Making bartenders mad in Paris - Day 2

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Day 2 began with a full 10 hours of sleep. On Sundays, there is a rather large outdoor market that springs up right next to the hotel in the Bastille area. We jaunted through the market and just loved it. Reminds me of the Cleveland West Side Market a bit, but outdoors and many non-food stuffs were for sale. I got a falafel pita wrap and Cocal Cola (I generally don't drink any soda but it was the only beverage I could pronounce at the moment). Also got a good deal on some t-shirts.

From there, we restarted where we left off yesterday, at Champs Elysees. We walked the boulevard for some time and enoyed the views and window shopping of Gucci, Armani, etc. Brandi was in awe of the Saphora that was located ont his drag...it was nearly 4-times the size of any we've seen back at home and even more expensive than imaginable..Brandi went easy on me and didn't get anything.

Then we finally arrive at the Arc de Triomphe, which we had been seeing in the distance for some time. Very impressive, both in size and design. Our passes again came in handy annd granted us easy access and we climbed, climbed, climbed to the top. There is, not surprisingly, a row of padded benches at the top of the stairwell in the Arc b/c everyone was gasping for air by the time they made it to the top. The views from the very top are awesome and I got some good video from up there. Bad news is, that climbing back down is required if you want to leave, so we went on.

From the Arc we ventured south the the Eiffel Tower. What's funny is that you can see the tower from quite far away, but once you get within a quarter mile of it, it vanishes behind the tall buildings around that general area and finding it becomes more difficult than one would expect (or we're just retarded). We did finally make our way and enjoyed the site...though the line was way too long to venture up to the top...plus Brandi was having none of that.

On to the Orsay Museum...where we saw several works from Van Gogh, Rodin, Degas, Renoir, and Rembrandt (Mom, you would have loved it!). It figures that today was free-admission day and the place was packed, but again our passes came in handy and we were allowed to cut the lines. Very nice museum, and would be best on a day where admission price was required.

Afterwords, Hotel Invalides was within reach, so we walked there to see Napoleon's Tomb. Boy, that guy thought highly of himself. I have never seen such a grandiose resting place. Very impressive and just beautiful. Brandi was sure to remind me that I only get a pine box when I go....and again our pass got us in. We then walked south for a bit to just look around, but our feet and legs could take no more...8-hours of walking is about our max. Back on the metro (which I can't get enough of) and went back to Bastille. Stopped for a quick beer and cappucino and managed to butcher the French language enough at a locals bar to turn the bartender off to us...I made up for it in the tip. Then we grabbed some tasty burgers at Quick Burger (where they took much pity on my language skills) and we went o rest up a bit....might go back out to some of the nearby bars/cafes for a drink if we can muster the energy. Whew.

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Photos

Napoloen's Tomb
A rather big box for a guy who couldn't ride most ride's at Cedar Point