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Published: October 17th 2006
Our Hotel in Paris
the Millennium Hotel Paris OperaAfter an hour delay in Dallas due to some unruly passengers, we finally were able to leave and arrived in Paris a little late. The airport was hot and crowded but we finally managed to find all of our bags and make it through Customs. The person that was suppose to meet us for the transfer to the hotel either got tired of waiting or who knows what but at any rate they were no where in sight so we found a cab and made the trip from the airport to Paris and our hotel. We had decided that we may never get to Europe again and really wanted to spend more than one day in Paris. We scheduled an extra week and spent four days in Paris.
Impressions and contradictions to what we expected:
1.French people are not the rude, snooty people we expected. We found that we were treated as good or better than if we were at home. You are in someone's city and country so you need to accept the way they are.
2.French drivers are nuts, drive small cars and always expect the right of way. I decided if we ever get back
The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower shines in the afternoon sunlight to Europe and tour by car I will not drive in any major city. I will reserve comment on the rural areas until I get a chance to experience them.
3.I was told do not wear white walking shoes in Europe because you will be singled out as an American tourist. Europe is full of tourists you are identified as one because of the camera and other things you carry so white shoes are no big deal. Anyway, I was a tourist and it helped explain why I did not speak French.
4.Almost all eating places have tables on the sidewalk for eating. Probably because they do not have good air conditioning inside.
5.Almost as many people on the streets at night as during the day. Our hotel was in a good area and we felt very safe on the streets.
6.Enjoyed the food but had a hard time getting use to their meaning of a cup of coffee. In Europe, coffee means a small cup of expresso. To get what I wanted, I had to order a "Coffee Americano" and even then it was nothing more than an expresso in a larger cup with a
The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower shines in the night sky little hot water added. I am also spoiled to expect a "free refill" when ordering coffee. Not the case here, you want a second cup, you order (and pay for) a second cup.
7.Paris is a very clean and pretty city with many of the streets lined with trees.
8.Saw some homeless camped along the Seine river but not on the streets like cities in California.
We had a nice hotel that was centrally located. We took a cab from time to time but spent a lot of time walking the streets. From our hotel to the Louvre took about 1/2 hour. Did not see all of the exhibits but did spend almost four hours walking the halls. Went to the Arc de Triomphe and walked the Avenue des Champs Elysees from the Arc to the Louvre. I think we wore inches off our feet from the walking. Toured Notra Dame and had a boat ride on the Seine river. Almost missed a special treat at the Eiffel Tower. We visited in the late afternoon and decided to have a sandwich before going back to the hotel. By the time we finished, the sun had set and
The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower sparkles in the night sky the lights on the tower had been turned on. We delayed leaving until it got a little darker to get a better effect. We finally decided to leave and were walking to the taxi stand when it happened. They have installed thousands of strobe lights on the tower and on the hour every evening, they turn the strobes on for ten minutes. What a sight to behold, the tower began to sparkle in the night sky. Had we left 10 minutes earlier we would have missed it.
Really enjoyed Paris and would love to return some day.
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