from old skool @Flickr
From a recent post at Independent Traveler:
I have just a few more thoughts about Paris. A month ago I finished 10
days in the this marvelous city, and, yes, I did do a few of the things
on my list of "musts" left from four years ago. But somehow I always
"must" go back to many of the places I have been before and never seem
to add many new ones.
One new place I went was the Musee Carnavalet. This museum in the
Marais district is comprised of two mansions. It tells the story of
Paris, and is a very interesting place to visit. All kinds of exhibits
go back to the early Roman times of Paris and move up to the present.
Paintings, sculptures, maps, decorative arts can all be seen. There are
even a couple of complete rooms. The museum has a huge collection of
memorabilia from the French Revolution. Following the plan provided
leads one through the two mansions in a sensible way. I would recommend
it for any lover of Paris.
Another new place was the Basilique St. Denis in a northern suburb.
This is where, depending on which legend you hear, St. Denis finally
rested after carrying his head from the place he was beheaded, I
believe, in Montmartre. Or this is the place where St. Genevieve
arranged for his body to eventually be buried after his martyrdom.
Either way, it is a beautiful church, and interesting to visit. This is
the burial place of many of the French monarchs going way way back.
During the revolution, as a painting in the Carnavalet shows, the
graves were desecrated, and the remains dumped together into a lime
pit. Later the remains were buried together because there was no way to
tell who was who. The archeological area was open and could be visited
before the crypt. Some of the tombs go back to the time of St. Denis so
he was probably buried there. In the crypt area there are plain tombs
with names on them and then behind and to the side of the altar area
there are monuments, many with the same names as in the other area. I'm
not quite sure why this is. Some of the monuments are only effigies
showing the royals in death. Some have this kind of effigy with marble
columns and a "roof" on which kneeling figures of the same people
appear. I know I saw Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's names at least
three times. For some reason a couple of the effigies, most notably
Francois I, are naked though with strategic draperies. Maybe when I
read the book I have about the basilica, I will know more.
I am not much of a shopper (except for books), but on a rainy Friday
morning when I had thought to go up the Eiffel Tower, I headed to Bon
Marche instead. I mainly wanted to see the food halls I had read about
because I am a foodie. But I didn't realize it was in a different
building. I did find the baby department and bought the only two gifts
I brought home--shirts for two soon-to-be-born greats, one a niece and
one a nephew. And low and behold there in the baby department was a
sign indicating access to the food section. It was across the street in
another building altogether. I found this great fun to
explore--beautiful produce, meat, cheese, baked goods, candy, and more.
I also discovered why, as I had read, this store is very popular with
people from other countries who live in Paris. There was a section of
American food such as Campbell's and a lot of Tex Mex. Other sections
featured other countries. Shoppers could also buy items from Fauchon
and Hedlard, two well know Paris food shops. What did I buy? An apple
crumble and a walnut tart for dessert the next two nights and seven
small jars of flavored mustard to bring home.
Delicious
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