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Published: June 21st 2009
Just me 'n' Captain America....
The name of my bike was Captain America (on the night tour it was Mamie), and together we rode the streets of Paris!Hey all! I decided to split my Paris blog up into two parts, because otherwise it would be suuuuper long. Also, I apologize in advance, but you will see the phrase "I walked several miles in the wrong direction" many times. So many, that I almost felt like just denoting them all with an asterisk, but anyway, on to the blog....
Oddly enough, Paris was the reason that Brittany and I decided to go to Europe about a year ago. She then decided that she might just stay over in Europe for a year and live/work abroad. Her mom was gracious enough to book us a week at a timeshare in Paris and we were all set. Unfortunately, it ended up that Brittany's training for work coincided with the week we had booked, and the timeshare did not allow changes. We tried selling the timeshare, offering it to friends, all to no avail. So, feeling bad about the non-use, we decided that I would head out to Paris for a few days and at least use part of the timeshare. So unfortunately, Brittany did not make this trip.
Anyway, now that you know the back story, on to the
Great people!
I met some awesome people while on the night tour. Here they are enjoying some ice cream on the bridge overlooking the river. Our awesome guide Scott is the one in the fashionable orange vest. fun part. I headed out on a very rainy Karlsruhe night, taking an overnight bus to Paris so that I would be there in the morning and have a full day to set up at the timeshare and then explore. I had been to Paris before, so it was nice to be familiar with the metro system and language (kinda... at least what I remembered from a few years of high school French). The bus ride over was uneventful, but I was soaking wet, and literally ringing out my jacket from the downpour in Karlsruhe. After getting off the metro stop, I had a bit of trouble finding the road, and walked several miles in the wrong direction, but at least it was through a really pretty park area.
After retracing my steps, I finally found my way to the hotel. Needless to say, when I got to the hotel, I was stoked! The place was awesome. Probably as big as my apartment in Orange. Full living room, full kitchen, nice big bed with tons of pillows! I didn't hesitate to take a nap (it was only 7:30 am at that point, I would have been asleep anyway). =)
Seine...
View from the ice cream shop. After getting some grocery shopping done, it was time to head out! I had decided on doing a night bike tour with Fat Tire Bike Tours. The bike tours took you around Paris and then on a cruise on the Seine River that runs through Paris and around the other monuments. After walking a while in the wrong direction and forgetting which way to find the office, I finally found the place nestled near a small park and made my reservation for later that night.
Awesome. This was probably the highlight of my trip to Paris! The tours met at the south leg of the Eiffel Tour, so I head over a little early to get some pictures in and observe the ridiculously long line of tourists waiting to go to the top of the Eiffel Tour. We then met up with our tour guides and went over to the office to get set up with our beach cruisers for our ride around Paris. Our tour guide was Scott, the most awesome tour guide ever. =) He was 23 and had been traveling for a while after graduating from college. He decided to then live in Paris and do
Music
Listening to music on the bridge while enjoying super yummy ice cream. bike tours for about 5 months before moving on to his next adventure.
We started off heading toward Notre Dame. There were about 22 of us, and some of the nicest people I had ever met! Many had been traveling for a while, some only for a few days, but all were friendly and excited to be biking the streets of Paris. It was a bit surreal to be riding around, but it was so great! We wove through the streets, as a huge "pack of gazelles" as Scott put it. We managed to make a few of the locals a bit irritated as we were taking up the vast majority of the street/bike lanes.
Our first stop was at the best ice cream shop in Paris, overlooking the river. I ended up getting caramel and strawberry, which sounds like a weird combination, but I wasn't alone, as Scott got the same thing. The group stood, overlooking the river and listening to some musicians play on the bridge. We then picked up our bikes and headed off to our next stop: Notre Dame. It was entertaining to watch Scott on his bike, because he was carrying all of
Notre Dame
In front of the historic cathedral, with the statues of 24 kings behind me. the wine for the cruise and equipment (in case of a bike breakdown) so he had to get a running start and push off. He referred to it as being like an albatross... so... go team albatross!
Anyway, Notre Dame was beautiful! We learned that the heads of the 24 kings statues that line the walls aren't the original heads of the statues, and that the statues were beheaded and were actually found years later. Also, after undergoing lots of turmoil and tarnish, Notre Dame had actually been laser-cleaned (and not cleaned by ketchup as another tourist had suggested).
We moved on to the Concierge, St. Germaine and the building where old justice tribunals were held. This was also the place where Marie Antoinette spent her last days, and where her followers developed the carnation escape plot, only to be foiled by a guard who got cold feet about the plan.
We then set off toward a pedestrian bridge where numerous Parisians meet every night to picnic and drink wine while overlooking the Seine River. On the other side of the bridge was an entrance into the Louvre. We rode our bikes in and instantly felt as
L'pyramides...
The billion+ dollar pyramids at the Louvre... if we were transported to an earlier time. A musician was playing classical music upon entering the Louvre and it was both surreal and serene to be biking around the courtyard of the Louvre.
We then biked down to the boat that we would be taking out on the river. It was a great open top boat and Scott timed it in time to see the Eiffel Tower start to sparkle! Every hour starting at 10 pm (I think), the Eiffel Tower lights sparkle for a few minutes until 1 am, when the main lights are turned off, the sparkling lights are kept on, and the tower looks like it is floating on air (according to Scott). We enjoyed wine and cruising around the river, looking at the monuments as they were lit up. This extra touch to the night (plus perfect weather!) made it a special Parisian night to remember! As we were cruising along the river, we observed people dancing in all different styles on the river bank, enjoying themselves and the beautiful city that they were a part of. Returning on the boat was also great, because again, the tower sparkled on our return, welcoming us
Lovely!
Viewing the monuments at night... back to the port.
Scott had earlier warned us that our bikes would probably wait until after the wine to break down... and he was right. Before even starting our ride back, someone had a chain fall off. Halfway back to our destination, another bike had a chain break completely. Scott was a champ and gave his bike to the other guy, and ran the bike back the entire way, even taking part in a victory lap around the office when it was time to return the bikes. We joked that instead of an albatross, he'd now assumed the form of a cheetah.
The night bike tour was definitely awesome. We got back around midnight and I was stoked that I would be doing another tour during the day the next day. Some of the other girls that had been on the tour suggested that the next night we should dine with the Parisians on the pedestrian bridge we had seen earlier, so my plans for the next day were set!
The day bike tour was also great! This one was more informative than the night tour, so it was a good educational experience. We visited the
Still blurry...
... but beautiful! Military School (L'ecole militaire) and the peace monument which was directly in front of it (French humor?). We saw Napoleon's tomb, which was built by Louis XIV and learned a lot about Napoleon Bonaparte and his life and war victories. His tomb is built so that visitors either have to bow down to Napoleon to view him or look up to him... either way showing him respect.
We visited Rodin's Museum, which houses the "Thinker" statue and learned about the French Revolution and bread shortage while sitting in front of L'hotel des Invalides. We visited the Arc de Triomphe du Carousel and then ate lunch in the Jardin de Tuleries in front of the Louvre, where I talked to my fellow travelers about their journeys and where they planned to visit next. We learned that the Luxor Obelisk from Egypt was the oldest statue in Paris, and that the Tour de France rides around the obelisk and surrounding roads.
We then learned about the history of the Louvre and about Napoleon III's apartment within it. Our guide, Mike, also very awesome (from Sacramento, studied psychology at UC Santa Barbara), did his hysterical impression of all of the major
Artsy...
I figured if my camera was going to be cranky, I was going to play around and be artsy. pieces of art housed within the museum (Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory). We also visited the Grand Palais and the Place de la Concorde and learned that the Grand Palais sometimes houses a breaking festival, where there exists a piano catapult and several other items of destruction. It also would have been the home of Olympic table tennis, if Paris had won the bid for the 2012 Olympics.
This tour was awesome as well, it was really neat to go through the streets of Paris again, and see sights that I didn't know existed and learn history about this amazing city. After the tour ended, I went and booked my ticket for the following night at the Moulin Rouge, and did some shopping for the picnic dinner on the bridge with my new friends. I then went and relaxed in the Louvre courtyard, where we had rode the previous night, listening to classical music and enjoying the slowly setting sun.
We met around 7 PM and enjoyed a few hours on the bridge, sipping on wine and dining on bread and cheese. It was a wonderful evening to sit and watch the locals and
See how it sparkles!
The sparkling Eiffel Tower was soooo awesome. just relax overlooking the river while talking about everything and anything. I headed home and enjoyed another glass of wine (leftover from our dinner) and planned out my next two days in Paris.
Amazing time so far, it was awesome to bike around the streets of Paris and especially to see Paris by night, as I hadn't gotten the opportunity to do so the last time I visited.
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