Paris - Touriste par excellence!

Dear All

As I write this I am actually in Rome - have seen the Pope and all that! But am not ready to write about it all yet, so will catch you all up on Paris. I had 3 days there - 2 more than expected, because my two English-speakers in Issoudun had to fly to Rome for a meeting and were being taken to Paris by car, so ......... ! The necessary phone calls were made and I arrived late on Friday 1st June at Rue de les Roses. The MSCs have about 7 'members living there and take in regular visitors. They are right in the thick of things and a zig zag walk (3 bits of street) will get you to the Metro. The house itself is 4 stories high (pluse ground level) and has a delightful little garden in the back yard. I took a few pictures :

1) The first picture shows the MSC House in Paris.

2) The back garden lawn is shaped like a Heart with the sides and the base of the L about where the bottom and right sides of the photo are. I thought the 'heart' shape was deliberate, but when I pointed this out to the msc occupants, they had not noticed it! 3) The house is in a one-way street which actually looks wider in the photo than it is in reality. You might be able to discern the msc house on the right just past that garage which is half-opened/c

I set off the morning after arrival (very bravely, as it turned out) to get to Auber Street (near Madeleine Station) where I could get on l'Open Tour bus to view the sights. Br Lionel (in charge) kindly ran off a map of the local streets for me, but in no time I discovered that the map and where I was did not correspond. It took me at least half an hour to find Marx Dormoy Underground Station which is 5 - 10 minutes away. In the meantime I saw quite a bit of the area and spent many minutes on street corners studying the map! (I blame being in the Northern Hemisphere! The sun in the wrong place I am sure must disorient me.) Then came buying tickets - a cinch, for Br L had told me exactly how to get a booklet of 10 (9 Euros). There were only 2 platforms, so that was not too daunting. Lo and behold, Fr Johannes (who had been the driver the day before from Issoudun) was on the platform catching the same train! (He left about 20 minutes after me, I am sure!) He was going further, so it was a very relaxing trip as he could make sure I got off at the right place. I had a good map (run off by Fr Raymond) of the area around Madeleine Station (near Madeleine Church), so found the street with not too much difficulty. On the way, a young woman moved across the wide footpath to pick up a gold ring from the ground near me and asked, "Is this yours?" Of course it wasn't and a conversation ensued in which she told me she was sleeping at the Station because she had come from Poland and couldn't find work. Then came the crunch line, "Please can you give me some money for food?" I apologised and said I couldn't but that I could take her to the priest at Madeleine Church and he would help her, I was sure! (She had pressed the ring on me - literally onto my finger). I returned the ring, but she wasn't interested in being taken to the Church so we parted company. Two minutes later as I rounded a corner up further, a young lad rushed out in front of me to retrieve an identical ring!!!! I ignored him!

1) I thought I'd treat you to a picture of a Metro (Parish Underground) Station. It is wider and more spacious looking than a London underground station. 2) Brother Lionel reluctantly posed for this photo as I left the MSC house (he drove me to the airport). 3) The room I stayed in - on the 3rd floor. You will no doubt be edified to see the clothes line and its adornments! However, I want you rather to see the outside shutters which fold, slat by slat to either side, where a clasp awaited them for fastening. Very interesting and really blocks out light. It means you can leave the windows open when the shutters are closed and get some air and no bugs/intruders - the latter not quite so likely on the 4th floor.

After a little bit of searching, I found the L'Open Bus, bought my ticket, and climbed up on the roof. (I had plastered sunburn cream on before leaving home). It was very interesting and you had these little ear plugs and sockets near each seat - selecting by button the appropriate language, numbered according to about 4 flags pictured beside the dials. Guess what language I chose? Did I hear you say 'French'? Ah well! .......... You can have your dreams! I took the whole tour to start with but it was difficult to take photos - the bus was either moving or stationary in an unhelpful spot. Hence my picture of the Eiffer Tower is less than optimum. I didn't go into the Eiffel Tower as the queues looked daunting and there were plenty of other things to see. Instead, I tackled the Louvre and paid 8.50€ for the afternoon (it covered all day, but it was 1 pm when I got there). It was sufficient to fill me to overflowing with artistic superfluity by 4.30 pm when I left and headed for Notre Dame to give it the ónce over. I only entered two areas at one end of the vast Louvre, but that gave me a taste of the interior of Royal Dwellings (the chairs look uncomfortable to me!) and the area with the Mona Lisa etc. There was a lot of other great art before you got to Mona Lisa, some of it familiar to me from my couple of years' study of art at Secondary school, so I spent a lot of time there. Finding a place to have a cup of coffee was tricky because I started looking just when the nearest place was closing, but I found a neat little one tucked in behind a pillar in the entry area (a very large glass triangle-dome). I will have to give you some pictures:

1) Believe it or not, our double decked bus went (very carefully) through one of these arches. We had just emerged when I took this photo.

2) A view of the Louvre showing the triangular glass pyramid which you enter(through tight security) to get your ticket and informaation to actually go into the Louvre.

3) My skewiff picture of the iconic Eiffel Tower.

1) You would definitely need waiters at this table (one of the Louis's - XVII I think?). Imagine trying to get out of the chairs during dinner!

2) I took quite a few photos of paintings which showed daily life scenes. It is very interesting to look at what everyone is doing. Gives a good picture of the times. I think this was in a Dutch section - near some Rembrandt ones. Sorry I am so vague about these details.

3) My first look at Notre Dame.

1) The doors into Napoleon 3rd's appartment.

2) The winged ? something of Samothrace?? at the start of the section containing Mona Lisa

3) We sat in the bus for a long time at the Place de las Concord (???) This was where all the guillotining took place and they have now tried to clean the image up, as well as the place. There was a pretty flash hotel there, as you can see, and I was fascinated watching two women and two men and their luggage arriving by taxi and the hotel attendants looking after all their gear while they chatted on. Finally everything was loaded onto this trolley with polished brass arch parts on it. I took a photo, but you may not be able to see much unless you enlarge it.

I had a few hassles getting home this first day because I started from Notre Dame (I had arrived via Madeleine and did not have to change trains). I asked directions, but even if they understood me, there was no guarantee I would understand them, and initially I started on the wrong train. This was soon remedied and I headed for the right train, but in the wrong direction! One station later in that direction, I caught the right train in the right direction (very crowded) and then one more train change later was headed for my home stop. When Br Lionel came out and produced an evening meal he had saved for me and sat with me and chatted while I ate in the kitchen, even producing a glass of wine, I was able to relax and realise I had survived my first day in Paris alone!

Day 2 I went back (still going astray in the streets near Rue de les Roses!) because I had a 2-day bus ticket and I wanted to go to Mass at Notre Dame, having seen there was a Gregorian Mass at 9.30 am. It was actually at 10 am but that gave me time to have a cup of coffee - just as well, because it finished well after 11 am. I arrived quite early and went to a station near the Musee D'Orsay where I had been told many of the famous Impressionist's works were on display. But it opened at 9.30 am (this was at 7.30 am) so I walked to Notre Dame along the Seine, which was very pleasant in the early morning.

The Gregorian Mass was a really good experience. I thought it might be a bun-fight because such crowds go through the Cathedral all the time, but it wasn't. I had a good seat, with a good view, only 6 from the front and everyone around me was there for Mass (the girl in front spent the central time of the Mass on here knees with head on the ground in front of me!). We had words and music for the Gregorian, and I knew a lot of it anyway from Novitiate days. There were a couple of things in Latin, and I knew them too. The only down was the homily which was in French (and why not?) and I spent the time reflecting on what I wanted to reflect upon!

1) The Seine early on Sunday morning - note the two ducks who posed for me.

2) I took one picture during Mass - there is camera shake, but you can't enlarge a middle picture to give yourselves eye strain.

3) This is the best my poor little camera can do in the darkness of Notre Dame Cathedral, but you will get the idea.
I had lunch on the Champs Elysee (not an easy place to find a reasonably priced meal) then decided to take the train from nearby Louis V Station to get to Montmartre and the Sacred Heart Cathedral. This worked, although it involved fairly a long walk (I went in the right direction here like a homing pigeon!) and finally 234 stairs (or some number like that - very long anyway). The views were wonderful and the Cathedral magnificent. I arrived just before Vespers and stayed. A choir of Sisters in full white flowing clothes with black veils took their places on either side of the sanctuary. An immense organ boomed out sonorous music. A priest and two servers processed around the Church, and off we went. We had sheets with everything on it in French, so I did OK on that. (I think the priest was the same one as celebrated the Gregorian Mass in the morning at Notre Dame!) But at the end came a sermon - in French - so I left, made my way back to the Station and returned to where I could pick up the L'Open Bus again. I had already done another tour on it in the morning and now I saw another sweep of the City, but, was the traffic thick! Everyone had been out enjoying their Sunday. A few more photos are called for:

1) The stairs up to Montmartre - note they continue into those green trees.

2) Sacre Coeur Cathedral

3) The view from in front of the Cathedral - a bit hazy, but you'll get the idea.

1) This photo of the Arche de Triomphe is a bit out of sequence, but you can see moi! What further excuse is needed to publish it!

2) The flower shops along the road are a delight.

3) This is a very new, very large and very diverse-use stadium which is covered with grass! We passed it in the bus and I heard the name but can't remember it.
On Monday, Fr Raymond offered to take me to Versailles after lunch. I accepted with delight. Fr Henri (81 and a bit fragile now) came along for the ride. Fr Raymond is a very 'French' driver - we whizzed along, made rapid changes, challenged other drivers and he talked to himself when things got tense! I enjoyed the scenery and refused to watch what was happening on the road - I would have had many heart attacks! When we got to Versailles (about an hour) we found the place is closed on Mondays!!!!! But we could look at the Gardens and the Trinion, which we did. That was enough in itself for the time we had (pm) the only pest being that Fr Henri can only walk slowly, and this, coupled with the fact that Fr R can only walk quickly, left me with a bit of a dilemna. Who would I go with? Any photos I took of the vista ahead contain good images of Fr R's back! Of course the Gardens are very extensive, so we took this 'train'. I now have great feelings towards those who travelled in wooden-wheeled carriages over cobbles. It was a ROUGH ride. But we persevered for it would have taken Fr H a long time to walk the distance. The gardens were a real pleasure, and if you are reading this in Brisbane where, without rain (I hear a bit of helpful rain has fallen) all the gardens will soon die, you will be amazed at the greenery. Here are a few samples of the place:1) Fr Henri & Fr Raymond ready to 'attack' Versailles

2) When Versailles was cleaned up for the Millenium, beautiful colours were revealed.

3) Every gate is golden.

1) A formal garden behind Versailles Palace.

2) We (with Fr R at the head) go along a typical path. The perfume was beautiful.

3) The is a house where Marie Antoinette used to go to pretend she was just an ordinary housewife. 1)

1) This was another royal building on the estate, but don't ask me to remember its name! I took this photo because of the extraordinary tree just in the middle of the picture, the branches coming out from the top and spreading low lying patches of greenery!

2) We went inside and here is Fr Henri negotiating the stairway.

3) They had nice little objects inside the house!

I must bring this to an end. We finally got to a very grand building called the Trianon and saw inside it. It had a huge formal garden and lovely stone work. This boggles the imagination when one realises we did not see the actual palace!

1) At the back of the Triannon were beautiful formal gardens with cone-shaped trees

2) Every room (This was a bedroom) had a different colour scheme

3) You can imagine the balls here!

1) There were views of the gardens through the windows.

2) As well as the super billiard table, note the cue stand in the corner, and the beautiful fireplace.

3) Even the corridors joining the building across the back were works of art.

This has been a mammoth blog and I will not be surprised if you don't read it all! It took me just about all afternoon (and some of the morning) to write, so I don't know if I will be able to manage that effort again for Rome! I was a bit off colour today with a cold so decide to stay home and lead a quiet life. So, I did this blog! There was a smash during the day on the road outside - a motor cycle and a car met intimately! I went out and sticky-beaked after quite a while and it did not look as though too much personal damage was done, but there were two men on mobiles and a car in the middle of this narrow, busy road, and a motor cycle on its side in the middle on an adjoining street. No evidence of injuries, but it was a loud bang! Perhaps they were ringing their lawyers? We did not hear any ambulance, but then you hear sirens all the time in Rome and become inured to them.

Paris was a wonderful experience, although it was a steep learning curve for me. I didn't use my little Lonely Planet French book much because when I needed to speak it was usually necessity and I found I could make myself sufficiently understood without pulling out a book and figuring out a perfect French phrase, eg. 'Síl vous plait, je cherce le toilette!' This usually came out of my mouth as ''Toilette???"' with hands out and question marks all over my face. It worked. Here in Italy, I know even less of the language and there seem to be fewer English speakers. But I am staying in an English-speaking community with 4 other Australians, a PNG sister, a Kiribati sister an Indonesian and a Filipino, all of whom speak English. Sr Helen Simpson, whom I know well, is showing me the sights in between her duties and telling me which buses to catch etc and where when she can't go. Watch for the final blog! All the best for this week. God bless. Rita