Thanksgiving in Paris

For the past several years, we’d been fortunate enough to be close (well, close enough, a day or so driving) to Little Rock to go over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving.  This year, with a big ocean in the way, we had to find an alternate location.  Since Roy didn’t want to compete with Granny’s cooking (just kidding), we decided to go to Paris, where there would be no competition whatsoever (definitely NOT kidding!).  With some events going on, there was a question of whether I’d spend Thanksgiving anywhere but at work, but Wednesday night found us packing into two small suitcases for our trip.

Our adventure began early Thursday morning.  We had tickets for the 0654 TGV train, which goes from the Stuttgart Hauptbanhof (main train station) to Paris L’Est train station in 3 hours and 40 minutes–faster than driving!  To catch the train, we had to catch the bus around the corner from our house at 0539, ride it to the Böblingen Busbahnhof (the main bus station in Böblingen), and catch the S-Bahn (kind of like a streetcar/subway) there to the Hauptbahnhof.  (You’ll note that Stuttgart has a well-developed public transportation system; it’s a little pricey, but between the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, and bus, you can pretty much get where you need to go.)  We got to the train station, the train was already there waiting, we got on, found our seats, and soon were on our way.

The TGV train is pretty nice.  We had three seats in a group of 4 with a table in between.  We rode in the 2d class car–the difference in 1st and 2d class, as far as I can tell, means that no one comes by with food.  There is a “bar car” on the train where you can go and get food (we brought our own snacks), and they do have bathrooms.  There are luggage racks above the seats, but I think if you have a large suitcase you have to check in somewhere (remember the two small suitcases?  we knew we would be lugging them about).  The train is a lot like a large airplane, but with a little more room.

You can get an idea of what the train looks like in this picture–this is Rebecca on the train waiting to depart on our return trip.

It was dark for much of the trip, so we didn’t get to see too much of the countryside until we got closer.  Between Stuttgart and Paris, the TGV only stops twice, in Karlsruhe, Germany, and Strasbourg, France.  By the time we got to Strasbourg, dawn was breaking, so we could see a little.  They make announcements in French, German, and English, so we knew what was going on.  There was a man a few rows back who had some issue with his ticket, but we had our tickets and reservation cards, the conductor took them and punched them, and it worked just like it’s supposed to.  We pulled into the Paris train station right on time.

Once off the train, we needed to figure out the subway to get to the hotel.  The stations are all in the same big building, so we found where to catch the subway.  The first slight hitch was trying to get the subway tickets–the automatic machines were labeled all in French.  So Roy stood in the line for the information desk, where he talked to a lady who spoke English, and got our tickets.  As we were getting sorted out to go catch the subway, a lady in dark clothes walked up and asked “Do you speak English?”  Without thinking, I said yes.  Immediately she whipped out a little note–“I’m from Bosnia, my children are still there, please help me…” Oh dear.  We walked away from Rebecca’s first experience with the Paris beggars (but not the last).  Shortly thereafter, she got her first experience of the Paris subway “performers”.  I wish I had a picture of her face–what a puzzled look!  Once we explained what was going on, though, she took it all in stride.

Here’s a picture of the hotel, the Paris Hotel Nouvel Orleans. Yes, that’s a Best Western sign hanging on the side. Apparently the Best Western chain bought several hotels in Europe. No, they’re not what you’d expect from an American Best Western, but I picked this one figuring they would probably speak English and have most of the basic amenities Americans take for granted, like towels in the bathroom.

There was a subway station right across the street from our hotel, so once we got off the subway, it was easy to just walk right to the hotel.

Our room wasn’t ready–it was early yet–but we left our bags in the hotel checkroom and went out to start our sightseeing.

We decided to start by seeing Notre Dame Cathedral, so we just hopped on the subway and went.  It’s kind of an odd feeling–you get on the subway and go somewhere, among all these people who are just going about their normal lives, going to work or school, get off the subway, follow the signs, and suddenly there you see Notre Dame (or the Eiffel Tower, or the Arc D’ Triomphe).

The Cathedral of Notre Dame is on the bank of the Seine River in Paris.  There’s a big open courtyard in front, so you can get a really good view of the cathedral.  There’s a statue of “Charlemagne et ses levdes” (Charlemagne and his servants/guards/companions) at the side. Although the French were of course not celebrating Thanksgiving, they were evidently already getting ready for Christmas; behind Roy and Rebecca, you can see someone on a lift decorating a large tree in the square.

We looked around the square a bit, but quickly headed inside for several reasons.  We wanted to see inside, of course, but it was also COLD!  Plus, we needed to avoid the beggars.  When a lady approached and asked if we spoke English, Rebecca asked me if that was the same lady we saw in the subway.  Unfortunately not–sadly, she and many like her were everywhere.  There was also a sign on the entrance to Notre Dame warning us of pickpockets, and requesting tourists to show respect in the church.  Too bad they have to say that.

We went in the church and they were having a service, so we watched a little bit quietly in the back.  Then we went around the sides and looked at the architecture, statues, and the stained glass.  Fortunately we had sun that day, so the stained glass in several areas was really beautiful with the light.

It’s an actual church, so along with the services, they had folks going to confession on the sides.  On our trip to Prague, we had pointed out some old confessionals and explained to Rebecca what they were.  Here she got a chance to see some in use!

Along with the confessionals were dozens of places inside where you could light a candle.  Of course Rebecca wanted to light one, but we explained it wasn’t quite the thing for us to do.

I tried to be judicious with my photos, so as not to disturb anyone, but I did get a nice shot of the statue of Joan of Arc and a pretty picture of a Madonna and Child.  I found there was a gap in Rebecca’s education, as she had no idea who Joan of Arc was and why they would make a statue of her.  She definitely wasn’t crazy about what happened to her!

I did not get a picture of the poor box right before the exit.  Roy did note that there was only one little box for the poor, and dozens of places to buy a candle!  It sounded funny at the time, but it’s also sad when you think about all those beggars.

By this time, we were hungry, and we also needed to go to the bathroom.  One thing we did NOT notice inside that large church was restroom facilities–no way would that fly in an American church!  We decided to go back to the hotel, see if the room was ready, and then get something to eat.

Lucky for us, the room was ready.  We were on the fourth floor, but they did have an elevator.  Sort of.  The stated capacity for the elevator was three people.  Three small people who like each other can fit, but not with luggage!  Rebecca and I went up with one suitcase, and Roy followed with the second suitcase.

The room was, as we expected, quite small.  However, the “double bed” was a nice size, really closer to what we think of as king size.  With the twin bed making this a tripe room, there wasn’t much room for anything else, but it was a nice room.  The bathroom was surprisingly large.  It did have towels, and even had the little soaps and shampoos like an American hotel.  And the toilet paper was like real toilet paper and not like sandpaper (which was good because I forgot to bring any with us).  What was lacking–well, I had heard from friends of mine that the Paris hotels didn’t have shower curtains.  This one didn’t have a shower curtain, but it did have a shower door–well, at least for half the tub!  I still haven’t quite figured that out.

After checking into the room, we went out looking for something to eat. The little cafes were mostly closing up for the afternoon, and we didn’t really see anything that we felt like eating in most of the places anyway.  I TOLD Roy we should bring a lunch to Paris.

We finally ended up finding somewhere to eat our Thanksgiving dinner.

It was actually pretty good.  They even put two lonely little ice cubes in our Pepsi glasses; I guess it was obvious we were Americans.  Definitely NOT up to the standards of Thanksgiving meal at Granny’s, but at least it fueled us to go on and see some more of Paris.

Rebecca really wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower, so we headed out on the subway again.  We figured it was too late in the day to try to go up, so we went first to the Trocadero, where you can get a good distance view of the tower.  It

was cold and windy, and just a little rainy, so we didn’t stay on the Trocadero long.  We walked over to the Eiffel Tower, where they were having some sort of event or demonstration.  We think it was a sports event, but didn’t really want to go into the crowd and find out.  We decided to return in the morning and go up the tower, but for now, we’d walk over to the Arc D’Triomphe.

We didn’t quite count on how long it was going to take and how late in the day it was, and how dark it gets very quickly in the winter in Paris, especially in rainy weather.  Still, we made it, and got a few pictures of the Arc lit up at night.

We finally found the way underneath the really busy street to get to the arch.  It was a lot warmer underneath.  While in the passage, we saw a lot of French military personnel; turned out they were getting ready for a ceremony that we saw just a bit of later in the evening.  I believe it had to do with World War I and the French version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Down in the passageway, we saw a line of people going into an area where you could pay to go up in the arch.  After some discussion, we decided to go on up.  They were going up all right, up and up and up.  384 stairs worth of up, and all spiral.

At least it was warm!  There were a few interesting things to see up in the top, although it looked like there was a lot of construction going on.

The real draw, however, was the view from the top. It was really cold and windy, but we got a great view of Paris at night, right down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. We also got a really nice view of the Eiffel Tower lit up.

A beautiful view, but it wasn’t getting any warmer, so finally we went back down (and down and down) the stairs, and retraced the journey to our hotel. Tomorrow, we go up the Eiffel Tower!

(29 Nov 2009)
Our first morning in Paris!  We headed straight for the Eiffel Tower, wanting to get there before the crowds.  The lines weren’t very long–maybe partly because of the cold.  It was cold and rather foggy, but we took our chance anyway, and decided to go all the way to the top of the tower.

We’ve been telling Rebecca all along–Europe is just like Epcot’s World Showcase at Disneyworld–only bigger.  She noted that the Eiffel Tower in Paris was sure a lot bigger than the one at Epcot.  However, we did notice they had a crepe and gleis stand close to the Eiffel Tower, just like at Epcot!

This is how you get to the top of the Eiffel Tower:  You wait in a line to get a ticket.  Then you wait in a line based on what ticket you bought (1st, 2nd, or top level).  You get on an elevator that goes on a slant up the side of the tower.  At the 2nd level, you get off, and if you’re going all the way up, you wait in another line to crush into a tiny little elevator with about a hundred other people, and go straight up the center of the tower.  If you’re on the outside going up, like I was, you can get a really great view, if you can stand to look at it while feeling yourself pressed against the side of the elevator.

Once at the top, you can look out from an enclosed area showing you the sights to be seen.  You can also climb a short flight of stairs to get to an outside area and look over the city.  It’s an amazing view, even though it was misty that day.  Did I mention it was COLD?

Of interest, if you’re ever in Paris and you find yourself at the top of the Eiffel Tower, freezing, and you need to go to the bathroom, well, believe it or not, you’re in luck.  They have a bathroom there.  It’s even free.  And it’s warmer than the platform where you look over the city.

We looked over the city for a while, then took the elevator back down to the second level.  Still a really nice view, and we could see some more detail of parts of the city, like the Arc D’Triomphe.

We decided to walk down a level just to get a good view of the innards.  Then we were so cold, we got some coffee and hot chocolate–naturally, like any tourist attraction, there are concession stands. For some reason, we could NOT find the elevator down from the first level, so we ended up walking all the way down to the bottom.  Not that bad going down, but I felt for the people walking up.  Especially the poor old grandma being hauled up the stairs by what appeared to be her two teenage grandsons!

Once down the tower, we cut over toward the Champs-Élysées.  It was a bit of a walk, but it was warmer moving around, and we got to see several interesting sights, including a piece of the Berlin Wall and a very nice church–we have no idea what kind of church, but it was pretty to look at.

Along the Champs-Élysées, they had a Christmas market–oh, so that’s where the crowds were.  They had some pretty things there, and more importantly, food.  We had some sausages from a place cooking them in an enormous pan, and kept on walking.  Our goal was the Louvre, but there were other sights to take in along the way.  Since it was November, the gardens were pretty bare, but the Place de la Concorde (a major square in Paris, with traffic to match) was worth a few pictures.

It’s a long walk down the Champs-Élysées, and Rebecca was anxious to get to the Louvre.  Down the avenue, across the square, through the gardens…finally, the Louvre was in sight!

The Louvre is an incredible place.  (And it was warm in there.)  We didn’t have enough time to see more than a part of one wing, but this was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.  Of course, Rebecca wanted to see the Mona Lisa, so we did see it, along with the Winged Victory, the Venus de Milo, and the Crown Jewels (which we decided looked like something you could buy in the gift shop at Disneyworld!)

Of course, there are scores of people looking at the famous paintings and sculptures, but you can also see art classes and once in a while just what seems to be an art student studying some of the artwork.  Some of the paintings are enormous–you have to wonder how they were created.  Oddly enough, Rebecca seemed most enthralled with a two-sided painting of David and Goliath.

Definitely not enough time for the Louvre, but we were hungry, so had to start our trek to find edible food in Paris.

We were fortunate enough to find a decent little cafe down the street from our hotel (no Pizza Hut this time).  Roy and I had ravioli–it wasn’t bad–and Rebecca had a ham and white bean dish that looked a lot like something Granny might actually make.

It was a full and interesting day.

(30 Nov 2009)
Our last morning in Paris, we wanted to get a real Paris breakfast and do a little last sightseeing before catching the train back to Stuttgart.  It turned out the Catacombs were right across the street from the cafe we ate at the night before, so we made that our destination.  We found another nice little cafe with a breakfast “special”–coffee or hot chocolate, baguette, and croissant.  We enjoyed the breakfast–I think it was my favorite meal this trip, especially the baguette.

Our timing was not too good for the Catacombs; somehow we got there right as the crowd did.  Of course, it’s all underground, and they have a limit, presumably for safety reasons, of the number of people who can be inside at one time.  We finally got in, and wandered down the tunnels, reading what we could of the information.

It seems the tunnels were originally created due to mining for limestone.  However, over a couple of centuries, they became a place to store the remains of millions of Parisians.  Most of the people “buried” there were originally in cemeteries, but in earlier centuries, there was a lot of disease due to improper burial, so they ended up moving the bones to the Catacombs.

In our trip to the Sedlec Ossuary (close to Prague), we saw a lot of bones.  Nothing like this.  In the section of the Catacombs set aside for this, there were what seemed like miles and miles of corridors filled with bones.  The information said there were literally millions of people interred in the Catacombs.

It was interesting in a macabre sort of way.  I got a few pictures, but they do ask that no flash be used out of respect, so most of the photos are dark.  As a side note, some people apparently don’t understand respect–they ask tourists not to touch the bones, but there are actually signs talking about the fines if you steal bones from the Catacombs.  Still, one person had barely entered before he started messing with the skulls!  I personally found it very sobering to think of all those millions of people there.

According to the description, this is the “bell hole” subsidence of 1875. Quote: “A subsidence is the most common way an abandoned quarry collapses.” Not the most comforting thing to read when you are standing right under it.

You exit the Catacombs a few blocks from where you enter, so we meandered along and looked in a few of the shops along the street on the way back to the hotel to pick up our luggage.

Oh, we also managed to check out the local Starbucks and get some holiday special coffee and hot chocolate!

Back on the subway, to the train station, onto the TGV train to head back to Stuttgart.  We’re getting good at this traveling by subway and train now.  Pretty uneventful–well, except for the interesting German man sitting next to me on the train home, who wanted me to check his English e-mail to his friend in Stuttgart.

Although the weather was cold and grey, and the food certainly didn’t compare to previous Thanksgivings, we enjoyed the trip.  While the city has its grungy parts, I was pleasantly surprised compared to my memories of the city back in the 1980s.  The art and architecture definitely made Paris worth the visit.

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Tags: Paris