Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Paris! The city of love and the unexpected.
We didn't start well! We arrived and took the metro to our motel, but got lost! Just getting tickets in a new country with a language we don't speak nor understand, and with crowds of people hurrying home from work, was a nightmare. Thank God for the kindness of those who did help us, we finally made it to our motel at about 10pm and settled in for a good nights sleep.
The next morning we had breakfast at a local cafe and headed once again into the jaws of the metro, but this time we tamed it a little, buying a two day pass and beginning to understand the color and numbers of each line. We headed to the Eiffel Tower, so that we could jump on the red bus and tour the city; or so we thought!
We had purchased a two day pass each over the Internet but when we boarded the bus and presented our ticket (displayed on the iPhone) we were treated very rudely by the conductor who simply told us no, get off the bus we need a piece of paper with the info. I started to reason with her but she talked over me and would not listen, so I simply refused to get off the bus until my money was refunded or a ticket issued, but she continued to talk over me. This went on and on for about 10 minutes, the others on the bus were getting antsy and Jean just wanted to get off the bus, but the more she talked over me the more stubborn I got! (can't imagine that can you?)
The final outcome we got off the bus and went to the head office to make a complaint and get our money back. We spoke to the boss, who gave us our money back and also two free tickets for the bus. What to do next?
We headed back to the tower; and convinced by Jean, we hopped on a red bus and toured the city! (free of charge!)
To say we were blown away by what we saw is an understatement! Paris is our favorite spot, along with Jerusalem and Dubrovnik. Paris is just so awesome!
The French certainly know how to build on a grand scale, and over a large area. I am glad we didn't have to walk around as the distance is huge. Take a look at some of the pictures , the scale of building is awesome!
We finished the tour, at the tower, and went back to the motel for a nanny and poppy nap then ventured back to the tower after about 8pm; we wanted to see this amazing structure all lit up. So we grabbed a cuppa and some croissants and we sat in the park in front of the tower waiting for dark.
Sunset is around 10:30pm(!), and did I mention it was cold? About 13 degrees! So we settled in and waited. It was still light, dusk really, when the lights come on, what an amazing sight. But then it got more amazing. Hundreds of lights began to twinkle all over this awesome tower to the delight of the thousands of people gathered there. What a sight, we wandered over the river and just marvelled at the grandure of all we saw.
We went back to our motel completely in love with Paris!
The next day we headed off to Notre Dame on the metro. This too was an amazing place. What history, and stories are told here. We spent a long time here and got to sit alfresco with coffee just outside on the street.
Our plan for the day was to see Notre Dame and then head to Opera to look around and then to the Arch de Triumph and if time permitted head over to the Louve to check out the Mona Lisa and the inverted glass pyramid made famous by the Davinci Code, the book written by Dan Brown.
But time, traffic, weather and huge lines of tourists put a stop to our plans.
We missed the Opera stop and headed for the Arch de Triumph. (McDonalds was an urgent pit stop on the way; yes toilets were clean!)
We were amazed again at this magnificent structure of the Arch( not McDonalds), funds must not have been a problem when they built it, and just how did they manage to raise this structure? It took our breath away!
Again the lines of tourists waiting to climb to the top was huge, I hate waiting in line so we headed to the base of the Arch and took a million pictures ( well almost!) and as we did the heavens opened and the rain fell, and kept on falling! That put paid to our plans. But by the time we arrived at the motel it was around 8 pm anyway.
The next day we were on our way again this time toward Florence for two days before heading to Rome, our final stop in Italy before beginning our journey home.
Our travels have really whet our appetites for more. But next time it will be better if we learn some of the language, and prepare much better.
Next time we will spend more time in each place to really see the all the sights.
Next time...
- comments