This beautiful building was constructed as a result of a promise made by King Louis XV in 1744.  He was suffering from a serious and mysterious illness (later believed to be gout), and vowed that if he recovered he would construct a building worthy of the patron saint of Paris. 

He recovered, and construction of the Pantheon began in 1758 and was completed in 1789.  Many delays were related to lack of finances – a common reason for construction delays even today!

Since its completion coincided with the start of the French Revolution, the Revolutionary government order the building changed from a church to a mausoleum where the remains of great Frenchmen could be interred.  Although it has reverted to a church twice since then, today it is once again a mausoleum.

When I walked into the Pantheon it felt austere and cavernous.  I felt the need to use my “library voice.” 

It’s basically a cross-shaped building, with a domed center.  Around the walls are murals depicting religious and revolutionary figures (I particularly liked the series of Joan of Arc), as well at statuary and frescoes.

Continue reading for more information and photos!

In the center of the Pantheon beneath its dome, is a pendulum standing nearly 220 feet tall (67 meters).  This is Foucault’s Pendulum, named for Leon Foucault who, in 1851, built the pendulum to conduct experiments demonstrating the rotation of the earth.  I was absolutely mesmerized by its simplicity and beauty.

After spending time appreciating all this art and history, you’ll have the option of visiting the necropolis (mausoleum) or climbing stairs to get a view of Paris from the top.

Not entirely morbid, the Pantheon’s necropolis is also a work of art.  Here are buried many famous Frenchmen and one famous Frenchwoman.  A few of the notables include:  Alexandre Dumas (author of the Three Musketeers), Victor Hugo (author of Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Voltaire, Rousseau, Emile Zola, Rene Descartes, Louis Braille and Pierre and Marie Curie (the latter the only woman buried here). 

Over the years there has been heated debate over who deserves and doesn’t deserve to be buried in this most sacred site.  Today, it takes an act of Parliament to be buried here.

I much preferred to climb up, however.  All 206 steps to the colonnade beneath the dome.  Don’t let the fact that this is a guided tour turn you away from this option.  It’s really only “guided” so that you don’t get lost on the way up!  And don’t worry about making the climb in record speed.  Go slow and rest along the way if you need to.

The view from the top is spectacular – a 360 degree view of all that Paris has to offer.  This is one of the best views in the city, in my opinion.

The Pantheon is located at Place du Pantheon in the 5th arrondissement.  The nearest metro is Cardinal Lemoine and the nearest RER is Luxembourg.

It is open 10 am – 6 pm October through March.  Starting April 1st it is open till 6:30 pm.  The upper area can only be visited April through September, and departure times very.  I’d recommend checking for a convenient tour time when you first arrive, and then work the remainder of your viewing around that time.

Admission is 8 Euros for adults, 5 Euros for ages 18-25, and free for everyone under 18.  It is an included admission on the Paris Museum Pass.  If you’ll be visiting several attractions, that’s a cost efficient option.

Photo credit:  all from personal collection

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Location:  The interior pillars and a glimpse of art from inside the Pantheon in Paris.

There’s marvelous murals on the walls, all sorts of interesting frescos, niches, an cubbies, and some beautiful windows.  It was amazing to wander about, and every time you turned around there was something awe inspiring.

Photo credit:  personal collection

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

It honors those who bravely fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars.  ,  Beneath the arch is the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I, marked by the very first eternal flame.  The flame burns in memory of those who died, but were not identified, in both WWI and WWII.  An inscription reads “Here lies a French soldier who died for his fatherland 1914-1918” (translated here into English).

The arch stands about 165 feet tall, and measures about 148 feet wide, and around it is a roundabout that is one of the busiest in Paris.  Do not try to dodge in and out of this traffic!  That would be dangerous, and brand you as a serious nutcase.  While I watched, I saw many people tempted by it – but fortunately no one crazy enough to actually attempt it.

You can reach the arch sensibly by following the signs to the underground passage way that will take you beneath the crazy roundabout to the arch.  From there you can take a short elevator ride back to ground level or climb the stairs.  In the photo above you see me waving at you before heading to the passageway to cross over.

What will you see?  Keep reading to find out!

Spend some time walking around the Arc de Triomphe looking at the sculptured facade.  A few highlights include a winged figure of Victory, a sculpture of Napoleon, and the 30 shields (each representing a victorious battle) on the crown of the arch.  On the inside and top of the arch are inscribed the names of generals and battles fought, with the names of those who died in battle underlined.  Conveniently missing are some of Napoleon’s later battles.

If you’re up to it, climb the 284 steps to the top of the arch.  There is no elevator!  The steps are stone, and the passageway narrow and circular.  It’s okay if you need to stop and catch your breath – most people did.

Once at the top, you’ll be treated to magnificent views in all directions.  Take a look around and you’ll see 12 major arterials leading into the Place (for an example, look at the photo below).  Watch how the merge into the roundabout, and you’ll have a real appreciation for driving in Paris.  There are fabulous photo opportunities from the top, and since the Arc is open late, it’s a favorite spot for sunset and evening photos.

You can reach the Arc de Triomphe by RER line A (train) and Métro (subway), getting off at the Charles de Gaulle-Étoile stop.

It is open daily from 10 am – 11 pm, and closes a half hour earlier during the fall and winter months.  There is no charge to walk around the base of the arch.  Access to the top was €7 when I was there, and kids under 18 are free.  Admission is also covered as part of the Paris Museum Pass.

The Arc de Triomphe was one of my favorite monuments in Paris, and is probably the most famous in Paris.  I’d put it on a must-see list for a Paris trip, for its historical significance, art, and views.  Allow half an hour or so to explore the ground level, and an additional hour (or more) if you are going to go to the top.

Photos credit:  all from personal collection

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Avenue des Champs-Élysées is not only one of the most recognized street names in Paris, but in the entire world, and is lined with luxury and specialty shops, theaters, cafes and restaurants.  Its name translates to “Elysian Fields” a refererence to the “place of the blessed” in Greek mythology.  With the prices you’ll see at most of these shops and cafes, you’ll need to be blessed, indeed, to make this your prime shopping district.

The street itself is a little over a mile and a quarter long (see photo at left), running from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe in the 9th arrondissement.  While its easy to get caught up in its current incarnation as the ultimate shopping location, originally, in the de Medici era, the area was a field and garden market.  It was also the location of the famous marches to celebrate the 1944 liberation of France, one march by the French and the other by American troops.  Today, the Champs-Élysées is home to the annual Bastille Day parade and is the end of the Tour de France. 

It seems like the Champs-Élysées is always full of people, day or night.  You’ll find people stopping off to shop at places like:  Drugstore Publicis (filled with so many upscale products that it seems a misnomer to refer to it as a “drug” store), Louis Vuitton (its largest store in the world), Virgin Megastore, Adidas (its largest store in the world), and Nike Paris, as exclusive stores co-exist with the growing presence of large chain stores. 

Above the street level stores, you’ll find offices, attracting still more people.  And, of course, day or night, patrons are flocking to the restaurants, cafes, and theaters.

I enjoyed wandering the street, stopping of at a few shops now and again.  Although the strength of the dollar was not on my side, I did manage to justify a purchase at Louis Vuitton, followed by lunch at cafe right in the heart of everything.  While lunching on the Champs-Élysées is quite expensive (some might say over-priced), I considered it both a meal and an opportunity to do some people watching as I whiled away a beautiful fall afternoon in Paris.

Photo credit:  personal collection

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Now I know what you must be thinking. . . “MJ, you’re not a backpacker.”  Well, that might be true enough, but there’s all sorts of things backpackers can teach the rest of us about travel, and one of those things is how to enjoy things off the beaten path — like spending a day is the French countryside.

Not south enough to be Provence, nor north enough to be Alsace or the Vosges, this tiny corner of France hides between two massive mountain ranges – the Alps and the Jura – and is so off the beaten path you often only get here by accident.

Except if you live here, as I do, a big-city transplant to this most rural and proud region of France.

How can such a tiny beautiful pocket be only 45 minutes from Geneva, 1hr 15 each from Lyon, Grenoble and Chamonix, and an hour from the vineyards of Burgundy?

Welcome to the Bugey, where the grand Rhone River winds powerfully south.

It’s a calm day today. The snow has settled, turning the seasons upside down. Last week we were planting lavender and cleaning the kayaks. This week we’re shoveling snow.

I shouldn’t have worried. My neighbor, Patrick the wine-maker, beat me to it, unasked. He ran his tractor around the front of my house, piling the snow off to the side to allow me to drive out of the barn – my own personal snowplow.

Last week, before the snow fell, a horse appeared in my field. These things happen. The young farmer down the hill tells me it belongs to the mayor’s nephew and that my field is green and good for food. Seems to make sense.

The next day some plastic electrified fencing cropped up. Keeps the horse from running away. Makes sense too. Two days later, the horse, the fence and the greenery were gone.

In the afternoon I returned home to the sound of chainsaws. My neighbor thought (rightly) that my brambles had grown out of control, so he decided to cut them. Makes sense.

Continuing reading for more about life in Bugey. . . .

Today is market day, so time to shop. We have a supermarket, of course, what French town doesn’t? But many of us prefer the markets. The supermarket is good for cleaning products, hardware or cat food. For people food, two local markets feed us, rain or shine – or snow. As farmers clear the snow from their tables, we lift, squeeze, smell and yes, even taste, what’s on offer.

Today it’s fresh Brillat-Savarin, a local soft cheese that tastes like a mixture of butter and cream (and has at least twice the calories). And vollaille de Bresse – Bresse chicken, so tender you cut it with a fork and so tasty smothering it with a sauce would be a crime. A few berries have started appearing, and it’s a good time for squashes and pumpkin. No exotics here, thank you Monsieur le Maire.

It’s Saturday, and in this land nothing opens on Sundays. For those of us who work away in the city, Saturday is the only day for administrative chores: la poste to pay bills, la banque to get money, and la mairie – the town hall – to pick up electoral papers and find out what happened to the mayor’s nephew’s horse. Of course most chores can be done on the Internet – we do have fast connections here too. But few people do.

A quick trip to the bank – horror, my favorite bank teller has been moved to another town because she’s been too nice with customers. As one of the customers guilty of exchanged gossip and warm smiles, I cringe. But she’s happy with the change: her new boss doesn’t mind her being nice – he thinks it might be good for business.

When I first moved here I paid a courtesy visit to the winemaker’s restaurant down the hill. Madame Fagot immediately gave me her home number.

“We have strong men here, you know,” she said. “If you ever need anything, anything at all, you just give us a call. We’ll come up the hill.”

Madame also told me I had chosen a ‘good color’ for my shutters, a very local color, and that my roof was coming along nicely. My brambles, on the other hand, were another story.

You can’t live here if you have secrets. This isn’t a place, it’s a way of life, a slower life, away from the week’s noise and messiness and a step back into the past, into a life that hasn’t changed much since everyone’s parents’ parents’ time. And a life every other villager will know about.

Photo credit:  flickr

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

One of the most famous museums in the world is the Louvre, or more correctly the Musée du Louvre, and it was one of the items that was high on my Paris must-see list.  It is located on the Right Bank (of the Seine) in the 1st arrondissement.

Originally a palace, the museum is now home to some of the most world-famous works of art, including the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Aphrodite/Venus de Milo.  It opened to the public in 1793, and since then the collections have grown to their current number of over 380,000.  It’s not the largest collection in the world, but most art historians argue that it is the finest.

The main buildings of the Louvre look rather fortress-like, and much like I would imagine a fortress to have been, once inside the gates, there are all sorts of lovely things to see. 

The central courtyard houses the Louvre Pyramid, and serves as the main entrance to the museum.   The Pyramid was designed by architect I.M. Pei, and beneath it is the underground lobby to the museum.  There are several entrances into the courtyard, and all will get you to the Pyramid, so if you are encountering crowds at one courtyard entrance, just walk around to another one.

The Louvre is organized into eight departments, displaying artwork up to 1848.  You’ll see work by Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian, Van Dyck, and Leonardo da Vinci.

There is so much stuff to see, that tackling the Louvre can be a daunting task.  It is too big to see everything in one day, so unless you have several days to dedicate to viewing it, you will have to come up with a plan of attack.

Continue reading for suggestion on the best way to see the Louvre –

The two best methods for making the Louvre manageable, I think, are to either select a couple of departments that interest you, or to make a list of specific items of art that interest you.  A third option, and the one that I took, was a combination.  I chose a couple of departments that held the most interest for me (paintings, prints and drawings, and decorative arts) and saw those in some depth.  I zipped rather quickly through some of the sculptures and other departments, just checking out the highlights or major displays. 

You can use the museum’s online interactive maps and floorplans to help you plan out your approach.  You can also take a virtual tour.

To reach the Louvre via Métro, use the Palais-Royal-Musée stop.  If you’re traveling by Batobus, get off at the Louvre stop, quai Francois Mitterrand.  Bus lines also stop in front of the main entrance at the Pyramid.

The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, and is open from 9 am – 6 pm daily, with extended hours (till 10 pm) on Wednesday and Friday evenings.  It is closed some holidays, so if you are visiting during that time, be sure to double check for holiday hours.

There are several ticket options to see the Louvre.  Tickets for the permanent collections are €9 (about $13.50) and provides access for everything except the temporary exhibitions in the Hall Napoléon, and is also valid for the Delacroix Museum.  Tickets for the temporary exhibitions are €6 (about $9).  A combined ticket represents the best value, as is €9,50 (about $13.75).  The Louvre is also covered by the Paris Museum Pass.

And how cool is this:  Admission is free for the unemployed, minimum wage-earners, registered disabled (identity card required), those under 18 years of age, and teaches of art history, archaeology, and applied or plastic arts.

I recommend buying advance tickets, or the Paris Museum Pass, as doing so will allow you to bypass the lines using the Passage Richelieu, Porte des Lions, and Galerie du Carrousel entrances.  Although the line wasn’t terribly long the day I visited, I still estimate that I was able to save about 45 minutes of time by heading to the front of the queue. 

My reflection on visiting the Louvre primarily centered around the expectations that I had for the visit.  While I VERY glad that I spent the time to see it, I realized fairly quickly that it was not my favorite art period.  Still, I saw some pretty impressive pieces, works by some renowned artists, and go a sampling of European History.

Other observations:  The Mona Lisa really is small like they say, and you have to stand way far away from it (behind me in the photo above).  Venus de Milo is very cool.  Napolean had some seriously great furnishings (photos above).

Not a bad way to spend a day in Paris.

Photo credit:  personal collection

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Located beside the River Seine in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower is the tallest building in the city.  Following its completion in 1889, it was the tallest structure in the world, and remained so until the Chrysler Building in New York City displaced it from that top spot. 

The Eiffel Tower was originally built as the entrance arch for the Paris World’s Fair.  That  also marked the 100-year commemoration of the French Revolution.

It is now one of the most recognized buildings in the world, and is the most visited.  Since it is now considered a piece of structural art, it’s hard to believe that at the time it was built, many believed it would be an eye sore!  It was also a surprise to learn that originally the tower was to be torn down 20 years after it was erected.  Fortunately, some practical uses came of the tower (including the role it played in helping to catch the infamous spy, Mata Hari), and it remains to this day.

On the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, during the winter, is a skating rink.  You can skate for free, and catch a great view at the same time.

To go up the tower, you can walk up 360 steps to the first level, and another 359 steps to the second level.  But you will need an elevator to go beyond the second platform — once you move past the second platform, the tower is an open frame, with no other platforms.

A few tidbits of Eiffel Tower trivia:

• The tower is painted three different colors in order to make it look like it’s all the same color (it has to do with the light sky and dark ground)
• A con artist tried selling the tower for scrap metal.  It was sold — twice!
• A restaurant was removed from mid-way up the tower, was dismantled and shipped to New Orleans, where it was reconstructed.  It’s been known as the Tour Eiffel Restaurant and the Red Room.
• The Eiffel Tower is popular in movies, including:  A View to Kill, Superman II, and The Hostage Tower.
• There are 72 names engraved on the tower representing French scientists, engineers and other notables who played a part in getting the tower into existence.

If thinking about the Eiffel Tower doesn’t make you want to go to Paris, I’m not sure anything will.

Photo credit:  wikimedia

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Post from: Fly Away Cafe

Today’s post comes from Lynn Rodriguez.  Lynn previously wrote Paris in the Fall so be sure to go back and read it if you missed it the first time around.

Lynn makes me feel like I’m sitting in a little cafe, having espresso, and planning what I’m going to do with the rest of the day. 

Thanks again, Lynn.  I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of your writing!

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FUSAC has been around for years. It means France USA Contacts. If you’re thinking of going to Paris or have just arrived, it’s a must have, and best of all, it’s free!

You can find an abundance of information in the magazine: apartments for rent, jobs, au pair positions, meeting places, things to do, places to go, American restaurants and stores, personal ads, classes, exchanges, the list goes on and on and on! You can also buy or sell items: books, household goods, clothing….you name, they’ve got it.

If you’re like me, you may be asking, why would I want to contact other English-speaking people while I’m in Paris?! Okay, this may not be for you, but there are a lot of other Americans, Brits, Canadians, Aussies, etc. who would love to get together with others in the English-speaking community. Not to mention, a lot of French people who read this magazine because they, too, are interested in meeting Anglophones.

FUSAC comes out every two weeks. If you’re new to Paris, or planning on staying for awhile, you’ll find that FUSAC is a gold mine of information. You can find it in every single arrondissement of Paris and in a couple of suburbs as well. If you happen to pass by an English-speaking bookstore, any American style restaurant, the American Express near the Opéra, the English-speaking embassies and consulate offices, go on in and pick up a copy. They all have FUSAC near their entrance and you’ll be happy you did.

You can tell them I sent you!

Photo credit:  dalia

Post from: Fly Away Cafe