We got into a Paris train station around 9:30am and managed to figure out how to get the subway to our hotel by noon. We got cleaned up and went out to find our way into the center of the city. We went to the Tower, but decided to come back in the morning before going up. We wandered around for a couple of hours. Finally we decided to get something to eat. We opted to go to the Paris Hard Rock Cafe, which worked out great, I really wanted an hamburger. (An actual hamburger, not a fake one like many local places offer.) Don't judge me! I couldn't remember where it was so we took a taxi. Apparently he didn't know where it was either, so I know we went a little out of our way. I argued with our driver that he might be "taking us for a drive" and his English was not great (nor his French) and he didn't really understand me. He had told us it would be around 10 Euros and it was double that. He said he'd only charge us ten, but I paid him the whole fare. I wasn't trying to cheat him, I just thought that we went there the long way. He had tried to get directions from several other taxi drivers before we actually got there. Totally worth it when I got my hamburger. We wandered around some more before finding our way back to the hotel. Paris is a good city for walking, especially because it is a night life city. There are lots of people out on the streets and in the parks. There's a bar or a cafe every other block and they are usually crowded before and after dinner.
Friday felt like we were running everywhere we went. It was like running a race, then pausing every few miles to stand in a line. We got up Friday and went straight to the Eiffel Tower only to stand in line for a while. We went to the top of course, the best wifi reception we've had on the whole trip was at the tower so you got those posts in real time. The tower was supposed to be dismantled after the fair in 189?, but it has been used as a telegraph connection, then radio, then television - so it has been saved several times. Now, I'm sure they make so much money from tourists that it's fate is not in question, in addition to it having the best wifi in the whole country.
When we were on the ground again, we went to the Louvre, which is the former royal palace, now a gigantic museum. There was a line, but it moved pretty quickly. We hit the big winners, The Mona Lisa (eh, she's ok), Napoleon's Coronation (which he called for himself), my favorites: the French's Lady Liberty (the cover to the Coldplay "Viva La Vida..." album if you're curious, and my personal favorite "The Wreck (rescue?) of the Medusa" and a bunch of others like the statue Winged Victory. We were lost for a while in the Greek Antiquities so we saw a lot of that. We walked through Napoleon's apartments. He had a lot of sitting rooms. Who was doing all that sitting?
What's the purpose of those chairs that are formed so three people are sitting together, but don't actually face each other? We were pretty tired by the time we left the Louvre so those are the types of questions I was working with.
From the Louvre we wandered over to the giant ferris wheel and that was fun. There is a really nice view from the top. Rachael did much better than the last time I took her on a ferris wheel. Last time she was about 5 and it was at Lagoon. I think she cried the whole time. She hardly cried at all this time, just like one or two tissues. Way to go Rach! We stopped for crepes on our way back to the hotel. They were good, but there is no crepe as good as Italian gelato.
We got up this morning and intended to get in two more things before catching the Chunnel to London. We made it easily to Saint Chapelle to look this Medieval church with enormous colored glass windows. Even without full sunlight, it's impressive. Mostly I am impressed that the windows have been in tact through so many wars. I was slow getting us to the Musee d'Orsay museum (my actual favorite) and we didn't think we'd have time to go in very far and get back to get our luggage so we went for an early lunch instead and then headed back. We made it to the train station without incident. Unless you count the British woman questioning why we were coming into the UK and threatening to keep us there all day if I didn't lose my attitude. She was the one with an attitude! Border patrol badges are not as intimidating as, say, the guys wandering the train station with AK 47s. Give me a break. Ok, I might have had a little attitude, but still.
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