2023: A week in Paris

  Sunday 4/30 Basilica de St. Denis, opens at 1215 Stade de France Tour 330pm Dinner:  maybe Le Bois, Pop’s  We had stayed over a Sunday in order to have brunch at Le Manufactures Alain Ducasse but it closed down on us, so sad. We loved that place. Since the plane tickets were set and the Airbnb booked, we had to find a way to occupy our Sunday in Paris.   We decided to tour the Basilica de Saint Denis which we’d been to once in 2015. I also found a guided tour of the Stade de France and booked it for 330pm.   We got to the basilica around 1230 (left around 215). Some construction and renovations going on outside marred the view a bit. But what has been completed looked lovely. The main part of the basilica is free to visit but the Tombs have a charge. The free pamphlet is not very informative but they do have an audio guide, which we didn’t get.   We wandered all around and took lots of pictures....

  Saturday 4/29 Montparnasse day  1.       Musee de la Liberation de Paris, 4 av d Colonel Rol-Tanguy, 14 th Free 10-530pm (Food Society, 68 Av de Maine) 2.       Montparnasse Cemetery, 830-530pm 3.       Musee de la Poste, 34 bd d Vaugirard, 14 th , 11-6pm OR Musee Bourdelle, 18 r Antoine Bourdelle, 15 th , 10-6pm Wander/drinks 4.       Dinner: L’Abraise (next to Chez Josephine Dumonet, rue de Cherche Midi, 12-3/7-11 (Reserve) 5.       Tour Montparnasse. Sunset is 9pm  We are not your early birds, that’s for sure! We decided to go to Musee de la Liberation de Paris in the 14 th . Easy to get there via Metro. The museum is free. But if you want to see the underground bunker (which you do), you have to get a timed ticket, which we did on arrival at 1245. It left us 45 minutes t...

  Friday 4/28   AM:   St. Germain le Auxerois (9am-730pm), La Samaritaine (10am-8pm), LV Dream exhibit, 2 rd Pont-Neuf, daily 11-20, free (reserve in advance) 15 mins walk to: 12pm: Capitale 60 yrs of Street Art exhibit at Hotel de Ville, r.d. Lobau, free & reserved 10 mins walk to restaurant Monnaie de Paris museum, 11 Quai de Conti, 11-6pm Lunch: 1pm Le Sergent Recruter, ISL  Jardin des Plantes Grande Gallerie de l’Evolution (special exhibit on felines!) Cross Pont d’Austerlitz to Rue Cremieux  The stomach issues seemed to be resolved. So we kept our reservation at Le Sergent Recruter. We got to Isle de la Cite with a few minutes to spare before the reservation so wandered around Notre Dame and Ile Saint-Louis. So pretty!   This was our 3 rd time at Le Sergent Recruter and were sat right by the kitchen window. We started at the farthest table and made our way to the cat-bird seat, lol. T...

  Thursday 4/27       Lunch: 1230 Astrance 32 r d Longchamps   Day Trip: Chateau de Sceaux (RER B “parc de Sceaux,” 2pm-630pm, closed Mo.)   or Marmottan or L’Orangerie (Matisse special exhibit) or Musee d’Orsay, late night 930am-945pm, special exhibit on Manet/Degas Dinner: 2100 Petrelle, 34 rue Petrelle, 9 th    Husband  woke up with a bad stomach. It was either the oysters from Parcelles or the rich food from Le Clarence. No matter, we had to cancel our 1230 lunch at Astrance. We relaxed in the apartment for awhile until he rallied around 12 and decided on the Marmottan, one of our favorite museums in Paris. We took a leisurely walk through the 16 th to the museum. It’s just so very pretty! Arrived 1225; departed 145pm.   The Marmottan was wonderful, as always. The mansion upstairs with the glorious chandeliers, statues, paintings, illuminated manuscripts, Be...

  Wednesday 4/26 11am: Yves St. Laurent museum 15 mins walk to restaurant Or Petit Palais (Sarah Bernhardt exhibit) or Grand Palais for Mucha Exhibit   Lunch: 1pm Le Clarence 31 FDR Ave., 8 th   After, walk Champs Elysses, Galleries Lafayette, maybe ascend Arc de Triomphe Drinks back in the 16 th at Cravan, 17 r Jean de la Fontaine, 6-11pm, Wed-Sat  Last year we visited the excellent Galerie Dior so this year decided to try out the Yves Saint Laurent museum. Pre-booked the tickets. It was all about gold. Very well done, especially after having seen a documentary on his life. Didn’t like it as much as Dior but can recommend. We exited around 1230 so had time to lesirely walk to the restaurant, Le Clarence, a 2 Michelin stars, for our lunch. We stopped into Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Consolation, nice little church. This is a very pretty, rich area. All the cars were fancy, expensive, with foreign oil $ plates. L...

  Tuesday 4/25     Musee des Arts et Metiers, 60 rue Reaumeur, 3 rd , 10-6pm (Special exhibit about history of cars)  Lunch:   1pm   Parcelles, 13 rue Chapon, 3 rd   Option1: Jewish Museum, 71 rue du Temple, 3 rd , in Hotel de Saint-Aignan, 11-6pm Wander Marais, drinks at Little Red Door, 60 rue Charlot (if didn’t already go or liked it) Option 2: L’Atelier des Lumieres, 38 rue Saint-Maur, 10 th , 10-6 (Chagall, Klee)Drinks/dinner in 10 th or reserve something in the 16 th  **Le Marilyn, 126 r. Oberkamf; Le Bercail, 144 r. Oberkamf; Le Perchoir Menilmontant, 7 th floor rooftop bar, check hours, 144 rd Crespin du Gast; Zagros Restaurant, 58 Bd d Menilmontant I read about the special exhibit on cars at the Musee des Arts et Metiers and knew it was something we needed to check out. Then I also read about Parcelles being a great restaurant. So our day was coming together.   The exhi...