We set off from camp and did a big shop to stock up on food before arriving in Paris. We had looked up directions from Google Maps and checked the route on our GPS just to make sure we wouldn't get lost heading in. However, we would have been better off just planning the route ourselves! Both directions said to get off at a particular exit which wasn’t actually the one we should have taken. This led to some driving in Paris, on small streets on the inside of the inner ring road. Luckily, the GPS did actually direct us from that point and we made it to the camp site without too much stress. As we got closer we saw the exit we should have taken with the camping clearly signed the whole way. Next time we will do away with technology and just use our map! We used the afternoon to do laundry, have nice hot showers after a lack of warm facilities in the previous campsite, and plan for the next few days.

Friday March 22

Friday morning we caught the shuttle from the campsite to the metro and went to buy our five day pass. Our guidebook had said we need to buy it from the ticket booth rather than a machine and so did the lady at the campsite. However, there was nobody at the ticket booth and there was only a sign telling us where the next information point was. So we circled the entire congress hall hunting for it with no luck. We returned to the metro, got the street name and looked at our map until we were oriented. We set off to find the other ticket booth and ended up walking all the way to the next metro stop… where the ticket booth was also closed. So we gave up and bought them from the machine which apparently was an option all along!

After that it was a quick trip to the Orsay where we planned on spending the next few hours. We had a quick snack on the pedestrian bridge near the gallery and watched the happenings around us. We saw our first of many scams taking place while we sat there munching away (our guidebook even described it so we would be on the lookout). A lady would drop a "gold" ring on the ground and then pick it up as if she had just found it. She would then ask the people nearby if it was theirs; since it obviously wasn’t, she would then show them “proof” that it was real gold and ask if they would like to buy it. We were both approached once, as were many others, but luckily no one fell for it!

We then headed in to the Orsay which had three levels of art. It seemed like the collection was a bit random since they had sculptures, decorative arts and art nouveau furniture. The Impressionist paintings, which occupied the entire top floor, were the reason we were going. We spent some time wandering through the other collections before deciding to start focusing on the paintings themselves. Our feet were starting to get sore and we were also starting to get hungry, and we wondered if we should have started at the top and worked our way down! We enjoyed the Van Gogh, Seurat and Toulouse-Lautrec galleries before heading up to the section with the Impressionists. They were not organised by painter, but rather by who the collection had been donated by so you never quite knew what paintings were coming up. We saw lots of works by Renoir, Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Cezanne, Manet, and Degas. It was incredible to see some of the works that I was familiar with in person. Art books just can’t do the real thing justice! I particularly enjoyed seeing Renoir’s “Bal du Moulin de la Galette”, Monet’s “Coquelicots” and Degas’ “La classe de dance”. We also enjoyed seeing Sisley and Pissarro’s works which we weren’t as familiar with, but quite enjoyed. We spent quite a while admiring all the works before heading back outside.

We returned to the bench on the bridge to eat our sandwich and lo and behold, there was the lady with the ring scam again! We saw her and a friend pass by several more time and figured they must be doing a loop around the two bridges. After we had recharged a bit we wandered over to the TI to pick up some brochures and ask them a few questions. They pointed out the nearest cybercafé since we needed to print our tickets to the soccer game.

We then headed over towards the Eiffel Tower and walked up Rue Cler. It was a neat street with lots of very high-end shops selling fruit, veggies, cheese, meat etc. We saw strawberries for €25/kg and mangos at 2 for €5! Needless to say we just window shopped until we passed a boulangerie. Feeling that we needed a snack we popped in to see what they had. We chose an apricot tarte which was huge and perfect for two. We then strolled up the Champ de Mars towards the Eiffel Tower. There were fences up around the grass with signs saying that the lawn was having its winter rest (probably a good thing too or it would be a mud pit!). We checked out the line for the stairs at the tower since we were planning on heading up the next day with Anoop’s cousin, Santosh, and his wife Sindhu. We crossed the Seine and went up to the viewpoint on the other side. We had a laugh on the way up because we passed a group of about fifteen salesmen all selling Eiffel Tower keychains and paperweights. We weren’t sure why there were so many of them all in one place! We enjoyed the view and then caught the metro and bus back to camp. The bus was very convenient and it was only a five minute walk back to camp from there.

Saturday March 23

We got up early with the idea of visiting a big antique market before meeting up with Santosh and Sindhu around 12:30. They messaged us in the morning and said that we could meet at 11 instead which we thought was great since it would give us more time to see things and have a visit. We arrived at the hotel they were staying at and waited about half hour before we got a text. They said that they were in the lobby of their hotel, but they were nowhere in sight! We figured out that they were actually staying at a different Ibis at Gare de l’Est, not Gard du Nord. So we walked over five minutes to the correct hotel and visited until noon when they could check in. After getting organized, we set off for a busy day of sightseeing.

First we headed over to Sacre Coeur which was quite near to the hotel. We walked up the steps from the bottom which is always an impressive view. There were a few performers of various sorts out including an Egyptian mime, a small music group and a guy climbing a lamppost and doing some great soccer tricks at the same time. We waited briefly in line and then headed in for a walk around the inside. The mosaics above the altar and in some of the side chapels were quite something and we were glad we had popped in. We then wandered over to the main square in Montmartre to see all the artists at work. There were tons of them, but it was too full of people to really be able to look at their work. We wandered around and admired the paintings as much as possible before returning to the metro.

Next we went to the flower market for a quick browse before wandering over to Notre Dame. It was packed and there was a huge line. Luckily it went by fairly quickly. We soon learned that they were going to ring the new bell of the cathedral at 5 pm that evening (it was about 3:30) and there was a special service as well. No wonder there were so many people! We enjoyed the stained glass windows which are always amazing to see. We then walked over along the Seine past all the bookstalls towards the back of Notre Dame. The view from along there is always great, but with so many people, it was harder to find a spot for photos. We also visited the bridge that has all the locks on it. Most of the locks are put on by couples who write their names and date on the lock and then throw the key into the river. There are always a few exceptions though and we particularly liked the bicycle lock and the combination locks.

We then headed off to the Eiffel Tower and walked up the Champ de Mars, stopping for photos along the way. We passed by the second of three couples that we would see getting their wedding photos taken in front of the tower. We arrived at the line for the stairs and found it quite a bit longer than it had been the day before. We waited and were glad that it moved faster than expected; we only had to wait about ½ hour. We hiked up to the first and then the second level which is the equivalent of 43 storeys! We were glad when we could then hop in the elevator to the top level. We had good views from the first two levels although visibility was poor because of the haze. We got to the top for dusk and then dark which was great. Anoop and I hadn’t been up it at night before so we really got the best of both worlds with daylight at the first two levels and dark at the third. We circled the top a few times and then Santosh & Sindhu headed down to catch the boat ride on the Seine which was included in their tour package. Anoop and I stayed at the top a bit longer until we were cold and then headed back down. We arrived at the bottom just in time to see it sparkle with lights on the hour. It was fun to see because I had never been in that area of Paris at night before. Then it was back to camp for a dinner of cereal and banana since we hadn’t had time to eat dinner (and there was no kebab stand en route).

Sunday March 24

We got up early again and met Santosh and Sindhu at the pyramids in front of the Louvre. It was a chilly morning and we were all bundled up as much as possible. We walked down through the Tuileries gardens and up the Champs Elysées. It was very quiet since it was Sunday morning, but at least we weren’t fighting through crowds. We passed by some very fancy cafés where an espresso was going for up to 8€. We arrived at the Arc de Triomphe, but we were not allowed to cross over to it. The streets were all being closed for a protest that was going to take place that afternoon. We ended up walking back past several metro stops since they were also closed to the protest. Eventually we found one that was open and headed over towards the Pompidou Centre.

On the way we passed by a crêpe stand that had all sorts of tasty topping options. It was run by a couple of men from India (as were many of the crêpe stands…) and Anoop figured it was because they had so much dosa making experience. Anoop opted for the two egg crêpe while I went for butter, sugar and crushed hazelnuts. They were delicious and a nice hot treat!

As we were about to cross the street to the Pompidou Centre we were approached by a group of kids who wanted us to “sign” their petition. This was all really a cover for their pickpocketing activities because they would press their “clipboard” (paper glued on cardboard) into your stomach and then have a feel in your pockets for anything worthwhile. Forewarned from one of our guidebooks, I just pushed her off, said not to touch me and then we crossed the street. This was definitely the most blatant attempt we had seen on our trip so far and we were quite sad to see how young the kids were. We arrived at the Pompidou centre, but were disappointed to see that the fountains weren’t yet filled with water because since it was still too cold out. They didn’t look nearly as cool as when they are in action! On the way back to the metro, Anoop was approached by a different group of young teens with the same tactics. He hadn’t realized that they were trying to pickpocket me earlier and was quite surprised when they reached into his pockets. We never keep anything of interest in them and all they found was a plastic bag and a map. We headed back to the hotel with Santosh and Sindhu and then walked over to their bus with them to say goodbye. We had a great time being tour guides and were really glad that we had been able to meet up.

After saying our goodbyes, we set off for the St. Ouen flea market. It is the largest flea market in Paris and is only open on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We thought it would be something fun and new to do and a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. We exited the metro and were met with a huge outdoor street market that was selling all sorts of assorted goods, but mostly clothes. We eventually made our way to the flea market which was actually quite tricky since it wasn’t well signed and the street we were on didn’t show up on the map we were using. The flea market was actually made up of several markets some of which specialized in certain items and others that had a mixture. We headed in to a few and enjoyed wandering up and down all the alleys. Some of the markets had at least fifteen alleys themselves with stalls lining them the entire way. Some also had indoor areas with several levels. I found a few collections of stamps that I picked up, but mostly we just enjoyed browsing. We decided that if you ever needed to furnish a chateau, this was the place to do it. There were tons of chandeliers, furniture, elaborate picture frames and all sorts of other items for sale. We even saw some larger-than-life size stone sculptures, the kind you see lining the gardens of Versailles.

After the flea market we headed back towards the Opera to meet up with Nathalie, my pen pal from a while back. The last time we were in Paris we had managed to meet up and we were glad that we would get the chance to catch up again. We went for a café since we had been standing and walking in the cold all day. We had a great chat for a few hours before saying goodbye.

Monday March 25

We headed back to Notre Dame to do a walking tour from our book that we hadn’t had time for yet. We wandered the main street of Ile St. Louis, the island next to Ile de la Cité and enjoyed window shopping. All of the Easter treats are out and the chocolate displays are wonderful! We then continued along the Seine and browsed the book stalls that were open. We had a quick picnic lunch at the Seine level near Notre Dame before making our way to the Orangerie museum. On the Pont d’Alma, we spotted an artist whose works we quite liked. We picked up a small painting with Notre Dame in the background and a very colourful Parisian street in the foreground.

We arrived at the Orangerie museum and started off downstairs in their collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist gallery. There were paintings by Renoir, Rousseau, Modigliani, Derain, Picasso, Utrillo and Soutine among others. We quite enjoyed the collection and it was nice to see a few different artists from those that were at the Orsay. We then headed upstairs to the star attraction of this gallery: Claude Monet’s huge waterlily series. He painted a series of eight canvases of waterlilies in the pond at Giverny, at different times of the day. There are two oval shaped rooms with four canvases each so that you are surrounded by the paintings. He wanted visitors to have the impression that they were in the gardens and that it would have a calming effect. Some of the canvases were at least 25ft long. They were amazing to see in person, displayed how Monet wanted them to be. We spent quite a while in the two rooms and just sat in the centre admiring them. Eventually we decided that we were ready to head back to camp and do a quick shop before settling in for the night.

Tuesday March 26

We woke up excited as our Spain vs France soccer match was finally here. It wasn’t until 9:00 pm that night so we planned to head in to town until about 4 pm before coming back to camp to make dinner and head to the game.

We decided to visit the army museum which had a history of battles and war from Louis XIV’s time to WWII as well as Napoleon’s tomb. We headed for Napoleon’s tomb first and were quite amazed by its size. Napoleon is buried in the centre of the circular room with an amazing dome overhead, a huge coffin, and several series of reliefs circling his tomb below. There are also other tombs in the side chapels including Napoleon III, Vauban and Maréchal Foch. Afterwards we headed in to the WWI and WWII section of the museum which we were the most interested in. The section started in 1870 when France last lost Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. From there, exhibits explained the events leading up to WWI and then had a section for each year describing the major battles. This led into the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and the intervening years. After that it was WWII which was also done in sections by year. There was lots of information about the various fronts, battles that played an important role, Japan’s role and the entry of the US into the war, the role of the Vichy government in France, as well as a section on resistance fighters. It was a huge source of information and we could easily have spent a day in just the WWI or WWII sections. As it was, we spent almost five hours in the museum and still didn’t get to see the armour collection or any of the exhibits, other than a quick walk-through of the Louis XIV or Napoleonic era. We left with our brains feeling overloaded with info and decided that it was a museum that would require multiple visits to fully appreciate everything.

We headed back to camp and made dinner before getting ready for the game. This involved putting on as many layers as we had since it was going to be about two degrees out and we would be sitting for atleast two hours. I had on a light long john top, a heavy long john top, a long sleeve shirt, a fleece and my jacket, as well as long john bottoms, pants, wool socks, a scarf, toque and gloves. Then to top it all off, we put on our “Allez les bleus” scarves and I had a fleece blanket to put on my lap during the actual game. Anoop wore a few less layers, but was still bundled up. We headed off for the stadium and were there in about an hour. The metro line heading to the stadium was a tightly packed crush of people with commuters heading home and supporters heading to the game. We were glad once we got away from the doors and into the middle where there was a bit more breathing room. We promptly took off several layers since it was boiling in there! We arrived at the stadium and made our way around to our entrance. They had 26 gates to let people in so there weren’t any long lines. We were sitting in the middle level at the end of the stadium on the right hand side. It had a great view of the field even if the players at the far end were a ways away. It was fun to see all the supporters out there and there were plenty of Spain fans mixed in among the French ones. Everyone was dressed up in their team’s colours and cheering away. The teams came out to warm up before the game and it was fun to see the goalie practicing and the teams going through their drills. Then they headed off before making their formal appearance amid lots of cheering. They played both national anthems with the French singing theirs most enthusiastically. Then it was time to start the game! The first half finished with a score of 0-0 and was not a particularly exciting game. Spain dominated with possession of the ball about 70% of the time, but still had not scored. Then in the beginning of the second half, Spain scored a goal. This seemed to prod the French players into a bit more action and the Spanish team also perked up a bit. There were lots of times when the French almost scored, but to no avail. Then one of their players got a red card with 15 minutes to go. We figured then that that was the end of hoping for a tie or a French win and sure enough, the game ended 1-0 in favour of Spain. We had a blast and were really glad that we had been able to get tickets. After the game we headed over to the metro with the hordes of people. Luckily there were also some RER lines nearby and others who had driven so there wasn’t a horrendous amount of people waiting at the gates. The police were there to allow a certain number of people into the metro at a time and once we got in, we hopped on the first train that arrived. It was even less packed than when we had headed to the stadium. We waited for 15 minutes or so before our bus arrived and returned to camp around 12:20.

Wednesday March 27

After a bit of a sleep in we headed out of Paris to the chateau of Chantilly. The chateau is neat from the outside, but the main reason to visit is the stables. One of the owners of the chateau thought that he was going to be reincarnated as a horse and so had the most incredible stables built. We were looking forward to touring them, but unfortunately they were closed for renovation until the weekend. Instead we continued on up to Peronne, in the Somme department where we planned on visiting a few WWI sites.