After an adventurous road trip, we said good-bye to our Peugeot and had our hotel in Paris send a driver to pick us up at the airport. We arrived in the late afternoon and looked forward to unpacking and staying put for eight nights.
Hotel Da Vinci is a gem of a hotel, located in the perfect spot, walking distance to le Palais de Louvre, le Musee D’Orsay, and all the historic cafés & brasseries of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
Most hotels in this area feature small rooms because of the popularity of the location. The same is true of Hotel Da Vinci, but the small spaces are artfully designed.
Our energetic and friendly receptionist, Helen, helped us plan our week of activities; and we purchased most of the tickets for the museums and Versailles through her. Although she recommended many restaurants and offered to make reservations for us, we opted to make our own.
Every nook and cranny is a tribute to Italian art. In the glass elevator, we watched Da Vinci sketches roll by as we ascended to our room.
The breakfast room and . . .
. . . the honor bar
Al fresco seating
Some rooms have balconies that overlook a small inner courtyard.
Our room opened onto the street, so it had more natural light.
Our room was a small space, but it had everything we needed and . . .
. . . more. The management provided champagne, chocolate, jewelry and a much needed money clip, gratuit.
The computer nook, where we blog at night
Classy touches
Small, but modern bath
Street view
Jill, taking in the streets of Paris.
A gourmet epicerie was next door, so many an evening we loaded up on goodies to carry us over until dinner.
Having been cooped up in an auto, an airport and a van all day, we decided to do some walking. We were bowled over by the crowds of people in Paris this weekend. It was yet another bank holiday; and everywhere we turned, we faced storms of people. Wow, the French seem to have a holiday every week!
We strolled through le Jardin de Tuileries, which connects le Palais de Lourvre to La Place de la Concorde & L’Avenue des Champs Elysees, leading to L’arc du Triomphe. Here people just chill and people watch. They love their ice cream at this time of day, but the lines were unbearably long.
Standing room only
As we passed La Place de la Concorde, we were in the middle of a huge car show.
Tourists and car club members alike admiring a pair of Russian URAL side car motorcycles
The car show honored the 60th anniversary of the classic Citroën DS, first introduced in 1955. Hundreds of these vehicles were on display and being driven through the plaza as we were chauffeured to our hotel.
By the time we had checked in and begun our walk, many of the vehicles had left. A few exceptional models were still being admired.
This brown sedan was in exceptional shape.
Next we headed down L’Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Every tree is manicured and trimmed like a Kardashian.
Oh, no, no one told Jill the dress code for the day.
Many French car companies have vanity stores on this boulevard.
L’Avenue des Champs-Élysées has most of the same stores you would see on Rodeo Drive in L.A. In fact, we saw about 30 people lined up just to get into the Abercrombe & Fitch store. Ironically, the one in our hood is usually empty. We aborted our mission to walk to L’arc de Triomphe today because the crowds were overwhelming.
We went back to Saint Germain des Pres for dinner. More lines. Can you believe all these people are waiting to have dinner at the local steak house? It’s about 9 PM. It really does not get dark until 10:30.
This area has the cafes where Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce used to hang out, but today they are sort of tourist traps, still good, but oversubscribed and overpriced and for what you get. Les Deux Magots, Café de Flore, and Le Comptoir de Saint Peres were brimming with customers, mostly American. We found a little treasure called Au 35 and ate some healthy salmon for dinner; then we crashed.
The next morning we took off for the metro, headed to Le Bois de Boulogne (a large parkland in the middle of the city, much like Central Park in NYC, but more wooded) to see Frank Gehry’s new masterpiece for the Louis Vuitton Foundation, which is adjacent to the Jardin d’Acclimatation in the 16th arrondissement.
The $143 million museum in Paris recently opened last October.
The building takes on the form of a sailboat’s sails inflated by the wind. These glass sails look as if they envelop an iceberg.
More long lines, but we were at the front this time.
To go with the sailing theme, fish are suspended from the ceiling of the restaurant.
We were not allowed to photograph the main exhibit, which was pretty impressive. Matisse’s La Danse and Munch’s The Scream were some of the highlights.
The view from the top is commanding, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
More top shots, under the sails of the building
The overhead construction frames the city.
Some outdoor art, called “Where the Slaves Live.”
Note all the trash and weeds. No LV luggage or handbags here!
View of the Eiffel Tower from the glass elevator.
The water element was so hypnotizing. Stay tuned for Pete’s video version of our trip.
Dancing fountains
The building’s sortie (exit) flows into Le Jardin d’Acclimatation, a fun park for families. It includes a science museum, a narrow-gauge train, an art museum for children, an archery range, shooting galleries, a massive area full of trampolines as well as . . .
. . . an amusement park.
It even has a Pigeonnerie. Other birds–American turkeys, peacocks, cranes, etc.–also roam freely on the grounds.
This park was built by Napoleon III and was originally a zoo. Today animals and exotic birds are still on display. One of the park’s occupants came to greet us.
Yes, even llamas camp out her.
A peacock waiting for the puppet show at the Guignol Theatre. This fellow couldn’t help to admire his reflection in the glass.
Pony rides, too.
We stopped at Charles de Gaulle Plaza to catch L’Arc de Triomphe that we missed the day before. The plaza was the point where we transferred trains.
We popped into the nearby Peugeot store to check out their cars. We felt we needed to pay tribute to our French car rental.
The only way to drive in Paris!
Back in our quartier we listened to some jazz musicians on a street corner and . . .
. . . had some dinner. Yes, another line, but we got the last table before the line started to form.
The place was packed to the rafters.
We broke bread with 2 guys from Lyon, visiting Paris to see the AC-DC concert. One spoke English, the other didn’t, so we had a Franglais thing going on. They were so cool and funny. They were impressed with Jill’s French but gave her some modern expressions to use. The latest French toasting word is “tchin, tchin.” It sounds like the clinking of glasses. HA HA.
Pete’s duck and potatoes. We had onion soup for starters.
Pete thought it was interesting what passes for modern art in a gallery on our route to the hotel. A quick trip to Home Depot is all that’s needed to recreate these masterpieces. Go figure.
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