France Part 3 - Paris; Jersey Shore - Wildwood Crest;

Paris

We left San Sebastian and drove back to Bordeaux. The drive was easy but finding the car rental office was a challenge due to construction. GPS sidenote. When we rented the car, we found it had built in GPS. We did not know how to use it so we asked the agent. She set it for San Sebastian.We started driving and I noticed that we did not appear to be following the correct roads to San Sebastian. I then used my phone GPS which showed a different route. The route to San Sebastian was really very simple. However the agent did not know how to use the GPS either and she had set if for San Sebastian, France. If I was not paying attention we would have ended up hundreds of miles away from our destination.

 From Bordeaux we took the high speed train to Paris. In Paris we stayed at the Marriott Renaissance Arc de Triomphe, https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/parwg-renaissance-paris-arc-de-triomphe-hotel/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2which is 3 short blocks from the Arc. We love this hotel.We stayed there a few years back.The rooms are large, we had a terrace with a nice view of the sunsets, breakfasts are very nice and the staff is friendly if not clueless. It was so nice to stay in a spacious room after the miniature rooms that we had been in in Bordeaux and San Sebastian. Of course it helps that we used points to stay and I have status with Marriott. The hotel is very expensive. However there is no need to spend big bucks on a hotel in Paris. Smaller hotels or Air Bnb accommodations  provide a wide choice of reasonable priced places to stay.

I know that it is a cliche but we really enjoy Paris. It is fun to walk and discover new areas and rediscover old favorites. The neighborhood around the Renaissance hotel is great. Very convenient to several Metro lines and it is very close to wonderful food options.

There is food market area a few blocks away on Rue Poncelet. There are probably 6 patisseries within 3 blocks of the hotel. One morning while at breakfast, I went out to 2 patisseries and brought back to breakfast croissants and other pastries. It seems that croissants these days in Paris are bigger and lighter than years back when they were smaller and denser. There are wine shops, cheese shops, butcher, patisseries, and fruit stores on Rue Poncelet.

We visited the Pompidou center https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en . It is a large cavernous building in central Paris. It was okay but they do have lots of things going on. It is also in a very modern area of Pairs with chain stores and a mall. Some paintings there. They have great modern art.

View of the museum.

The outside. This is permanent, not scaffolding.

A plaza near the museum.

Notre Dame.

We had dinner at a supposedly top bistro. La Bourse Et La Vie http://www.labourselavie.com/en/ A very tiny restaurant with great pedigree. The executive chef, Daniel Rose, has a top restaurant in NYC La Coucou.https://lecoucou.com/?utm_source=Google%20My%20Business&utm_medium=Website%20Button You need reservations. The staff was great. A tiny table. The food was interesting. Never had leeks prepared the way that they  served them.

Had this really exceptional sparkling wine that I had never heard of.Bonnard fils Vin du Bugey-Montagnieu Pétillant Brut, 6 Euros per glass.I need  to try to find it in the US.

I had Rouget in Bouillabaisse sauce. It was not very good. It was a new dish.The waiter had asked me how I liked the fish. I did not take a picture. The waiter was very nice so he brought me a dessert on the house.

Prices were a bit on the expensive side but as I have previously explained good wine by the glass in restaurants in France is a bargain although prices seem to be climbing. Many restaurants have set wine options to accompany your dinner. I would avoid these deals as they are expensive. I think that you can do much better with wine that you order yourself.

Leeks and hazelnuts. This is a specialty of theirs. Very good.

I believe that this was lamb.

Lemon sorbet with thyme and olive oil, another specialty. It was good, not great.

We had the opportunity to attend the French Open tennis tournament. We had a great time at Roland Garros stadium. I bought tickets on Stubhub because they were sold out far in advance on the official site. We only had grounds passes so we could not get into any of the major courts. However we lucked out as they put the Williams sisters doubles match on a tiny court with around 500 seats. We had great seats as you can see below.

It drizzled but clay courts can take the rain without causing delays.

The Williams sister won easily.

Another dinner in a small restaurant near our hotel. It was very good.

Rue Poncelet, a great food street in Paris.

Eugene Delacroix. Ever heard of him? A very famous French painter pre impressionism 1798 to 1863. The Louvre had a major exhibit of his works and a house where he lived is a museum in Paris. In addition a church near his house St Sulpice http://pss75.fr/saint-sulpice-paris/saint-sulpice-pas-a-pas/ has murals that he painted around 1850. Delacroix's work is sensational. I don't know where I have been all these years.

Entrance to his house in Fauborg St Germain.

Murals in St Sulpice.

The Seine.

Place de Concorde

Nike  billboard in Paris.

The original opera cake from Dalloyau, the patisserie that popularized it.

The baby bistro from Michel Rostang's Maison Rostang http://www.bistrotflaubert.com/ostang, Bistro Flaubert. The staff was great and the food very good. We had some interesting wines by the glass.Prices were reasonable.

Amuse bouche.

appetizer.

Dining room.

Magret of duck.

Pasta, it tasted much better than it looks.

Arc de Triomphe.http://www.paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr/en/ The Paris Museum Pass  https://www.parispass.com/how-it-works/compare-paris-pass.html?aid=268&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrZLdBRCmARIsAFBZllH-0DlQUL1X9njGBEGrr-v5yAWZizt4YCjW62bizePUe9uUBx8oFbgaAvmoEALw_wcBis one of the best things to have when staying in Paris.It is not cheap but if you want to se museums and other sites buy it. You can buy it the number of days that you need it. The pass allows you to walk into museums without the lines. It also provides access to the Arc De Triomphe.

Since our hotel was near the Arc we decided to visit the Arc around 9pm. We walked right up to the entrance. Most people like to walk up. We asked for the elevator and were brought over the the elevator and had a private ride up to the top. The view was exhilarating. Paris is pretty far north so it stays light quite elate.

La Defense.

Light show at the Eiffel Tower.

The Rodin Museum. http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en Gardens and his house loaded with great art.

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A Van Gogh in the Rodin house.

We then walked to the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is surrounded by security fences and you cannot walk under it anymore without going through security. In fact security is evident all over Paris ans every site has metal detectors and guards searching your bags.

The Louvre and I M Pei's pyramid.

We have been to the Louvre many times so we concentrated on the Delacroix exhibit. Just one great painting after another. He had so many styles.

The exhibit is travelling to the Metropolitan Museum https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2018/delacroixin NYC. Don't miss it.

A Vermeer at the Louvre.

We found a very good small restaurant near our hotel, L Atelier du Marche. I passed by and it looked good. Very scientific. Great wine list. See below. No wines by the glass for more than 8 euros.

The food was very good and the prices quite reasonable.

The wine list, surreal.

The sunset from our room at the hotel. Never knew that Paris has such great sunsets.

More Delacroix. The garden of his house.

St Sulpice murals.

We also visited Musee d Orsay, http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html?cHash=1030a57d48 home of the Impressionists. Great art but not my favorite as I find it claustrophobic. It also have some ok places to eat. It is in central Paris but not that close to a Metro station.

The Metro is great. Clean, quiet and trains run every few minutes. You never wait. Beware of pickpockets. Many more in Europe than the US.

Sacre- Coeur in the distance.

Bateau Mouche.

The Orangerie,http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/en my favorite museum in Paris. It previously housed the Musee de Orsay collection. Now it is home to Monet's Waterlillies, which is the original site for the paintings. Do not miss it. The rest of the collection is awesome.

Wildwood Crest at the Jersey Shore. The beach in NJ is called the shore.

We spent a week in Wildwood Crest. Rented a house a block form the beach. Had a great time. The beach is wide and free. I found so me fish markets and bought some great flounder, scallops and clams. Found a great bakery Brittons Gourmet Bakery https://m.facebook.com/brittonsgourmetbakery/  Check it out.