Postcards from Paris
A travelogue from the 'City of Lights'

By Peggy Cooke
(Specie: Retirus travelus)

 I can tell you right now that four nights and parts of four days is not nearly enough time to see everything you want to see in Paris, but that's the amount of time we had and we tried to make the best of it.  We arrived at the Charles de Gaulle International in Paris just after 11 a. m. (their time) after a sleepless night on the plane and we got to the hotel around 2 p. m.  After unpacking a bit, we did want to stretch our legs and explore the area in the immediate area of the hotel.  
     We were within easy walking distance of the Louvre, the Tuileries Jardins and the Place de Concorde and we visited them briefly while on our walk.  The gardens were originally designed for the palace of Catherine de Me'dicis in 1564. The palace later burned (not accidentally), but the gardens are still enjoyed today by many Parisians.
     The weather was jbeautiful and there were many visitors to the gardens, sunning themselves, floating toy boats in the many bubbling fountains and ponds, walking their dogs and exclaiming over the beautiful flowers (daffodils, tulips, iris) that were blooming after many days of cold, wet weather.  There were huge statues everywhere and we tourists were rubber-necking the entire scene.

Seein' the Seine
     The Seine River, which separates the Right Bank and Left Bank, is at the edge of the gardens and is a beautiful sight, boats everywhere, the many bridges scanning it, and walkways along it with perfectly planted trees shading the way.  Between the Louvre and the gardens is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel honoring Napoleon's Grande Armee, celebrating it's  victory at Austerlitz in 1805.
     We strolled along the Seine and  came upon the Musee (museum) de L'Orangerie (more about that later) and the Place (plaza) de la Concorde, the octagonal traffic circle at the eastern end of the Champs-Elyse'es, which you've seen the Tour de France riders go around before climbing the grand avenue which leads to the Arc de Triomphe.
     The place de la Concorde was built in 1757 to honor Louis XV.  During the Revolution, the statue of the king was torn down, as were many other things in the city.  During this period of terror, the infamous guillotine was erected on that plaza and thousands of public beheadings were held, including those of Louis XVI,  Marie Antoinette, Robespierre, and Mme de Barry, who it is said went kicking and screaming to her death before the  loud crowds.
     The square is now dominated by an Egyptian obelisk from Luxor, the oldest man-made object in Paris, 75-1/2 feet tall, carved around 1200 B. C. for a pharaoh's temple and given to France in 1829 by Egypt. There are other statues and hundreds of cars constantly zipping around. Even though the guillotine is long gone, I think  you could still lose your life at the Place de la Concorde if you tried to cross against the traffic lights. 
     About this time, we were beginning to weary, so we found a restaurant for a light dinner and then to the hotel to sleep around-the-clock. No Paris nightlife for us. In fact, that was the story of the entire trip—after a day of running full blast, don't even ask any of us about the nightlife.  We barely made it through dinner until we were ready to beddy-bye.

'Eiffel dizzy on the tower'
     After catching up somewhat on our sleep, we were ready for a full day of sight-seeing.  We chose to do this on a double-decker tour bus and we did see a lot of the city. We could get on and off the bus when we wanted, but we mostly just looked at everything from the bus and got a feel for how the sights were laid out and to decide what we wanted to go back to later. We got our first up-close look at the Eiffel Tower which was a lot bigger than we thought, just like everybody says.  That's where we decided to go in the afternoon.
     The Eiffel Tower is the most famous structure in Paris, maybe in the world. It has become the symbol of Paris over the years and it is a beautiful monument to the beautiful city. It was built over 100 years ago by bridge engineer Gustave Eiffel and was never meant to be permanent. It was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1889 and was not always as popular as it has become. Some called it the "Awful Tower" and plans were made several times to tear it down.
      It still stands today, and, with the addition of a 56-foot TV antenna, is 1,040 feet tall. (Compare that to the Empire State Building in New York at 1,472 feet and neither is the tallest building in the world today.)  There are three landings and you choose and pay according to how high you want to go.  There is a theatre, a museum, two restaurants and a bar and you can even ice skate in the tower if you so desire. We did go to the top level and, since it was a gorgeous day, we could see for miles around (supposedly, you can see 40 miles away when conditions are right).  There are a lot of places where you can see all the sights of Paris from on high, but this is the best by far and it is beautiful from there.  The tower requires 60 tons of paint and I don't remember how many painters that are not afraid of heights every seven years to keep the Eiffel looking its best.  I was impressed with the grounds around it, almost like another park with baby carriages pushed by young parents, lovers taking advantage of the beautiful weather, picnics everywhere and a general jovial feeling.  The trees and flowers were in bloom and we thought this was truly "Springtime in Paris."
                                                                
One beautiful sight from the tower is right across the street—the Champ de Mars—which was once a Military School where Napoleon trained to become an officer and field for training maneuvers. Today it is another playground for the people of Paris with people cooling their feet in the huge fountains leading up to the main building. Another standout is the Hotel Invalides with its bright gold dome shining in the sunlight. It was originally a hospital and home for injured soldiers, complete with dormitories for 5,000 soldiers, mess hall and even its own church. It is now a war museum and Napoleon is buried there in six coffins.

The Louvre
    The next morning, we decided to take on the Louvre Museum. I said four nights and part of four days were not enough time to see Paris and, truthfully, it would not be time to see all that the Louvre has to offer. It started out as the royal palace in the 14th century and was added onto by each succeeding royal family since that time. It is huge with its additions, both above and below ground and the art collection is unbelievable in scope. We opted for a guided tour of the highlights of the museum and were glad we did, because we would have spent the morning trying to find this or that or trying to figure out just where we were in the cavernous space.
Our guide was wonderful and we saw a lot going to and from to the "highlights." Of course, we saw the Mona Lisa, which is always mentioned in the same breath with the Louvre, but she pales in comparison to some of the huge masterpieces and statues that are everywhere. We loved Winged Victory, the headless statue that dates from circa 200 B. C. which is prominently displayed on one of the beautiful staircases and, of course, Venus de Milo, and paintings by Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci and, especially the larger-than-life-size painting of the Wedding Feast at Cana by Paolo Veronese and were entranced by many, many other works of art.
The much-discussed glass pyramid by architect I. M. Pei, 1989, covers the main entrance to the museum and allows sunlight to lighten up the underground reception and information area. The consensus of our group was that it complemented the building, but didn't detract from the magnificent palace-turned-magnificent-museum.