CHAPTER 8. FRANCE-PARIS CONT.

Another metro ride brings us to the main post office. We use poste restante to get mail while traveling in France; even getting and returning an absentee ballot once. Near the post office is the Forum, in ‘82 still under construction, but an immense shopping mall with lots of curved glass and metal. Nearby is the futuristic and surrealistic architecture of the Pompidou Center, with jugglers, artists, mimes, poets, etc. performing in the plaza outside. We don’t go in, but hear the center is very interesting if you like modern art.

We have supported the IAMAT (International Assn. for Medical Assistance to Travelers) and travel with an updated copy of their list of doctors who are trained in the US, and speak English. In Paris they list the American Hospital, which was created by Congress in 1918 for anyone less than 50% French. We go there one day when Betty is having pain and for a nominal fee she consults an English woman doctor and is given a prescription.

Versailles is close to Paris; we pick a sunny day to go, taking the Metro to Pont de Sevres and a bus the rest of the way. The sun stays out, but a cold wind is blowing, so the long walk up a hill from the entrance is unpleasant, and there is a huge crowd waiting to enter. When we finally go in we find it overly gilded and not impressive, with little furniture and few artifacts. We decide to skip the guided tour of the Royal apartments, and after a cold walk in the extensive gardens, return by bus and Metro to Paris.

Another partly sunny day we ride the Metro to the Clemenceau station and walk across Pont Alexander III and up the Esplanade to the Invalides. (A closer stop might have been better, since we are tired when we arrive.) Services are underway at the Church of St. Louis, so we go on and see the Dome Church with Napoleon's tomb which is very grand. Back at the Army Museum we see a small part of a fantastic collection of armor, swords, and guns.

The Étoile Vert is the place we eat most of the time, but we also try some of the restaurants near our hotel listed in the Michelin Red Guide. By going early we don’t need reservations at Mere Michel, Ma Cusine, and La Petite Aubergue and have excellent meals at each.

On the flight home from Paris the TWA “computer” puts us in the plane’s smoking section; after take off we are able to trade seats into the nonsmoking section, but find it full of college age young people (maybe a tour) and many of them are smoking. The flight attendants eventually control the smoking during the 8 hour flight to New York’s JFK airport, but then we arrive 20 minutes late, are held on the plane for 40 minutes because customs is full, and get a taxi driver who doesn’t know where Western Airlines’ terminal is located; as a result we miss our flight on to Sacramento. The TWA customer service agent gives us a voucher for a hotel room, and takes the Western ticket for a TWA flight the next day to LA and a PSA flight on to Sacramento. In the future we don’t schedule connections as close!