Sis in France - Paris

My sister's trip started and ended in Paris - we flew French Bee via Orly airport, so it only made sense to see some of Paris!

We arrived, and went straight to our hotel near the Gare de Lyon. After freshening up a bit, we walked to the gare, intending to go to Les Galeries Lafayette for dinner and the rooftop view - well, as we were looking for the metro, we realized that it would be tight on time (and frankly, we were bushed!). Bingo, we decided to go back to one of the many restaurants we had passed on our short walk. Good decision! Several crêpes later, we strolled back to bed 😎

The next morning, we dragged the trunks to our train... Sis got through, but while I was switching to my ticket, an agent saw my trunk and said Non! 😲 Apparently, trunks that are ok for airlines do not count as luggage for OUIGO - it's not allowed on the train! When that finally soaked in, I said oooohhhh... What do I do? Well, the agent took another look at my ticket (I assume to check that I had at least paid for a big bag), took pity on me, and said... OK, just this once, you can do it. Phew! 😌 I said, absolutely, never again, and thank you!

Then I caught up with Sis, and the other trunk...

~~~

Luckily, we all only had small suitcases when we came back to Paris 🤪. 

Unluckily, we all forgot about the huge number of stairs you need to climb to use the Metro! We finally got to our apartment, but then decided that everything from then on had to be by bus (or Uber).

Friday evening (by bus!), we took a friend's advice and went to a concert at Sainte Chapelle - it was gorgeous, and the music was lovely! (The seats were not lovely, and the entry process was tedious, but worth it)

Saturday was *very* busy!

We had tickets for the Musée d'Orsay (more about that elsewhere) in the morning (Uber), then to Les Galeries Lafayette for lunch and the previously-missed rooftop view (tried a bus, but it turned out to not run during lunch, so... Uber!)

We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon at the apartment (bus), then went back out again (bus) for our night (bus) tour.

Sunday, the vote was unanimous! We recuperated to some degree, then sent Sis on to the airport and home!

For us, since the bus passed right by, we stopped off at the Panthéon! We weren't 100% sure we would be up to this, so we hadn't gotten tickets in advance. While waiting in line, I noticed a savvy couple buying theirs online, then jumping over to the no-waiting-cause-we-bought-online section 😜... Oh well, we got there eventually.

Monday, we relaxed again - Phew!

Tuesday, we packed up and took an Uber to the National Library Richelieu. We were able to check our bags (you know, the small ones) and enjoy the atmosphere - books under an oval skylight.

Then it was time to get our bus back to the train station, and on home!

~~~

For Orly - getting to and from, and navigating the airport, see here.

As always, see the Sisters in France 2023 album for more photos (with captions this time!)

Orly Airport - Paris

Getting to Orly airport...

From Gare de Lyon

Walk (less than 10 minutes) across the Seine to Gare d'Austerlitz, then take RER C (yellow) in the direction of Massey-Palaiseau, to Porte de Rungis (you have to buy this separately from the usual "t+" Paris ticket). Walk through the parking lot to D136 (the road), and turn right to the Thiais Pont de Rungis bus stop. Take the 183 bus to Orly 4. Look for the kiosks to check in.

From central Paris

Use the Citymapper app to find a bus (or metro or RER) to Denfert-Rochereau.

You can buy the Orlybus ticket from a machine or directly from the driver. It's generally best to use the machine, then enter the bus in the center for a better chance at a seat. 

Take the Orlybus from Denfert-Rochereau to Orly 1,2,3 (there is no separate stop at Orly 4). Then turn right until you see the Orly 4 sign and ride the Orlyval shuttle to Orly 4.

Go down an escalator, turn left, and go to the kiosks for the boarding pass. 

Checking in

Look for the Departures board, find your flight, and get the number for your check-in area.

Follow the signs to that area, and find a kiosk.

Follow the prompts - usual topics:

- your airline

- language

- check-in method (booking number, passport, etc)

You may have to put in your address.

Eventually, you get your boarding pass and any baggage tags. If there's a problem, look around for an agent (they float around).

If you have a bag to check, take it to the drop-off area.

Follow the signs for your gate (you may notice what look like "down" arrows - that just means keep straight).

Go through passport control.

Et voila! Wait for your flight!

Deplaning

Landing at Orly

Follow the crowd to passport control, then to the baggage carousels - look for your flight information, which marks the correct one.

Once you have your bags, go past customs - if you have anything to declare, stop and say so.

Follow the signs for ground transportation:

Orlyval (the free shuttle/navette), Tram, Bus, OrlyBus, Taxi (you can take the luggage cart directly to the taxis)

Go into Paris the reverse route given above, depending on where you're going.

If you're loaded down with bags, the taxi stand is clearly marked for Paris vs outside Paris. The fare into Paris is a flat fee, approximately $45 (payable by credit card or euros).

Sis in France - Musée d'Orsay

Sis in France - Musée d'Orsay

One thing we absolutely had to do was go to the Orsay Museum (aka Musée d'Orsay) - we're all big fans of the impressionists, and the Orsay is *loaded!* 

Still, we have a pretty low threshold for museum-walking; we're bushed after only a couple of hours. So, our first stops were the wheelchair rentals, then the information booth, where a kind soul circled the "must sees" on our map. Then, zoom! 

The building is a former train station...

Here is "Eve After the Fall"

And the description from the placard:

The powerful contours and tortured pose of this Eve owe much to the art of Michelangelo, whom Delaplanche, a winner of the Prix de Rome, studied during his stay at the Villa Médicis from 1865 to 1869. With her head partly hidden by her arms and her hands clenched, she is experiencing overwhelming regret for eating the forbidden fruit which is lying at her feet. Her loose hair falls in heavy tresses behind the trunk of a fig tree around which the serpent of temptation is coiled. This terrible yet sensual work spent several decades in the Tuileries gardens."

Some of the paintings 🙂

Monet's Parasols

And Poppy Field 

Pierre Auguste Renoir

Degas

Then I took some close-ups as well...

Close-up 

Full painting - Monet's Champs de tulipes en Hollande 1886

Monet's Water Lily Pond

Close-up 

Georges Lemmen Schaerbeek

Close-up 

Starry night 

Close-up 

There are a lot more photos in my Sisters in France 2023 - Musée d'Orsay album. Many of them have captions with descriptions from the placards.

Sis in France - Pont du Gard

This morning was all about the Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard - it is the highest aqueduct-bridge in the Roman world, at 48.77 meters.

The Pont du Gard* is particularly renowned for the opening of arches that measure 24.50 and 19.20 meters.

The opening of the arches of the other aqueduct bridges generally measure between 4.50 and 5.50 meters.

Level I (bottom level) - 6 arches with 4 rows of juxtaposed arch bands the largest of which, on the Gardon, has an opening of 24.50 meters.

Level II - 11 arches each with 3 arch bands.

Level III - 47 arches with one arch band each, 12 of which are destroyed. Length: 490 m (Including the upstream pier destroyed, for an approximate length of 130 meters). 

From the plaque about the olive tree:

I WAS BORN IN THE YEAR 908. I MEASURE 5 METERS OF TRUNK CIRCUMFERENCE, 15 METERS OF ROOT CIRCUMFERENCE

I LIVED MY CHILDHOOD IN AN ARID AND COLD VALLEY OF SPAIN 

THE CONSULATE GENERAL DU GARD ** 

MY AGE AND MY HISTORY ADOPTED WITH TWO OTHERS 

I WAS PLANTED ON SEPTEMBER 23, 1988. I AM PROUD TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PRESTIGIOUS AND NATURAL DECOR OF THE PONT DU GARD 

~~~

* Information from the museum, which we did go to at the end of our visit

** This part of the text was no longer readable 

For more photos, see the album Sisters in France 2023

Sis in France - Nîmes

Today was all for Nîmes! 

Our first stop, immediately after the tourist office, was the Arena, a well-preserved Roman Amphitheater, still in use.

There we a number of placards showing the various types of gladiators along with explanations of their weapons and fighting style - all those photos are in the Sisters in France 2023 album, and make interesting reading.

After lunch, we wandered through the Old Town to the Maison Carrée. It's an ancient Roman temple, smack in the middle of Nîmes! 

We went back through town to the Musée de la Romanité (Roman museum) - it's full of artifacts excavated from the area, including mosaics, glass jars, statues, and architectural elements. I took a ton of pictures, but... Now I can't find them 😔.

On the way back to the car, we went past the bullfighter and the fountain of Nîmes.