[INSIGHT TRAVEL - EUROPEAN GRANDEUR] - London and Paris

DAY 5 - SEPTEMBER 4, 2000
PARIS, HOTEL SOFITEL RIVE GAUCHE
ROOM 926 (1800H, PARIS TIME)

Capsule review of the past two days -- embarked at Dover ferry at around 0900H, GMT, after picking up currency starter packs at the Trafalgar Office. Cleared Customs without any problems, in fact, with scarcely a look from the immigration inspector at our passports. Leisurely two-hour drive down to the first rest stop, getting acquainted with the folks sitting behind me. At this writing I already know Cynthia and Jeff, Bob and Anne, Carolyn and Bill. I've got a lead on Alex and Fiona, too. No last names, but perhaps before the tour ends.

Rest stop was a good one -- certainly a busy one. Toilets free, which is something of a miracle -- but perhaps with the volume of visitors, they can afford to subsidize the cleaning without benefit of additional contributions.

Lots of details from Lisa on the way down, mostly administrative -- what to do on the bus, seat rotation, how to deal with each other, hotel procedures, etc. Plus bits and pieces of history on the side. Pulled into Paris at around 4:00pm local time, having set our watches forward one hour (and later discovering from Jocelyn our city guide that we were on DST after all).The Hotel Sofitel Rive Gauche makes up for the darker Gloucester with lighting fixtures everywhere. The bathroom mirror looks like something out of a stage dressing room!

I got a single room to myself at the end of the hall opposite from Mom and Dad. The rooms are definitely built for no more than two people -- with all of their bags, there's no way a pullout bed could fit in the space, let alone my things. As it is, I got a quiet night -- except for Dad ringing the phone just as I was about to go to sleep.

The three of us signed up for a bistro night and it was really good. The musicians were good entertainers, lots of comedy in the act. I got a chance to trot out my halting French and managed to be understood! Lots of hubby's favorite songs came out of the repertoire : I had the Moulin Rouge theme sung to me by the guitarist. Mom had about four glasses of wine in quick succession and promptly wanted to sleep on the Illuminations Tour.

Paris by night is beautiful, especially now that most of the buildings have been unveiled after the restoration work done for the Millenium. The Opera was simply beautiful with its new gilt on the statues and cornices. Managed to pop one or two pictures of the better-lighted monuments, and a few of those not-so-well-lighted. The Eiffel has an hourly illumination that makes it look like a bunch of giant fireflies has come to rest on it -- the whole building is let up to look like a giant sparkler. We were let down at the Trocadero roof to take photos of the lighted tower and it certainly beats the view I had of it years ago!

The next day we had a sleepy early start for our trip to the Louvre. Breakfast at 6:30am and we were among the first into the dining room. A very good continental buffet selection, actually. Croissants and coffee as only the French can make it. Cereals, fruits, cold milk, juices, ham, bacon and eggs.

Met our city guide Jocelyn this morning. A bright, grey-haired lady with an abundance of Parisian dry wit. She was a mine of information about the city and the museum, lots of little anecdotes for the places we visited.

After what I've seen this time around, whatever I remember of rmy previous trip has faded to grey. Such a wealth of detail, it seems impossible to process everything in a single round. Plus, Paris by daylight is different. All the familiar place names come to life : Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, La Madeleine, Les Invalides (had no idea it could look so pretty!), Le Pantheon, Place Vendome, Place de la Concorde, Le Trocadero, Le Sorbonne, La Tour Eiffel, and all the rest. The day was clear and bright, and it is true -- Paris sunshine is different, perfect artist's lighting. Small wonder that so many famous paintings emerged from this city.

The Louvre is an absolute showstopper. Even with the famous Glass Pyramid of I.M. Pei in the middle of the former palace courtyard, which doesn't detract all that much from the original beauty of the place. Photo op time at the Carrousel, Napoleon's personal Arc d'Triomphe. Then down into the new basement level for washroom stop before touring the galleries.

The galleries. I could cheerfully have lingered for a week over the paintings alone! I saw two that were real heartbreakers : one is of the two little princes who died in the Tower of London - rumored killed by their uncle Richard III. The other is a subject drawn from the moment when Marcus Sextus comes home and discovers his wife Lucrezia has killed herself because she was raped by Tarquin. The artist has captured the total loss and devastation of th eman in a way that would bring tears to your eyes if you knew the story. It's not that big a painting, but definitely I count it as one of my personal favorites.

Saw the huge monster of a masterpiece of Napoleon crowning Josephine and is is a regal thing, indeed! paintings are the still photos of an era, colored by the artists' perceptions and the dictates of the patron. Jocelyn pointed out the addition of Napoleon's mother in the scene -- when Madam Mere never attended the ceremony, such was her hatred of Josephine. The artist's self-portrait was tucked away in the second gallery, busy with his sketch pad. And in the interests of preserving amity between his livelihood and Napoleon's five sisters, he painted them all the same way.

Finally, the Mona Lisa -- one of the crown jewels of the Louvre. The only painting guarded by glass and security alarms in the whole gallery. Not a big painting, either. Not even a colorful one, but a landmark for quite a few reasons:

* It's the first representational portrait, rather than idealized (as the patron never bought it!)

* da Vinci built up the face layer by layer through shading, a 3-D portrait

* Lock on the eyes and move about the room -- the eyes will appear to follow you

Looking at all the painting and their state of preservation makes me indignant for the sake of The Spoilarium, the huge master work of Juan Luna, winner fo the Madrid Exposition. It can compare with any of the big paintings for sheer scope and beauty -- but it's not set off to advantage in the National Museum. It just languishes under bad lighting and ventilation, and not even a rope barrier to guard it from fingers! I'm hoping we give a copy to the Prado to keep -- at least there it should get some recognition.

From the Louvre, we reunited with the rest of the group and went on our second tour of the city. So far, I think Paris has been the most thoroughly visited of the tour cities -- there was last night's Illuminations Tour, today it's the city by daylight and by the river Seine. Each tour reveals a new face to Paris -- the city looks so much more different in the daylight! Somehow more imperious, more of the grande dame by day than the flirtatious courtesan by night. From the river, Paris is somewhat more demure, if such a thing can be said of the city.

We revisited most of the places we had seen before and ended up taking a walking tour of Notre Dame. Somehow it was darker than I remembered. Then I realized it was because the doors were shut to control the flow of visitors. It makes the stained glass look wonderful, but the rest of the interior makes one feel as though the lights have gone out in a crypt. We lit candles -- just four -- and went as rapidly as was decently possible through the cathedral. Once out in the sunshine, we made our way down the street to the assigned meeting place, a little brasserie where we had a snack stop while waiting for the rest of the party to re-assemble.

Once we were back on the bus, it was time for our Seine river cruise. New views of Paris were revealed, some of them quite dramatic and detailed than could be imagined by looking at them from the ground.

The crowning glory of the city tour was our ascent into the Eiffel Tower. The elevator machinery appears to have been in use since 1899 -- nearly a hundred years old and still working. Contrast that against the recent news about Bridgestone recalling Firestone tires, and you certainly have something to think about : they just don't make things like they used to, anymore.

The views of Paris from the tower are absolutely breathtaking. God was good enough to send the most marvelous weather we'd had since the crossing, and visibility was clear for about 80km. In all four directions. Come to think of it, that makes it the fourth perspective of Paris -- a semi-aerial one! Sacre-Coeur was really pretty perched up on one of the hills overlooking the city, almost as if it was floating.