Monday in Paris: The tour

On Monday morning, 4 December 2007, we joined a bus tour group, to see the main historic places of Paris. The tour went something like this, starting off in the pouring rain, past the following places:

Academie Nationale de Musique.

The Paris Opera House (Academie Nationale de Musique) stands at the beginning of the Boulevard des Capucines, was designed by architect Charles Garnier and built between 1862 and 1875. It is the largest theatre for lyric opera in the world and can accommodate an audience of 2000 and 450 performers on stage.

The Galleries Lafayette – the huge, famous department store at the junction of Boulevard Hausmann and Rue Lafayette, just behind the Opera house.
When the old part of Paris was built - the "golden triangle" - the city planners decreed that all buildings should have the same height, five stories, with a similar appearance. All have balconies with wrought-iron railings all have the same pale stone cladding. This made for a very neat-looking city, as is evident from the photo above. Note the similarity between the buildings on either side of the Opera House.

Colonne de Vendôme

The Place Vendôme is a vast architectural complex dating from the time of Louis XIV, built between 1687 and 1720. The octagonal square is surrounded by buildings which have large arcades on the ground floor, housing mostly the famous jewellery houses like Boucheron, Van Cleef and Arpels, Mikimoto, Bulgari, Buccellati and many others. Today at number 15 is the famous Hotel Ritz and at number 12 is the house where Chopin died in 1847.
In the centre of the square is the column erected by Gondouin and Lepère between 1806 and 1810 in honour of Napoleon I. Inspired by the Column of Trajan in Rome, it is 43.5 metres high with, around its shaft, a spiraling series of bronze bas-reliefs cast from the 1,200 cannon captured at Austerlitz. On top of the column stands a copy of the original statue of the Emperor dressed as Ceasar, by Chaudet.

Place Vendôme

The Rue de la Paix extends from the Place Vendôme towards the Opera House. This street is equally famous for its shops, for example Cartier, the world's best-known jeweller, he who the English king Edward VII defined as 'the jeweller of kings, the king of jewellers'.

French Academy.

From there the bus travelled along the Avenue de l'Opera towards the Louvre and along the right bank of the Seine past the Louvre and the French Academy. The Academy is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Academy was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII.

Pont Neuf.

From there we crossed the river at the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), which is the oldest bridge still in use in Paris. It was the first bridge built in stone and not of wood. Standing by the western point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was the heart of medieval Paris, it connects the left bank (Rive Gauche) of the River Seine with the right bank (Rive Droite). The decision to build the bridge was made by King Henri III, who laid its first stone in 1578. It was completed under the reign of Henri IV, who inaugurated it in 1607.

Sunday in Paris: The Louvre

The first royal "Castle of the Louvre" was founded in what was then the western edge of Paris by Philip Augustus in 1190, as a fortified royal palace to defend Paris on its west against Plantagenêt attacks. The first building in the existing Louvre was begun in 1535, after demolition of the old Castle. Subsequent kings of France added further wings to extend the Grande Louvre. From 1794 onwards, France's victorious revolutionary armies brought back increasing numbers of artworks from across Europe, thus establishing it as a major European museum.

On a Sunday access to the Louvre is free, with the result that it is terribly crowded, even outside the height of the tourist season. In any case, we were determined to see as much of the Louvre as we could in a day, so patiently waited in the queue to get inside. 

The Louvre.

We particuarly wanted to see the Monet and Renoir exhibitions, but learnt that those hall were closed on a Sunday. In any case, as we discovered, the main collections of Renoir, Monet, Manet, van Gogh, and so on, are housed in the Musee d'Orsay. No-one warned us that museums in Paris are closed on a Monday, so, since Sunday was devoted to the Louvre and we left again on Tuesday morning, we did not get to the Musee d'Orsay on this trip.

The Louvre being mostly a huge art gallery, we could not take pictures of our favourite paintings, but the statues were equally impressive. This photo is of a statue of a girl with a bee, focussing on the bee. 

The hall of beautifully restored Renaissance sculptures on the lower ground floor had us gaping in awe.

Our favourite artists amongst the painters were the 18^th century guys like Joseph Vernet (1714-1789) – we found his cityscapes of old Naples with Mount Vesuvius erupting in the background, panoramas of Venice, and so on, fascinating.

Of course we had to see Michaelangelo's Mona Lisa, but what a disappointment that was! Firstly it was a nightmare to get close enough to the painting to see it, pushing your way through the mass of humanity gathered there and, secondly, the painting itself is much smaller than anticipated so one cannot see it very well at all even from the closest vantage point allowed.

Saturday in Paris

Early on the morning of Saturday 2 December 2006 we hopped on the train from Zug to Zurich, and there we changed to the train that would take us all the way to Paris. From Zurich the railway line winds its way south-west to Neuchatel and along the edge of the huge Lake Neuchatel before crossing the border between Switzerland and France just before reaching Pontarlier. Officials came and checked our passports as we travelled along.

We reached Portalier just before 10:00 am, a thick fog blanketing the countryside and trees eerily looming up out of the mist. The route continued in the same general direction through Frasne and Andelot, then changing to a north-westerly direction to Dijon, the historical capital of the province of Burgundy.

For the next two hours the train sped through open, flat countryside, passing farmlands and the occasional very small village. The villages were all assembled along the same pattern: a small cluster of buildings with a steepled church as the centrepiece. Each village had a very neat graveyard with trimmed cypresses, neat paving between the graves, gravestones in excellent repair and flowers on every grave.

And so we arrived in the bustling city of Paris shortly after an early lunch on the train. After checking in at the four-star Hotel de Castaglione on the famous rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, we walked the short distance to the Place de la Concorde.

Cleopatra's Needle at the Place de la Concorde.

The Place was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in 1755 as a moat-skirted octagon between the Champs-Élysées to the west and the Tuileries Gardens to the east. The center of the Place is occupied by a giant Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramses II. It is one of three Cleopatra's Needles, the other two residing in New York and London.

The obelisk once marked the entrance to the Luxor Temple. The viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, offered the 3,300-year-old Luxor Obelisk to France in 1831. Three years later King Louis-Philippe had it placed in the centre of Place de la Concorde, where a guillotine used to stand during the Revolution.

The red granite column rises 23 metres high, including the base, and weighs over 250 tonnes. Given the technical limitations of the day, transporting it was no easy feat. On the pedestal are drawn diagrams explaining the machinery that were used for the transportation.

Fountain at Place de la Concorde.

The obelisk is flanked on both sides by fountains constructed at the time of its erection on the Place.

Lamp standard.

Everything around us was just fascinating – even the lamp standards are splendid!

Fame.

From the Place de la Concorde we entered the Tuileries Garden (French Jardin des Tuileries), which stretches for 1 km to the Place du Carrousel. Entrance is through an imposing gate with pillars bearing the equestrian statues of Mercury (on the right) and Fame (on the left), both by Coysevox. This statue is Fame, photographed from the inside of the gate, looking out towards the Place de la Concorde.

Tuileries Garden

When the large empty space between the northern and southern wings of the Louvre now familiar to modern visitors was revealed in 1883, for the first time the Louvre courtyard opened into an unbroken Axe Historique. The Tuileries Garden is surrounded by the Louvre (to the east), the Seine (to the south), the Place de la Concorde (to the west) and the Rue de Rivoli (to the north). Further to the north lies the Place Vendôme. The Tuileries Garden covers about 25 hectares and still closely follows a design laid out by landscape architect Andre Le Notre in 1664. His spacious formal garden plan drew out the perspective from the reflecting pools one to the other in an unbroken vista along a central axis.

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

Entrance to the Place du Carrousel is through the magnificent Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. Designed by Charles Percier and Pierre Léonard Fontaine, the arch was made between 1806-1808 by the Emperor Napoleon I on the model of the Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome. It was commissioned to commemorate France's military victories in 1805. It was originally surmounted by the famous horses of Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice, captured by Napoleon, but these were returned there in 1815. They were replaced by a quadriga sculpted by Baron François Joseph Bosio, depicting Peace riding in a triumphal chariot, led by gilded Victories on either side; the composition commemorates the Restoration of the Bourbons following Napoleon's downfall.

The Louvre is situated next to the Jardin des Tuileries, but since it was already late in the day we decided to return on Sunday for an extended visit to the museum and art galleries.

Joan of Arc.

On the way back to the hotel we walked via the rue de Rivoli to the Place des Pyramides, where there is a gilded statue of Joan of Arc situated close to where she was wounded at the Saint-Honoré Gate in her unsuccessful attack on the English-held Paris on 8 September 1429.

That night we had dinner at our hotel – nice, but expensive. In fact, everything at this hotel was rather expensive. In Italy we could get internet access for 1.50 Euros per hour. At the Hotel Castaglione it cost 14 Euros per hour.

Zürich

On Wednesday we stayed at home and spent the time resting and catching up on essentials like doing the laundry and quietly reading a book or sending emails to friends and family.

On Thursday 30 November 2006 Ronel had to take care of other duties, so Pierre took us to visit Zürich, a short train trip from Oberägeri. From the station it was but a short walk to the old part of the city, called Aldt Stadt in German.


The crest of Zürich has two rampant lions, a theme we encountered again in embellishments on the older buildings.


Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland (metropolitan population is around 1.3 million) and capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland's main commercial and cultural centre and according to several surveys in 2006 and 2007, Zürich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world.


The city is situated where the river Limmat leaves the northern end of Lake Zürich and is surrounded by wooded hills.

The geographic (and historic) center of the city is the Lindenhof, a small natural hill on the left bank of the river.


We soon passed the statue of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746 - 1827). Born in Zurich, Pestalozzi was a pedagogue and educational reformer.

His early experiments in education ran into difficulties but he persisted and what became known as the 'Pestalozzi Method' came to fruition in his school at Yverdon (established in 1805).

Instead of dealing with words, he argued, children should learn through activity and through things. They should be free to pursue their own interests and draw their own conclusions.


The streets of the Aldt Stadt are very typical of old Swiss cities. We walked along gaping at the rich heritage of architecture, fountains and statues.

The projecting bay windows are a regular feature of the older Swiss architecture, lending an interesting character to the otherwise sometimes plain buildings. Of course, Christmas decorations were in evidence everywhere.


We were delighted to spot Heidi up on a second-floor balcony, happy that we could go home and say that we saw a Swiss cow complete with cowbell.

This one was a bit lifeless and very blue, but who cares? The owner went to a lot of trouble to build the balcony railing around Heidi. She seems to be stepping off the balcony!


The Swiss fountains are awesome!

This one is quite colourful with lion heads on the plinth spouting water from their mouths, rising up through a blue and green column with a knight in shining armour on top, clutching his sword and bearing the blue and white city standard. He seems to be eternally on the lookout for the advancing hordes of the enemy.

We did not follow a map, but it was not difficult to “stumble upon” the important landmarks.

We walked around the Grossmünster (great minster), a Romanesque-style church that played an important role in the history of the Protestant Reformation.


It is one of the three major churches of Zürich (the others being the Fraumünster and St. Peterskirche). Construction of the present structure commenced around 1100 and it was inaugurated around 1220.

The Grossmünster was a monastery church, vying for precedence with the Fraumünster across the Limmat throughout the Middle Ages.

There is a likeness of Charlemagne (also called Karl der Grosse, or Charles the Great, or Carolus Magnus) on the wall of the Grossmünster.





According to legend, Charlemagne (King of the Franks from 768 to his death) discovered the graves of the city's patron saints Felix and Regula and had the church built as a choristers' cloister on the spot. Recent archaeological evidence confirms the presence of a Roman burial ground at the site.

In the first half of the 16th century the Grossmünster was the starting point of the Swiss-German Reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger. The theological college then annexed to the cloister was the origin of what is now the University of Zürich.


The Fraumünster Church is situated on the bank of the river Limmat directly opposite the Grossmünster. Founded in 853 by King Louis the German, this church with its convent was inhabited by the female members of the aristocracy of southern Germany. It enjoyed the patronage of kings and the right to mint coins in Zürich until well into the 13th century. Ownership of the church and convent passed to the city of Zürich after the Reformation.


The steeple of St Peter’s Church can be seen on this photograph. St. Peter's is the oldest church in Zürich, its origin going back to before 900. It was first mentioned in 857, when King Louis the German gave it as a gift to two of his daughters, one of whom later became the first abbess of the Fraumünster. The church is famous for the largest clock face in Europe, 8.7 meters in diameter. The minute hands alone are almost 4 meters long. The 5 bells date from 1880.


When it was time for lunch we had to find some likely venue for the purpose, but we wanted to go somewhere a little special. After some walking up and down the streets, we found the Blockhus Bar and Restaurant. It did not look like much from the outside, but the menu looked interesting, so we decided to give it a go. The inside was a different story altogether, quite amazingly decked out in a sort of Christmas theme along the upper walls and the ceiling and with some very striking artworks on the walls. The proprietor was very friendly and the food delicious. After a leisurely lunch we were ready to roam the streets of Zürich once more, slowly making our way back towards the station.


On a more modern note, we came across a small park between two busy roads, where some rather fetching nude bronze figures were enjoying the sunshine.

This was an unexpected gem! The figures give a playful and very mischievous feel to the park.


Even the girls at the swings in the background are bronze statues. Since the statues are life size one can easily be fooled to think they will move any minute!


Since it was already the end of November, Christmas was in the air. The driver of this tram was dressed up as Father Christmas and the tram was further staffed with Angels to look after the kiddies.

While we watched several mothers arrived with small children in prams. They bought tickets and the children were taken on board for a roundabout ride. What a lovely idea, giving the mothers a break.


Back on the bank of the Limmat river we found this lady feeding the swans. They seemed very tame, so we guessed she must be an old friend to the swans.

The swan is such a beautiful bird, no wonder they take the spotlight in Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake.



We could not resist photographing this very imposing marble-clad entrance guarded by a pair of golden lions. The iron-clad wooden doors also boast lion head knockers.

We never found out what the building was, but it looked rather official, with busts of historic figures above the ground floor windows.


Near the station we passed another imposing building, now the home to several shops, in the central business district. We loved the gargoyles supporting the balcony with its intricate wrought-iron railing.

Well satisfied with our exploration of Zürich, we made our way back home. The following day, Friday, we spent quietly with Pierre and Ronel and the children, Lizelle, Jehane and Armand.

Friday evening we all enjoyed a lovely dinner at the “bim Fritz” restaurant in Zug, saying good-bye to Pierre and the family. Early Saturday morning we caught the train on the next leg of our journey - to Paris!

Find out about Zurich Hotels.

Jungfrau

On Tuesday 28 November 2006 Pierre and Ronel arranged for the children to be cared for by friends and we (Pierre, Ronel, Willem and Leta) set of on a whole day trip to visit the Jungfrau mountain in the Bernese Alps. The route took us south from Oberägeri via Zug, Lucerne, Obsee, Interlaken, Brienz and Lauterbrunnen.

We stopped in the Bünich pass for an awesome view down to Lungern and the Lungerersee.

At Lauterbrunnen we parked the car and traveled by train past Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg.

The Jungfrau region is dominated by the triple peaks of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau (Ogre, Monk and Virgin). The Jungfraujoch, at 3,454 m high, is the saddle below the Jungfrau peak that claims the honour of being the site of the highest train station in Europe, and is dubbed the “Top of Europe”.


The Jungfrau peak is 4,158 m high, and was first ascended by the Meyer brothers in 1811. The Aletsch Glacier is on the south side. The Jungfraujoch has a scientific institute with a meteorological station on the nearby Sphinx summit, 3,573 m high.

From Kleine Scheidegg the Jungfraubahn cog train took us right up and inside the top of the mountain at Jungfraujoch. The train enters the tunnel running eastward through the Eiger shortly after leaving Kleine Scheidegg. It runs close behind the Eiger's north face, stopping at Eigerwand, where there is a window about 8 m long and a metre high halfway up the face.


The windows have been placed in holes used to remove excavated rock from the tunnel during construction, and are also occasionally used as access points to rescue climbers. There one can get off the train to admire the view before the train continues five minutes later. The tunnel then turns west, heading towards the Jungfrau. There is a second stop at a window looking out on the Eismeer (Sea of Ice) before the train continues to the Jungfraujoch.

The tunnel was constructed between 1898 and 1912 and is about 7 km long, with gradients of up to 25%. The journey from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch takes approximately 50 minutes including the stops at Eigerwand and Eismeer while the downhill return journey taking only 35 minutes.

A large complex of tunnels and buildings has been constructed at the Jungfraujoch, mostly into the south side of the Mönch.

There is a hotel, two restaurants, an observatory, a research station, a small cinema, a ski school, and the Ice Palace (Eispalast), a collection of elaborate ice sculptures in tunnels made into the ice of the glacier. Another tunnel leads outside to a flat, snow-covered area, where one can walk around and look down to the Konkordiaplatz, the Aletsch Glacier and the surrounding mountains.

We had lunch at the Crystal Restaurant before taking a walk outside on the plateau and visiting the Ice Palace and the Sphinx. We spent a leisurely hour in the restaurant, having a yummy lunch and basking in the bright sunshine, enjoying the view of mountain peaks and the glacier.




Here are some pictures of us on the plateau outside. We had to walk carefully on the packed snow as it was quite slippery on the sloping parts. Pierre managed to get a lovely picture of us standing under the Swiss flag, timing it just right for the flag to fly out in the light breeze.



Then two more pictures of us outside in the bright sunshine: first Pierre and Ronel, then Willem and Leta.



The Ice Palace is a maze of tunnels carved into the ice layer covering the mountain, with small caves as display areas for some rather amazing ice sculptures.

One enters the Ice Palace and at first it is quite scary to be walking on the ice floor, but soon it is clear that one does not slip all that easily, and we became more confident in striding about.





We did the typical tourist thing, taking our pictures at all the obvious opportunities, like this one - Leta and Ronel looking rather silly, but it was fun!






Enjoy our pictures of two of the ice sculpture displays - first the igloo with Eskimo and seals, and then the eagles. One eagle is shown having caught himself a nice fat fish.












Still in the Ice Palace, enjoy the picture of Willem and Ronel peering from a window in an ice cave. Maybe this was supposed to be a bar, but they did not serve us any drinks!



The highest point we reached was at the Shpinx lookout platform 3571 m above sea level. We found the thin air tough to handle, feeling weak and dizzy, heart racing, after climbing a few stairs to the viewing platform.


Pierre took a lovely picture of the glacier from the high vantage point, the Sphinx viewing platform.


On the return journey down the mountain late that afternoon the moon was already up as dusk was falling.




This last picture shows the moon hanging above the Shinx. We returned home that evening well satisfied with the amazing experiences of the day.

The sight of the majestic mountains and vast snowscapes will not be forgotten.