For our second full day in Paris we had grand hopes of working through the last of our "must see" list. We started the day early at the Eiffel Tower. Tim decided he would wait for us since he had been up a few times to the top already. We would meet him about an hour and a half later.
So it was us and about a million of our closest friends. Ok, so maybe it wasn't that early (9:45) and maybe it wasn't a million people, but we did wait in line for an hour to get to just the ticket counter. Once there we were told that the top was closed and we could only get tickets to the second platform. When we talked to the ticket agent he said we could by tickets to the top when we reached the second platform. Oh goodie, another line! Once our tickets were purchased we waited in another line for another hour to get into the car that takes you to the second platform. In this line we were serenaded by a young boy (around Alexanders age) who was having a monumental tantrum while he, his mom and his brother were in line. And he did not stop screaming for the entire hour of this second line. On one hand we felt bad for the mom, it is a hard situation being in line for something like this with a child who is melting down. But my goodness was it the most horrible hour to hear him screaming all around us. We were hoping and praying that he would not be in the same little car as us when we went up to the top. Thankfully he wasn't!
Once at the second platform we headed right over to the line for tickets to the top. Unfortunately that line had closed about 5 minutes ago and wasn't going to open for another 30-45 minutes. So we waited again, in a 3rd line. At that point the time to meet Tim had passed by 30 minutes so Michelle stayed until the ticket counter opened up and then headed down to the bottom. Brenda and Greg bought tickets to the top. We were to meet up in another hour.
When Michelle got to the bottom she found Tim and they opted to grab a quick lunch at a small cafe. We enjoyed sandwiches on french baguettes and watched the locals and tourists go by. One group of 3 Romany girls caught the attention of a number of people. They were walking past our cafe when someone walking by on the sidewalk next to them bumped on girl with his shoulder. She turned to yell at him and our maitre'd came flying out of the back part of the restaurant yelling at them and physically blocking them from the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. He did not push them but used his body to steer them into the street along the restaurant, then continued to follow them all the way down to the corner, past 4-5 other shops. We detest discrimination, but for people who prey on the innocent like they seem to do it is hard to argue with the reflexive defensive state that people seem to be in when they are around.
Once finished with lunch we met up with Brenda and Greg and walked around the base of the Eiffel Tower. Rick Steves had an interesting 20 minute podcast about the history of the tower. We had known that it was built for the worlds fair and that the French hated it, but we didn't know that after winning a contest to design a building for the fair Eiffel ended up having to finance 80% of it (4 million dollars) when the French government backed out on their promise to pay for the construction. The government ended up financing around 1 million.
Originally, when the French were going to pay for the construction the tower was going to be removed a few months after the fair. When Eiffel had to finance it he negotiated for it to remain up for 20 years so that he could have a chance to recoup his money. The government agreed. Once it was finished it took Eiffel only 6 months to recoup his initial investment. But with the agreement with the government he was able to keep it up for another 19.5 years. That is a great investment! With that timeframe Eiffel began to think about how he could get it to stay up permanently. He rented space to scientists for various explorations and created a restaurant on top complete with a grand piano. But what saved it was the radio. The French installed a radio tower at the top, and during WWII it intercepted a number of German radio transmissions from the troops just outside of Paris. These interceptions allowed the French to move their positions and defend the city. And the tower stayed.
We had our second lunch with the Smiths in the 4th district near some shopping that Michelle wanted to do. There is a french store called Le Kilo (now 4 different locations) that sells vintage clothes by the kilo. You make your selections and the price you pay is based on the weight. It sounded like a fun quirky place. Michelle found a skirt and a scarf that she liked. She would have bought a bubble gum pink leather jacket if it had been real leather. It wasn't, so she didn't make the splurge. But it was tempting!
Back at the hotel the men opted to rest while the ladies went to the train station to buy train tickets to Brussels. Dinner tonight was at a restaurant called Le Chemise. It was on the expensive side but we were meeting one of Tim's former clients for dinner since they were in town to watch a french open match. Michelle had pork wrapped in philo dough with an amazing mushroom sauce and Tim had a filet mignon with an onion sauce. The menu had 20 items and 6 were desserts. My kinda place! Everything was delicious and the company was great. A perfect final evening in Paris.
Back at the room we facetimed with a very sleepy Alexander and selected a hotel room for Brussels. It didn't seem like we did all that much when compared to our first full day in Paris, but we were all pretty tired. A semi early night for us, in bed by 11pm! Au demain!
Monday, June 2, 2014
6 days until we return - the countdown begins
Well the first full day in Paris and we were off and running. In the metro we made sure to buy 2 day metro passes (so much easier than buying the small 10 ticket packs). We came early to the Notre Dame cathedral prepared to buy the 2 day museum pass as well and found that the counter we bought it at last time was no where to be found. Yikes! Michelle asked a guard at the front of the chapel if he knew where to buy it, all in French. :) He indicated that when you climb the tour of the Notre Dame you can either buy a pass for just that venue or you can buy the whole museum pass. Great! Except that the line for the Notre Dame was now almost 100 people deep. We had a feeling that lines were just going to be the theme of Paris for us.
Fortunately the line moved fast and we were soon on our way. The weather was also good, which was a blessing based on the rain we had the day before and the lack of any sun cover in the line. Once at the top the views were amazing and you could even see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Unfortunately there was a bend in the walkway that would only allow one person at a time up to the next level, and they blocked us from moving to the next level until the prior group was able to leave. So we stood up there, herded together on the roof with no where to go. Behind Michelle was a mother and daughter of unknown nationality (Eastern European somewhere) who had 0 concept of personal space. The mother was right next to Michelle, with her arm and shoulder on Michelle's back. Everytime Michelle moved forward a 1/2 inch to create some separation she moved as well. Michelle had her hand on a rail and the ladies hand was next to hers, touching her on the side of the hand. Michelle's hand moved, the ladies hand moved. It was the most bizarre experience. And the daughter was wedging herself in between Tim and Michelle using the same kind of distance and pressure. Finally Tim pretended to take a picture of Michelle so that the girl would have to move back, then he rested his hand on the rail so that the mom would have to get off of her back. And the mom did the same thing to Tim the entire time we were waiting there. As we moved up to the next level the mom went down to leave and the daughter continued up. Tim said she was so close to him on the stairs that the back of his heal kicked her with every single step. And when we had to stop on the stairs for a moment he could feel hear breath on the back of his arm. At the top he basically pushed her ahead of him on the shoulders to get her away from us. We have had people with 0 personal space before, but this was the oddest encounter we have had so far!
Once back on the ground we tried to go to the archeological site across from the churches open front court but it was closed for the day. So we headed over to the Jewish monument on the corner of the Ille de la cite. It is a moving tribute to those in the concentration camps.
Feeling the need for lunch we decided to head over to the left bank for a cafe. Walking across a bridge we noticed that the guard rails were loaded down with padlocks. It turns out this is one of the bridges in Paris where people will take locks (which are symbols of their love for someone) and attach their lock to the millions of other locks on the bridge. Then they throw away the key into the river to show their devotion. And when we say millions we are not exaggerating, the bridge was loaded down with lock on top of lock on top of lock. It was surprising that the bridge could hold all of the weight.
We had lunch at a little cafe. It is amazing how good a baguette with a few slices of meat and cheese can taste. Mayonaise is a beautiful addition when it can be found, but butter is just as good. :) The Smiths had an omelette with the most delicious potatoes on the side. Here's to hoping that all of our meals are this good.
After lunch we wandered over to the Pantheon only to discover that the pendulum that was used to show that the world was round was removed as the entire Pantheon was being renovated. We could still go into the building and visit the crypts below of famous French writers, thinkers and leaders, but much of the inside main floor was cordoned off. Apparently there are some major structural issues with the building based on how rain from storms was disbursed over the roof. Years of improper drainage created bigger issues and the French government was now going to re-engineer the roof and stabilize the walls. Based on the timeline they had created, the entire process will take about 10 years. Yikes!
After the Pantheon was finished we headed over to the Sainte Chappel, which is a small chapel with more stained glass on the walls than walls. And it too was being restored. There were a number of different computers that detailed how they were removing the original glass, cleaning it, replacing the metal holding the glass pieces together and then repainting the glass with the details that were originally there if the restoration was needed. It was an amazing process to watch, but sad that the entire chapel was not available to view.
Feeling inspired about all we had done so far in the day, we decided to continue piling it on with a quick trip to the Louvre. Since we had the museum pass we reasoned that the Smiths could complete the 1 hour Rick Steves podcast before it closed for the day and if there was more they wanted to see we could come back the next day for free and finish out the tour. The podcast, however, would take them to the major sites. Since this was Tim and Michelle's 3rd visit to the museum, there were only a few things they were interested in seeing, so the plan seemed sound. Surprisingly, the Louvre was so unbelievably crowded. Thankfully with the passes we walked right to the front of the security line and slipped in. If you ever go to Paris, buy the museaum pass, you will not regret it. Even if you don't go to enough museaums to equal the cost of the pass, the ability to go to the front of the lines is such a great time saver.
The rest of the day was filled with road side crepes, climbing the Arc de Triumph and dinner at the Lebonese restaurant across the street. It was nice because their menu had a fixed price option that was a "chef's choice". The chef basically gave you what he thought were the best meals of the day. It was fabulous, we had no idea what we were eating so we were able to focus on each piece of food and how it tasted to us. Of course we forgot to ask about the items we liked so we would know for later before we ate all of the item. But we left feeling full and ready for bed. Tomorrow we begin with the Eiffel Tower, which should be an early and exciting day!
Fortunately the line moved fast and we were soon on our way. The weather was also good, which was a blessing based on the rain we had the day before and the lack of any sun cover in the line. Once at the top the views were amazing and you could even see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Unfortunately there was a bend in the walkway that would only allow one person at a time up to the next level, and they blocked us from moving to the next level until the prior group was able to leave. So we stood up there, herded together on the roof with no where to go. Behind Michelle was a mother and daughter of unknown nationality (Eastern European somewhere) who had 0 concept of personal space. The mother was right next to Michelle, with her arm and shoulder on Michelle's back. Everytime Michelle moved forward a 1/2 inch to create some separation she moved as well. Michelle had her hand on a rail and the ladies hand was next to hers, touching her on the side of the hand. Michelle's hand moved, the ladies hand moved. It was the most bizarre experience. And the daughter was wedging herself in between Tim and Michelle using the same kind of distance and pressure. Finally Tim pretended to take a picture of Michelle so that the girl would have to move back, then he rested his hand on the rail so that the mom would have to get off of her back. And the mom did the same thing to Tim the entire time we were waiting there. As we moved up to the next level the mom went down to leave and the daughter continued up. Tim said she was so close to him on the stairs that the back of his heal kicked her with every single step. And when we had to stop on the stairs for a moment he could feel hear breath on the back of his arm. At the top he basically pushed her ahead of him on the shoulders to get her away from us. We have had people with 0 personal space before, but this was the oddest encounter we have had so far!
Once back on the ground we tried to go to the archeological site across from the churches open front court but it was closed for the day. So we headed over to the Jewish monument on the corner of the Ille de la cite. It is a moving tribute to those in the concentration camps.
Feeling the need for lunch we decided to head over to the left bank for a cafe. Walking across a bridge we noticed that the guard rails were loaded down with padlocks. It turns out this is one of the bridges in Paris where people will take locks (which are symbols of their love for someone) and attach their lock to the millions of other locks on the bridge. Then they throw away the key into the river to show their devotion. And when we say millions we are not exaggerating, the bridge was loaded down with lock on top of lock on top of lock. It was surprising that the bridge could hold all of the weight.
We had lunch at a little cafe. It is amazing how good a baguette with a few slices of meat and cheese can taste. Mayonaise is a beautiful addition when it can be found, but butter is just as good. :) The Smiths had an omelette with the most delicious potatoes on the side. Here's to hoping that all of our meals are this good.
After lunch we wandered over to the Pantheon only to discover that the pendulum that was used to show that the world was round was removed as the entire Pantheon was being renovated. We could still go into the building and visit the crypts below of famous French writers, thinkers and leaders, but much of the inside main floor was cordoned off. Apparently there are some major structural issues with the building based on how rain from storms was disbursed over the roof. Years of improper drainage created bigger issues and the French government was now going to re-engineer the roof and stabilize the walls. Based on the timeline they had created, the entire process will take about 10 years. Yikes!
After the Pantheon was finished we headed over to the Sainte Chappel, which is a small chapel with more stained glass on the walls than walls. And it too was being restored. There were a number of different computers that detailed how they were removing the original glass, cleaning it, replacing the metal holding the glass pieces together and then repainting the glass with the details that were originally there if the restoration was needed. It was an amazing process to watch, but sad that the entire chapel was not available to view.
Feeling inspired about all we had done so far in the day, we decided to continue piling it on with a quick trip to the Louvre. Since we had the museum pass we reasoned that the Smiths could complete the 1 hour Rick Steves podcast before it closed for the day and if there was more they wanted to see we could come back the next day for free and finish out the tour. The podcast, however, would take them to the major sites. Since this was Tim and Michelle's 3rd visit to the museum, there were only a few things they were interested in seeing, so the plan seemed sound. Surprisingly, the Louvre was so unbelievably crowded. Thankfully with the passes we walked right to the front of the security line and slipped in. If you ever go to Paris, buy the museaum pass, you will not regret it. Even if you don't go to enough museaums to equal the cost of the pass, the ability to go to the front of the lines is such a great time saver.
The rest of the day was filled with road side crepes, climbing the Arc de Triumph and dinner at the Lebonese restaurant across the street. It was nice because their menu had a fixed price option that was a "chef's choice". The chef basically gave you what he thought were the best meals of the day. It was fabulous, we had no idea what we were eating so we were able to focus on each piece of food and how it tasted to us. Of course we forgot to ask about the items we liked so we would know for later before we ate all of the item. But we left feeling full and ready for bed. Tomorrow we begin with the Eiffel Tower, which should be an early and exciting day!
The mean streets of Paris
7 days until we return. This morning we woke up bright and early in the morning so we could make sure to catch our train to Paris. We had a 3 hour drive, we needed to return the rental car plus find some lunch and our train. All before 11:25. We were shooting for a 7:00 departure from the house and almost made it out on time. Traffic was great and with the help from the GPS in the car we made great time. It helped to not have pouring down rain!
Once at the car rental place we dropped off the car and made the short walk to the train station. We were almost a full hour early, which is always nice. Tim and Brenda headed off to grab lunch (kebabs at one of the train station restaurants) and Greg and Michelle guarded the bags. Once our train bin was posted, we all headed that way, only to have a very small train pull up in the bin. There were far too many people for the size train that was there! Thankfully an announcement was soon made that the bin had been changed from bin 8 to bin 1 and we needed to move to the new bin. Upon arrival, there was a sufficiently large train for the group of people traveling.
The train ride was uneventful, which was great. There was a mom with her two children who would speak to them in fluent French, but when she had enough of their antics and wanted to get their attention she would say something stern to them in English. And they knew, when mom switched to English, you better pay attention. :)
Once in the train station in Paris we debarked and searched out the metro. passes in hand we looked to board a very packed train. And then something happened. Tim, Greg and Michelle were on the metro, but there was a french lady who began yelling next to us. The next thing we noticed was the French lady pushing two girls off of the metro and still yelling in French. Brenda was on the train, but something had happened between her and the two girls. And the zippers on her day pack were open.
It turns out that the three of us got on the metro and she was going to get on last. Then a girl came and stood right in front of her as if she was going to get on the metro. Brenda went to walk around her and felt a buzzing sensation on her shoulder. That was enough to distract her and apparently the two girls used the opportunity to get into her bag. The French woman saw what was happening and yelled at the top of her lungs at them. Brenda finished getting on, the girls were shoved off and we all stood there shocked. Seriously, we were in Paris all of 15 minutes. Then the French woman proceeded to lecture Brenda in french about being careful and watching out for herself. Thankfully they zipper they had almost open had a hairbrush on top and the other one was not down far enough to get into. So they got nothing, but we got a good scare. And thankfully we were all ok.
We headed over to our hotel room and decompressed there for a while. Not wanting to waste the day, we headed out for a walk around town. We saw the Seine river, walked across Pointe Neuf, walked around the Louvre museam (which is the former palace) and the Champs Elysse. At the end of the Champs is the Arc de Triumph which Brenda and Greg wanted to climb at some point. After a great dinner at a local chain steakhouse (called Hippopotomus :) we headed off to bed. We are hoping to make tomorrow a full day of site seeing so we can check off a number of our "must dos". It should be a full day of adventure!
Once at the car rental place we dropped off the car and made the short walk to the train station. We were almost a full hour early, which is always nice. Tim and Brenda headed off to grab lunch (kebabs at one of the train station restaurants) and Greg and Michelle guarded the bags. Once our train bin was posted, we all headed that way, only to have a very small train pull up in the bin. There were far too many people for the size train that was there! Thankfully an announcement was soon made that the bin had been changed from bin 8 to bin 1 and we needed to move to the new bin. Upon arrival, there was a sufficiently large train for the group of people traveling.
The train ride was uneventful, which was great. There was a mom with her two children who would speak to them in fluent French, but when she had enough of their antics and wanted to get their attention she would say something stern to them in English. And they knew, when mom switched to English, you better pay attention. :)
Once in the train station in Paris we debarked and searched out the metro. passes in hand we looked to board a very packed train. And then something happened. Tim, Greg and Michelle were on the metro, but there was a french lady who began yelling next to us. The next thing we noticed was the French lady pushing two girls off of the metro and still yelling in French. Brenda was on the train, but something had happened between her and the two girls. And the zippers on her day pack were open.
It turns out that the three of us got on the metro and she was going to get on last. Then a girl came and stood right in front of her as if she was going to get on the metro. Brenda went to walk around her and felt a buzzing sensation on her shoulder. That was enough to distract her and apparently the two girls used the opportunity to get into her bag. The French woman saw what was happening and yelled at the top of her lungs at them. Brenda finished getting on, the girls were shoved off and we all stood there shocked. Seriously, we were in Paris all of 15 minutes. Then the French woman proceeded to lecture Brenda in french about being careful and watching out for herself. Thankfully they zipper they had almost open had a hairbrush on top and the other one was not down far enough to get into. So they got nothing, but we got a good scare. And thankfully we were all ok.
We headed over to our hotel room and decompressed there for a while. Not wanting to waste the day, we headed out for a walk around town. We saw the Seine river, walked across Pointe Neuf, walked around the Louvre museam (which is the former palace) and the Champs Elysse. At the end of the Champs is the Arc de Triumph which Brenda and Greg wanted to climb at some point. After a great dinner at a local chain steakhouse (called Hippopotomus :) we headed off to bed. We are hoping to make tomorrow a full day of site seeing so we can check off a number of our "must dos". It should be a full day of adventure!
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