More Travel Adventures in Paris

Well, just when we thought our wild travel adventures in Paris where over for this trip we discovered Murphy had other plans.  In essence he put us in the middle of one of the largest traffic jams I’ve ever seen on the Place de la Concorde.

It started innocently enough.  We took a bus to a designer boutique in Places des Vosges where Sherry had seen a purse she liked.  Then it was to another bus, which runs straight down Rue de Rivoli to Concorde.  Our goal this time was to stop at Angelina’s to pick up a Christmas present.  Both of these trips went off without the slightest hint of what was to come.

After Angelina’s the plan was to have lunch at Restaurant Voltaire.  This required crossing the Seine which should be easy enough.  However, this is where the Louvre and Jardin des Tuileries are located so there are fewer bridges.  Our best bet was to finish walking towards Concord and catch the bus from there.  Incidentally, this is the same bus we took home on Thursday.

Our first sign of trouble occurred as we walked by the Hotel Le Meurice.  There were lots of police and black sedans indicating that some dignitary would be traveling soon by motorcade.  This is not a big deal since dignitaries stay there all the time.

Then we arrive at Place de la Concorde.  What a frigging mess it was!!!  There were cars trying to go every direction and police every where desperately trying to direct traffic. Soon, the reason for all this chaos became crystal clear as motorcade after motorcade after motorcade made their way around the traffic circle heading towards the Presidential Palace.

When we get to the bus stop you can see they are not letting buses in to that area.  So, we walk to another stop that is also blocked. Finally, we walk across the Seine because traffic was going nowhere while police motorcycles with full sirens blaring seemed to be everywhere.

Across the river we managed to flag down a taxi.  When we told where we wanted to go he just kind of laughed and told us good luck with that!  The traffic in Concorde was impacting traffic in all directions for miles so he felt confident that no driver would try and take us through that mess.

So, we caught another bus for home, moving away from Concorde, and ate at another bistro we know that has great food. Once seated, I realized that it had taken us nearly 2-hours to get from Angelina’s to our table by the window at Bistro Relais Odeon.

Once we were back at the apartment I did some surfing on the web and discovered the cause of it all.  The headline reads - French President François Hollande on Friday hosts nearly 40 African leaders at a Paris summit on peace and security. Yep, that’ll do it.

It was not the way we planned the day to go but in the end we had a great meal in Paris so I’m not complaining.  It’s just another example of being willing to roll with the punches in the City of Light.

AU revoir!

Misadventures in Paris – Part II

This is the continuation of Misadventures in Paris – Part I.

You may remember that the concert was the Four Seasons by Vivaldi.  We did some quick searching on the web and discover this concert lasts about 45 minutes.  So, we choose to have dinner afterwards.  I mean this is Paris after all and finding someplace to eat dinner at 9:30 on a Saturday would not be a problem.  We even had a plan.  After the concert, we would hit the closest brasserie and have French onion soup with a side of fries and some nice red wine.

As we rush through the front door, we saw something about the Ave Maria on the poster. That’s odd.  Our tickets only mention the Four Seasons.  This is what we are discussing as the musicians take the stage.

However, this is a little bewildering as well.  You see, there are clearly 4 chairs and 4 music stands set up but 5 musicians and a woman in a formal gown come onto the stage.   As they reach the center, 4 musicians take their places and the other musician and the woman keep walking and disappear into the shadows.

Finally, the music starts and it’s lovely.  But it’s not the Four Seasons.   After three songs, the woman comes out and performs the Ave Maria in full operatic soprano.  To be honest, I am not a fan of this style but we both love the Ave Maria (we played it at our wedding) so it’s all good.

However, after the Ave Maria she performed another song.  Then another and another.  After 5 long songs, she took her final bow and the last musician came on stage.  At last we get the Four Seasons started and it was absolutely beautiful.

Well, the first three seasons were good.  We left before the fourth since it’s now after 10:00 and we are starving and it was time to implement the last part of the plan.

We head out the front door and beeline for the closest brasserie.  As soon as we sit down we have a feeling we choose badly.  We were right.  Our soup had no flavor at all.  It was mostly broth with a few onions thrown in for good measure.  The only true flavor came from the burnt cheese on top.  And the fries.  They were very greasy and had obviously been frozen.

After spending a lot of money for pretty piss-poor food we found the closest Metro, bought new one-way tickets and headed home. On the way we passed Rue de Buci and the Café de Paris, which is one of our favorite local restaurants.

We sat down and promptly order an assortment of desserts.  They were exquisite and did a fine job finishing off a tiring evening with a wonderful flourish.

There you have it.  Challenging transportation, unadvertised changes to the concert, and horrible food can be found in Paris. The trick is to simply proclaim c’est la vie and roll with the punches until it finally gets better. And that usually starts with dessert.

Au revoir!

P.S. I was looking at the bus map today and discovered that the 24 bus we were waiting for actually does not come down that street so we were waiting for a bus that would never come.  I have no idea why the number 24 bus logo appeared on the stop along with the 21, 69, 72 and 81.

Misadventures in Paris – Part I

You don’t have to hang out with Sherry and I very long to discover we love Paris.  We’re happy to regale you with story after story of the great times and adventures we’ve shared in the City of Light.  But, before you get the misimpression we only see Paris through rose-colored glasses I can tell you that we’ve had a few misadventures as well.

Last night was one of those misadventures.

It all started around 6:00 pm when I posting on FB that we were in the motel where Oscar Wilde died on the day of his death – November 30th.  Suddenly Sherry remembered we had tickets to a concert that night to hear Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at L'église de la Madeleine, which is one of the many beautiful churches in Paris.

No worries since the concert started at 8:30.  At 7:30 we catch the 95 bus near the apartment.  From there we’ll change to the 72 bus and finally the 24 bus. We settle in for the short ride, which takes us right in front of the Louvre and that’s where it starts to go a little sideways on us.

We got to enjoy the view of the Louvre much longer than intended because traffic was a mess.  We are finally off the bus and ready for the next leg when we realize it’s nearly 8:00 already.  So, we ditch the buses for the metro and that’s when our plan really took a turn for the worse.

Earlier that day we purchased full-day Metro tickets, which work on the buses as well.  However, I bent both tickets so now they had a crease and could not be read.  Merde!!! Back up to the buses, which normally don’t require you to show your ticket even though legally you’re supposed to.

We get to the bus stop and receive a pleasant surprise.  The 24 bus stops here and that means we can skip the 72 bus all together to save a little time.  And with that we feel like we’re back on track.

As we stand there waiting we see a bus approach.  It’s a 72 (of course it is).  Should we board it? Nope, we’ll wait for the 24.  Then comes a string of buses that’s almost comical. A 69, 81, 72, 69, 21, 81 and 21. Every bus that passes that is not a 24 raises our stress levels just a bit because at this point we are running out of time.

Time for a new plan.  At 8:20 we’re climbing into a taxi after finally giving up on the bus.  Of course now the taxi is stuck in heavy Saturday night traffic.  Still, he did a great job of navigating his way through town and we handed our tickets to the young man at the door at precisely 8:30.  Three minutes later, the chamber quartet walks onto the stage and the concert began.

However, this is not the end of the evening’s misadventures so stay tuned for part 2 to see how the night unfolds.

Au revoir!