On Saturday (1st of November) we wanted to go and visit the Catacombs however they were closed (I had suspected this since it was a national holiday) but we decided to give it a shot anyway. It rained pretty much cats and dogs, however we decided to go to Cemetiere Montparnasse, which is very close. So we sort of got our sightseeing in the land of the dead anyway. How is that for weird? Well actually I don’t think that’s weird at all. At home we often cross the cemetery when we are out walking and in my mind I think it must be nice for the people buried there to hear actual living people speaking. I know it’s sort of stupid, but from an emotional point of view I find it comforting. From a realistic point of view I find it very comforting that when you’re dead you’re not the one who is sorry about it. You’re just gone and that’s it.
We found Sartres grave which was our goal, even though none of us are great fans of Sarte. To me he was one of these pretend-to-be-philosophers. Or maybe I’m just not smart enough to understand him. You decide what you think ;-) But I’ll prefer Descartes or Rousseau anytime when speaking of French philosophers.
We got take away food from a great eco bakery at the end of Rue Mouffetard and then headed over to the Museum of Natural History because we wanted to see the Musee d’Homme which has Descartes brain on display. However when we got there there was a huge line, since it was autumn holiday in France during that week, and a warning posted outside that there could be lines after the ticket office to get into the exhibition as well so we gave up on it and we’ll go another time. Actually we didn’t really do anymore during the day as it was raining so heavily, we just walked through the Jardin des Plantes and took the metro back and relaxed for a couple of hours before dressing up for dinner.
And dinner was just awesome. We had reservations for 8 o’clock at Le Train Bleu which is just the most beautiful restaurant I’ve ever dined in and the most expensive I think! But well worth it. Le Train Bleu is a historical monument. It opened in 1901 and was renamed Le Train Bleu in 1963 after the legendary train service that brought the Parisian upper class to the Riviera in summer. It has had guests such as Coco Chanel, Jean Cocteau, Dali, Brigitte Bardot and last but not least the lovely Jean Gabin (whom I just adore in La Grande Illusion from 1937). We ordered a great salad for entré, Jacob ordered the beef fillet and I ordered the grilled vegetables, both dishes were outstanding. For dessert I tried the rhum baba, which was very “rhummy” meaning that I think I would have gotten drunk had I eaten all of it (it was huge and they poored a lot of rum on it). Jacob got the profiteroles, which I think are a bit wrong when served with ice cream in them but apart from that I love profiteroles very much! All in all one more very lovely evening ending, with the short walk back in the crisp cold Parisian November night.
We found Sartres grave which was our goal, even though none of us are great fans of Sarte. To me he was one of these pretend-to-be-philosophers. Or maybe I’m just not smart enough to understand him. You decide what you think ;-) But I’ll prefer Descartes or Rousseau anytime when speaking of French philosophers.
We got take away food from a great eco bakery at the end of Rue Mouffetard and then headed over to the Museum of Natural History because we wanted to see the Musee d’Homme which has Descartes brain on display. However when we got there there was a huge line, since it was autumn holiday in France during that week, and a warning posted outside that there could be lines after the ticket office to get into the exhibition as well so we gave up on it and we’ll go another time. Actually we didn’t really do anymore during the day as it was raining so heavily, we just walked through the Jardin des Plantes and took the metro back and relaxed for a couple of hours before dressing up for dinner.
And dinner was just awesome. We had reservations for 8 o’clock at Le Train Bleu which is just the most beautiful restaurant I’ve ever dined in and the most expensive I think! But well worth it. Le Train Bleu is a historical monument. It opened in 1901 and was renamed Le Train Bleu in 1963 after the legendary train service that brought the Parisian upper class to the Riviera in summer. It has had guests such as Coco Chanel, Jean Cocteau, Dali, Brigitte Bardot and last but not least the lovely Jean Gabin (whom I just adore in La Grande Illusion from 1937). We ordered a great salad for entré, Jacob ordered the beef fillet and I ordered the grilled vegetables, both dishes were outstanding. For dessert I tried the rhum baba, which was very “rhummy” meaning that I think I would have gotten drunk had I eaten all of it (it was huge and they poored a lot of rum on it). Jacob got the profiteroles, which I think are a bit wrong when served with ice cream in them but apart from that I love profiteroles very much! All in all one more very lovely evening ending, with the short walk back in the crisp cold Parisian November night.
