31 Dec - I wake up at 4:30. A.M.! This must be illegal for everyone except bakers. I try to sleep for another hour but it%26#39;s just no use so I get up and futz around with my itinerary for the last two days. There are lots of things I had listed as possibilities but in all reality, I probably wouldn%26#39;t enjoy them. The Victor Hugo museum? I know nothing of M. Hugo other than the books he wrote, and I haven%26#39;t even read those. Same for Musee de la Vie Romantique. One good thing about being up so early - the breakfast room is blissfully empty. And the coffee is almost good. I have a scary feeling I%26#39;ll be running on caffiene today.
I can%26#39;t describe how pleased I am at St. Denis. I arrive about 15 minutes before they open up the crypt area to the public and there are only 8 other people there. So I%26#39;m able to wander around in peace and quiet. The church itself is FREEZING and it makes me wonder what on earth it would cost to heat churches, chateaus and the like. Not that they ever did %26quot;heat%26quot; them in the sense we understand today. The caretaker (?) opens the gates and we are allowed in to view all the tombs. It feels strange to be in the presence of so much history and royalty, more than I%26#39;ve ever seen in previous trips. It reminds me of the first time I went into the archaeological crypt at Notre Dame - it%26#39;s back to the very beginning of Paris. The church itself is at least as pretty as any other I%26#39;ve seen, even though not as grand as some of the others.
My camera card is full but I noticed there was an FNAC store in Les Halles which is right next to St. Eustace. It is here that I have my only truly stupid Stupid STUPID tourist moment. I get my CD made and am reviewing it on the self service machine. So happy with all my pictures I pay and go skipping through the mall. As I%26#39;m climbing the stairs out of Les Halles, St. Eustace rises up before me and I think %26quot;how picturesque! what a great shot.%26quot; I reach into my bag and my hand squirms around for my camera. It squirms some more. I feel that heart skipping feeling and LOOK into the bag. Then I feel sick. My camera isn%26#39;t there. I can envision it sitting on the counter where I left it. I tear back down the stairs and to the photo store, knowing my camera is already gone but praying I%26#39;m wrong. I don%26#39;t know which saint is the patron of idiotic tourists but I give thanks to them the rest of the day - amazingly my camera is sitting right where I left it. The ladies at the counter and the store employees hadn%26#39;t even appeared to notice it. I make my way back out of the mall *again* and take the picture that saved my camera by reminding me I needed it.
After exploring another pretty church in need of attention, I walk down the rue Montorgueil - quite charming. After strolling all the way to the end, I%26#39;m fairly hungry and realize breakfast was six hours ago. I decide on an Italian place, especially since things are starting to close up. I sit and eat across from a lovely fleuriste and a boucherie, watching people shop and walk by with bottles of wine, flowers, and other treats for their parties tonight. I leave the resto and call Coup Chou to confirm my reservation and make sure they will arrange a taxi for me after the meal then to Denfert-Rochereau for the Catacombs.
I%26#39;m not sure how people miss the entrance to the Catacombs, the line to the door is a dead giveaway. There is a sign advising that there are 180+ steps down and 80+ steps back up and that weak people shouldn%26#39;t go in. Am I weak? I%26#39;m no tri-athelete but I don%26#39;t know about weak. I figure they%26#39;ve got to have some sort of emergency evacuation plan and decide to risk it. I%26#39;m not generally claustrophobic but once you get down you can%26#39;t help but think about collapse and cave-ins. And I was surprised by how far you actually walk before you even get to the crypts. I wander through, pay my respects, take some pictures and wonder about the guys that work there underground with bones all day. Then they are hustling us out (I was in one of the last groups allowed in) and I start my trek up the spiral staircase. Being the absolute antithesis of my screen name, I trip and twist my knee about 15 steps from the top. So the other employees are all staring down at me through a grate in the floor and I know they think I%26#39;m having the big one. At this point I imagine them just leaving me behind other piles of bones but realize if they%26#39;re looking at me I%26#39;m almost out. When I reach the top they hustle me over to a bench telling me to rest. I try to explain it%26#39;s just my knee when I look to my right and see a skull and femur on a shelf at eye level. Confiscated from thieves I am told. Some people truly have no shame. They are finally convinced I%26#39;m not having a heart attack and I race home for a nap.
Getting a taxi from the hotel is like an absurd French comedy. Thinking I%26#39;m ahead of the game I call downstairs and s%26#39;il vous plait ask them to call me a cab because I%26#39;ll be down in 20 minutes. Non, c%26#39;est impossible. C%26#39;est la nouvelle année et il n%26#39;y a pas des taxis. We can try and call when I get downstairs but it will take probably an hour. When I get to the front desk, the clerk gives me more shrugging and says perhaps if a cab is driving by..... he goes out and tries to flag one down. Given the location of the hotel I find this comical. Will he not even TRY to call again? Then he suggests, as if he were offering me toxic waste as an apertif, that I could share a taxi with the German couple in the lobby. But it%26#39;s only an 8 passenger taxi, will that be ok? BIEN SUR! We all get in and the driver only wants 10€ for my portion of the fare.
I%26#39;m only a half hour late for my reservations but I figure I%26#39;m fashionable (plus I had called to let them know.) Thanks to one of the TA posters, I find the entrance with no trouble and am greeted at the door, my coat is taken and I am escorted to my table. As I am literally whisked through the dining rooms, it occurs to me that I am quite possibly headed for the dreaded %26quot;Ugly Americans%26#39; Back Room.%26quot; I don%26#39;t even care. The room is so charming, quiet, cozy and lovely - exactly what I had wanted for New Year%26#39;s Eve. My partying days are long behind me and I wanted a good meal in a peaceful atmosphere. In the room around me I hear mostly English but also a German family, a French couple and a couple from the UK. My waiter is quite young but speaks flawless English and is polite to a flaw. I have my first Kir Royal (yes, I%26#39;m hooked now) and place my order. I%26#39;m not a foodie so I can%26#39;t give you a gourmet review but the meal was incredible: a scallop amuse bouche, smoothest fois gras I have ever had, half a lobster with fresh herbed mayonaise, a steak with pommes dauphin %26amp; haricots verts, and a 3-chocolate napoleon dessert. At midnight the owner came to each table to wish us all Happy New Year. I suspect he%26#39;d been hitting the champagne himself as he was quite jovial; took both my hands in his and wished me a %26quot;bonne bonne bonne année, tres forte, tres tres forte.%26quot; But he was just adorable so I simply murmured %26quot;à vous aussi.%26quot; My young waiter was just beside himself that he couldn%26#39;t get me a cab on the first call and kept updating me every 3 minutes. The cutest part what when I gave him my VISA and he exclaimed %26quot;it%26#39;s so pretty!%26quot; (I have a Target Visa with the silver hologram Target logos all over it) just cracked me up. I got my taxi on his second call, it was there in 10 minutes and he escorted me out, opened my door and wished me Happy New Year. I feel like a princess and smile all the way back to the hotel. Tomorrow is my last full day but tonight I can%26#39;t feel sad.
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I agree the Catacombs are lots of walking. I too found it a bit claustophobic, but my 14 yr insisted we visit them so we did. I sure picked the right time to go, August. No lines at all. In fact I found it a bit creepy that we had to walk in alone!
Enjoying your reports , you sound like a fun person!
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I sure can relate to your camera story. Once
went to a bathroom in the Boston metro and
left my camera. Had to take the line back to
try and reclaim it and actually found it still
there! I%26#39;ve had two cameras stolen in Paris,
so I guess you were very lucky! This is why
I%26#39;m not allowed to carry the camera anymore.
I%26#39;m also not allowed to carry ANY keys except
in dire emergencies! It wouldn%26#39;t make any difference if they were surgerically attached
to my body either....I%26#39;d still lose them.
Loved your report!
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joan - thank you very much. what a kind thing to say. :)
and M. Clavel - it was horrifying. I haven%26#39;t done something like that since I was about 10 years old. Guess I needed another good scare to re-enforce the lesson. but my heart rate is back to normal and all%26#39;s well that ends well I suppose.
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Thank you, again Grace for a nice report. St-Denis is definetely an interesting church full with history, but les Catacombes were not a place for me!
I am also glad you enjoyed le Coupe-Chou and that your St-Sylvestre was a success. Looking forward for the next report...PS. you could always use my name as a imaginery boyfriend: Luc-Roger.
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I know just the sinking feeling you had when you realized you%26#39;d left your camera behind. The first day I was in Paris last summer, I went to Les Invalides and left my digital camera in the bathroom. I%26#39;m sure I turned white as a sheet when I noticed it about five minutes later. I hurried back, got a strange look from the man guarding the staircase as I flew by flashing my entrance ticket at him (only paying customers to the museum could use the bathroom). He probably thought I had diarrhea. A woman was just coming out of the stall I%26#39;d used, and when I asked if there%26#39;d been a camera inside, she said Yes! That was when I decided it was time to stop touring and take a nap.
Loved your story about the employees staring down at you in the Catacombs with you wondering if they%26#39;d leave you behind a pile of bones. Made me laugh out loud.
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I forgot to ask you about your experience at Le Coupe Chou. Did you feel comfortable dining alone there? It seems as if you did from your report. I always imagine waiters complaining to themselves about a smaller tip because there%26#39;s only one person. Or else I look around and see that every other table has at least two people.
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JustGrace, Thanks so much for writing these wonderful trip reports! I have found myself logging onto TA every day hoping that the next installment will have been posted. They take me back to my beloved Paris! We, too, had a fantastic meal/evening on New Year%26#39;s Eve...2004...at Le Coupe Chou. Wasn%26#39;t it just the best?! Thanks for sharing all your wonderful (and not so wonderful...but with happy endings!) memories!
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Have you found that Coupe-Chou discriminated between tourist and local? Thank you for the report, great read.
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JustGrace,
I am enjoying your trip report. Vous ecrirez(sp) tres bien.
Look forward to more. I will never venture into the catacombs but do enjoy the stories(a bit of claustrophia). Makes me want to go on another adventure to Paris and maybe next time alone.
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