Last few days. Sigh… It is quite warm and sunny here in Paris so we are managing to end the trip with the opposite type of weather from the start.
The last time we were in Paris I snuck out one morning to visit Père Lachaise Cemetery one morning and when Kim saw the pictures and made me promise to take her there on the next trip. Voilà! Your wish is my command on this trip. Funny visiting the cemetery in a hot afternoon vs a cool and foggy morning. More people, less walking dead feelings… Still a fascinating place, the richness and variety of the monuments are something not to be missed. I showed them the ‘highlights’, Wilde, Piaf, Bernhart, Bernhardt, Marceau and Morrison. And as I said two years ago, take the Metro 3 and get off at Gambetta vs the Père Lachaise station, the cemetery is on a hill and starting at Gambetta and the back entrance of the cemetery will allow you to walk down hill for most of your visit. Trust me, I saw many red faced visitors walking up the hill and this way is easier.
After the cemetery we took a walk thru Le Marais ending with a quick visit to Notre Dame in time to catch the evening mass. C’est la vie!
The internet has enabled many things since we started to travel, right now Syd is on Animal Jam and iChatting with one of her friends live and the fact that there are 9 time zones and 5500 miles does not seem to matter. All instant Syd says. The (first) world is truly a network.
Walking thru Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise.Oscar WildeEdith Piaf.Victor Noir who was shot by the great-nephew of Napoleon III.Walking in the columbarium.Frédéric ChopinThe two great actresses finally meet.Jim Morrison.Walking thru Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise.A free summer concert at l’Hôtel de Ville.Evening mass at Notre Dame.A ritual for every visit to Notre Dame.
On to the final phase of the trip in Paris. Time to lose the car that has transported us to this point, an Opal Insignia. The auto was perfect for our trip, plenty of power and trunk space so we only mostly looked like tourists. Had fun with it and for the first time I will say I will miss it.
Having been to this city so many times recently we can take this visit at a slower pace and just idle our way through it. For a change this time we have abandon our usual 6th Arrondissement for the 7th, rather than be close to Notre Dame we are close to Tour Eiffel and Napoleon. After a quick rest we walked along Rue Cler over to the Tower. Dinner tonight was at Cafe Le Florimond and is in competition for the best meal of the trip. We were late for our reservation due to an accidental nap for all but the staff was very accommodating, serving the dishes with enthusiasm and flourish. Very tasty, and original for out recent experience. Kim ordered the Chou Farci (Cabbage roll or Stuffed Cabbage) which is something I would not normally try however I have not had Stuffed Cabbage like this! The Chef de Cuisine and owner Pascal Guillaumin came out to explain what turned out to be his grand-mère‘s recipe that required many layers and many hours of cooking. What a recipe! This on top of all the great cooking we have had so far I am the one with the Fois Gras now.
Air France Flight 4590 Concorde memorial and crash site.Air France Flight 4590 Concorde memorial.Our view for the next few days.The fun car…La Tour Eiffel.La Tour Eiffel.Eiffel and the Motor Bikes.What the back of the car saw…What the back of the truck saw…Twisted.The happy ladies.Rue Cler.Munching on some organic fruit.
When I was young I was hooked on the comic album series Tintin as soon as I saw them. I collected the entire series over the years and when Sydney became old enough I shared them with her and she devoured them as well. After completing the series she asked for more like it and I was able to turn up several others including Blake and Mortimer and Lucky Luke and French creation and favorite Asterix. Covering the adventures of Asterix, his friend Obelix and their Gaul village resisting the Roman occupation of what is now France, over 30 of the comic album adventures have been published and is one of the few of these type of series that continued to publish new books even after the passing of the original authors. All this popularity has lead to multiple films and a theme park north-east of Paris, Parc Astrix.
The park itself has been around for over 20 years and Kim and I have been planed to come on several trips but the have away dropped the visit during the actual trip, the big obstacle being it is a pain in the butt to get to. Unlike its big rival Disneyland Paris you cannot take a train to its front gate from central Paris if you do not have a car. Rather you have to take the train to Charles De Gaulle Airport then transfer to a bus that would take you to the park about 30 minutes further out of the city. The execution of this always turned us off but on this trip we had a car and an interested traveler so how could we pass this time?
Having more limited hours than theme parks in the United States (closes at 1900 in the high summer!) we had to make sure we were timely. Luckily visiting the day after a national holiday seemed to reduce the number of visitors so we were able to move through the park with ease. More like Great America & Six Flags than Disney the park had quite a few roller coasters, our favorites being Oziris, an Egyptian themed inversion coaster and La Trace du Hourra, a bobsled roller coaster which allows the cars to freewheel on parts of the track. I had only been on one of these style of coasters before at Coney Island and was happy to have a chance to ride one again after many (many) years.
There were only a couple of dark or mad house attractons and one turned out to be one of our favorites, Le Défi de César, where Julius Caesar is recruiting spies to infiltrate the Gaul village that has defied Rome. An interesting effort, it was a walk thru ride with an different kind of flow which made me think about another ride originally conceived as a walk through, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Would it have been as successful if it stayed a walk through before changing to the boat ride concept? On the other hand Le Défi de César has an interesting last section that really plays tricks with room movement, all agreed it was our favorite. A day for Sydney at last.
On the other hand the early close meant we could have some pool time. Ahhhhh….
Asterix watching over the unfolding day at the park.The entrance to Le Défi de César.The ladies getting ready to ride ‘L’Hydre de Lerne’.The entrance to the ‘Travel Through Time’ section of the park.The entrance to ‘Tonnerre de Zeus’.Apparently Zeus wears panties… Definitely not Disney!Syd takes us for a ride.Tired at the end of a fun day.
