Saturday (Part I):
After a quick breakfast at the hotel’s salle de petit dejuener, we set off for the Grand Boulevards/Opera area. The itinerary for the morning included Paris Story and visits to two more grands magasins, Galeries Lafayette and Au Printemps. We were running a little behind schedule that morning and I was worried that we wouldn’t get to Paris Story in time for the next showing. We got off the Metro at Opera at five minutes before the hour. I made a mad dash to cross the street and soon realized that my DH wasn’t behind me. He was busy photographing a bicycle.
As luck would have it, we made it to Paris Story just before the movie started. We hurried into the theatre where we found a large group of English teenagers and their chaperones occupying several rows in the back. The 45-minute movie, narrated by Victor Hugo (not the real Victor Hugo of course) and Paris, highlighted the history of the city and featured its great monuments and churches. You realize just how old you are when you begin “sssh-ing” loud teenagers. All in all, there was nothing very memorable about the movie. There is a great 3-D scaled model of the city in the lobby that lights up when you press the corresponding button for a landmark. It provides a great perspective on how many cultural and architectural gems are densely packed in a relatively small area. And for a lover of Paris as I am, it makes you realize just how much you have yet to discover and explore.
I hadn’t realized from the map just how close the department stores were to Paris Story. They were virtually across the street. We ventured into Galeries Lafayette first and were immediately drawn to the colossal stain-glass cupola and the tiers of balconies circling the vast span of space. After perusing the handbags on the first floor, we made our way upstairs; destination – the roof, with its birdseye view of the city. What seemed like a dozen escalators rides later, we arrived at the souvenirs floor, which was stocked with edibles, glassware, apparel, and novelties galore. There were Eiffel Tour lamps, Eiffel Tour-shaped bottles of perfume, Eiffel Tour lollipops, and so on. Unfortunately, because of the declining dollar, everything looked trop cher (too expensive). But browsing never hurt anyone!
The next stop was Au Printemps, just a few doors down. The first thing we noticed was a Laduree cart parked inside near the entrance. We were planning on bringing home several boxes of their delectable macarons, but neither of us relished the thought of lugging them around for the rest of the day (Montmartre was our next stop). We’ll get them later, we said.
I was on a mission to find a new handbag, as is usually my custom when in Paris. I had a specific designer in mind and there was nothing to be found at Galeries Lafayette. The selection was better at Printemps and I found what I was looking for within a short period of time. However, when it was time to seal the deal, I asked the saleswoman to put the purse and wallet on hold for me after I realized that I would be committing myself without an opportunity to return the items because (1) there is no Printemps at home and (2) the store was closed the following day, our last full day in Paris. I decided it would be a better idea to purchase the goods at the actual flagship store on Avenue Montaigne. But first, DH browsed briefly through the hommes section (to the tune of my nagging, “Hurry, we’re behind schedule!”) and we stopped on the food floor, where we found ourselves drooling in front of (yet another) display of macarons, this time from Dalloyau. We purchased a few small and a couple of big ones to snack on. They were delicious. I was starting to think that there is no such thing as a bad macaron.
Then off we were to Avenue Montaigne. We took the #1 (direction La Defense) and got off at Franklin Roosevelt, crossed the street, and arrived at the flagship in question. However, the selection at this particular location was just as dismal as Galeries Lafayette’s. We would have to visit the other location on Rue Faubourg St. Honore.
Before we hopped back on the #1, we briefly strolled down Avenue Montaigne and luxuriated in the ambience created by the doyennes with their little lapdogs in tow, the designer flagship stores, Plaza Athenee, and the exotic cars parked along the curb. As we made our way back toward the Metro, a small crowd (of tourists) had gathered to watch a shiny black Ferrari back out of the driveway of a hotel particular (a private home), which is no small feat once you see how narrow a space the driver has to negotiate, not to mention the added difficulty of maneuvering around the cars parked by the curb.
A short Metro ride later, we were at Place de la Concorde, which was the closest we would get to the Tuileries and the Louvre this time around. We made our way to the corner of Rue Royale and Rue Faubourg St. Honore, where the flagship was located. Within a few minutes, I was the proud owner of a new bag. In all sincerity, I hate being a slave to conspicuous consumption.
Next, we paid homage to the original Laduree location on Rue Royale. By this time, the macarons from our neighborhood patisserie at lunch the day before, as well as the recent snack of Dalloyau delights, had diminished our cravings, but the sight (whether in person or in photographs) of the sage green façade always evokes feelings of pure bliss.
Since La Madeline was closed during our last visit, we decided to check it out. En route to the church, I made a serendipitous discovery of a small covered passage, Gallerie de la Madeline (I only learned the name of this passage when we returned home; the large sign hanging above lead me to believe it was called Territoire!). My original itinerary for the day had included a visit to Galerie Vivienne, so this was a pleasant surprise. It was easy to imagine how the flaneurs would occupy their time in these predecessors to the shopping mall. I definitely plan on visiting more covered passages when I return to Paris.
On to La Madeline. We climbed the steps to the entrance and admired the view of the obelisk of Place de la Concorde. As is the case with most grand cathedrals and temples, the enormity of La Madeline’s interior and her sky-high ceilings were awe-inspiring. We made a quick u-turn and stopped to light a candle and say a prayer.
Then it was off to Montmartre! It would be our second time to visit the Sacre Couer and we were excited to see the white behemoth again.
|||
Wonderful... makes me feel I%26#39;m back there... Ahhhhh.
Did you write this as you went along or have you written it from memory?
Is there more? can%26#39;t wait!
|||
Awesome report! As usual, you simply didn%26#39;t fail to amaze me.... :)
|||
Again, thanks for all the detail!
|||
-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-
This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html
We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.
Removed on: 2:16 pm, September 20, 2009
没有评论:
发表评论