We woke this morning to grey sky that opened periodically to let the sunshine through. Not as bad as was predicted, so we are thankful for that. However, it is bitterly cold. Or at least it seems so to us. It is definitely weather for hats, gloves, scarves, and thick jackets. Unfortunately all our cold weather gear is sitting in a box in London waiting for us there. We didn’t expect it to be quite this cold yet.
We set out for our free walking tour this morning. It is always a great way to start the stay in any big city. But first it was onto the Metro. Once again it was displayed to us how a public transport system should work. The Metro system here is amazing, it seems that there is really no reason why you would want to drive anywhere.
We arrived at Place Saint Michel to be met by our guide for the next 3.5 hours, Colin. Another bright, cheerful, history buff, who is brimming with energy. We’re not sure how many were in the group, but he managed to entertain us all and not lose anyone so he must do something right. He walked us through the various monuments and significant spots in the inner city area and entertain us with stories and anecdotes. Brilliant as always.
We saw the statue of Henri IV on a horse (yet another guy on a horse), but we learnt that if the horse is standing on two opposing legs then the rider was assassinated, if the horse is standing with four feet on the ground, then the rider died of natural causes, if the horse is rearing up on its hind legs then the rider died in battle. An interesting aside that it would have been nice to know six months ago. Henri IV was assassinated, after having 22 previous attempts on his life. The guy that made that mortal blow was caught and punished. Punished by having his skin burnt with acid, his skin peeled off, his stomach opened and his entrails cooked in front of him, and then his four limbs tied to horses and he was ripped apart. Hmmmm … overkill perhaps?
We heard about Napoleon crowning himself Emperor in the Notre Dame, taking the crown off the Pope Pius VII, he is reported as saying something along the lines of, “No servant of God on earth is worthy of crowning me Emperor.” How is that for an ego?!
We saw the building where the Institute of French Language resides. Their purpose is to keep the French language pure and unadulterated by English words. If any English words do creep in, they create French replacements. They also decide on the gender of any new words (an important aspect of the French language). It was them who decided that the iPod was a boy. Why? Who knows.
We learnt that it has been proven by a group of Canadian scientists, operating in the Netherlands, using sophisticated facial recognition data, that the Mona Lisa smile is a myth. Mona Lisa is only 83% happy.
We learnt that the ‘Latin Quarter’ of this city is not so named because of an influx of Latin Americans, but because this is where the university was. And back in the day, the students there were taught in Latin, they lived, breathed and talked in Latin, both inside and outside the campus. Consequently the locals started to call it the ‘Latin Quarter’. Students being what they are all over the world, it is still where you will find cheap eats, cheap bars, and lots of bookshops.
We saw and learnt a lot more besides, all of it informative and entertaining. But one of the most entertaining stories that I heard came from a little aside from the guide. He had just been asked by an Australian guy “How long did the 100 years war last?” He went on to tell us that one of his fellow guides (a kiwi) was asked “Is it true that the Maori ate all the Hobbits?”
After finishing the tour we went for a walk down Avenue de Champs Eylsee, down to the Arc de Triomphe. Avenue de Champs Eylsee is wall to wall expensive ‘brand’ shops, cobbled roads, wide walkways, French flags, and the Parisians doing what they do best … parading themselves, and judging those around them. We went past the Peugeot and Renault shops and laughed at the concept cars that they had on their shop floors. We thought about buying some warmer clothes, but couldn’t afford the price tags.
After perusing the city streets some more we caught the Metro home again. We called into a little Italian Deli to buy some take-home dinner on the way. As we were leaving, the lovely little lady behind the counter asked us if we were American. When we corrected her, she apologized profusely and gave us a big box of bread stick biscuits to go. We weren’t sure if that was an apology present, or because we weren’t American.
We set out for our free walking tour this morning. It is always a great way to start the stay in any big city. But first it was onto the Metro. Once again it was displayed to us how a public transport system should work. The Metro system here is amazing, it seems that there is really no reason why you would want to drive anywhere.
We arrived at Place Saint Michel to be met by our guide for the next 3.5 hours, Colin. Another bright, cheerful, history buff, who is brimming with energy. We’re not sure how many were in the group, but he managed to entertain us all and not lose anyone so he must do something right. He walked us through the various monuments and significant spots in the inner city area and entertain us with stories and anecdotes. Brilliant as always.
We saw the statue of Henri IV on a horse (yet another guy on a horse), but we learnt that if the horse is standing on two opposing legs then the rider was assassinated, if the horse is standing with four feet on the ground, then the rider died of natural causes, if the horse is rearing up on its hind legs then the rider died in battle. An interesting aside that it would have been nice to know six months ago. Henri IV was assassinated, after having 22 previous attempts on his life. The guy that made that mortal blow was caught and punished. Punished by having his skin burnt with acid, his skin peeled off, his stomach opened and his entrails cooked in front of him, and then his four limbs tied to horses and he was ripped apart. Hmmmm … overkill perhaps?
We heard about Napoleon crowning himself Emperor in the Notre Dame, taking the crown off the Pope Pius VII, he is reported as saying something along the lines of, “No servant of God on earth is worthy of crowning me Emperor.” How is that for an ego?!
We saw the building where the Institute of French Language resides. Their purpose is to keep the French language pure and unadulterated by English words. If any English words do creep in, they create French replacements. They also decide on the gender of any new words (an important aspect of the French language). It was them who decided that the iPod was a boy. Why? Who knows.
We learnt that it has been proven by a group of Canadian scientists, operating in the Netherlands, using sophisticated facial recognition data, that the Mona Lisa smile is a myth. Mona Lisa is only 83% happy.
We learnt that the ‘Latin Quarter’ of this city is not so named because of an influx of Latin Americans, but because this is where the university was. And back in the day, the students there were taught in Latin, they lived, breathed and talked in Latin, both inside and outside the campus. Consequently the locals started to call it the ‘Latin Quarter’. Students being what they are all over the world, it is still where you will find cheap eats, cheap bars, and lots of bookshops.
We saw and learnt a lot more besides, all of it informative and entertaining. But one of the most entertaining stories that I heard came from a little aside from the guide. He had just been asked by an Australian guy “How long did the 100 years war last?” He went on to tell us that one of his fellow guides (a kiwi) was asked “Is it true that the Maori ate all the Hobbits?”
After finishing the tour we went for a walk down Avenue de Champs Eylsee, down to the Arc de Triomphe. Avenue de Champs Eylsee is wall to wall expensive ‘brand’ shops, cobbled roads, wide walkways, French flags, and the Parisians doing what they do best … parading themselves, and judging those around them. We went past the Peugeot and Renault shops and laughed at the concept cars that they had on their shop floors. We thought about buying some warmer clothes, but couldn’t afford the price tags.
After perusing the city streets some more we caught the Metro home again. We called into a little Italian Deli to buy some take-home dinner on the way. As we were leaving, the lovely little lady behind the counter asked us if we were American. When we corrected her, she apologized profusely and gave us a big box of bread stick biscuits to go. We weren’t sure if that was an apology present, or because we weren’t American.
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