Sunday, October 2

Well, I woke up thinking that I might have been dreaming last night about the crowds, etc.  Turns out I wasn't.  Paris hosts its "Nuit Blanche" at this time - a contemporary art festival which translates into "White Night" but in reality means "All-nighter".  It runs from Saturday into early - or should I say late Sunday morning.  So, the hordes of people who were still streaming by my window at 5 am were really there for a reason!  And they left just in time for the garbage truck to arrive around 6:30 am.

So I was off early for more sightseeing of Paris, whether I wanted to or not!

First stop, the Shoah or Holocaust Museum which is located just a couple of blocks from my apartment in the Marais.  The memorial is quite compelling and is a tribute to the 76,000 Jewish men, women and children deported from France in WWII to the Nazi concentration and death camps - with only a small fraction to survive. 

There is an alley on the way to the memorial - which was renamed as the Allee des Justes.  On one side it commemorates the people who helped the Jews (see plaque) and the other side is to memorialize the actions of the many who not only did not, but who actively supported the victimization of them.

There is extremely tight security around the memorial.  For example, you have to exit into an antechamber and only after the door is closed behind everyone is the outside door opened to the street.

And if you think the sensitivities from 65 years ago are forgotten, think again. Just today, there were denouncements of an IPhone app developed by a Jewish guy to name whether celebrities were Jewish or not - http://www.france24.com/en/20110915-why-calling-jew-still-taboo-france-apple-iphone-remove-app-jewish-database.  It has been said to be in violation of a French law which prohibits classifying people by race or religion.




Another expedition down rue Rivoli to the Champs Elysees, where again I survived the roundabout at the Place de la Concorde.  As per usual, the crowds were everywhere - and as usual, lined up to get inside the Louis Vuitton boutique!

I stopped to admire the Grand Palais and Petit Palais that are both just before the Champs Elysees - both of which were built in 1900 to house various art exhibits.  They are truly magnificent pieces of architecture.

Entrance to Petit Palais

Petit Palais

 

Grand Palais



Quadriga statue on Grand Palais

The Eiffel Tower still beckoned - so I went further along the right bank to the Trocadero.  I saw a picture of the statutes on the square of the Palais de Chaillot that I wanted to try to replicate.  Here it is my meagre attempt.

I have finally figured how to bike back to the east on the right bank - along various bike corridors.

Along the way, right next to the Grand and and Petit Palais, is the Pont Alexandre III - which leads over the Seine to Invalides. It has been called one of the prettiest bridges in Paris, with good reason since it has four of these magnificent structures on each end and each side.

Final stop - a museum which is located just a few blocks from me - called the Musee Cognacq-Jay.  This museum houses the collection of the couple who founded Paris' largest department store, La Samaritaine, which has now been closed down and is being developed I think into a hotel. In any event, a lovely collection - including a Rembrandt and a Rubens.