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Published: April 17th 2011
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Statue of Liberty
At Ile des Cygnes near the Pont de Grenelle I really don't know when this dream of travelling for an extended period of time began. I truly don't know. I remember studying for my CA exams with a photo of the Eiffel Tower taped to the wall and a guidebook by my side and feeling like I would never be able to make it there. It seemed almost impossible ... being a starving accounting student will do that to you! So the fact that not that many years later, I am here for the second time and that I am about to embark on this great journey is truly mind blowing. I am grateful beyond words.
So this journey in total will be 86 days and it all starts in Paris. I love Paris. It is truly one of my favorite places in the world. There is just something about it. If God would have had to create a city just for me, this would have been it. What I was looking forward to was having a sense of familiarity. I've rarely gone back to any of the places that I have travelled to so the fact that I am on round 2 with Paris is surreal.
My
flight in was relatively uneventful except for the fact that the plane was filled with two graduating classes of high school students whose class trip was apparently to Paris. It made for a rowdy plane so I got about one hour of sleep. So having essentially stayed up all night, I was a little worse for wear by the time I got to my hotel, the Hotel de l'Exposition. With coming in so early I was anticipating that my room would not be ready and that is exactly what the two guys at the front desk told me ... well that and that they found my Quebec accent charming but ... you know ... I digress.
So with no sleep and looking mighty pasty, I headed off towards the Ile aux Cygnes to see the Statue of Liberty. Yes you read right ... the Statue of Liberty. The original Statue was a gift to the United States from the people of France. There are a number of replicas throughout the world and this is one of them. She stands at around 35 meters high. Not as imposing of course as the original but still a beautiful sight to see.
Strolling
Promenade on Ile des Cygnes From there I walked over to the Eiffel Tower. Last time I was here was at the end of August, definitely a low season. I had arrived last time at approximately the same time and there was barely anyone at the foot of the Towers. This time around was a very different story with throngs of people gathered under this iconic landmark and with queues to the elevators swirling around. There was even a long line up for the pillar where you can only climb using stairs. Last time I just breezed on in after a two minute wait.
So I just meandered and stared at it endlessly. What can I say ... it's iconic for a reason!! Being travel weary also meant that my energy level was waning fast so I decided to just do as the locals do and sit on the grass, take in some rays at the Champs de Mars. There were little kids playing, people walking their dogs and tourists being tourists. Watching people trying to get that perfect shot of them looking like they are holding up the Tower by the tips of their fingers was hilarious.
And then I just
Photo 7
Graffiti continued meandering some more ... I headed towards the Hotel des Invalides and hit up some of the side streets. By that time, we were getting close to when the hotel had said my room would be ready. At that point, I had been up for about 24 hours and it was starting to show. So the day would wind down in my room with some baguette, cheese called St Marcellin du Dauphine, serrano ham and of course some red wine. When in France ... Oh and I got to chat with my mom and dad on Skype. That was fun because they got to see my hotel and I was able to step on my mini balcony and show them the view.
So not an eventful day ... the adrenaline and stress of the last few weeks plus some sleep deprivation will do that to you! But tomorrow ... I will be back at being the relentless tourist!
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Francine
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Day 1...
Came as a surprise that the first thing I see of Paris on the blog is...the Statue of Liberty:) Very nice photos already. I notice the trees are green. Me think you picked a good time of year to be there...Paris in the Spring*