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Published: November 24th 2009
Gallery Layfayette window
Just one of the decorated windowsToday has not started out well.
We have no hot water in our room to shower!!!This is only the second occasion on our adventure that we haven’t been able to have a hot shower in the morning because of a lack of hot water.The other time was in Mykonos in the Greek Islands.
As each of the guests came down to breakfast they went and told the guy on the reception desk about their inability to have a hot shower and he must have been ready to yell at someone as his ability to deal with the situation was not good.With all the different nationalities staying here using English to tell him we thought he might have suddenly forgotten how to understand and speak English.
Breakfast was basic but adequate and we hope it has set up for the day which will start out with us walking towards the Eiffel Tower which we plan to get to by mid to late afternoon.
We waited around for an hour after breakfast to see if the promised hot water made it via the pipes to our room but nothing happened.Gretchen bit the bullet and had a cold wash while I am going out
for the day smelling like a dirty backpacker!!Here’s hoping the hot water is on by the time we get home.
We set off towards the Opera House and after a short diversion we arrived at the vast intersection with the magnificent Opera House building at one end of it.
It looks like it is going to be difficult to be able to photograph the large buildings in Paris unless they are out in the open as trying to get a spot where you can get them all in can be difficult.
Across the road was the vast Lafayette Shopping building and we went in for a look around the ground floor .Outside the shop window down one side were decorated for Christmas with each window having displays of teddy bears on wires bobbing around doing all sorts of things to music.Each window had a different theme.In front of each window a small platform just a few centimetres off the pavement has been built for little kids to get close to the windows and at each one there were little lines of children all loving what they were seeing.Excited kids expectant of Christmas are the same in France as they are
in New Zealand.
The Christmas lights are in place all over the shops in the area and we might try and get back at night to enjoy the display.
A McD’s came into sight and with a lack of loos in the area we opted for a visit and to have lunch at the same time.Not that McD’s will be any better for our waistlines than the croissants and other yummy cakes and pastries that have been on the lunch menu over the past couple of weeks.
Next was the Jardin des Tuileries,an open park near the Louvre,which today with a fresh breeze blowing wasn’t as pleasant as it would be on a fine sunny summers day.The gardens were bare and it appears they don’t bother planting for the winter.Someone was yet to collect the chairs that people use to sit out in the sun,when it is out,around the fountains and there were actually a couple of people huddled up against the wind in chairs.It was too chilly to be standing around for too long yet alone sitting!!
We were making good progress and next was an area called Concorde where there is an obelisk that is over 3000 years
old and was originally in Luxor,Egypt but was given to France in 1831 by the Viceroy of Egypt at that time.Strange though that the thing doesn’t look that old!!
Here also is a large wheel,similar to the London Eye,but nowhere near as big.There didn’t appear to be many takers today.The whole thing looked very temporary and the base seemed to sitting on timber planks!!
The Champs de Elyse starts on the other side of Concorde and way off in the distance is the majestic Arc de TriompheAlthough it was so far away and with so many traffic lights down the centre of the wide avenue blocking a clear view from the centre of the road that it wasn’t really worth taking a photo yet.We resolved to so once we got to the part of the avenue where it started to rise gently towards the monument itself.
Down both sides of the avenue were dozens and dozens of stalls selling mainly Christmas products and Christmas orientated food and drinks.Eventually we crossed JFK Boulevard and the shopping precinct started.Gretchen went inside a couple of the stores during our stroll up the avenue but kept her credit card in her wallet!!Meanwhile I took
Arch de Triomphe
From the Champs du Elysse up residence on a seat and some people watching.
Parisians are generally a stylishly dressed population and one gets the feel that this city and country for that matter is well off compared to many other parts of Europe.
We eventually made the Arc de Triomphe and stood under the gigantic arches taking in Napoleans best known commissioned monument.The tomb to the Unknown Soldier is located here as well but unlike many other cities we have visited this one doesn’t seem to have a guard of local soldiers or a changing of the guard event which everywhere else was a tourist highlight.
The road that circles the Arch was not as chaotic as we thought it was going to be.There are so many roads entering and leaving the virtual roundabout that the Arch sits in the middle of.Perhaps it was a quiet day for traffic!!
Next of the sightseeing list were the fountains at Trochadero although they were a little disappointing because not all of the fountains were going due to the wind which had now got up to being quite strong.
Then right across the road was the biggie!!The Eiffel Tower.And it does look like a big mecano set
that someone has put together.It is just as well that the powers that be decided to leave the Tower erected after the 1889 exposition as it was nearly torn down in 1909.
Standing underneath and in the middle of the four ‘legs’ the structure is huge and everything above us looked tiny.
We had two options to get up to the second landing,the stairs(the cheap option)or the lift(a little more expensive).With the way the wind was blowing at ground level the BBA went for the more expensive option!!We didn’t want to risk getting blown off what looked to be reasonably exposed stairs that climb in the middle of one of the ‘legs’.
The lift ride was well worth it as it climbs one of the ‘legs’giving an ever wider view of the city as the lift climbed higer.The lift to the third landing was closed because of the high wind and we were pleased we didn’t have to make a decision as to whether to go higher on the Tower considering the strength of the wind.
The view from the second landing,which is about 25% of the way up the Tower,is expansive and had it been a clear day we
could have seen for up to 50 kilometres.However with the grey overcast sky the visibility wasn’t that great and we just focussed on what we could see in the close to medium distance.
We spent about half an hour up on the landing and then joined the queue for the lift ride down.The queue was on the windiest side of the building and in the 10 minutes or so that we had to wait for our turn to take the lift we really started to notice just how cold it was when you are not walking and keeping the circulation going.
We had one more attraction on our list but have decided to put that off until tomorrow as light rain was now falling with the gusty wind and we set out across a bridge over the River Seine to find a metro to take us back to Gare du Nord and our hotel.In doing so we actually passed the tunnel where Princess Diana died in that horrific car accident but didn’t realise it until we got back to the hotel.So we shall place it on the list to visit tomorrow.
It was pleasing to see that the hot water
was back on by the time we got back to the hotel with our bottle of beaujolais and nibbles before we went out for dinner.
We chose a local restaurant near the hotel for dinner as we had passed by it a couple of times over the past 2 days and the guy who is on the footpath encouraging customers inside,has been so friendly when we have passed by.
So we rolled up and he immediately recognised us and gave Gretchen a kiss on both cheeks and me a shake of my hand!!Not sure what I would have done had he come over all European to me!!!
The steaks we had for dinner were just delicious and juicy and it was enjoyable watching the staff of the restaurant going about their business in a fun manner.
On the way out Gretchen got two more kisses and me another shake of the hand.
We will have to walk along another road to get to our hotel from the station or we will feel obliged to go to the restaurant again if we see this nice little Frenchman again and there are thousands of other restaurants in Paris that we would like to try!!
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Chris
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Paris in Winter - NZ in Summer
You'll be looking forward to the warmth of NZ in a few days time. Temperatures in the mid to high 20's in Chch. Relaxing under the sun umbrella with a cold beer and nibbles. Just enjoy Paris and forget about the weather.