Two seniors travelling to Paris and Reims

Five days in Paris and one in Reims as a senior by ferny forner Rita and I usually go to Paris every 2 or 3 years, for a week, with a trip to a city of art; this year we chose Reims. We left on 30 April 2018 with the TGV from Turin at 7.45, we arrived at the Gare de Lyon, in pouring rain. The round trip, booking in advance, 136 euros. After buying 2 weekly passes to travel freely on all public transport (22.80 euros each), we arrive on foot at the hotel Jules Cesar, a double room with all the amenities (no bidet), TV with only one channel in Italian (Rai 1), about 100 euros a night. After settling in and resting, given the rain, we decide to take a ride on a regular bus that runs along the Left Bank of the Seine and passes by many historic monuments (list downloaded from the web).

When it stops raining we're on the Place de la Concorde, we get off and walk along the Champs-Élysées, around 9 pm we go to the Bistrot des Vosges, known for its onion soup (cost 8.90), a fairly busy place; it's located 100 metres from the Place de la Bastille, a historic site of Paris, of which no trace remains; in the centre stands the (illuminated) July Column commemorating the 1830 revolution, topped by a bronze sculpture representing Liberty taking flight. Beside it the Opéra Bastille, a large theatre of glass and marble, also illuminated.

May 1 It's a particular public holiday, gardens, attractions and shops are closed, we decide to visit the floating island, a new attraction, a bus takes us to the Pont de l'Alma, the island is located on the left bank of the Seine, about a metre from the river, connected by footbridges which however are raised; we'll come back a few days later (not a holiday), but the same situation. In fact, it didn't seem very well looked after to us, I think it's been closed for a while. Nearby is the Russian Orthodox Cathedral; according to the signs posted it's open, but the door is closed, we ring and they tell us it's closed, I point out that the notice on the door says it's open, [he] replies irritably that the sign is of no interest.

We continue with a walk along the pedestrianised riverside of the Seine, enjoying the view of the Eiffel Tower, then head towards the Palais de Tokyo, a relatively recent building, home to two important museums, the contemporary art museum (paid) and the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, closed today, we visit the exterior; the structure has a horseshoe shape with two elegant symmetrical buildings linked by porticoes bounded by tall columns like a Greek pantheon, and on the outer part of the buildings elegant sculptures and bas-reliefs. The palace overlooks a wide slightly raised space (being reworked) facing the Seine. We head towards the Arc de Triomphe, where we know there's the Monte Carlo nearby, a self-service restaurant that could be fine for a lunch break, though very crowded. Then a long walk along the Champs-Élysées.

May 2 We start with a visit to the church of Saint-Sulpice (13th century) contemporary with that of Saint-Germain-des-Prés but rebuilt in the 17th century in Baroque style. In the centre a square with recent buildings and the Fountain of the Four Cardinal Points. The church facade is on two levels overlooking the square of the same name with elegant columns and two different bell towers; the interior is very large, with a huge organ, chapels on the sides, some with works by great painters such as Delacroix, Van Loo and other French painters; inside the Gnomon, which is an obelisk built by an astronomical observatory to determine the date of Easter. We leave the church and split up, Rita heads towards Notre-Dame Cathedral, I go to the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, which as mentioned occupies a wing of the Palais de Tokyo.

The huge entrance is decorated by one of the largest paintings in the world (by Raoul Dufy), almost 600 square metres, illustrating the history of energy, represented by a huge power station and the great scientists who made its history; at the top are painted the gods of Olympus; the effect is extraordinary, especially for the very vivid colours typical of the painter's style. Entry to the permanent collections is free, some rooms are closed, there's no crowd, the museum is rich in works of art; I particularly appreciated the works of Bonnard, Modigliani, Picasso, Braque, Dufy, to name but a few. There's no shortage of rooms of contemporary art and Fauvist ceramics. I leave the museum with regret; I was counting on seeing the version of the Birth of Venus by Dufy, which is listed in the catalogue of the museum's collections, but no one at the museum knew what I was talking about.

I then reach Rita at the Hôtel de Ville to go to lunch at the self-service restaurant on the 5th floor of the Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville, it's a self-service (la Kantine) with a magnificent panoramic view over Paris, where you can have lunch at reasonable prices. In the afternoon, with threatening clouds, I decide to visit the Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris housed in the Petit Palais in the Champs-Élysées area; entry is free for the permanent collections, unfortunately some rooms are closed.

The collections range from Greek antiquities to the Impressionists; you can admire vases and statues dating back to the 5th century BC; I particularly appreciated the rooms dedicated to Eastern icons, which allow you to understand the history of religious iconography in the Byzantine period; the richest part of the museum is dedicated to French and Baroque art, there are Poussin, Jordaens, Lorrain (his landscapes are beautiful), then Courbet, and many others, up to the Impressionists; there are also a few Flemish works. May 3 Visit to the historic city of Reims, where almost all the kings of France were crowned. We set off early in the morning with the TGV from the Gare de l'Est; on arrival, we head for Notre-Dame Cathedral, crossing the centre of the city.

The cathedral is one of the largest and most decorated in France, a masterpiece of Gothic art that competes with that of Chartres, always subject to transformations and reconstructions due to the damage suffered from revolutionary riots, fires and wars (during the First World War almost 80%), as it stood near the front. We note how the street leading to the cathedral and the square in front are characterised by modern buildings and sheds, not really appropriate for a historic monument.

We start the visit by walking around the outside; we immediately notice the exceptional number of sculptures and statues, it seems there are a few thousand; not many are the originals, moreover some have been moved and displayed in the museum, others remade in earlier periods; many notice the differences, we hadn't noticed them; in particular the famous statue of the Smiling Angel stands out; we linger on the magnificent facade, with the three portals typical of cathedrals, with some peculiarities; on the central portal is carved the Calvary with Christ on the cross and the Coronation of Mary, which are copies, the originals are in the museum.

We enter, the impression is of entering a very tall space, taller than the 38 m of the nave; the windows with stained glass are also magnificent, few are original, the others replaced in practically all subsequent periods; in fact, the last, by Chagall, date from 1974 Breathtaking is the central rose window from 1200, which survived the destructions. We end the visit by walking around the side naves; certainly it's not hard to understand the effect it had on pilgrims, considering that the cathedrals were polychrome. We have lunch in a bistro in front of the university, then reach the Basilica of Saint-Remi; we arrive after a long walk; the basilica is on the outskirts of the city; this church too is set in an environment of modern buildings. It's of Romanesque origin, rebuilt in the 12th century, then badly damaged during the Great War. On the way back we visit the church of St.

Jacques, the only church remaining from the Middle Ages. Its side walls lean against the walls of adjoining buildings of little value, with which it forms a single block; it's structured on two levels in Romanesque style, with 3 portals, windows almost absent, and few decorations either, except for the side columns topped with floral decorations (13th century), 3 side niches like the side naves with sturdy columns; the stained glass is almost all from the last century. Naturally, during the visit we also saw some historic places such as the 18th-century Place Royale, the Hôtel de Ville begun in the 17th century and finished much later; of course, when assessing these sites one must always keep in mind the damage of the war.

Friday 4 By bus we arrive near the Opéra Garnier, which we only see from the outside; it's an elegant 19th-century building structured on 3 levels decorated with sculptures, the ground floor with a monumental facade with seven arches bounded by elegantly decorated pillars, while the upper level is decorated with thinner columns; we continue the visit with a walk around the theatre, a pity about the heavy traffic in the square, then we head towards the Printemps department stores, easily recognisable by the distinctive green dome (the same colour as the one at the Opera).

We go in, we notice the elegance and luxury, many brands in almost all departments, but we don't see the famous dome with decorated glass; you have to go up to the upper floors, we get there by escalator, we notice that the stairwell too is elegantly decorated, we arrive, the splendid sun makes the glass cathedral-like, breathtaking; we do a bit of shopping, then stroll along Boulevard Haussmann. In the afternoon Rita goes to the Village de Bercy, which she'll tell me is very crowded and pleasant. I head towards the Centre Pompidou (MNAM), one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the world. It's located in the Marais, near Les Halles and the great church of Saint-Eustache. The museum is in a famous, breathtaking building of steel and glass, a masterpiece of modern architecture, which, at the time, stirred up much controversy for its innovative architectural choices.

I start the visit by going up the original and striking external escalator, located in a transparent tube with a view of the outside, which zigzags diagonally across the facade, allowing you to see, as you go up, a beautiful view of the city. On the fourth floor is contemporary art, on the fifth modern art; I go up to the upper floors to enjoy the panorama. Then I start visiting the modern art collection; almost all the painters of the twentieth century are present, Matisse very much so; visiting the museum you retrace the history of twentieth-century art. The rooms are very spacious, as is the central corridor with elegant sofas; on the sides large terraces open up with fountains, pools of water and sculptures, from which you enjoy breathtaking panoramas of the city.

In the evening dinner at the restaurant Bianco in rue de Montorgueil, a pedestrian street near Beaubourg and Les Halles, very popular with young people, average Italian cuisine, as are the prices (bruschetta 13.50, spaghetti 12, desserts 8, coffee 2.5) Saturday 5 departure for Turin.

Ferny forner and Rita Risoli