Bus tours & people watching

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“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.” ~

I thought after my comments on jet lag and sleep, I'd give you an update on our sleeping!

After a nice dinner of grilled lamb & baked cod, we were pretty relaxed. Marth went to bed by 10 pm and I stayed up until midnight to read & so far trying to keep to the time in Paris has seemed to work. I didn't go to sleep Sat morning when we arrived, (which was 3 am Ottawa time), nor did I take a nap in the afternoon, which I think helped me go to bed when it turned to night-time here.

When I did fall asleep, guess "who" woke me at 4 am to ask where the TV remote was? I did fall asleep with CNN on, & then Martha was woken by some loud game show, & in turn woke me trying to find the remote. We looked briefly & then she just unplugged the TV. Ahhhh, could she just not have done that in the first place..DUH?

Our hotel is really nice, but it's so small that Marth & I have to almost squeeze by each other saying, "pardon me". The bathroom looks like it was a closet that someone stuck a shower-head in & called it a day. But Marth says, as hotels go in Paris it's way above "average". I guess I have to believer her 'cause this is the only hotel I'm going to be in. Our beds are pretty cozy I will say.

We were out this morning for coffee by 11 a.m. and then walked to buy some fresh fruit and yogurt for our room. (I swear the coffee is SO hot here it darn near burned my taste buddies right off. "Taste buddies" are what Ava calls taste buds!)

Afterwards, we sat at a cafe & did some people-watching before we headed out on a bus tour. The tour I will touch on in this blog, but will save for a separate in-depth blog.

People watching is actually a sport here. Staring rather than the odd glance is expected and not frowned upon. And fashion & Paris go together like peanut butter & jelly or ham and eggs. Parisians definitely have a certain "chic" air about themselves & they can appear casual and elegant without being overdressed. I hate to say it, but even the beggars are better dressed than Marth & I today. I will blame the wear & tear of travel for not giving a flying fig about dressing up, but when I'm ready, watch out Coco Channel!

Despite how well-dressed people are here, there’s always one poor sop who didn’t get the memo of what not to do/wear when traveling to Paris. For example, don’t don a beret, striped shirt, red kerchief, grow out a thin moustache, or for that matter, do any combination of those things. I did my best not to grow out a thin moustache despite my longing to do so. (wink)

Marth wanted to do an open-air boat cruise today, and despite the weather being sunny and about 10; this isn't exactly the Caribbean, & it's pretty chilly. I thought being on the water would be very cool & damp & we'd pretty much freeze our CDN maple-leaf butts off. Why we don't take a bus tour like all the other normal & well-adjusted tourists is beyond me, but I deferred to Marth. However, in the end, she agreed we'd do the bus tour. Yay.

A brief preview snapshot of our day: We started off passing by the Opera Garnier which is a love-fest for the eyes & makes you give thanks for the fact Napoleon III created this Opera house in 1860. He put a bid out for the construction of the building, and a relatively young start-up named Garnier won the bid, over 170 other people (therefore the name of the Opera house.) The busts he designed for the front of the opera house are absolutely amazing and so impressive you can see them off in the distance & they represent the well-known musicians, Beethoven, Mozart, Rossini, and Mayerbeer.

After that we headed over the right bank to Notre Dame Cathedral (which was very moving & gave me goosebumps), then onto the left bank, through the Latin Quarter, past the Grand Palais, up the Champs Elysees, through the Arc Triomphe, and then...to the Eiffel Tower which deserves its own blog, especially during holiday season. After seeing all these sights, and especially Notre Dame Cathedral, I was, for lack of a better word, or maybe it's the perfect word, GOD SMACKED instead of gob smacked.

By the end of the tour we were very cold, and glad to stop for a drink as it was getting dark by then. (6 PM Paris time). I had a glass of Champagne; they actually offer it on the menu by the glass which when you think of it, once it's uncorked, it doesn't have a long shelf life. I did't know how much I had longed for a single glass of Champagne, until it passed my palette! We also had some cheese & a light meat tray that fit the bill.

Being here with Christmas in the works is amazing. Paris is lit with thousands of lights illuminating buildings, bridges, churches, hotels, department stores etc. The majestic Champs-Elysees has light-drenched trees that have what I can describe best as "hoola hoop" lights that are on a timer that change colors from white, to blue, to purple, and orange & then they do a multi-flash show that is just amazing. Even the Eiffel Tower has an extra light show lit up the night sky.

All these festive touches manages to usher Paris out of her November gloom & into a bright shining gem. Frankly there's so much to see, that I need an extra pair of eyes, but I left them at home for Al to use for the kids. 😊

More to come on our tour around.

PS enough of me. How are you all doing? Let me know!

Another perfect day in Paris!

Champagne Queen...

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Comments

[Leah]

Glad you made it safe Sal! Sounds like you ladies are enjoying the people, food and drinks so far. Keep the updates coming. If you talk with your kiddies today they will sure be telling you it's SNOWED last night!

[Playagal]

Paris Part two
Snow? Well I guess it was bound to come at some point; glad it waited till I was gone!