28-Paris

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Opera House

The Madeleine

Monday, 28 August. This was to be our last full day in Paris, and there was still so much to see that we set out at a rather frantic pace. We took a quick look at the Opera House, the Palais Royal built by Richelieu, the Madeleine Church that looks like an ancient Greek Temple, and the Bourbon Palais, now the National Assembly, but we didn't want to spend a lot of time on any of them.

We went to Les Invalides, the soldiers' home which houses an excellent military museum as well as Napoleon's tomb, our primary interest there. Then we went for a close up, day light view of the Eiffel Tower. We were disappointed to find that the magnificent fountains at the Palais de Chaillot were not turned on. I had wanted to get some pictures of them in the day time.

Napoleon's Tomb at Les Invalides

Dome over Napoleon's Tomb

Eiffel tower by day

Jane & I at Versailles gate

Next, we drove to Versailles to see the historic palace. It was big but very unimpressive in the interior. None of the royal apartments had been restored. Jane and I took a walk through the gardens, but Sharon waited right outside the Palace building. The gardens were very large but not as beautiful as those we'd seen in Vienna.

Front of Versailles Palace

Fountain in the gardens

Grounds behind the Palace

Bastille Monument

We went back to the hotel, where Jane stayed to rest while Sharon and I took a ride on the Metro (subway) to Place de la Bastille. Of course, the Bastille itself was destroyed in the French Revolution, but there is a tall commemorative column in the square.

Rodin's "The Kiss"

Then, while Sharon rested, Jane and I went to the Rodin Museum to see his best-known sculptures. "The Thinker" was on a pedestal in a rose garden, and "The Kiss" was in the entrance hall. Although these and a few others were quite impressive, we found that most of the statutes on display were unfinished or crudely finished and very pornographic.

We returned to the hotel and then, with Sharon, had dinner at the Officers' Club. We then went to the Follies Bergere. Unlike the Lido, where everyone was polite and no one tried to rob us, they were out to clip the tourists every way they could. The program seller demanded a 50% tip, the ushers demanded tips, soft drinks at the intermission were exorbitant, and they kept the temperature around 90 degrees to make sure everyone was thirsty. The show was on a regular theater stage, not night club style like the Lido. It was considerably more risque than the Lido show, and the quality of the acts was nowhere near as good.

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