Put your hand up if you're a tourist.

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Get my walking shoes
Climbed the Eiffel Tower, Tick!
Some amazing views.

I had trouble falling asleep after talking on the phone so late last night. Perhaps it was because I had lots of thoughts going through my head. So instead of the usual four minutes it takes for me to fall asleep it probably took 15 minutes. LOL

Needless to say I was a bit tired when I got up this morning and was taking my time getting ready. As long as I get downstairs before 10AM all would be good because that’s when breakfast stops being served. I made it down there by about 9:30 and was served up ½ a baguette with butter and jam, croissant, glass of juice and a cup of coffee. A carb lovers (or anti-Atkins) breakfast or what! So you can probably imagine I loved every bite! LOL

Today’s agenda was pretty roughly laid out. Walk across to the Notre Dame, walk west to the Eiffel Tower and check out if there is anything of interest in between, walk over to the L’Arc de Triomphe, walk down Champs Elysses towards L’Ouvre and do a bit of shopping. Item #1 on my list of things to buy is an adaptor plug. The one I have doesn’t seem compatible with the recessed outlet with the third earthed pin. Doh! Thank goodness for the Lonely Planet/Bible because they had a couple of store listed where you can purchase adaptor plugs (or shall I say une prise multiple) It only set me back €6. Not too bad considering it is nice to have my rechargeables all charged up again. Why is it that everything always needs to be charged at the same time? Anyhoo…

The weather today was pretty nice. Real sunny with some cloud in the sky but it wasn’t too hot because I was wearing jeans today and did not overheat. Now that’s a good indicator that the temperature was probably inth low 20’s. lol As planned, I walked over to the Notre Dame. Now this is an amazing piece of architecture. As I predicted there was a huge queue forming to get in so I just admired the Notre Dame from the outside before continuing my journey westward along the Seine…okay I was on Quai d’Orsay not the water. Haha. I walked by more amazing architecture but decided I can’t take pictures of it all because when I look back half of them (or more) will likely be unrecognizable. I also passed by many tourist shops but just kept walking since I should really see some of Paris before buying the souvenirs. Some notable buildings I passed by were the glass domes of the Grand Plais, the Gold topped Hôtel des Invalides and Musee d’Orsay (which used to be a railway station.)

I stopped at one of the Parks about 10 minutes away from the Eiffel Tower to eat my packed lunch and read some of my Lonely Planet. It was really nice to be sitting in the park minding my own business and watching the boats pass by along the river. Oh yes, must also mention all of the street vendors lining the Seine. I love looking at all of the pictures and the posters and postcards that are for sale. I’m surprised by my self-constraint and have not snatched up anything yet. Mind you, some of the prices may be the reason why I haven’t. lol

I finish my lunch and pick myself up to start heading to the Eiffel Tower. Hmm, there’s a guy that just passed by me…why is he slowing down? Oh no, I think he’s trying to pick me up. Mon dieu! Lol Not sure what he said to me in French but I politely said, “Je ne comprends pas Français” and then he starts speaking to me in English. I try not to encourage too much conversation but that doesn’t seem to deter the little French man. Thank goodness I was at the Eiffel Tower sooner rather than later and it was really crowded. He didn’t want to go up the Tower (thank goodness!) so I was happy to say au revoir!

I didn’t think it was worth the €10 plus to go up to the top (3rd level) of the tower so I opted for the €3 - I guess I looked under 25 😊 and walked up the 668 steps to the second level viewing platform. On the first level they had a lot of placards placed around the tower pointing out major points of interest which was cool. The really irritating thing though were the tourists who didn’t take notice that somebody else might be trying to look at the same placard as well and they’d put there hands all over the place which in turn obstructed the view. My favourite were the people (typically sounding American…what a surprise) who would have to read out loud and also use their finger to help them read along.

This makes me think of a couple of funny things that I overheard while lining up to pay to walk up the Eiffel Tower. First were the two older Texans is my guess by their accents. “Oh it’s amazing how you can make out some of the words because they’re almost the same. Like “escalier” (pointing to the sign above the admissions window.) “It’s obviously escalator.” Um, “escalier” actually means stairway! This lady is gonna be in for a surprise that she’s lined up for the “stairs only” option for ½ an hour! Lol The second funniest thing overheard…two American couples in line. One of the ladies says, “No you go ahead of me and pay for us. I never seem to understand what they’re saying to me.”

Back to the Eiffel Tower. I eventually made it up to the second level. I say eventually because there were some slow walkers in front of me. I felt like sprinting up just to get it over with but maybe I say that now because it wasn’t an option. Lol The views were a little bit better than the first level but for the most part almost the same. It was super crowded up there and way too many people stopping to take the same photo 16 times in the same spot which meant at times I felt “trapped.” But for the most part it was okay except for the time the smelly tourist with the smelly cigarettes was in front of me and I was down wind.

The descent was pretty easy BUT I did start getting a little dizzy near the end since going down you’re going round in circles faster than when going up. After descending the Eiffel Tower I headed to the park SE of the Tower - Parc du Champ de Mars - to take a few shots of the Tower.

Oh yeah, there was an interesting pictorial display on the Statue of Liberty and the process of making it, shipping it and delivering it in two hundred crates across the Atlantic. They actually stayed packed up for a few months since the pedestal on which the Statue now stands wasn’t yet finished. Oh yes, and the arm holding the torch was put up on display a year or so before the Statue was completed in I think Philadelphia. People were allowed to climb the torch and have their pictures taken by the “flame.” Cool!

Continuing my journey it was onward across Pont d’léna. Past Palais de chauillot was built for the 1937 World Exhibition held in Paris. Quite impressive and just down the block where the tunnel that Princess Di died is located…Anyhoo, form here I walked towards L’Arc de Triomphe which is the largest roundabout with 12 streets feeding into it. I’m saving this for tomorrow to spread out my “climbing up tall things” fun over two days. So I proceed to walk along Champs Elysses and did some window shopping since the stores along here are pretty pricey. I stopped and admired some of the sights along the way like Place de la Concorde and walked the Jardin des Tuileres again. I continued my walk along rue de Rivoli and discovered more shops to look at. This time I stopped and went into Sephora and thankfully only walked away spending €3 on some body wash that I really do need since I’m running low…no frivolous purchases made thank goodness but there was a lot to see. Another good thing I don’t wear make up since the selection is overwhelming and one could easily spend a small fortune in there.

I made my way to Bazar de l”Hôtel de Ville (aka BHV) which is a huge department store selling everything under the sun. This is where I found my adaptor plug relatively easily and all was good. When I had to ask for directions to find out where the “prise multiple” are located I could just sense Mme. Schulz cringing at how little 1989-90 top year 10 French student remembers. Lol

I rounded out the day…well actually evening by this time buying some dinner and also stopping off at Franprix for a few grocery items.

Bon Soir mes amis!

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