Last Day

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Paris, 2 Novembre

Okay, okay, so not a great day for pictures! We started early in the morning - by our new standards - to trudge up the Eiffel Tower. Skies were very heavy but the crowds were light. Until, of course, we got to the tower, and then they were immense. Happily, all those other thousands of people were waiting for the elevator. We were able to start right up. And up, and up, and up. Six hundred eighty-eight steps. That’s a good 250 more than St. Paul’s in London. Along the way, there are little landings with extremely interesting and important facts about the tower, its history, and Arnold Palmer, who drove a golf ball from the second level. A must read, to be sure. At least, that’s my story.
From the second platform, we were able to pay a few more euros and take the elevator all the way to the tippy top, where we could see a few random objects in the mist. (We had to photoshop the pics so you can see something.) Along the railing, the names and flags of different countries are marked with the distances in kilometers to them. We noted with bemused and benign arrogance, that when one looks east, one sees the names of zillions of countries, but when one looks west (6,100 km to DC), only Canada and the U.S. appear. We are one big continent, out there all by ourselves.
After the tower, we again tried to rent bikes, having spied on a Dutch man last night as he successfully coaxed the locking mechanisms into submission with his credit card. Again, no success. Neither our Mastercard or our bankcard would work. Of course, by this time, the line behind us thought we were deadbeats with no credit whatsoever and they started tsk tsking us. I was able to gather the few coins they threw at us just as the gendarmes arrived.
So, instead of pedaling gaily along the quai to the Musee d’Orsay, we walked. And then we stood in line for almost an hour, snaking past les vendeurs des marrons - chestnut roaster guys. ‘Tis the season!
Having learned a significant lesson at the Louvre, we ate lunch in the museum first and then worked our way through the exhibits. Despite a whole year’s course in college in art history, I was finally able to see just how gigantic a shift in style the impressionists actually achieved. Van Gogh’s well-known self portrait and Starry Starry Night, Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, Monet, Manet, et all the other ‘et’s’. But, mind you, this is the real goods! Photos of impressionist paintings really do lose something in translation. These originals are so vibrant in color and seeing the individual pieces of color juxtaposed (that’s such a great art history word) with each other was a fascinating shower for the eyes. I wished my sister was with us, as she could have explained the magic.
As this is our last day in Paris, we felt the need to shop. We found the area of les grands magasins, mostly by following les grands crowds. Erik sat on les grands steps inside one of the stores while I discovered les grands prices inside. Goodness gracious - who can buy that stuff? Don’t waste any time, gentle readers, wondering what you’re getting for Christmas from Paris.
Alors, le grand voyage est presque complete. Le diner, du vin, et le train demain matin. (Do you hear the rhyme? I am so poetic!)
See you all soon - XX Carmany and Erik

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Photos

Le Tour Eiffel
It's a long way to go.

The Eiffel Tower
One more tourist shot.

Monet
My mother has a jigsaw puzzle of this.