~~~~~~~ M O N D A Y N O V E M B E R 2 5, 2 0 1 9 ~~~~
In the early hours of Monday November 25, 2019 we arrived at our hotel...this is a view from our first room on the 6th floor....
A trend that has come into practice since our last visit [November 2018] is serving Coke with a glass, lemon and spoon. Ice is something that may need to be requested. I LOVED it.
After our arrival, we napped on the 6th floor until time to meet out Electric Bike tour guide Pierre.
"Discover Paris’s ancient secrets and hidden gems on a guided tour by electric bike. Get a boost from the special electrically-powered bicycle, visit some of the city’s most unique and secluded areas, and unlock the mysteries of the City of Lights!"
We biked all over Paris for approximately four hours. We saw a few stops we hadn't seen/heard of before and enjoyed Pierre's historical knowledge. This tour group has guides with educational backgrounds in history.
Le Procope; A historic Brasserie in Paris 6th, houses many historic items one of which is Napoleon's hat. More info is at their website, it is a breathtaking building.
https://www.procope.com/en/
We had THE BEST chocolate chaud at Dimanche A Paris....continually stirred chocolate it was like drinking a milk chocolate bar....
I was curious why this octopus-y kind of symbol appeared at various places, we learn the answer to that during our street art tour on Wednesday. It looks like a baby Zorberg!
A NEW treat for us was seeing the Arenes de Lutece; Roman ruins and the site of gladiatorial combats among other entertainment of the time...constructed and used during the 1st century AD, it was lost for a period of time [around 275 AD] it was discovered [by Theodore Vaque] during the construction of the Rue Monge when the Compagnie Generale des Omnibus was scouting to build a tramway depot.
Another view during the summer is..................
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ar%C3%A8nes_de_Lut%C3%A8ce
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Continued exploring...including a delightful visit to the fair...adjacent to the Lourve. All pictures and comments are on a separate posting...
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"Then, hop on your segway and begin your tour of the 13th district of Paris. You will see some of the best street art on offer, including Microccebus Lemur by Bordalo II, 'Peace Tower' by Tristan Eaton and Dr. House by Invader. You will also see amazing murals by Okuda, Inti, C215, and Obey, who gained international fame for his Barack Obama 'Hope' poster."
Our tour lasted close to four hours, it was Emmanuel, KT & I. It was fantastic....see pics. The 13th was a real surprise and delight :)
The pictures below were taken by one of us, we saw almost all of the pictures featured on this website:
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| Emmanuel |
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| 37th bridge built in Paris [of 37 bridges as of 11/2019 |
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NOTRE DAME.....
Not much could be seen of our Lady, the front was blocked with construction offices, above is a picture of the back. The people were busily moving around it...as usual even closed. We wandered about...these are KT's feet...
PERE-LACHAISE CEMETERY....many MANY famous people are buried here.
This cemetery is the most visited cemetery in the world with over 800K visitors a year. 70K plots, 110 acres, it is the largest cemetery in Paris. [we began visiting this cemetery in 2004...it's' FREE and beautiful]
Some of the famous people buried here and I've noted which KT & I have visited....
* Victor Noir [we have walked by him on two visits]
The tradition goes: If you want to find a beautiful lover, you should kiss his lips, if you want to get pregnant, just touch his right foot, if you want to have twins, touch his left foot. A beautiful replica adorns the tomb, similar to as he would have laid dead in the street in his finest suit with his hat fallen beside him.1848-1870 French journalist famous for how he died and politics surrounding. Tomb is a symbol of fertility.
NOTE: his crotch and his lips are well worn from the visitors following this legend. I expect, like other famous graves, at some point access will become restricted to him for kissing.
* Édith Piaf [we have not visited her yet]
1915-1963 French cabaret singer/songwriter and actress who became widely regarded as France’s greatest popular signer.
* Molière [we visited him in 2004]
1622-1673 French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Molière is also considered to be the creator of modern French comedy. Tartuffe is just one example of his hilarious comedies where he mocks the religious hypocrite.
* Jim Morrison [we visit him every time we are in the cemetery]
1943-1971 An American singer/songwriter and poet. Perhaps the most famous grave in Paris. Morrison died in a bathtub in Paris, and his gravesite in Pere Laichase been a pilgrimage site for The Doors fans (and drunkards in general) ever since.“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
-Jim Morrison
Jim’s grave continuously had many fans decorating it– as well as points throughout the cemetery – with graffiti. People still share beer with the singer, by pouring half the contents of the can over his grave. The grave’s headstone translates to “true to his own spirit.” There is also a tight security in and around the area surrounding his grave.
* Oscar Wilde [missed him this trip, we've seen his headstone covered with the kisses, last visit it was cleaned up...and one of his statutes testes was broken]
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
-Oscar Wilde
1854-1900 An Irish poet, playwriter, and novelist. It is said that Wilde died in a Parisian hotel. His grave is represented by an angel bearing the weight of the rock. People leave fresh flowers, tissues with color-stained kisses, and letters. The cemetery officials have put up a glass encasing around the grave, and people now write their messages on the glass.
* Frederic Chopin [we visit him every time we are in the cemetery]
1810-1849 A legendary Polish musician and composer. Admirers regularly leave bouquets of flowers all over his already quite lovely grave. If you visited his grave today you’d think he’d just died last week from the amount of flowers that have been left there.
7. Abelard and Heloise [we have not visited her yet, we've only recently heard their story]
The love story between Abelard and Heloise is one of the best known romances of the Middle Ages. The letters exchanged between them during the course of their lives are precious still and are read far and wide. In 1817, the bones of the two lovers were buried together under a grand tomb. Lovers now leave letters at the tomb of these two great lovers.
"ALMOST a thousand years ago, a teacher fell in love with his student. Almost a thousand years ago, they began a torrid affair. They made love in the kitchens of convents and in the boudoir of the girl's uncle. They wrote hundreds of love letters. When the girl bore a child, they were secretly married, but the teacher was castrated by henchmen of the enraged uncle. At her lover's bidding, the girl took religious orders. He took the habit of a monk. They retreated into separate monasteries and wrote to each other until parted by death..."
8. Théodore Géricault
1791-1824 An influential French painter. His ‘Raft of the Medusa’ is one of the most visited paintings in the Louvre. Gericault’s tomb in Père Lachaise is magnificent; the monument has reclining bronze of Géricault, on top, with his paint brush and palette in his hands. On the side of the tomb there is a bronze version of The Raft of the Medusa, so that everyone passing may see his genius.
9. Marcel Proust
‘The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.’
1871-1922 A French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his legendary work In Search Of The Lost Time. Known for his detailed, and inspiring analysis into human mind, Proust is known as one of the greatest authors of 20th century. Unfortunately, Proust died before he was able to complete the last of his drafts of the final volumes. The last ones where published posthumously by his brother, Robert.
10. Honore De Balzac
1799-1850 A famous French novelist and playwright. One of his most well-known publications is The Human Comedy. Balzac’s headstone is made of bronze placed upon a pillar with a quill at base,
THANKSGIVING DINNER...at BREAKFAST IN AMERICA...or BIA.....an idea, a cafe, now two, a book and one day a movie...
~~~~~~~ F R I D A Y N O V E M B E R 2 9, 2 0 1 9 ~~~~
HOP ON/HOP OFF BUS.......a bunch of so-so pics just for fun...and the Parisians LOVE mcdonalds!!! These are our freezing our butts off pics...
I call this last section the WTF section...pics are either curious, unidentified, or just WTF....
THREE BLOG POSTS FOR THIS NOVEMBER 2019 TRIP:
https://francophonektmom.blogspot.com/2019/12/paris-november-2019-pictures-and.html
https://francophonektmom.blogspot.com/2019/11/paris-november-2019-winter-fair-near.html
https://francophonektmom.blogspot.com/2019/12/paris-november-2019-tattoos-et-al-3-of.html
INSTA:
@TATTOOTREIZE_PARIS
@MILATECK
@INKLUSTATTOO
MY REVIEW[S] AS I POST HERE:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/saoirsem731?fid=67640ae2-ed3a-49eb-9fd5-ce96c5ad2c94
