{"id":5584,"date":"2016-11-23T18:14:42","date_gmt":"2016-11-24T02:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/?p=5584"},"modified":"2021-06-25T07:43:10","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T14:43:10","slug":"for-love-of-wine-chateaux-paris-uncorked-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/for-love-of-wine-chateaux-paris-uncorked-part-2","title":{"rendered":"For Love of Wine & Chateaux: Paris Uncorked (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

With our remaining couple days in Paris, we opted to split the time between food and culture. Sainte-Chapelle<\/a> fell victim to our late start, but I was hell-bent on seeing the Gargoyles of Notre Dame up close and personal. To satisfy our gelato craving,\u00a0we queued up for artisanal ice cream at Berthillon, but the artistic presentation of Amorino totally blew us away \u2013 multiple flavored gelati were literally transformed into flower petals on our ice cream cone! We also strolled around Place de la Madeleine, aka Foodie Square, a must-see for anyone interested in gastronomic pursuits. The Louvre was our last museum stop \u2013 still a great place to check out the masters\u00a0and see Mona Lisa\u2019s enigmatic smile despite the maddening crowd\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Neat<\/a>
Neat rows of gargoyles line the fa\u00e7ade of the Notre Dame de Paris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We got to the Notre Dame<\/a> before opening time in anticipation of the line to ascend\u00a0the tower. Looking up, the famous gargoyles seemed to stand guard over the cathedral. Carved out of stone, they serve as downspouts to divert rain water from the roof.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>
A close look at two chimeras, fantastical animal carvings sitting atop the Cathedral\u2019s columns.\u00a0 On the left is \u2018Le Stryge\u2019 (the Vampire) famously portrayed in an etching by artist Charles M\u00e9ryon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several spiral staircases and 387 steps later, we were finally at the Chimera Gallery! We were surrounded by chimeras<\/a>, which included all kinds of grotesques: birds, mythical beasts, dragons and hybrid creatures. They were eerily fascinating and the highlight of my visit.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>
Smitten by the gargoyles, I snapped more pix of a couple more chimeras looking down on the tourists from their lofty perches.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A brooding gnome gnawed sinisterly on a bone(?), while on the other side, a flying squirrel look-alike seemed ready to launch itself onto some unsuspecting passer by\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Square<\/a>
Serenity greets anyone who wanders into the Square Jean XXIII behind the Cathedral.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dedicated to Pope John XXIII, the square is an oasis of peace just a short stroll away from throngs at the entrance of Notre Dame.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The \u2018love lock\u2019 encrusted Pont des Arts \u2013 we were there before the city got rid of the locks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After Notre Dame, we visited another top tourist site \u2013 Berthillon on \u00cele Saint-Louis, purveyor of fine artisanal glace (ice cream)! We pushed towards Pont des Arts<\/a> which is known for the 700,000 \u2018love locks\u2019 that tourists attached to the historic bridge as a romantic gesture. Under the weight of 45 tons of hardware, parts of the bridge finally collapsed, and the City decided to remove all locks to save its heritage.<\/p>\n

\"Macarons<\/a>
Macarons at the venerable food emporium Fauchon \u2013 just in time for our coffee break!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Place de la Madeleine, is foodie heaven where all manners of gastronomic delights await. The square is home to the gourmet food shops Fauchon, Hediard, Caviar Kaspia, Maison de la Truffe and Maille.<\/p>\n

\"Sandwiches<\/a>
The main attraction for us was Maison de la Truffe, the \u2018Truffle Palace\u2019 for all things truffle, including sandwiches! We couldn\u2019t pass up the truffle goat cheese sandwich. \u00a0With loot in hand, we headed for the neighborhood Starbucks to enjoy our seriously scrumptious spread.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maison de la Truffe’s upscale restaurant has an adjacent retail area which offers truffle salt, butter, cream, olive oil, mayonnaise, and mustard\u00a0– practically a truffled product for every need. There is also a loyalty program which offers a nifty 10% savings for dining at their restaurants!<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Here we are at the Louvre, the mecca for museum lovers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Energized after our break, we planned to spend the rest of the day at the Louvre<\/a>\u00a0especially since it closes late on Fridays. The red neon light sculpture by Claude L\u00e9v\u00eaque beckons through the glass.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
A courtyard building framed by the circular staircase and pyramid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The underground main lobby had full view of the sunny sky, thanks to the approximately 603 rhombi and 70 triangles of glass in the pyramid (but then, who\u2019s counting – even the museum and I.M. Pei\u2019s office couldn\u2019t agree on the total numbers!)<\/p>\n

\"Miffy<\/a>
Eye-catching Miffy lamps in a shop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve never heard of Miffy<\/a> before, but apparently it\u2019s a popular Dutch picture book character. There were Miffy lamps galore, ranging from small to extra large (about 31\u201d)!<\/p>\n

\"Large<\/a>
Super-sized cepes proudly on display outside a grocery store.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since November is mushroom season I was on the lookout for them, but the sheer size of these cepes is truly amazing!<\/p>\n

\"Eiffel<\/a>
The Eiffel Tower lit up like a Christmas tree (without the red and green lights!).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We took a Bateaux Mouches cruise in the evening and got to see the City of Lights from the water, including different perspectives of the Eiffel Tower.<\/p>\n

Coming up – Bordeaux for our first river cruise!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With our remaining couple days in Paris, we opted to split the time between food and culture. Sainte-Chapelle fell victim to our late start, but I was hell-bent on seeing the Gargoyles of Notre Dame up close and personal. To satisfy our gelato craving,\u00a0we queued up for artisanal ice cream at Berthillon, but the artistic …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7,15],"tags":[468,465,472,467,469,471,473,466,463,470],"class_list":["post-5584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","category-food","category-travel","tag-chimeras","tag-eiffel-tower","tag-fauchon","tag-gargoyles","tag-louvre","tag-love-locks","tag-maison-de-la-truffe","tag-notre-dame","tag-paris","tag-pont-des-arts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Paris-Notre-Dame-de-Paris-Facade.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5584"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7473,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5584\/revisions\/7473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}