Paris
Trip Fall 2000In the fall of 2000 (Sept 10 to Sept 17) I went on my second business trip to Paris. Tom and I had both enjoyed our previous trip to Paris, but this time Tom was not able to make it. Tom's retina had recently detached and Tom had spent a good part of the summer and early fall sitting in a chair at home with his head down so that the fluid in his eye would completely cover the lens to prevent a cataract from developing. I went to Paris with Ron, Wally and Jeff. As with our previous trip, we had coach tickets with the possibility of being up graded to coach. Since Wally was a member of the Ambassador's club we all got to wait there before boarding the place. The Ambassador's club is terrific, the chairs are comfortable, waiters bring you drinks and just before it's time to board the plan the staff notifies you so you can be sure that you will make the flight. We were all upgraded to business class and the flight was quite nice. This time we didn't bother to rent a car and we took a taxi to our hotel. Actually, I should say we took a taxi to our hotels. The travel people managed to get things mixed up and I was registered at a different hotel from the others. Everyone else was staying at the Mercure Defense 5 and I was staying at the Mercure Defense Parc in Nanterre, a couple of miles away. Further, my hotel wasn't as nice as the one that everyone else was staying at, but it wasn't much different. Unlike our previous trip to Paris, we didn't have as much free time, but fortunately we managed to finish early on Friday and I decided to spend an extra day in Paris so I could see Versailles, which I missed on our first trip.
After
work on Tuesday our French hosts took us on a short tour of the city. It was
a beautiful day and we had plenty of sunlight. We drove around the city and
saw La Opera and the Hôtel-de-Ville which is where the mayor of Paris
lives. We stopped at Place des Vosges which has some interesting architecture
and is the place where Victor Hugo once lived. Victor Hugo had his apartments
in house Nr. 6 from 1832 to 1848. The city of Paris eventually bought his house
and turned it into the Musée Victor Hugo. Hugo wrote a large part of
Les Misérables here.
Paris' original attempt at urban planning, the Place des Vosges is now its oldest
square. The square is symmetrical consisting of 39 houses each made of red brick
with stone facings. It was construction was under Henri IV from 1605 - 1612
and was originally used for pageants and duels.
The
metro was are main mode of transportation since we didn't rent a car in Paris.
The metro is wonderful and I wish that L.A. had as good a public transportation
system. While the metro is great for getting around Paris, it doesn't go to
Colloumbe. Most of the people who worked at Alcatel in France told us that we
couldn't take the public transportation from our hotel to work, so it became
a matter of honor to figure out how get from the hotels to the metro system.
On our first attempt at using the train we got off at the wrong stop and had
to walk quite a distance, but after that we had no problems getting to Alcatel.
We did have one problem getting back. Since we were staying at different hotels
Ron and I needed to get off at different stops. On Friday Ron told me that he
was going to take a different train and then told me that another train should
get me to my metro stop. Ron and I had started at point A and at point C we
separated. I wanted to go to point F. I got on the training heading to point
K (which passed through F). I had to wait quite a while for the train to leave
the station, but once it started moving we arrived at point F very quickly,
the problem was that the train went right past F without stopping. In fact,
the train went past G, H, I and J without stopping. When we arrived at K I check
the schedule and found a train going to point B and got on. The train train,
arrived at C (where I had started) and kept on going to point B. I then found
another train to back to point C (an hour had now passed) and then waited for
a local line that would stop at point F. I was supposed to meet Ron at the Grand
Arch and was over an hour late. Fortunately, Ron had also gotten screwed up
on his train trip and also arrived late.
In
French it means "Boat Fly". The Bateaux Mouches are dinner boats that
travel down the Siene. Ron and I had heard that the dinners on the Bateaux
Mouche were quite good so we decided that we would take the ride even thought
it is somewhat expensive. We forgot exactly where to boats were docked and we
ended up walking quite a ways before we got to the boats. By the time we arrived
the last dinner boat had already left. Their were still boats going down the
Siene, but they weren't serving dinner. Ron and I bought tickets and got on
one of the boats. It was a night of a full moon and while we were waiting for
the boat to depart we got to see a hugh orange moon rise between two towers
of one of the bridges. The tour was a lot of fun and we got to see places such
as the Louvre and Notre Dame from angles that make them seem for impressive
since nothing is blocking your view. It was about 10pm when we finally got off
the boat and we still had not eaten dinner. Ron asked me where I wanted to eat
and I told him that I didn't care as long as it was close because I was really
hunger. Ron said that he knew a place a couple blocks down the road so we started
walking. Blocks and blocks past we Ron continuing to say "it's not too
far". After about a half hour of walking I told Ron that if we didn't find
the restaurant soon he would have to carry me because I would soon faint from
hunger. Ron said the restaurant was just 2 blocks up. Two blocks later Ron said,
"OK, I know where I am now, it's just two more blocks". Four major
blocks later we still hadn't found the restaurant, Ron proclaimed that the restaurant
was just two more major blocks. Two major blocks later the restaurant was no
where in sight. I told Ron that I was getting on the metro and heading back
to the hotel. I guess Ron had decided he had enough as well because he got on
the metro with me. When I got back to the hotel I was too tired to eat and just
went to bed. This adventure has given rise to the term "A Traver block"
which is roughly equivalent to 1 kilometer.
Ron
and I were lucky enough to finish work early on Friday so we had the most of
the day to do some sight seeing. The Galeries Lafayette is a large department
story. Ron and I went there to look for some gifts to bring home.
The Galeries Lafayette or near La Opera and it is the largest department store
in Paris. The store is full of very fashionable clothing and expensive jewelry.
I bought Sally some earrings there. I thought about getting Randy something
to where, but she is very particular about her clothes so I decided not to chance
it. The store is tall by Paris standards so we went to the roof to take some
pictures of the city.
From
the Galeries Lafayette Ron and I took the metro to Montmartre. I had purchased
some metro tickets and on our way there I gave Ron one of my metro tickets.
During our trip I had purchased a number of metro tickets for different lines
and by mistake I gave Ron a ticket for a different line (the tickets are color
coded, but the two lines had similar colors). I went through the turnstile with
my ticket, but Ron's didn't work. Ron tried putting the ticket through several
times, but it wouldn't work. The woman behind Ron got impatient and put her
ticket in and shoved both her and Ron through on her ticket. Ron managed to
walk about 5 meters before the metro police approached Ron and asked to see
his ticket. Since Ron didn't have a valid ticket they fined him 250 Francs which
he had to pay on the spot.
Sacré Cœur Basilica is located atop Montmartre (Martyr's Hill), the highest of Paris' seven hills. Standing in at 426 feet, the Mount was named Mount des Martyrs during the reign of Charlemagne to commemorate the slaying of St. Dennis in 250 AD. Legend says that upon being slain he picked up his severed head and walked to the top of the hill. During the resistance to the invading Cossacks in 1871, hundreds of Communard Rebels hid in the chalk mines, and were forever imprisoned inside when the Versailles troops blew up the exits. To make up for the horror of what had happened, the Third Republic erected the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur (Sacred Heart) on the site between 1876 to 1919. Sacré Cœur was very popular with artists such as Renoir and Van Gogh and Picasso.
Ron and I eat dinner at Montmartre and by the time we left the restaurant it had started to rain. Ron and I took a sky rail down to the bottom of the hill. When we were waiting to get on to the sky rail someone tried to pick Ron's pocket, but the thief was clumsy and Ron was able stop him.
During
my first visit to Paris I drove around the Arc and even walked up to the Arc,
but I didn't go inside the Arc. After Ron and I had finished visiting Sacré
Cœur we decided to go into the Arc. It was still raining a little bit and
it was night time. The Arc is surrounded by a large roundabout that is pretty
scary to drive. It was clear that trying to cross the street would end in death
or injury so we figured that there must be another way to the Arc. After searching
for a short time we discovered a tunnel under the street that lead to the Arc.
The arc was pretty well deserted by the time we got there. There is an elevator
which takes people to the top, but Ron and I chose to walk up instead. By the
time we got up to the top there was very little rain. I think the rain actually
made the view more spectacular since the streets reflected the light from the
cars and the billboards, making it more colorful than it would have been ordinarily.
Later we walked back down and visited the grave of the Unknown Soldier.
The Triumphal Arch dates back to 1806, when Napoleon commissioned J.F. Chalgrin to design a triumphal arch in the Roman style to honor Napoleon's Grande Armee. Chalgrin based it on the Arch of Titus in Rome. Construction on the Arch began in 1806, restarted in 1825, and was not finished until 1836, fifteen years after the death of Napoleon. The Arc de Triomphe is an imposing sight, measuring 50 meters (164 feet) high, 45 meters (148 feet) wide. Situated at the top of the Champs Elysees and the center of the Place de L'Etoile, 12 avenues radiate out from it like a twelve pointed star with the Arc at the center.
If
you don't travel on business trips often you should take advantage of business
travel by staying some extra time at your own expense. The next time I'm sent
to Paris I plan to take at least a week's vacation to see the city. The biggest
expense of going anywhere is usually the air fair so I decided to spend an extra
day in Paris to do some sight seeing. Ron, Wally and Jeff all left on Saturday,
but I decided to stay until Sunday and see Versailles. Versailles is outside
of Paris and I had to take the train. While at the metro station I realized
that I needed a couple of tickets to get a connection to the train. I saw the
ticket booth and started walking to it and ran straight into a large Plexiglas
wall. I hit the wall so hard that I got a gash on my head. Fortunately I had
some Band-Aids in case I got a blister from all of the walking that I expected
to do at Versailles. It was easy to get from Paris to Versailles by the metro
and train and the ride didn't take very long. Once I arrived at Versailles it
was only a short walk to the castle. When we were in
Paris in Jan 2000 we tried
to visit Versailles, but we forgot to consult our guide books otherwise we would
have discovered that it was closed on Monday. To make maters worse, we parted
in the bus parking lot (it was empty) and had to spend a small fortune to get
out of the lot. I took the self guided tour of the castle. The thing that surprised
me most was how public the king's living quarters were, I can't image how anyone
could have tolerated such a public life with almost no privacy. I spent most
of my time in the gardens. Just before my previous visit in the winter one of
the strongest storms in centuries had hit Versailles and done terrible damage
to the gardens. Even though the gardens and still not been restored by the fall
they were magnificent to see. I also visited the Grand Trianon and the Petit
Trianon which were more private quarters that the royal family and even Napoleon
used.
This
Ferris Wheel was built as part of the millennium celebration. The Wheel was located
at the Place de la Concorde, which is the largest place in Paris. The place is
situated along the Seine and separates the Tuilerie Gardens from the beginning
of the Champs Elysées. During the French Revolution the place held in its
center the guillotine that executed Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, Danton, and Robespierre.
In the place is the Obelisk of Luxor which is 22.83 meters high and weighs 230
tons. It is 3300 years old and decorated with hieroglyphics exalting the reign
of the pharaoh Ramses II. The obelisk was presented as a gift to Charles X by
the Egyptian viceroy Méhémet Ali in 1829. We saw wheel when we were
in Paris in the Winter of 2000, but we didn't bother to go on it. On Saturday,
I spent most of the day at Versailles. When I got back to Paris I went to the
D'Orsay, but got there just as it was closing. I realized that a number of things
would be closing so I decided to go on the Ferris Wheel since it was scheduled
to be taken down at the end of the year. There was a short line at the Ferris
Wheel and I ended up sharing the Ferris wheel cab with a man from Iran and his
two children. The ride wasn't very exciting, but I did get a very good view of
the city. Unfortunately, I had used all my film at Versailles so I wasn't able
to take any pictures. The pictures here were take by Tom the previous winter.