Advertisement
Published: November 3rd 2007
Yippee! We are in PARIS! We booked this great hotel right across the street from a metro station (very key for getting around) and the room was very European...er...dainty. There is NO way that if I were 9 months pregnant that I could have fit in the shower. It was about 2 feet wide by 2 feet deep and it made for some fun shower antics! After we showered it was off to find breakfast. We walk a few blocks from our hotel and find this cafe called Cafe Daguerre. They had the typical French chalkboard outside listing the petit dejeuner (breakfast) specials and after Gus did a bit of translating, it sounded perfect. And it was! We had a ham and cheese omelet, fresh croissants, fresh baguette, fresh squeezed OJ, French coffee and hot chocolate. It was going to be a great day! Everything was SO tasty! The croissants were buttery and flaky and the omelet was divine. The food was so good that it was the first time on the trip we actually TIPPED our waiter! He was very nice and very, very fast.
I almost forgot about the Parisian we met at a crosswalk. He overheard us
and asked us where we were from and we said "California." To which he replied, "Duuude. Chill out. Whatver." in an awesome French accent. It was really funny. We tend to get this type of response when we say California or San Diego, and since most people love California (but not necessarily Americans) it puts us in good standing with the Europeans. Whew!
The day was cold (in the low 50's) but the sky was clear and the sun was shining. Off to the Metro station to begin our adventure. Gus wanted to get to the Eiffel Tower as soon as possible since the weather was so nice and that would translate into great photos. After mapping it out on the metro map and winding our way through the crowds we arrived at the Tower. It is spectacular! It is by far the highest structure in Paris and it looks like it is made of lace. The contrast of the bronzy-brown paint against the blue sky made for one great view. Apparently we were not the only people who thought that today would be a good day to work our way to the top. The lines were CRAZY! There
are two lines for folks crazy enough to want to walk up the first two levels and two lines with lifts. Guess which were longer? It was 700+ steps to the second level and at 10 in the morning the elevator was much more appealing. We waited in line for about an hour and a half! And this is at the end of October - we couldn't imagine what it's like in the summer time! And it was not warm...there was a bit of a breeze and most of the line was in the shadow of the tower itself - so we did a lot of trading off standing in line so we could walk around and get warm. That 5 euro wool hat I bought in Montalcino was my best friend in that line!
Oh yeah, the police in Paris don't mess around. We saw a group of them roaming the lines trying to keep the annoying begging gypsies at bay carrying semi-automatic weapons...WITH their fingers on the triggers! Man, what do they think is going to happen? I tell you, I would never commit a crime here - they are too ready to "take care of" any
criminals!
Eiffel Tower trivia: The Tower is 1,063 feet tall (hence the weak knees) and is repainted every 7 years using SIXTY TONS of paint! And over 6.7 million people visited it last year! At 13 euro a head - the French are making a killing off this monument.
We finally made it to the elevator and clickety-clacked up to the second tier. The views were great! You could walk all the way around to get views of the whole city. We didn't spend a lot of time on this level because Gus actually convinced me to go all the way to the top! What am I thinking?! We get in line for the significantly longer elevator ride to the top and my stomach is already doing flip-flops at the thought. I know, I know - we've been to the top of Rockefeller Plaza in New York and to the top of the Space Needle in Seattle - but this doesn't mean that I am any less nervous every time Gus convinces me to go. His argument is "We're here and we might as well do it right because you never know if we'll be back." Somehow that
always works!
As we are in line the woman in front of us (she's British) is telling her husband that she is really nervous about going to the top. Yay! A kindred spirit! Being me, I immediately agree with her and we strike up a conversation, partly as a distraction from having to think about the ascent and partly because we are nice people who like to meet other people in line. The husbands ask each other if their wives do this often and the answer on both sides is "yup." We chat about their two adorable girls, their drive from Southampton and their brief stint living in the States. They have lived in San Diego and loved it and want to come back while the dollar is so depressed against the pound (smart move, as it must be like us going to Mexico - so cheap!). We talk the entire time in line and when we get to the top we send the boys and the girls to the unenclosed tippy-top. We are content to stay in the enclosed section with the triple-paned glass and "hold-on-for-your-life" hand rails. The views are amazing! Paris is one HUGE city and
even from the top of the tower it is hard to determine where the city ends. You can see every monument from here and thankfully there are photos of what you are looking at with descriptions. Soon our British friends are on the move as they have to drive back home that evening. So I am all alone at the top. I should find Gus, I think. So I muster up some courage and walk up the final 10 steps to the unenclosed top. I am sure people got a laugh at my expense as I wouldn't leave the stairwell wall and hugged it as I looked for Gus. No luck. I head back down and we find each other and I tell him about my bravery and he is impressed. We both go back up to the top so he can photo-document my presence at the top. I still don't leave the stairwell wall - but I did it!
After some more looking around from the enclosed level we decide to head back down to terra firma. For some reason I am only nervous going UP in the elevators - I can't look around or anything - I
have to look down at my feet. But going DOWN is another story - I can look all around at the scenery (just not straight down) and not be nervous. That's why fear is irrational!
On our way back to the Metro we find another French monument, the free-standing public toilet, or as we fondly call them "franc-a-piss." Entrance to these is now gratis and I think that explains why the city smells better than I remember. Good thinkin' Frenchy!
When we get back to the bottom we stroll back to the metro station and enjoy the crunching of the fall leaves under our feet. Gus says that he misses fall and that cold weather. I am not as convinced, but it is nice to have that nip in the air (I just wish I had a thicker jacket that fit me) and those crystal clear fall skies. We decide that since the weather is holding nicely, we should go to the Arc de Triomphe. We metro on over to the Champs-Elysses and walk down that incredibly wide boulevard to the Arc. Even from a distance you can see how ornate and perfectly preserved it is. The Arc
is surrounded by the worlds largest round-about (or at least the biggest we've seen) and the traffic is insane! I don't think the Parisian drivers like rules any more than the Florentines. It is a mad house of 6+ lanes of traffic, all whizzing by at faster-than-expected speeds. Now I have a quick side story about this traffic circle. When my best friend Trisha and I went to Paris back in 1994 we were young and clearly mad. We saw the Arc, saw the traffic and thought "How do so many people get across? There's no crosswalk anywhere." Anyway, being the determined sightseers, we put on our pedestrian radar and headed across traffic. We survived, barely. It was the most harrowing experience of our lives. After we made it we ran into some other tourists and asked if their trip across traffic was any better, to which they replied "Uh, there's an underground passage." Oh.
Now it's 13 years later and this information comes in very handy for us. We cross without incident and without heart palpitations or near death experiences. The Arc is impressive and honors those who fought for France. Each of the four pillars has a
huge stone sculpture on the front with intricate detailing. It boggles the mind to think about the time, effort and craftsmanship displayed in just one figure, let alone the entire Arc.
After the Arc and our uneventful subterranean exit it was back to the metro. At the station where we changed trains we were treated to a mini-symphony right there in the bowels of the city. Eight violins, one cello and one bass serenaded us. We decided that a concert was the perfect way to spend some time so we walked up the steps and had a listen for a while. There was a passerby down in front of the musicians who must have been a music teacher or a musician herself because she began conducting. It was really neat to see her wave her arms in rhythm as they played. She had her eyes closed and you could tell she was somewhere else, lost in the music. Only in Paris!
We crashed out in our dainty hotel room for a couple of hours before dinner and finally woke up at about 7:30 - still too early for a European dinner - but the Rixlet must be fed!
We ask the clerk at the front desk where a good brasserie is within walking distance and he directs us up a few blocks, past the lion monument. So we set off, prepared to dine on some French cuisine. As we walk down the street we see this restaurant that's packed (always a good sign) and decide to go in. We take a table in the least smoky section and are handed menus. We open the menus and low-and-behold...it's Tex-Mex! I nearly die laughing! I can't believe that we are all the way in Paris and are going to eat Mexican food! Hilarious! And since I am really hungry and can't really walk anymore and the food on the other tables looks really good, we decide to stay. Hilarious! I ordered the chicken enchiladas and Gus got the fajita chicken salad. Oh yes, and we got an $8 bottle of water! Yes, you can have water with your meal - but it will cost you EIGHT BUCKS! I will never again take for granted the ice water that flows so freely at restaurants back home.
The food is great! My enchiladas actually taste Mexican and the sides of beans
and rice taste fairly authentic. Incredible! It takes us a loooong time to eat, because although I am hungry, I can't eat a lot at one time or very quickly. Gus says "Man, you're slow" as it has been 45 minutes and I have only made it through one enchilada and a few bites of the beans and rice. I think the other issue is that after 5 weeks in Italy with teeny-tiny portions, my huge plateful of food is a lot to take in. I feel totally overwhelmed! But after another 45 minutes, I'm done and we head off to the Eiffel Tower for the light show.
After sunset, every hour, on the hour, for 10 minutes the Tower puts on the sparkly light show it began at the millennium celebration 7 years ago. We made the 10 o'clock show (just barely) and were treated to a tower covered in diamonds. The Tower is outfitted with 20,000 flood lights which are not visible from the outside (we don't know how they did it) and the glittering show they put on is unlike anything you will see anywhere else. We took some video of the show so we can
play it back whenever we want - gotta love technology! Seeing the Tower at night is terribly romantic and when you pair that with strolling in the parks and streets of Paris, you can see why Paris is also the "city of love." Gus and I walked arm and arm back to the metro, floating on our Parisian evening.
Bon nuit, Paris!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.044s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0246s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Heather
non-member comment
Imp in the leaves
Jen you look like a wee imp flitting about in the leaves! Tee hee! :) I hope when people ask where you're from, you pronounce it Californey...