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Published: July 17th 2010
Eiffel Tower
Bastille Day Paris 2010Thanks to Norweigan Airlines we left Copenhagen and landed safely at Orly Airport in Paris, France. Our first adventure happened as we were trying to get a taxi. None of the taxi's wanted to take 4 people...but then a driver stepped up to the plate and said, "get in, I'll take you" and presto we were heading down the highway into Paris while listening to jazz. Adventure number 2 came right on the heels of the taxi adventure. We got to our hotel and it was in an...well... shall we say "undesirable neighborhood", but the good part was that we could walk outside and buy just about anything that a streetwalker would need
, the rooms were pretty bad but it was the mouse in the "breakfast" room that did it, so we only stayed one night, checked out and headed down the street near the Gare de l'Est train station to a Holiday Inn Express. Life got a lot better, even if the neighborhood didn't... and voila...right outside our door is the stairwell to the metro, trains and shops. Very easy to get around from here!!
First stop the Louvre where we took a tour of all the famous Arc de Triomphe
Bastille Day Paris 2010 things... Winged Victory, Mona Lisa and all the beautiful paintings and works of art. It was raining so a perfect day for being inside. As those of you know who have been here, it is GIGANTIC and cannot been seen in a few visits but we did our best ;-) Then in the afternoon, we walked along the Seine to Notre Dame which is on an island in the middle of the city.
The next morning dawned sunny and we headed for the river where we took a boat ride down the Seine passing all the beautiful buildings of the city and then turned off on the Canal St. Martin and headed north through the city. We had to go through a loooong tunnel that goes under the Bastille and then in beautiful neighborhoods, went through a number of locks that would raise us up to the level of the Basin de la Villette. This took about 2 1/2 hours. We got off at Villette and at lunch in a park, then continued by the Science Museum to a metro stop that would take us back to the Eiffel Tower. Because it was the day before Bastille Day, they were setting up for the parade, concerts and fireworks so it took a little doing to get around all the temporary fences that had been set up but we made it. Cope and I have both been to the top but Sharon and Dave are going to go on Friday. Next a little jaunt to Napolenon's tomb and we were whipped for the day ;-)
The next day was up the mountain to Sacre Coeur and then back down to the Arc de Triomphe in a pouring rain and since it was Bastille day (and Jean's son Steve's birthday ;-) it was very crowded and with the thunder and lightning it made of an exciting time.
That evening when the rain stopped, we went underground to the metro and headed back to the Champs Elysees for a walk. What a beautiful boulevard! The wonderful, huge trees lining the street and hundreds of people still out from the days festivities and parade. After checking out the Starbucks and Disney store from the outside we wandered toward the Seine River to the palaces, gardens and Alexander Bridge which was built in 1901 and known as the most beautiful bridge in Paris ;-) It has our vote. On the bridge there was a vendor selling bulk candy in about 30-40 varieties. Of course we had to buy some. While we were paying for the candy we started to hear what sounded like a bunch of helicopter engines starting up, so we headed across the bridge toward the area where Napoleon’s tomb is located. As we were walking across the bridge a helicopter took off from the grassy area on the other side of he river, flew over us and made a turn up the river toward the Eiffel Tower. We thought that was pretty spectacular until another one did the same thing right over us and then another and another, one right after the other and each from a different country. All in all about 8 of them took off and disappeared into the sunset. It appears that they were on display for Bastille Day and were taking off to return to their bases. We were so lucky to get to see it. From there we started the long trek back to the metro and “home” ;-)
Yea! Today is Euro-Disney day. We took an easy fun day today with a trip by metro and train out to Euro Disney. Okay, so it may not be 1000 years old and full of charm and history but, for a Los Angeles born girl who grew up on Disneyland, it was a must see We took a leisurely day and went to the French “poste” to send some things home. This is the third country where we have gone to the post office and each is so unique. Italy was crazy with each post office person being very nice but we could never understand the rules about mailing, despite the fact they took our money and sent the boxes ;-) Austria, easy as pie but we still didn’t quite understand the way we were charged for postage, but no matter, they took the box and mailed it ;-) Now in France… they have boxes with fixed rates. This is by far the easiest country for mailing packages! Of course all the paperwork is in French and we have to do a lot of guessing about what to write in the various boxes on the forms… but we’re good guessers
But I digress, back to Disneyland Paris. The train from Paris in 35 minutes drops you right smack dab a the Disneyland ticket office, pretty convenient. To your right is Disneyland, to your left is the equivalent of Downtown Disney called Disney Village and between the two is something like the Disney Studios. We did not actually enter Disneyland Paris as we decided to go to Disneyland Village look around and have lunch. There is a lot of property they are developing here (sort of like Orlando) and lots of space as everthing is not built yet. But..it looks and feels like a Disney resort. We loved it and also the opportunity to have a Starbucks coffee! ;-) We'll get our photos developed when we get back to the states so you can see it. Oh yes, did I mention that we are now using a little disposable camera instead of my super duper Panasonic still and movie camera? No? Well, that's because in the Gare de l'Est train station this morning someone decided they needed my camera more than I did and stole it from Jean's pocket! Yep... what can I say, and we've been so careful since Barcelona. Anyway, it was off to the little supermarket for a disposable camera Guess we'll make a COSTCO camera buying trip when we return. Anyway, the day was beautiful and all is well. Next and LAST stop...quite unbelievable actually is London.
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Claudia
non-member comment
Noooooooo...... not the camera!!!!
You LOVED that camera. It was the PERFECT camera. Good heavens you are having some bad luck on this trip. You are amazing to keep your sense of humor. I'll be really pissed for you!!!