October 4 - Paris

Today we started our Scenic cruise by moving to the Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel for the night. We were not be sad to leave the Les Helles district of Paris.  Although our hotel was clean and comfortable, the surrounding area is just not the safest.  I'm not saying it was a slum, because it does have a lot of nice stores, restaurants and cafes but it also has its quota of street people, punks and hookers.

This morning the Rue du Rivoli, a block from the hotel, was on the route of a major road race in Paris, The entire area was cordoned off as the racers ran by, leaving major traffic chaos.  I couldn't even get to the shop where we buy our croissants for breakfast.

After booking into the Marriott, we went for lunch and decided we would visit the Galleries Lafayette.  This shopping mall near the Opera is supposed to have the most wonderful interior design of any shopping complex in the world.  Unfortunately for us, in France they believe in giving their retail staff a day off to be with their family. So on Sunday all the shops are closed.  Congratulations to the French for having a healthy respect for family and life styles.

Roller Bladers outside Galleries Lafayette

As we entered the Opera metro station we heard a loud commotion.  It was a race of roller bladders for some charity.  There must of have been a couple of thousand skaters rolling down the Boulevard Haussman.

We then decided to go to the Luxembourg Gardens.   This is wonderful oasis of green in the centre of Paris. It is a wide expanse of gardens that encloses the Luxembourg Palace where the French Senate sits.

Luxembourg Gardens

The Luxembourg Palace is a great example of French classical architecture made popular during the 17th century. It was the culmination of the long tradition of building chateaux. Queen Marie de Médicis favoured an Italianate structure modelled after the Palazzo Pitti in her native Florence, but the French architect Salomon de Brosse followed a typically French layout of wings surrounding a court, with the chief living quarters and chapel facing the garden.

The gardens, which cover 25 hectares of land, are split into French gardens and English gardens. Between the two, lies a large pond that children use to play with their remote boats. The garden has 106 statues spread throughout the park. People in the park can play chess, tennis, and bridge in the park.

Luxembourg Palace

Later this evening we meet our follow travellers on the Scenic cruise.  They seem to be a lively bunch of Australians. I think we are going to have a wonderful trip with them.

For supper we went with Sue and Dave, John and Ellen to Les Noces de Jeannette.  This is a wonderful little Parisian restaurant near the Opera with high marks from Tripadvisor.   This was a very quite sedate restaurant until we arrived.  We had a great time with lots of laughs, good food and excellent wine.  Unfortunately, Rocky and Joan were booked into a different hotel and could not make the dinner.  We will see them tomorrow when be board the train for Dijon to start our cruise.