Trip 51

September 25-27, 2025

The journey began leaving the hotel in Wengen at 9:30am, with the short train down to Lauterbrunnen , then change trains to travel to Interlaken OST. Then, short time to catch the next train to Bern, Switzerland. Change trains to Basel (Swiss/French border) . At Basel we catch a train to Strasbourg. At Strasbourg, we hurriedly walk to catch the TGV from Strasbourg to Paris, the last coach on the train (but reserved seats).

Fortunately, this all worked out ok, but there were some legs where the difference between arrival and departure times were 8-10 minutes and included disembarking , finding the departure track and coach.

On our final leg from Strasbourg to Paris, the TVG moved along !

Once in Paris Gare de l’Est by about 5:30pm, we then need to walk to the nearby (a few blocks away) RER station to travel out to the area where our hotel is situated. Now 6:30pm. This doesn’t leave us much time for anything, except finding dinner. The weather is cool (~14°C) and a bit windy, but no rain.

The next day brought us into the city, visiting the Abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés on the Left Bank.

It was originally the church of a Benedictine abbey founded in 558 by Childebert I, the son of Clovis, King of the Franks.

We had timed entry tickets to Notre-Dame to view the nearly completed restoration , but before then, some personal business.

With the actions of President Trump, some medications have become even more expensive than before (as insurance costs are still really high). So I arranged to get a hard copy prescription for some of my high cost meds in the hopes I could fill them for less at one of the French pharmacies. I went to one nearby (always visible with the big green neon PHARMACY sign). They looked over the prescription and said they could only fill a one month’s supply, but the cost was a fraction of the US prices. I had been concerned that they might indicate I had to consult with a French physician to write the prescription, but not the case!

Notre-Dame has been magnificently restored from the devastating fire of 15 April, 2019. The cathedral reopened to the public 7 December, 2024, after five years after massive, historic restoration project.

With timed entry tickets, there was no waiting, just scan the QR codes.

The bright interior of the restored cathedral is just breathtaking compared to our decades earlier visits when the hundreds of years of pollution and grime had taken their toll the restoration reinforces the openness and enormous size of the central sanctuary. Paintings have been restored and their colors are bright, no longer dimmed by age.

Even though it’s early afternoon midweek, it’s very crowded (YouTube).

On September 27, 2025, we visited the Petit Palais. In all the years we’ve visited Paris, we’d never visited this museum.

From Notre-Dame, we walked over the bridge to Île Saint-Louis. We had Berthillon ice cream in mind.

So many choices!

The museum has a large permanent sculpture exhibition

and on special display are the works of Jean-Baptiste Greuze. His works on display mainly dealt with children (paintings and sketches- his own and others) and family life. B 1725 D 1805. More about his works.

And for dinner? A French classic- une jambon-buerre – also known as a parisien, is a French ham sandwich made of a baguette sliced open, spread with butter and filled with slices of ham. But, we hope, not just any jambon-buerre – we went to Caractère de Cochon 42 rue Charlot 75003. Choose the type of ham, choose whether to have cheese (bien sûr!) and what type. They freshly slice the ingredients, et voilà, it’s a delicious (if expensive) sandwich (about 19€).