Another full day. We picked up tickets for tours—and for train to Brussels and Amsterdam. Then to two perfume places—also sold gloves. Did a little shopping for both. We ate luncheon on the top floor of a department store (Au Printemps). Had quite a time with the language. I get ashamed that I don’t know some. Then to the Eiffel Tower. Helen and I went to the second level. I had not been up before. The views were magnificent. I’m certain the pictures I took would not do justice.
Au Printemps is a French department store chain. Here is the flagship store, and the art nouveau stained glass dome covering Brasserie Printemps, its top-floor bistro that opened in 1923. And if you want to see some views of Paris from the Eiffel tower and other lofty locations, check out this site!
Then to Napoleon’s tomb. Helen and I stayed but a few minutes, then took a taxi to an antique place I had heard of that specialized in angels. But too many other people had read the same thing. She had very few left, and they were large.
Thanks for reading Travels With K! Subscribe here to receive a new installment each week.
Then we went to an antique place that has nothing but buttons—and I mean buttons! We looked in at a couple more—and then walked to the hotel.
Later—we took a cab to a restaurant on the Montmartre, and it was an experience. Such a time interpreting. Bertha ordered chicken—to find out whether she wanted dark or light meat the waiter pointed to his chest and thigh. I’m certain we furnished the entertainment for all the diners. It was a good dinner. Then we took a cab—the driver spoke no English—up by the Sacre Coeur. By turning off the car light (ceiling) we made him understand that we wanted just to see. It was all fun. Now time to sleep.
Sacre Coeur is a Catholic church and basilica in the 18th arrondissement of Paris that took 40 years to build. It was completed in 1914 and consecrated in 1919, after World War I.
By Thomas Bresson - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66784723
Fri. eve.
We just came in from Chartres. It was a most beautiful day—and a wonderful trip. We took the main highway. Arrived at Chartres and had lunch before we went to the Cathedral. Think I’ll never forget the live color of the windows.
Here’s a beautiful video of the history and architecture of Chartres Cathedral.
I bought, wrote, stamped a card of a dark madonna—and now that I’m home I can’t find it. It was on the left as one entered. Perhaps someone will mail it.
I told you (on the card you may never get) about lunch. I pointed—and got—and ate brains, which if I had any I would learn another language. They tasted much like sweetbreads.
On the way back we drove on a very narrow, winding, and interesting road. Went through so many little old villages. The land was so fertile. I saw corn as green as Iowa’s. The blue flax was in blossom, and a yellow plant that resembled mustard. It is Colza—grown for industrial oil—’twas surely brilliant. Then there were the fields of red poppies. It was a cheerful trip in many ways.
Colza, also known as rapeseed, is the third largest source of vegetable oil in the world. (I had a hard time choosing between images of this, the blue flax, and the poppies, but I can only include so many pictures!)
Tonight we plan to go to the Louvre to see some of the sculpture galleries lighted.
Bedtime!
We had a most interesting evening. I had read that each Friday night a few of the galleries were lighted in the Louvre. There were just no tourists—which makes it fun. I don’t know how many Fridays a person would have to go to finally “cover” the Louvre, but it was good to see something besides Winged Victory. There were exhibits of what we interpreted as small-mobile things. Many small, wonderfully carved religious objects. Then there were serving dishes of the Middle Ages, and an exhibit of early time pieces including sun dials that surely would have been carried. That doesn’t begin to tell all, but it gives an idea. Tomorrow we shall go back so Bertha can see Mona.
Although I wasn’t able to find any reference to lighted galleries, the Louvre is still open late—until 9:00 p.m.—on Fridays. The Winged Victory of Samothrace dates from about 190 BC. It has been displayed at the Louvre Museum since 1884.
Louvre Museum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
As we left the Louvre we saw a traffic jam of trucks—so walked a bit in the wholesale market area. That, of course, would have been more interesting later—guess “the thing” is to go and have onion soup at 4 o’clock—but we had had a big day.
