For the final leg of this trip, we spent four more action-packed days exploring Paris. We stayed at a different hotel this time, in the Latin Quarter/5th Arrondissement. First up on Saturday morning was checking out the recently restored Notre Dame cathedral, just a short stroll from our hotel.
I very distinctly remember watching the news in horror on April 15th 2019 and seeing a clip of the cathedral engulfed in flames. It took over 5 years, a team of 1000 workers and artisans, and $928 million to restore it to its former glory. In most cases, the artisans attempted to use the same materials as those of the original construction. The roof was rebuilt using 100-year-old oak trees, for example. Restoration is mostly complete but still ongoing for the spire. The building re-opened to the public in December 2024.
The stained glass windows survived the fire but suffered smoke and heat damage. They have been cleaned and look more vibrant than ever. In fact the whole interior of the church was cleaned by the preservation team during the restoration. They removed centuries of soot and dirt and the walls are almost sparklingly white. I know it had to be done, but to be honest I find it too glaring and pristine now. Sort of like an 800-year-old lady that had a facelift to look like a ten-year-old. It just looks too new!
We walked over to the Île Saint-Louis for lunch at a very nice brasserie, then strolled back to get in line for our timed afternoon entry to the Sainte-Chappelle. Like Notre Dame, this beautiful chapel was built in the Gothic style. This church was used primarily by the French King and his court so it has a smaller, more intimate feel.
There are two levels for worship. The lower chapel with the painted starry sky was used by the palace staff and servants. The upper chapel was strictly for the king and royal family, along with his guests and noble courtiers. Sainte-Chapelle was completed about 100 years after Notre Dame, and gothic technology had advanced by that time to allow larger windows to let in more light. I've always thought this church was the prettiest one in Paris - the soaring ceiling and rays of colored light give it a delicate ethereal feeling unlike any of the others.
We dedicated Sunday to the Impressionists, starting out at the Musée d'Orsay. This railway station-turned-museum offers the most complete collection of Impressionist art. It's the second most-visited museum in Paris, after the Louvre. We had tickets for the 9:30am time slot and were glad to get to the Impressionist gallery early before the crowds.
We spent several hours wandering the floors of the museum, then had a very nice lunch in the beautiful restaurant that looked like an elegant Belle Epoque ballroom.
In the afternoon we spent some time with Monet's large-scale water lily paintings at the Orangerie museum. During his time in Giverny, Monet became devoted to capturing the water lilies in his garden in various lights and from many angles. He gave eight enormous multi-paneled paintings to the people of France and during the last few years of his life he helped an architect design and arrange these oval-shaped rooms to display them.
In the evening on Sunday we stopped into the Église St-Eustache to hear an organ concert that included Ravel's "Tomb of Couperin" and Saint-Saëns "Danse Macabre". St. Eustache is one of my favorite churches in Paris, mostly because we walked past it almost daily when we were here during the summer of 2011, so it has a special place in my heart. Notice how dark the walls are -- this is from centuries of candle soot and incense smoke, and it looks similar to how the walls of Notre Dame used to look before they were restored. I prefer a church that's not afraid to show its age.
Since we were in our old neighborhood we decided to take Delaine on a stroll up Rue Montorgueil, the pedestrian-only street where our 2011 apartment was located. I still think it's one of the most vibrant areas of the city.
Monet painted his version of the Rue Montorgueil in 1878, festooned with French tricolor flags. It's hanging in the Musée d'Orsay, of course.
It was raining on Monday morning when we headed over to the Louvre museum. Even though we had tickets for right when it opened, we still had to fight the crowds to see the famous Mona Lisa. This is about as close as we got.
For my taste I prefer Leonardo da Vinci's La Belle Ferronnière. I think it's a more interesting painting (like, "what is she looking at?!") and also it's no problem to get right up close to it.
One of my other favorite works (Johannes Vermeer's The Lacemaker) was upstairs in the Dutch gallery. After the chaos of the Italian galleries this room was not only an oasis of calm, it was completely empty when we got there!
After lunch at the museum cafe, we toured the Napoleon apartments. In this case the Napoleon in question was not the short warmongering guy with the funny hat but the other one: Napoleon III (a.k.a. that guy's nephew), who ruled France from 1852 to 1870. Napoleon III and his wife Eugénie lived in the nearby Tuileries Palace but used these lavish Louvre apartments for state receptions, meetings, and functions during his reign.
By the afternoon, the weather had cleared up so we walked up the hill from our hotel to the Panthéon and went inside for a look around. This monument was completed just before the French Revolution. It was intended as a church but is now a mausoleum for the greatest citizens of France.
We took a breather and enjoyed sitting on a bench in the sunshine with a view of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont church and a statue of playwright Pierre Corneille.
Tuesday was our last day for seeing the sights in Paris. We started early with a visit to one of the city's prettiest squares -- the Place des Vosges.
The writer Victor Hugo lived in one of these houses for a time, and his residence has been turned into a museum. I know tastes have really changed since the 1860s, but Hugo's house sure had a lot going on pattern-wise. Every room was a gloomy mishmash of somber colors, clashing carpet, and aggressive wallpapers. I can't imagine getting anything done in a house like this, let alone writing a literary masterpiece or two.
I guess we did miss cruising a little bit because we headed over to the Port de l'Arsenal to take a cruise on the St. Martin Canal. This historic shipping canal leads from the Seine to the River Ourcq just north of Paris. Napoleon I (yep, that one) had it constructed in the early 1800s. Decades later when the city was redesigned by Baron Haussmann and Napoleon III (nope, the other one), the canal was covered over to make room for wider tree-lined boulevards. The tunnels are lit by skylights so that they could navigate without gas or torches (remember this was years before the advent of electric lighting).
Once through the tunnel section, the boat emerges into a series of locks. It's quite a spectacle to watch the water rush through the little openings in the lock doors while the boat is raised.
The canal runs through a pretty neighborhood and the walking path on either side of the canal is lined by huge mature trees.
Our canal tour let us out at the Quai de Valmy and from there we took an Uber to the Rodin Museum where we had lunch at the cafe and then walked around the house and garden, thoughtfully.
From there we walked over to the Hôtel des Invalides. This complex of buildings was originally conceived by the sun king Louis XIV in the late 1600s as a hospital and a place to house aging and disabled soldiers. The golden-domed church is one of the most recognizable buildings in Paris.
Inside is the tomb of Napoleon (yep, that one). The sarcophagus is massive, just like that guy's ego.
Well, it was a whirlwind tour but we managed to show Delaine most of the best of Paris. We even managed to avoid the tourist crowds too. (For the most part, anyway.) Time to say "Au revoir" to the crowds, the city, and this gal:
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