3rd day in Paris, 5/19

I think jetlag is hitting me a bit. I woke up wide awake at about 3:00 AM this morning. And that would be 6:00 PM in California. I did fall asleep sometime and felt pretty groggy at 7:30 AM. 

Ok, as you can see, I'm ready to blog.

    Got my Rose wine from Aix en Provence, and my iPad mini fired up.

Today, I decided to take bus 69 to Pere Lachaise Cemetery. I purchased a Carnet (10 metro/bus tickets) for 13 euro 70. About 1$ each. Today was to be a learning day for mre to use the bus and metro. Both are easier than I expected, but more crowded than I expected. There are a lot of people crammed into this city.

    Bus 69 goes from Eiffel Tower to Pere Lachaise cemetery

Along the way, the bus goes past the Louvre, Notre Dame and along the Seine river. I chose to ride the bus because I could sightsee along the way. What I thought was cool was the bus went right through the Louvreq on the way back.

At the cemetery, I basically followed Rick Steves' direction for the walking tour. I've uploaded many more photos to bore you with at the link at the bottom of this blog post.

   Jim Morrison's resting place is the busiest place in the cemetery

There was a body guard watching everyone coming to the gravesite. I don't think he's called a 'body' guard. I just throught I'd put that in because it is literally what he is, I guess. There was a guard near Fred Chopin's gravesite too. And I think there were more Chopin groupies today than Morrison groupies. Go figure!

    Chopin and Morrison always have fresh flowers and gifts on their gravesites

Rossini (William Tell Overture) had no one visiting his grave. There were some old flowers still there. That's got to piss him off. "I'll get you Morrison and Chopin! Just you wait!"

    Rossini had no one stopping by, but I couldnt help humming his overture

After I got back to the 7th district, and before returning to the apartment at about 2:00 PM, I stopped and bought some bread and juice and more fruit at a local grocery. Had a light lunch and took a nap. I decided it was time I took the metro to Saint Lazare train station where I bought a roundtrip ticket to Vernon for tomorrow. Vernon is the train stop 75 km from Paris and just 5 km from Giverny. In Giverny tomorrow, I'll visit Monet's Gardens, home, and his water lily ponds. 

    Invalides Metro station is a 5 minute walk from my apartment and 3 stops from the train station

I'll try and go to bed early so I can get up early for the trip to Giverny. I am sure glad I took the metro and went to the train station tonight, if nothing more than to orient myself and familiarize myself with the train station.

    Gare Saint Lazare (Saint Lazare train station)

I can't imagine the train station being busier in the morning than it was tonight, but I bet it will be another mad house of commuters and tourists. I did get to say at the ticket counter, "Je voudrais acheter un billet a Vernon pour demain matin, et retour dans l'apres midi, s'il vous plait."

"I would like to buy a ticket to Vernon for tomorrow morning and return in the afternoon, please."

So, if I end up in Berlin, the next blog post may be a bit late.  ACH DU LIEBER !!!

Tomorrow's post should be about Monet's Gardens and the travels to and from Giverny.

Here's the link to more photos from today:

https://picasaweb.google.com/115341939820582416057/ParisMonday519?authkey=Gv1sRgCPz6pMSGjNmLaA