The Search for the Holy Grail

Last night we agreed that today should be a "lite" day (since we are going to Versailles tomorrow and it will be a lot of walking), so we decided to do the "Marais Walk". But when we woke up this morning it was sprinkling, so we decided to do the walk backwards since it ended at the Pompidou Center. We would go there first (it's a big modern art gallery) where we could stay inside for awhile and check to see if the weather would cooperate with our taking a walk. Off we go to the Metro (which we are happy to say we are learning very well).

By the way, did we ever mention that in the subways, musicians play for donations? While we were in London, there were guitar players (and some sang as well), I remember a clarinet player, and a violinist, but mostly accordians! They were good at what they were doing and sometimes we would throw a few coins in their hat. But I
have to tell you, the Paris acts are much, much better! There are five and ten piece ensembles! Some of them are singing as well, and I don't mean quiet and timid either--they are singing their hearts out. It is very entertaining in an otherwise mundane subway.

Anyway, back to the Pompidou. A lot of the show is the building itself. You may have seen pictures of it and just don't remember the name. All of the mechanical equipment and plumbing and escalators are on the outside of the building in order to maximize space on the inside. They have painted each system a different color--like air conditioning, water, exhaust, etc. It is a very unique looking building to say the least.

On the inside there were a lot of really weird things they call modern art. There was a car on display that was totally wrecked and smashed up--that was art. There were cards that are supposed to be stacked up and flipped through like you were flipping through the corner of a deck of cards. But the cards aren't stacked up,
they are laid out next to one another so you have to visualize the change from frame to frame. There are kinds of videos playing weird things. But the reason we went there was to see the Picasso's and Matisse's and a few others that fall into the modern art category.

By the way (again), have we mentioned that one of the problems we are having is getting change for our cash. We were real smart and bought our Euros at home before we got here. We're taking 4000 Euros, mostly in 500 Euro denominations and few 100's. People are very stingy here about change. We have the hardest time getting anyone to accept a 100. We finally got the post office to take it and we begged a bank to give us change for a 100. No one else would take it and give us change. Banks require you to be customers (so we thought about opening an account!). There are "Change" stores everywhere, but they want to do foreign exchanges. I showed a 500 to one of those stores and he says, "no, no, no, you have to go to the post office" So we went there and they said, "no, no, no--you have to go to the Bank of France" There's one 2 or 3 kilometers away by foot or ride the Metro to Bastille. That sounded better to us, so we hopped on a Metro for the Bastille. This place is a huge 12-way intersection with a very large statue in the center. We come up from the subway and look around and don't see a Bank of France, so we start walking around this huge round-about counter-clockwise. Finally about half way around we find the Bank--but it's closed until 1:30. After waiting for 20 minutes, I finally go in and I'm told, "no, no, no--we don't do cash at this branch." He handed me a small piece of paper that had the address of the branch I needed to go to. After consulting our maps, we finally find the location--about a quarter of a mile from our apartment!

I am so sick and tired of people telling me "no, no, no" that I am bound and determined to follow this thing through and GET SOME CHANGE" All I have left in my pocket is about 4 Euro in change and a 500 Euro bill! I CAN'T BUY ANYTHING!

But back to the Pompidou! We wound that up pretty quick and it had stopped raining, and we are now at the Place de Bastille, which is the beginning point for our walk, so off we go. After walking for a short distance, we starting saying, "this looks
familiar". Well it should! We were just there yesterday at church and ate at the cafe on the corner. But we had walked there from a different direction so we didn't recognize it. It was kind of like deja vue all over again! so we had already seen many of the sights on the walk and it went kind of fast.

One of the interesting places we discovered was called Place des Vosges. The book tells you to go through the doorway at 62 St. Antoine and enter a courtyard. It is a cobblestoned courtyard with lots of sculpture up high on the stone buildings--and you say "nice". The instructions say to continue on through the center into a second courtyard. This one is park-like with grass and benches and has a very nice Chateau-looking residence in front of you. We stopped and had a well-deserved can of ice-cold Diet Coke w/lime (the best one we've had so far!). The rich and famous would build these double courtyards to keep out the riff-raff and the noise. The first courtyard is a buffer zone and the second one is for their enjoyment. The book says to go through the small doorway at the far end on the right. and we find ourselves on the inside square (their private backyard) called the Place des Vosges. It is a beautifull 10 acre park that is completely surronded on all four sides by these identical-looking chateaus. It was incredible!

So back to our apartment and I am ready to take on my quest to get change for my 500! I walk to the bank and bingo--I finally hit the jackpot! As long as they're willing to make change I pull out two 500s and get all the change I want! Heaven! I now know where the holy grail is kept! Print this post