Day Three: Looking for Treasures

12/29/16: Today's schedule included the Louvre and the Conciergerie.

At 8:20am, we were in our taxi using a flashlight to read the address to the alternate entrance to the Louvre. It was surprising just how dark it was so late into the morning here in France.

We drove past the main entrance where the pyramid stands tall and swarms of people shiver in the cold, and instead, went to the 99 Carousel entrance we found in our Frommer's Paris Pocket Traveler book. We were twenty-minutes early and tenth in line, already below ground, far from the freezing crowd that had formed maybe an hour early at the popular entrance.

Travel tip: We read several articles that suggested tourists, like us, should avoid the Louvre altogether, and especially to skip the Mona Lisa. These articles suggested the Mona Lisa would be overcrowded, and hardly visible, and the chaos would be better left off the must-see list. Well, you could skip the Louvre, I guess. I mean, I plan on skipping it the next time we come to France (get what I mean?) Or, you can take the 99 Carousel entrance, which leads you through the mall and to another entrance which is hard to miss considering the iconic pyramids touching.

Make note: Unless you are The McGehee's Abroad, check your coats and backpacks in the Cloakroom near the secret entrance, or, do what we did and just run to the ticket check feeling ecstatic that once again you tricked the system, blew past the crowds and would be one of the first of the day to say Bonjour! to Mona Lisa. If you choose to do this, be warned, you will get turned back to the Cloakroom because no bags are allowed in the gallery. You will then take your family of five and run back downstairs and settle for being the first of 40 or 50 to bid Mona Lisa adieu. One of these two experiences will get you more steps on S Health or Fitbit or whichever fitness tracking device you use; the other will not. Regardless, if you follow our plan (in line at least 20 minutes before opening, using the secret entrance) you will have seen and photographed Mona Lisa without more than a two minute wait by 9:30am. You will see people rushing in past you long after you've gotten the gist of the Louvre. In that case, you will need to fill your time by "Looking for Treasures."

Looking for Treasure in the Louvre: 

1. You're paying your respects to Mona (by now you're on a first name basis). Maybe you're taking selfies or trying to get a pic of your children with her in the background. This is great. Also, try: helping the people around you get their picture so they don't have to take a selfie--engage the crowd. And then, slowly back out of the crowd, who are desperate to get your spot in the front, and watch them consume the void you're trying to leave behind. Pause for a moment, and watch this group of paparazzi formed around this majestic, roped off figure.
   
   
   
2.  You've been around the Louvre, enjoyed the art and sculptures, it's time for a drink from the cafe. Spend a moment watching the crowds rushing in looking as hurried and frantic as you did, and remember, they probably arrived earlier than you, but failed to seek the hidden entrances (there are more than one of these types of entrances). Be happy when you see one family with six children, considering you have brought only half as many young eyes to be overwhelmed by the museum. 
3. Because you missed the popular entrance, try to make your way up and out of the popular entrance. Gasp and how easy it is to leave and how ridiculously long the line is out front. But, then go to the little blocks formed a distance from the pyramid. Stand in a short line, and then get some great perspective photos. 
   

Being done early means finding other things to do in this section of France. James took us on a journey to see a fantastic church named Saint-Eustache. A treasure in and of itself, there are also little treasures outside of it. For one, there is a playground. Note: it is a playground for ages 7-11 only. A French woman lets the children in and then when they are done you pick them up at the Sortie on the opposite side. As if they are deposits and withdrawals. Because you have a fourteen year old with you, sit and people watch with her. Find the giant statue of a head and a hand; take pictures. Give the homeless man on the church steps a coin or two; he will bless you. 

Make your way to The Conciergerie on the island in the midst of the Seine. Eat lunch along the Seine. This is when you will realize, you miss variety. You will attempt to order pizza instead of French food. You will realize, it is still a form of French food. It will not taste Italian or American. It is just French pizza (plain crust--somewhat charred; tomato paste straight from a can--not pizza sauce; cheese, topping, lots of Oregano, and a serving of some kind of spicy oil they put on the table to enhance the lack of flavor otherwise). But, you're in France and everything is magnificent!!! Travel Challenge: Find American things replicated in French.

Realize: your French gets worse the more tired you get through the day. Most everyone here surprises you by wanting to speak English, or because they assume you don't know French; so, when you come upon someone who wants to speak French, all your phrasing is missing. Trying to speak French is regarded as a kind gesture: do the best you can, they aren't concerned with the mistakes.

The Conciergerie is Madeline's choice. A fan of Marie Antoinette, she wanted to see where Marie was kept prisoner before being beheaded. Travel tip: this is a self-guided tour. If you are The McGehee's Abroad you will have followed a path that leads down a set of stairs and at the bottom realize that two of your children are still roaming upstairs, and the guards won't let you go back up. Some very nice pleading is helpful in this situation. (Remember for this attraction: Jump the line by purchasing tickets in advance).

The Conciergerie is interesting but the true treasures we found were the stained glass windows in the Sainte Chapelle; and the Shakespeare & Company bookstore and cafe.

Shakespeare & Company is a must see and do for bibliophile's like me. Everyone else in your party can go to the cafe next door. Shakespeare and Company is located adjacent Notre-Dame on the Left Bank of the Seine. The books are all in English; writers are welcome to stay and write if there are spaces available, and it happens to also be the kilometre zero of the city. There are lines to get in, and walking around is a slow venture. Travel tip: Buy a book here; they will stamp the inside with their logo (bibliophiles go crazy for this ink stamp) and give you a book mark. Go one step further, and buy a tote with the logo and a quote on the back.

Books bought: A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway; and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Madeline picked up a copy of After Alice by Gregory Maguire. 

"The imagination is not a state: it is the human existence itself," William Blake

Tomorrow we go to Belgium for a day, but don't worry, we come back to France for New Year's Eve. Until then, as the French say: (I thought again was inferred by soon, but, hey, it's France).