
33 Voie des Sculpteurs, Puteaux, Hauts-de-Seine, 92060 France
Expedia Rating: ***** (we also rate it a 5!)
Recently the prices have risen
We always believed this was an bargain, but his may attract an undesirable element
They are frequently slumped on furniture in the front lounge
Recently the breakfast buffet has slumped
(The salmon on the breakfast buffet was a little stinky, the room always has the undertones of the maid staff’s body odor and the desk staff is not well informed)
Even so, we stick-by the Sofitel at La Defense
The windows in the hotel room open (we really like that)
Located in an Exclusively Business District (with very little consumer commerce, except for the train station)
Clean Modern Plaza of Sculptures and La Grande Arche, Overlooking Paris
Classic Room: We paid $200 per night (with Breakfast)
Bagnolet
Tuesday, December 31st -Check-In
Wednesday, January 2nd -Check-Out
Novotel Paris Est, Bagnolet
1 Avenue de la Republique, Bognolet, Seine-Seint-Denis, 93177 France
Expedia Rating: **** (we also rate it a 4)
We stayed in a Suite last year, the price was amazing. For the same price of our favorite Soffitel, we have a room TWICE the size, with a huge bathtub and so many closets that we left some items behind.
(the most annoying thing was that when we switched channels on the remote control, the television in the other room sprang to life – actually this is quite an absurd and luxurious annoyance)
This is the most towering of the hotels, in a suburban district of twisted expressways and parks
It is one metro station away from Pere LaChaise Cemetery and maybe our best chance to find that remarkable out-of-the-way Bistro
Suite: We paid $208 per night (with Breakfast)
Paris Itinerary
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C’est si bon (French Lyrics)
C’est si bon
De partir n’importe où
Bras dessus, bras dessous
En chantant des chansons
C’est si bon
De se dire des mots doux
De petits riens du tout
Mais qui en disent long
En voyant notre mine ravie
Les passants dans la rue nous envient
C’est si bon
De guetter dans ses yeux
Un espoir merveilleux
Qui donne le frisson
C’est si bon
Ces petites sensations
Ça vaut mieux qu’un million
C’est tellement, tellement bon
Mmm, c’est bon
Voilà, c’est bon
Les passants dans la rue
Bras dessus, bras dessous
En chantant des chansons
Quel espoir merveilleux
Mmm, c’est bon
Je cherche un millionnaire
Avec des grands “Cadillac car”
“Mink coats”
Des bijoux jusqu’au cou, tu sais?
Mmm, c’est bon
Cette petites sensations
Ou peut-être quelqu’un
Avec un petit yacht, no?
Ah, c’est bon
C’est bon, c’est bon
Vous savez bien que j’attendrais
Quelqu’un qui pourrait m’apporter
Beaucoup de “loot”
Ce soir? Demain? La semaine prochaine?
N’importe quand
Mmm, c’est bon, si bon
Il sera très. Crazy, no?
Voilà, c’est tellement bon!
Songwriters: Henri Betti / André Hornez
C’Est Si Bon lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Beuscher Arpege
French Music
https://wp.me/P3hvvc-9m
Top 10 Paris Hotels
Our best Hotel experiences are at Major Hotels
(they seem to have all been swallowed-up by Accord)
We like hotels with large clean rooms
A reasonable sized bathroom
Space to move around and maybe even a view
Mercure Paris Montmartre Sacre Coeur, Paris
Hôtel Le Louis, Versailles Château – MGallery By Sofitel
You can judge a hotel by it’s breakfast
Top Notch Breakfast, Well Attended, Spacious, Fresh Food, Replentished
Novotel Paris Est, Bagnolet
Affordable, One Time we got a Suite, With Huge Bathtub and Bathroom
Le Pullman Paris Centre (Bercy)
Very Nice, Slightly Removed
Great Breakfast
Hot Room
Soffitel (La Defense)
Going Down Hill
Used to be a Bargain
Prices Going Up
Breakfast was not impressive, not well attended and stale I fear
Lesser Experiences
Not all hotels of this chain are roomy
Mercure Paris Montparnasse Raspail
Great Location, but cramped (tiny two person elevator)
(I kept bumping into myself in the room)
Slanted Loft Ceiling
Soffitel Arc d’Triomphe (actually a couple streets over from Champs Elysee
Very Tight, but top-notch fixtures and decor
Opened out onto common courtyard and the neighbors were loud
The Pear (Bastille)
Tiny, opened onto noisy French Quarter closed plaza of bars
(I could here programs on bar television)
Tiny Elevator (One Person)
Old Hotel on the Seine
Right down town, on the Seine
Tour Boats Lights came into my room
Shower so small that I feared an accident, breaking through the glass
First Room was large with a window which looked out to brick wall about a foot away
Scarey, like the 1920, not remodeled with heavy patina, afraid to touch anything
(wanted to wipe everything down)
GREAT LOCATION
Montmartre Apartment
(smells coming out of the refrigerator)
Opera Apartment
Nice Kitchette with Old, Well Used Plates and Pans
Pathenon
Cramped, with a Key that you leave in a box on the counter at the desk
Les Tour les Dix les Statuts
Top 10 Paris Statues
King Louis XIV (Versailles)
Statue équestre d’Louis XIV
(only recently placed in this dominant spot)
King Henri IV
Statue équestre d’Henri IV (Pont Neuf)
(Melted Down during Revolution, Restored)
Winged Victory (Nike) of Samarath
Daru Staircase (Louvre)
(Escavated from a buried pile of rubble)
President Thomas Jefferson
(Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor) footbridge over Seine
Statute of Liberty (Scaled Replica) Île aux Cygnes
Statue de la Liberté Paris
Rhinoceros (Musee D’Orsay)
The Kiss (Marble) Rodin
(Outside of L’Orangerie, Original at Musée Rodin
Cardinal Richelieu tomb statue (Sorbonne)
A representation of recumbants and tomb statuary
(Pantheon, Cathedral St. Dennis, Louvre)
Napoleon (Place Vendôme) Napoleon in Classic Greek attire
(torn down by decree of Paris Commune, 1871, subsequently re-erected)
Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss (Louvre)
Venus de Milo (Louvre)
Le Penseur (The Thinker, The Poet)
Musée Rodin (Bronze Cast)
Child Playing with Goose (Louvre)
The Six Continents (Musee D’Orsay)
l’Asie (and elephant)
l’Europe
l’Afrique (and cornicopia)
l’Amérique du Nord
l’Amérique du Sud
l’Océanie(and kangaroo)
Four Captives also known as Four Defeated Nations (Le Louvre)
Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, Brandenburg, and Holland
Marley Horses (Louvre)
Les Tour Dix Fountaines
Maybe 2019 will be the year of touring a fountain each day
Top Ten List of Fountains
Apollo Fountain (Versailes)
Stavinsky Fountain (Centre Pompidou)
Fountain Innoscents (Marais)
St Dennis Fountain
(claimed to be the site where St Dennis stopped after his be-heading to clean-up)
The Saint Michel Fountain (The Left Bank)
Medici Fountain (Jardin du Luxembourg)
Fontaines de la Concorde (Place de la Concorde)
Obelisk of Luxor
(Formerly named Place de la Révolution where many were guillotined,
including King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette
Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons
Fontaine de la Pyramide (Louvre)
Place des Vosges
Paris for the Holidays 