5 Days in Paris
Me and my friend Judith on the plane, ready to take off.
It is the beginning of June as I write this, having just completed over 3 weeks in Europe. I had hoped to write on the blog as I traveled, but alas it didn't happen, so now I begin to try to summarize an amazing journey. It all started back in August when my friend Judith sent me a text one early morning asking me to consider joining her on a Scotland Pilgrimage trip that would include 7 days hiking the Way of Saint Cuthbert (100km, 62 miles - official mileage, but trust me it was longer) from Melrose, Scotland to Lindisfarne, England; three days travel across England and Scotland, and three nights on the island of Iona, Scotland. It didn't take long for me to commit to the trip. The hike on the pilgrimage route and a visit to Iona were two things I had thought of doing for some years. As soon as I committed to the adventure in the United Kingdom Judith suggested that since we'd be so close, we should extend our trip by going to Paris. Paris wasn't some place I'd really considered traveling to, but since we'd be "so close' I agreed. On May 5th, 2025, Judith and I boarded a plane in San Francisco bound for Europe and began our European adventure. This blog post will cover our five days in Paris, and I plan to follow soon with two more posts: one about the pilgrimage hike and one about the journey to and on the Isle of Iona. And in the midst of writing blog posts we will be transitioning from our house in the Colfax area to Lake Tahoe where we will once again be Campground hosts for the summer at Eagle Point Campground, Emerald Bay State Park.
Sunday, May 4, 2025
My travels began with a train ride from Sacramento to Oakland.
I would spend the night with Judith in Alameda,
and then a friend of hers took us to the airport in San Francisco.
Looking out the window of the train.
I love train travel and seeing the scenery from a different perspective than we see it from the car. As I traveled from Sacramento to Oakland with the hills still green I imagined that on my return they would be the golden color for which California is named.
Monday morning, May 5, Judith and I arrived at the San Francisco airport and to the check in counter at Turkish Air. The agent asked us for verification that we had the required ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) for the UK since we would be traveling through Edinburgh on our way to France. When we'd purchased them on line months earlier the email receipt said there would be no need to show anything to authorities because it would be attached to our passports, but the Turkish Airline agent was insistent and said we could not get boarding passes without proving we had the ETA. We frantically searched for the email confirmations to no avail and then tried to purchase another last minute one at more than 10 times the cost of the original. Judith managed to purchase a new one, but before I could do it the organizer of our trip found the confirmation of my original. That was quite a scare, but thankfully we had arrived in plenty of time at the airport so we were able to make our flight. The rest of our travels went smoothly and we arrived at our hotel in Paris about 11:00 PM on Tuesday night.
The entrance to our perfectly located Hotel Jean Bart.
Looking up the spiral staircase of our hotel.
A beautiful mural on the wall of our bedroom.
The room was small, but very efficient!
Our first day in Paris, Wednesday, May 7
A display of French Pastries in the window of a shop as we began our first walk around the city.
A fruit stand around the corner from our hotel.
Judith with the Church of Saint Germain des Prés behind.
Inside the church.
Another view inside.
We would visit many churches, all beautiful with unique features and art.
The cafe we ate breakfast at after visiting the church.
This was the only cafe we would visit twice - the second time for dinner on our last night.
A view of an overly adorned side walk cafe.
Another view of a street in Paris.
Crossing the River Seine.
On our first day in Paris we decided to take a Hop on Hop Off bus so we could get a sense of where we were and to see the major sites of this beautiful city. Judith had been to Paris twice before and was eager to return to what she calls her favorite city in the world. When I was a youth and studying French in High School I thought it would be very romantic to visit Paris and walk along the Seine, but since then I had lost interest, and lost most of my high school French! Our spring visit to this beautiful city did not disappoint. I was smitten!
A view of Notre Dam Cathedral from the bus.
Rainbow colored steps on the National Assembly building as viewed from the bus.
My first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower.
The Arc de Triomph
Us with the Eiffel Tower behind.
We got off the bus here to find a sidewalk cafe for lunch.
Another view of the tower.
Our first lunch in Paris.
The chocolate milkshake I ordered.
Our waiter taking a break on his motor cycle nearby.
He was very charming, and gave each of us a key chain with a miniature Eiffel Tower.
We found everyone we encountered in the cafes, shops, and museums friendly and patient with our very limited French language that both of us often mixed with the Spanish we are more familiar with in California. In preparation for the trip I started studying French on Duolingo, but quickly realized it was messing with the Spanish I actually know better, and vice versa. In the very few instances where people we encountered did not know English they were always quick to get someone who did.
We hopped back on the bus after lunch and got off at the Louvre Museum.
The Louvre is massive and over powering, but we felt a visit there was a must. We spent most of our time in a Nature inspired exhibit of art from the Prague Region. Most of this art was created when Prague was the capitol of the Roman Empire.
Part of the description in the exhibit.
More description.
A Hare Among Plants by Hans Hoffman.
Description of the painting.
Stream in a Forest by Savery.
Its description.
One of many sculptures at The Louvre.
Inside the halls of The Louvre.
More Inside.
The Mona Lisa
I of course had to go see the Mona Lisa, but since Judith had already seen it she opted to browse a gift shop while I followed the hordes of people headed in the direction of the famous painting. As you can tell from my picture I did not wait with the crowd to get up close to the front of it, but I can say I saw the real thing.
A very popular painting nearby.
We were quickly tired of the crowds surrounding us at The Louvre and headed onto the streets to find a side walk cafe for dinner. Side walk cafes are one of Judith's favorite things in Paris, and I certainly enjoyed them too. And the weather cooperated the whole time we were in Paris. I think we ate outside at these cafes for all our meals except 2 or 3.
Our dinner location at the end of Day 1 in Paris.
Day 2, Thursday, May 8
Thursday morning, May 8, 2025
We both very much wanted to see the newly restored Notre-Dame Cathedral. We had learned that free tickets could be obtained on line, but we had no luck obtaining them. But we also learned that we could just show up for a service of Mass held three times a day as long as we were willing to sit through a service which we were both happy to do, so early Thursday morning we walked the short distance from our hotel to the Cathedral and got there in time for the 8:00 AM Mass. Even though our French was almost non existent it was relatively easy to follow the liturgy that is quite similar to our United Methodist liturgy. After the worship service we walked around and enjoyed the beautiful church.
Inside the Cathedral.
Beautiful window.
Another view inside.
Following the service we ate our breakfast at a nearby Cafe. We ate at a different cafe each morning and compared the croissants. All were outstanding except the one next to the Cathedral. Theirs were fine by U.S. standards I suppose, but not nearly as flaky as the ones we got at the other four cafes. Following breakfast we headed to Sainte-Chapelle where we had to pay to enter, but it was well worth it to see the stunning windows there. Both the Cathedral of Notre Dame and Sainte-Chapelle are on an island in the middle of the River Seine.
Surrounded by story depicting windows in Sainte Chapelle.
More of the windows.
Us in front of the windows.
So much detail!
The window at the back.
Outside Sainte-Chapelle.
A close up.
Another one.
And another.
We hopped back on the Hop on Hop off bus since our 24 hour ticket was not expired and went to the stop near the Eiffel Tower so we could get on a river boat that was part of our Hop on Hop off bus ticket.
Musée d'Orsay as seen from the bus.
On top of the bridge tower as we walked across to the boat landing.
The Eiffel Tower as seen from the bridge.
A mime along the way.
The Olympic Rings on the bridge near the Eiffel Tower.
The Olympic Rings always bring back fond memories to me of my attending the winter Olympics in Squaw Valley in 1960 when I was 9 years old, and when Ruth and I attended the summer Olympics in Athens in 2004.
On the boat.
It was fun to float down and back on the Seine,
to go under the bridges and to see the buildings from the water.
Coming back to where we'd started by this bridge.
Elaborate Avocado Toast.
After the boat ride we found a side walk cafe for a late lunch for me and a glass of wine for Judith. Then we were off to the Rodin Museum to see The Thinker and myriads of other Rodin creations and a collection of other artist's works.
The Thinker.
It was a thrill to see the real thing in person!
Another view.
And another.
Inside the Rodin Museum
A portrait of Julien Tanguay by Vincent Van Gogh.
The Rodin museum contained works of art collected by Rodin, including this portrait of Van Gogh's paint supplier. Rodin referred to Van Gogh as "an admiral demolisher of academic formulae." After our visit to the Rodin museum we walked back to our hotel, with a stop on the way for our last meal of the day at another side walk cafe.
Day 3, Friday, May 8
The focus of our third day was to go to Claude Monet's garden and and home in nearby Giverny. This required a metro ride, then a train to Vernon and then a shuttle to Giverny. After a very frustrating time trying to figure out how to buy the right metro ticket we headed to a cafe for breakfast and got some good directions from the server there. We finally arrived at Giverny about noon.
A mural in Giverny
This is the line we got in to enter the gardens.
We waited for two hours in line, but the weather and scenery were pleasant,
and we took turns walking about and holding our place in line.
Pretty flowers along the way of the line.
A tenacious one growing on the top of a fence wall.
Pretty garland of pink behind a gate.
A map of the gardens we entered about 2:00 Pm.
There were lots and lots of colorful flowers.
Pink tulips with Monet's home behind.
Some of the Tulips up close.
Before walking around the gardens we headed inside the house which had hundreds of Monet's paintings as well as others he had collected.
The church on the monastery island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.
The print I found years ago.
I was delighted to see this painting of which I have a print. I didn't realize it was a painting by Monet. I found the print somewhere and especially liked it because of the combination of Western and Eastern Church architecture that evokes an impression to me of an interfaith place of worship. In research later I learned that Monet had painted many different versions of the same location.
Another lovely painting on a wall in Monet's home.
And another.
Looking out a window into the gardens.
Blue and white tile everywhere in Monet's kitchen.
A beautiful arched garden. path.
The iris were blooming
Another pretty iris.
More flowers.
On the way to the Lily pond.
Flowers along the way.
And a magnificent tree.
Not too many lilies on the pond, and it was too early for their blossoms.
Us with the lily pond behind.
A lush Rhododendron
Beautiful green with lovely blue sky and clouds.
We had perfect weather the whole time we were in Paris.
A Japanese Maple to the left of beautiful blossoms.
Lily Pads not in bloom.
Judith with the turquoise blouse under the Wisteria.
Pretty orange under a pretty sky.
There were even pansies
More of the blossom lined paths that were blocked to visitors.
The gardens were stunning and definitely worth the long wait, but oh, so many people!
A kitty along our path after leaving the gardens.
The Hotel Baudy where we would eat an early dinner in the front garden.
Judith had eaten here on a previous visit to Giverny.
Iris on our way to the shuttle.
The shuttle train we took back to the train station.
We had come on a shuttle bus, but it wasn't due for another hour.
This one was a lot of fun with commentary along the way.
I tried to get a picture of what looked like California Poppies along our route, but I missed them.
A tower in Vernon as seen from our shuttle.
Our return trip was less confusing since we were just retracing our route,
though we did have a bit of a challenge finding the correct metro back.
Day 4, Saturday, May 10
Breakfast at another sidewalk cafe.
After a croissant breakfast we headed to Musée d'Orsay.
It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay train station.
It now houses a huge collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings.
A restaurant inside behind the old station clock.
Looking out to Sacré Coeur from a patio.
We would head up there for a visit on Sunday.
Van Gogh's painting of his own bedroom.
I bought a hat pin depicting this bed.
Another beautiful Van Gogh
And one of many, many versions of Van Gogh's Starry Night.
A Gypsy Camp painted by Van Gogh
And now one of Monet's many versions of the Water Lilies.
I once did a jigsaw puzzle of a similar painting - not a bit easy!
Trees in Blossom by Gustave Caillebotte.
Walking across the Seine on the way to our next museum.
Jardin des Tuileries where we bought ice cream before heading into the Orangerie Museum.
An Egyptian Obelisk with the Arc de Triomph behind, as viewed from the Jardin.
The famous Champs-Elysées runs between them.
Us with one of the giant water lily murals behind.
We bought Monet inspired scarves at Giverny.
One of the giant murals.
And a close up.
Back in the Gardens.
The tree lined promenade.
People enjoying the sun.
Lots of people.
Judith posing in front of the name she used many years ago.
The famous cookware store Julia Child loved.
A bit overwhelming inside!
And a lovely yarn shop nearby - I resisted buying any.
Crossing the Seine back to our hotel.
The point of the island where the Notre Dame is located.
A packed tourist boat.
Another building.
Day 5, Sunday, May 11:
This was the very elegant sidewalk cafe we had breakfast at.
Our "mini" breakfast: fruit bowl, hot drink, orange juice, basket of croissants.
We both took left over croissants for a snack later.
This cafe was definitely a splurge! 3 to 4 times the cost of other mini breakfasts.
But other minis were just hot drink, OJ, and croissant.
But we had front row seats to a 10k run.
Here friends are helping to push one who couldn't run himself.
Our goal on our Sunday morning sojourn was to go to worship at the American Church in Paris. Judith had been there before, and we have three colleagues from California who have served on the staff there since their retirements. It is a beautiful building with a very diverse congregation. Here is the statement on their opening web page: "We are an International, Interdenominational English-speaking Protestant Christian Congregation - of all socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, races, nationalities, gender identities, and sexual orientations - seeking to bear witness by word and deed to the love of God as revealed in Jesus Christ."
Inside the American Church in Paris.
The children gathered in front.
Looking at the diversity displayed there and in the whole congregation I thought that this is what the diversity of the United States is, but too often we don't see all that diversity together. Martin Luther King Jr. preached at this church in 1965 and is reported to have said that as he looked out at the congregation he imagined that it looked like what heaven looks like.
Other carved figures around the pulpit are Pope John XXIII, St. Paul, Martin Luther and John Calvin.
And looking up.
This is close to the church and we walked down it to our lunch cafe.
One of the people we met after worship lead us to his favorite cafe on this street.
A mime along the way.
Our lunch spot where I had the best onion soup I've ever had!
Following lunch we headed to the nearest metro station to facilitate getting to Sacré Coeur on a high hill overlooking the city. From the exit of the metro station we climbed up the hill to visit this beautiful and historic church.
One of many murals on the stairway out of the metro station.
Another window.
Statue of St. Denis, patron saint of Paris.
A star shaped window.
Looking back up at Sacré Coeur.
Praising the virtues of rubber ducks.
It was a bit sad to be ending our last day in Paris, but we got back to our hotel early enough for me to take a solo walk to and through the Luxembourg Gardens that were just a block or so away. What a bustling and beautiful park!
A statue.
And another.
A group meeting with food to share with one another in the middle of their circle.
A bronze replica of the Statue of Liberty, one of many replicas around Paris.
The Luxembourg Gardens had so much to explore, but that will have to wait for another visit.
The sun rising as we prepare to leave Paris.
Paris wasn't on my "list" of places I needed to see, but I was delighted with my time there, and who knows, I may return some day. We had to get up at 3:15 AM to get to the airport in time for our 7:00 AM flight to Edinburgh, Scotland. Stay tuned for a two part series on our Scotland Pilgrimage. But in the meantime, today is June 3, and we will be heading from our Colfax area home to Emerald Bay Lake Tahoe to begin our fifth summer of camp hosting there. As I frequently say, "Someone has to do it!"
And now the critters in California:
Elsie peaking through from her upstairs perch.
Joy, obviously feeling safe!
Contortionist Ellie in one of her poses.
But here she is looking quite normal.
No picture of Daphne this time.
Erin's cat Onny at Big Basin State Park.
Erin said she wanted a place in the blog!
Dear Kathrine, I had so much fun reading your blog, I felt I was right back in Paris. David and I spent half a month in France, beginning and ending in Paris where our soon lives prior to the Scotland trip. A few of your posts elite the following comments. We've been everywhere you were over the past 4 years. We've visited 3 times since 2022. Our son and his wife live at the intersection of the 10th and 18th arrondisment, just south of Sacre Coeur. I'm sorry you didn't get out to the 20th to visit Pere LaChaise, it's fascinating beyond belief. The lady walk in the Luxemburg gardens was she geoff and Cécile had their wedding pictures taken... so beautiful. We do still want to make it out to Monet's home... well get there... you're pictures inspired me. I must say, with all the crowds, you are such an optimistic Outlook. It made reading your blog a real delight! Thanks for your words! Cathy
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