Setting a Land Speed Record in Paris

A kind invitation from an American friend  took me to Paris for a fabulous three days and two nights in the City of Light. I think we set a land speed record on the second, and only full day, of the trip.


We started the day with coffee and a croissant. Since I had never been to Versailles, my friend agreed to start our day there. Versailles is both a palace and a village, now a suburb of Paris. We took the suburban RER railroad to the village, then walked to the palace. What an amazing place. The grounds were huge - to see all three palaces we walked what felt like miles. We definitely earned the gelato we indulged in as we marched through the grounds.

Back on the train to Paris, to Sainte-Chapelle, an amazing sight on this sunny day. We were surrounded by literally thousands of stained glass scenes. We emerged with our spirits lifted in spite of our sore feet.
Sainte-Chapelle is on the Île de la Cité, the island in the Seine which is also home to Notre Dame. We stopped by Notre Dame and saw the inside of the church. We hoped to get up into the tower (the best part of Notre Dame for Victor Hugo fans) but the line was already cut off when we arrived at about 5 p.m. Consulting our museum list, we saw that the Cluny Museum (also known as Musée national du Moyen Âge, the National Museum of the Middle Ages) was still open, so we hot-footed it over there.


The gem of the Cluny's collection is the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, but also houses a number of interesting architectural items. Among these are the original heads of Notre Dame's Kings of Judah statues, lopped on by mistaken revolutionaries in 1792. Also at the Cluny is a room of stained glass windows, some from Sainte-Chapelle, brought down to human level and scale. My favorite, shown above, depicts the angel Gabriel blowing his horn to wake the dead on Judgement Day. By the time we finished up at the Cluny, we were starting to feel a bit like the zombies in the picture.


To save our feet we hopped on the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe. It was moving to see veterans, some middle aged but mostly much older, laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier and posing for pictures, looking very dignified in their full uniforms. We ascended to the top via the 284 steps and were rewarded with wonderful views of Paris old and new.


Since it was late night at the Louvre we decided to walk down the Champs-Elysees and through the Tuileries Gardens, a massive park stretching from  the Place de la Concorde to the Louvre. We agreed the long walk was worth it as we approached the pyramid entrance to the Louvre and walked right in. Late hours at the museum are wonderful! We had time to admire the old Dutch masters, including the Louvre's two Vermeer paintings, as well as the Winged Victory of Samothrace, before we were ushered out by museum attendants who had significantly less enthusiasm for the museum's late hours.


A pleasant dinner with wine on the Left Bank and we were tucked up in bed by midnight. A great day with a tireless friend, and if not a land speed record for Paris, then certainly a personal best.