Day 2 - Air BnB, Sacré-Cœur & Luggage

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Keeping true to our traveling tradition, Todd rose first and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast sitting at a Parisian cafe people watching over his coffee and croissant. The rest of us, rested and refreshed, appreciated the delicious French breakfast baked goods he brought back to the hotel before packing up and heading to the train station, carting our 5 large bags. If there is one thing we have not yet mastered it is the art of packing light!

The train station was not a far hike, and after some help from Maggie to decipher some key phrases, Todd was able to locate the right ticket machines and begin the transaction to get our first metro tickets to take us to our Air BnB apartment near the Arc de Triumph. They received a highly suspect offer of help from a Frenchman who insisted that the ticket machine would not accept our card and that Todd would have to allow him to use his card and then pay him in cash. Thankfully, Todd's years of criminal defense representation has finely honed his bull***t detectors, and he emphatically insisted we were just fine on our own. Scam avoided. It is sad to hear how often everyone in Paris warns us about pick pocketers, as if every other person we see on the street was intending to lighten our load. But, the warnings have effectively made us suspect of ulterior motives, which in this case proved correct. Check tomorrow's post for a follow-up on that theme!

Having finally obtained our tickets and figured out on which train we wanted to board, we descended into the labyrinth that is the Paris metro. For those of you accustomed to the DC Metro and not yet familiar with Paris' version, suffice it to say that there are stark differences. One is that many of the stations/stops are connected by underground pedestrian tunnels. One almost feels as if you could walk the entire area of Paris and never leave the underground metro tunnel system. The other is that there is NO ONE around to answer questions! There are no helpful attendees at each station, and when you do happen across a Services desk, it is a 50/50 shot at best as to whether it will be manned at that moment in time (which is any time of the day). But, we were actually able to navigate the maze of tunnels and trains pretty quickly and found our way to our Air BnB apartment without a single misstep. I have to hand it to Maggie and Todd, they really have a knack for figuring out how to get us from point A to point B using whatever mode of transportation is best suited to the current trip!

The apartment is adequate, with great views, and certainly a more affordable option than hotel rooms. The quirkiness of city living in Europe abounds, with no A/C, only one toilet, an elevator to the 5th floor that can only hold 2 people at a time, and minimal furniture. As we are not spending many hours here beyond sleeping and the location could not be more convenient, it is still a great option and gives us more room to spread out than hotel rooms would.

Thankfully, the airline had located Todd's luggage and sent it out for delivery sometime Saturday afternoon. So, we knew we had limited time before we needed to be back to receive the delivery. We opted to go to Sacré-Cœur, and were lucky enough to get a 6-person Uber van right away to drop us literally at the top of the steps. It was an impressive first site, both for the beautiful church and the amazing view of the city from high atop the hill. We strolled through the church, and enjoyed some window shopping and refreshments on a nearby french alley. Mindful of our time limit, we decided to stroll down the hill to the metro and head back to our apartment. Stroll is probably not the right word, however, as making our way down hundreds of steps in even relatively mild 85 degree heat was far more challenging than being dropped off from an air conditioned van! But we eventually finished our descent, found the right tickets and trains once again, and made our way home, enjoying a delicious lunch at a nearby cafe where the kids all tried escargot (with varying levels of enthusiasm and appetite) while we awaited the delivery van.

And wait we did. Three and a half hours later and about 30 minutes after the delivery window, we finally received Todd's wayward bag! Frustrated by the "wasted" time at the apartment, we were determined to make the most of the rest of the day. So, at 7:00pm we set off for the Eiffel Tower. Walking from the metro station to the tower, it was quite a sight to see when it first appeared towering above the buildings before us. Todd was particularly struck by the unexpected coloring, anticipating the black iron so often depicted in renderings, which in reality has turned a shade of dark mustard yellow or tan due to exposure to the elements. Despite numerous recommendations to book tickets in advance, we had not yet done so. We therefore entered the line for the elevator ride, and settled in for a long wait. An interesting and loquacious gentleman from the Ukraine helped us pass the time once Todd asked him a question or two using Google Translate - he filled the 60-minute waiting period with all types of random thoughts and stories.

Despite the crowds and late hour, we had a marvelous time. We treated ourselves to some snacks from the snack bar as we had not had dinner (which on the whole were horrible), but the views as we ascended to the summit and watched the skies morph from twilight to night were spectacular. Paris as the city of lights truly lived up to its name as we watched the city lights below us twinkle. The night was beautiful, the views impressive, and the memories worth the wait!

Alas, we had to eventually end our magical evening and head home so we could be up early enough to catch our transport to Versailles tomorrow! More details later.

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Comments

[Shirley Beck]

Momartre
Momartre and all the artists along with SacreCoer are favorite memories for me. Pastries too! Have fun at Versailles. It’s a big place.