Post by Sandy M on Dec 9, 2011 20:50:39 GMT -5
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2011
After the long and busy arrival day I had yesterday, I was thinking that I shouldn't have booked such an early ticket to go to the Stein Exhibit at the Grand Palais, but when Friday morning arrived, I woke up with no problems and got out and was ready to go. Met up with Gayle and we took the Metro and stopped for a quick coffee/croissant and when we arrived at the GP, there was just a short line waiting to get in so we were both glad that we had bought tickets for the 9AM entry. It was a bit nippy that morning but the wait wasn't terribly long before we could go inside. I'm so glad that we went to this exhibit - what a thrill to see all those wonderful paintings - especially one of my favorites - "Woman in Hat" by Matisse! Gayle spotted a long table that displayed several coffee table type books - one of the books was opened to a page with pictures of rooms in the Stein home - we could see how they had displayed all the paintings - very interesting as we could pick out the paintings that we had just seen in the exhibit - there were also informative displays (in French & English) scattered throughout the exhibit. If you are in Paris before the exhibit ends on Jan. 16, 2012, I would suggest that you go. I'm adding this link as it explains the exhibit much better than I can.
www.rmn.fr/english/les-musees-et-....casso-the-stein
After we left the GP, walked down the Champs to have a look at the Christmas Markets - walked along both sides, stopping to have a freshly made crepe and I found some cute gifts to bring back for my great grand-children. From there, took the Metro to the Ledru-Rollin stop and went to Gayle's apartment - I can see why she enjoys staying there. When we left the apt, it had started to drizzle a little - we were supposed to meet Mossie and Denise at the Telegraphe Metro for a coffee and then Mossie would lead us on a walk in Belleville. Thankfully, the rain stopped and we went on our way. I can't remember the name of that first street we walked down with all the cool houses - help me out here please Mossie! Loved those houses - I would have never known they were there!! Did some more walking and more walking and finally stopped for a coffee break - my poor knee was starting to swell up pretty badly from all the walking and Metro steps that I had done on Thursday so sadly, I couldn't finish the walk and had to go back to my studio. Mossie and Denise continued on and Denise and I met later to head to Gayle's neighborhood to have dinner at Le Bistrot du Peintre. It was okay but not great.
After dinner, home to crash - I did have a little trouble sleeping this trip - just couldn't get to sleep at night even though I was very tired from all I had done during the day!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
I had good intentions of getting up early and making the 5 min walk from my studio over to a new shop - Popelini at 29 rue Debelleyme which is off rue Bretagne in the Marais and they specialize in Cream Puffs - in fact, that's all they do! Here's a link that tells about the young woman who opened this shop
madaboutparis.com/shopping/popelini.html
When the alarm rang, I was so tired so re-set it for an hour later - then I had to get up and get going as Denise and I had tickets for the 10:30am show at Cirque D'Hiver! What a delightful experience - really enjoyed it! As Denise had told me - " just listening to the orchestra is worth the price of the ticket" and she was right! It was such a different experience than going to a circus in the US - much smaller building so we were much closer to all the acts - in fact, all the performers entered the arena very close to where we were sitting - when the tigers came bounding through that opening, it gave me a start as I didn't realize we would be so close to them! Don't worry - we were protected as they had wire barriers between the tigers and the audience! I enjoyed all the acts and some were unusual to see - I do recommend going - especially if you are in Paris with children!
After the circus, we went to Les Parigots Cafe which was not too far away - very close to Republique Metro - we had dinner there in May and I enjoyed my salad so much that I wanted to go back for more - and I wasn't disappointed. After a long lunch with good conversation, we went to the Magasins so Denise could see the animated windows and I enjoyed seeing them the second time - afterwards, we walked over to the Hotel Banke for a much needed pit stop. I always like to check out new 5 star hotels so I suggested that we go see the new one - Mandarin Oriental at 251 rue Saint Honore - it's a beautiful hotel with a contemporary decor - very clean and modern look. There is a garden cafe that would be great in warmer weather so will probably go back to check that out. By now, we were ready for a Cafe Creme/Hot Tea at the bar at the Four Seasons George V so away we went! Big disappointment as the bar was packed and people were waiting to get in - on to the Plaza Athenee on rue Montaigne - no luck there either as their Promenade was full and the bar didn't open until 6PM - we didn't want to wait that long and Denise suggested that we go to Hotel D'Aubusson on rue Dauphine as they have a jazz pianist so away we went. Took the bus as my knee just wouldn't do the Metro steps - as we were waiting for the bus, we had a great view of the Seine with the Eiffel Tower all lit up - got some good pictures and then on the bus. When we got to the Aubusson, discovered that the pianist didn't start until later in the evening but by this time, we needed to sit for awhile so went in the bar - very cozy little place and I'd like to go back - the people who came in and sat next to us are Americans so we had a nice conversation with them. After our tea, we headed back - Denise went to walk the Champs Elysees to see the Christmas lights and I went home - another very nice day!
After the long and busy arrival day I had yesterday, I was thinking that I shouldn't have booked such an early ticket to go to the Stein Exhibit at the Grand Palais, but when Friday morning arrived, I woke up with no problems and got out and was ready to go. Met up with Gayle and we took the Metro and stopped for a quick coffee/croissant and when we arrived at the GP, there was just a short line waiting to get in so we were both glad that we had bought tickets for the 9AM entry. It was a bit nippy that morning but the wait wasn't terribly long before we could go inside. I'm so glad that we went to this exhibit - what a thrill to see all those wonderful paintings - especially one of my favorites - "Woman in Hat" by Matisse! Gayle spotted a long table that displayed several coffee table type books - one of the books was opened to a page with pictures of rooms in the Stein home - we could see how they had displayed all the paintings - very interesting as we could pick out the paintings that we had just seen in the exhibit - there were also informative displays (in French & English) scattered throughout the exhibit. If you are in Paris before the exhibit ends on Jan. 16, 2012, I would suggest that you go. I'm adding this link as it explains the exhibit much better than I can.
www.rmn.fr/english/les-musees-et-....casso-the-stein
After we left the GP, walked down the Champs to have a look at the Christmas Markets - walked along both sides, stopping to have a freshly made crepe and I found some cute gifts to bring back for my great grand-children. From there, took the Metro to the Ledru-Rollin stop and went to Gayle's apartment - I can see why she enjoys staying there. When we left the apt, it had started to drizzle a little - we were supposed to meet Mossie and Denise at the Telegraphe Metro for a coffee and then Mossie would lead us on a walk in Belleville. Thankfully, the rain stopped and we went on our way. I can't remember the name of that first street we walked down with all the cool houses - help me out here please Mossie! Loved those houses - I would have never known they were there!! Did some more walking and more walking and finally stopped for a coffee break - my poor knee was starting to swell up pretty badly from all the walking and Metro steps that I had done on Thursday so sadly, I couldn't finish the walk and had to go back to my studio. Mossie and Denise continued on and Denise and I met later to head to Gayle's neighborhood to have dinner at Le Bistrot du Peintre. It was okay but not great.
After dinner, home to crash - I did have a little trouble sleeping this trip - just couldn't get to sleep at night even though I was very tired from all I had done during the day!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
I had good intentions of getting up early and making the 5 min walk from my studio over to a new shop - Popelini at 29 rue Debelleyme which is off rue Bretagne in the Marais and they specialize in Cream Puffs - in fact, that's all they do! Here's a link that tells about the young woman who opened this shop
madaboutparis.com/shopping/popelini.html
When the alarm rang, I was so tired so re-set it for an hour later - then I had to get up and get going as Denise and I had tickets for the 10:30am show at Cirque D'Hiver! What a delightful experience - really enjoyed it! As Denise had told me - " just listening to the orchestra is worth the price of the ticket" and she was right! It was such a different experience than going to a circus in the US - much smaller building so we were much closer to all the acts - in fact, all the performers entered the arena very close to where we were sitting - when the tigers came bounding through that opening, it gave me a start as I didn't realize we would be so close to them! Don't worry - we were protected as they had wire barriers between the tigers and the audience! I enjoyed all the acts and some were unusual to see - I do recommend going - especially if you are in Paris with children!
After the circus, we went to Les Parigots Cafe which was not too far away - very close to Republique Metro - we had dinner there in May and I enjoyed my salad so much that I wanted to go back for more - and I wasn't disappointed. After a long lunch with good conversation, we went to the Magasins so Denise could see the animated windows and I enjoyed seeing them the second time - afterwards, we walked over to the Hotel Banke for a much needed pit stop. I always like to check out new 5 star hotels so I suggested that we go see the new one - Mandarin Oriental at 251 rue Saint Honore - it's a beautiful hotel with a contemporary decor - very clean and modern look. There is a garden cafe that would be great in warmer weather so will probably go back to check that out. By now, we were ready for a Cafe Creme/Hot Tea at the bar at the Four Seasons George V so away we went! Big disappointment as the bar was packed and people were waiting to get in - on to the Plaza Athenee on rue Montaigne - no luck there either as their Promenade was full and the bar didn't open until 6PM - we didn't want to wait that long and Denise suggested that we go to Hotel D'Aubusson on rue Dauphine as they have a jazz pianist so away we went. Took the bus as my knee just wouldn't do the Metro steps - as we were waiting for the bus, we had a great view of the Seine with the Eiffel Tower all lit up - got some good pictures and then on the bus. When we got to the Aubusson, discovered that the pianist didn't start until later in the evening but by this time, we needed to sit for awhile so went in the bar - very cozy little place and I'd like to go back - the people who came in and sat next to us are Americans so we had a nice conversation with them. After our tea, we headed back - Denise went to walk the Champs Elysees to see the Christmas lights and I went home - another very nice day!