Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Day 7 in Paris, Part 1 - St. Germain, St.Sulpice, Luxembourg Garden

We had breakfast in the hotel this morning before we set out for the day. For some unknown reasons, we have walked more on the Right Bank (north of the River Seine) so far and for today we will give it a bit more balance and walk around part of St.Germain on the Left Bank, south of the River Seine. We got off at Saint Germain des-Pres and was greeted by a statue of a literary figure (cannot figure out who yet)


and also what appeared to be remains of some old building or a commemoration of some kind that look very nice.






After going round the corner, we went into the church of St-Germain des-Pres, the oldest church in Paris.


Some shots on the interior of the church.










Outside is the busy Boulevard St.Germain


and just in front of the Church is another branch of, oh no, LV. Luckily, my wife just went inside to clarify on the VAT refund form so no damage done. Very friendly staff, according to her.




Right next door to LV is the iconic cafe, Les Deux Magots, the haunt of Hemingway and others.


Further down the corner is another famous cafe, the Cafe de Flore where Sartre frequented.


On the opposite street is the famous Brasserie Lipp, another favourite of Hemingway and also of current movie stars.


We then made our way to St.Sulpice going along the shopping street of Rue Bonaparte. We passed the flagship store of Nespresso, the one to look for if you are shopping for a coffee making machine and all the accessories.


At the square in front of St. Sulpice, there was a fair; such fair seems to spring up everywhere in squares all over Paris during summer.



Unfortunately, the canopies of the fair had obscured the lower part of the famous Fountain of the Four Bishops seen from the St.Sulpice.


The entrance of St.Sulpice is very grand with imposing columns and flowery ceiling.




Inside are many beautiful statues and paintings.










Surprisingly there was no crowd, I suppose the fame brought about by the Da Vinci Code has now worn off. We left the twin towers of St.Sulpice and went for our next sites.

After the indoor visit, it was time for some outdoor sights and we went towards the Jardin du Luxembourg. On the way we passed some government buildings flying the tricolour with almost audible cries of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"


We finally entered the Luxembourg Garden by the side of the Luxembourg Palace which now houses the French Senate.


The first thing that caught my eyes was the beautiful Medici Fountain




and then this lady flexing her muscles.

There is a big pond in the middle where you can sit around and choose as the background, the Eiffel Tower,


the Montparnasse Tower,


or the stately Luxembourg Palace.


You could sit here the whole day relaxing in the shade and admiring the surroundings and watch the people and the world go by without a care.






But alas, since this was the last full day of our trip in Paris, we still had some unfinished business to complete and so we went off to look for the nearest Metro station, the Odeon. On our way there, we passed the historical Odeon Theatre


and also another famous French restaurant, Le Comptoir, where you are supposed to book months ahead for dinner.


From Odeon, we crossed back to the Right Bank and got out at Harve Caumartin, right at the door step of Printemps. By now, you would have guessed it, the missus had to complete her purchase of souvenirs before we leave Paris tomorrow. Details will be in my next post.


Ronald Kwok.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Ronald,

    I ended up here browsing internet to find some places to have dinner close to where I live (Porte Dorée).
    I'm glad to see that you had a great experience in Paris :)
    Great pics aswell!

    Kind regards/David

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  2. Enjoyed reading your blog on Paris so much! Thanks for sharing!

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