The day began with breakfast picked up at Boulangerie St. Antoine (29 rue Saint Antoine). I had a wonderful chocolate eclair and bought some savory sandwich that vaguely reminded me of a pizza on a flattened baguette. We enjoyed this wonderful mean sitting on a bench in the Place des Vosges before going to see the former home of my favorite author, Victor Hugo. |
This exhibit examines the Political climate that Victor Hugo served in that formed the basis for this thoughts expressed in books such as Les Miserables, Last Day of a Condemned Man, and 93. I definitely would have gotten more out of it if I could read French better or was willing to use the cheat cards in each room. Over all the experience was enjoyable and added more dimension to the huge figure of Victor Hugo. I will not forget how much the exhibition brought to life the political climate surrounding the smaller French Revolutions during his lifetime.
It was amazing also to see the ink wells that were collected by his wife as part of a charity event that failed to sell. It is wonderful combination of authors, Alexandre Dumas, Lamartine, George Sand and Victor Hugo's. Oh to have heard a conversation between those authors!
Then to follow the flow of people to see Jim Morrison's tomb. It was tucked in among larger tombs and I was surprised how small it really was. While a well beaten path back to the tomb, it was also not on one of the wider paths, nor was it close to the isle, you have to lean around some of the other tombs nearby to see it. It was also amazing how there were both young and old making the trek up the hill to see the tomb. For as long as he's been gone and how much the pop culture music scene has moved away from rock that so many younger (younger than me!) people were going to see his tomb. | Afterward we walked over to Pere-LaChaise Cemetery, another 2.3 km walk! So Julie wasn't happy with me by the time we got there and it didn't help we went through an interesting neighborhood either. The cemetery had any number of famous people's tombs. Leave it to the chemist to make her first stop the tomb of Gay-Lussac, known for the pressure/temperature relationship in the Ideal Gas Law. It sadly took me a while to find this one, as I wasn't sure which side of the row it was on or if it would be next to the path or not. |
Our tired selves returned to Bastille on the Metro, a little hungry and wishing that we'd been able to try one of the wonderful deserts we've heard about. So, throwing caution to the wind, we ordered lemon pie and creme brulee for dinner. Glad our waiter at the Le Rampert (15 Rue Saint-Antoine) wasn't batting an eye. Wine, champagne, and desert. A wonderful way to finish our third day in Paris.
My Reviews of Places I've Seen
“Definitely worth the climb”
The views from the top were amazing, definitely worth the climb up the small spiral staircase to the top. Only 280 steps to the top, right?
“Wonderful recreation”
The Maison de Victor Hugo was a recreation of the house Victor Hugo lived in while he pinned his famous works. At the time, it included Politiques, an examination of the Political climate that Victor Hugo served in that formed the basis for this thoughts expressed in Les Miserables. I definitely would have gotten more out of it if I could read French better or was willing to use the cheat cards in each room. Over all the experience was enjoyable and added more dimension to the huge figure of Victor Hugo.
“Pere-Lachaise Cemetery”
Pere-Lachaise is a beautiful cemetery, however, I was unable to locate a hard copy of the map of the cemetery. That did not deter me much, however, though it took me some 20 minutes to locate the tomb for chemist Gay-Lussac. I assume because it wasn't as frequented as Jim Morrison's, which was a matter of following a stream of people. My dissatifsaction comes simply from my inability to locate a map to carry with me, so I kept having to go downhill to look at the map and back up hill to find the tomb I was interested in seeing.
“Beautiful park”
The square within Place des Vosges is highly shaded, with plenty of benches to sit on. Home of the Musee de Victor Hugo and a cute cafe, it also offer some wonderful art galleries to explore.