Paris 2018 – Day 2

Steps today: 25 498. Frankly, I thought it would be more. As you can see from my map below, I walked all the way across town from the Eiffel Tower to the Bastille – I really thought I would have racked up more steps.

Again, if I could get a full screen image of the map it would be much more interesting! The best I can do is this:

I slept until 7:45 this morning! That’s quite something for me… wow, what a difference no cats make! I had my alarm set for 8AM, I figure if I am still sleeping at that time it’s because I need it, but at the same time I don’t want to sleep the day away.

I was out the door by 8:15 and had the idea to get a chocolate croissant from a bakery for breakfast thinking it would be extra-super good. It was good, but my eyes didn’t roll back in my head.

Needing coffee, I stopped a little later in the morning for a continental breakfast in a cafe which includes a croissant, but the waiter forgot it. I was a bit relieved… considering I already ate one, I was already starting to feel full! It was so nice to be outside that I braved the smoke.

Among other sightseeing pitstops that filled my morning, I was extra impressed by the restoration work going on at the St German Abbey. Compared to the first time I saw it in 2004 it’s incredible! The final outcome will be spectacular.

I saw what is supposed to be the oldest tree in Paris – planted in 1602

Saint-Séverin Church…  that’s a lot of oil spillers!

The Narrowest House in Paris

This Plaque to the Paris Peace Treaty was a fail! It was removed!

By 11:15, it was time to sit down and what better place than Les Deux Magots with a glass of Sauternes?  It was great, but BOY is that place touristy!

After this, a walk through the Luxembourg Gardens.

And the a visit to the Martyrs of the Deportation Memorial.

More seeing brought me to the Hôtel de Sens to see the Cannon Ball imbedded in the facade left over from the revolution.

A section of the medieval wall that used to surround Paris

I also checked in on the July Column in Place de la Bastille to see how the restoration is coming along. It wasn’t boarded up any more so that’s a good sign!

It was almost 2:30 by then and I was getting hungry. Months ago, I saw a Youtube clip of a restaurant in Paris serving Aligot that I was very curious to try. I googled the hours and they close at 3:30 and reopen again at 7PM. I was not going to make it there on time for lunch, and returning at 7 for supper was out of the question so I decided to turn back and check out an area I spotted on a previous trip that seemed to have a lot of nice restos. As I was walking, this cafe materialized in front of me with “aligot saucisse” listed as item #1 on their specials board! SOLD!

Holy crap it was good!!! But I have to admit I was belching and farting all afternoon! ha!

After lunch (3:30 by then) I walked through Place des Voges, and then about a 30 minute walk away to see 5 slabs embedded in the street from a guillotine that was installed in that location from 1851 to 1899 and made over 200 hundred people about a foot shorter at the top.

It was a hot day. I had said to myself that since my hotel room was so well situated that I could easily come back to the room and change into cooler clothes in the afternoon….  well I didn’t so I was getting sticky and sweaty! I needed a walking break and took the metro to the Montmartre area.

I visited the of Church of Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre

Wadded through a hoard of tourists at the Love Wall – this was the best I could do!

And among other random sights, this interesting art work called Le Passe-Muraille.

It was after 5PM by then, so I had to start thinking of supper but since I had such a late and heavy lunch I decided to walk towards the Seine and see how (if) my appetite would come back. I didn’t last long walking in the sun, so back into the metro I went to get close to the Eiffel Tower area.

I stopped for a digestif to help digest the gurgling feast still roiling in my stomach…  sub par Cordon Jaune.

Then just a sandwich for supper.

I got a few pictures of the Tower on my way back to the hotel,

… and was back in my room just in time to watch the light show again from my window.

Here are some more random shots of my day.

Good night!

Paris 2018 – Day 1

Steps today: 27 568

I am trying something new for vacation posterity - Google Timeline. It’s pretty neat!

Here’s what today’s looks like, but I can’t see how to display it full screen without the side bar so it’s not as close-up as I would like… Do you know how to do it?

It was a great Day 1! the flight was nice and smooth, no turbulence and we arrived 30 minutes early.  I estimated I would be at the hotel by 9AM, but in fact I was there by 8. The trains were PACKED – I was in the thick of morning rush hour. I unfortunately couldn’t sleep on the plane, but I still managed to have a full day anyway and I don’t feel that tired.

The room was predictably not ready, so off I went to start my day.

I felt a little unorganized for most of the morning. I have my map on my phone, but it took me a while to get into a sightseeing groove. By now, Paris seems SO FAMILIAR to me that in a way I think I might be overlooking the small details. I had to force myself to start taking pictures!

I started with breakfast. I had the entire terrasse to myself until the last minute when a smoker sad RIGHT next to me with the stinkiest cigarette ever! UGH! Such a shame smoking is still allowed!

I wasn’t sure what to do or where to go afterwards so I just wandered aimlessly until the planning part of my brain kicked in. I’m also very distracted by my new-to-me camera because it doesn’t have all the same bells and whistles as my previous camera. I HATE fidding with settings so after a while I said to myself that if they are too light or too dark that’s easy to fix after the fact. The most crucial factor (after having 2 vacations pictures affected) is that they are CLEAR! most of them look dark to me, what do you think? But this camera does not have a “Sunny” or “Cloudy” seeting. GRRRR. I have night and twilight, but the indoor pictures look like crap in my opinion.  TOO MANY SETTINGS!

I started with the Église Saint-Augustin. The first time I saw it, it was a derelict building – but now it’s clean and gorgeous!

Next was Parc Monceau and the coolest tree! 7m diameter!

I also got a shot of the “birthplace” of the Statue of Liberty.

After this: lunch!

It was little too loud on the terrasse on such a busy street, but they had Sauternes and if l craned my neck l could almost see the Arc de Triomphe... plus there was violin music playing although the traffic drowned it out.

I then went to the Arc de Triomphe to buy my Museum Pass so I’m all ready to start Museuming! The plan for that (so far) is to start on Saturday.

Regarding my hotel room even though I was told check in was at 3PM, I thought I’d swing by to see if by chance the room was ready (it was 2PM by then) but I was just told; it’s still to early. They didn’t even check! the entire place could be empty and I don’t think they would care. Check in is 3PM and that’s that. OK Fine. I killed the time by going to take pictures of the Cordon Bleu School and other sights nearby.

I finally got in my room by 3:15. I was leery about what I would find since it was so inexpensive, but really it’s fine. The 2 biggest strikes against it are things I knew already: no elevator (broken) and spotty wifi (works on laptop, not on phone). It’s small, dated, but clean and I have a view of the Eiffel Tower!

My next idea was to go climb the steps of the Eiffel Tower, but there is so much construction going on around the base – they moved all the entrances and here is no fast track for stair climbers any more….  of it there is, I could not find it and I walked the entire perimeter.

I decided to call it quits on sightseeing after that and change my focus to where to have supper. I decided on the area around the Notre Dame since I didn’t visit that area today, and it was only 3 commuter trains stops away. While walking there, I noticed a gang of kids (teens) who seems maybe drunk to me… I’m not entirely sure. They were loud and belligerent but sometimes when teens get together that’s just the way they get when they think they’re cool. They just seemed to be acting tough. Still, I did not want to hang around them so I sped up my pace to shake them and went to the train stop.  A few minutes later, I noticed them on the platform for the train going in the opposite direction. They were loud, confrontational with each other… again I would say (not really paying attention to detail) that they were just acting tough.  STILL, they made me feel so uncomfortable, even separated by a double train track, that I stood far from them – behind a pillar.  Even at the time I thought I was being silly, but your gut always knows….

Their train came in, and I hear an ear-piercing alarm. Not just a normal train-horn noise but louder and faster. Then SCREAMS. OH GOD. I was separated by the train now half stopped on the tracks so I could not see them, but the people around me on my side of the tracks all gasped and gaped at each other. The screams did not really set of an alarm in me at first – strangely – because it could have been interpreted as a bunch of guys exclaiming the equivalent of “Dude! that was close! dude! dude! Holy shit! that was close! Whoa!” But based on the way the people around me were acting, it wasn’t anything good. Then I realise the screams were like wails. There was a German couple near by and I asked them what happened, and she said “he’s under the train”. Another woman said “ the train is stopped just there, if it hadn’t hit him it would not have stopped”. I don’t know about that… but UGH it’s all so awful! I just left. I did not want to see anything, there was nothing I could do to help, so I just got out of the way.

I was a little traumatized, I must admit, and I didn’t want to take a train or metro anywhere after that so I got on the bus instead, but 3 stops later changed my mind and got off. I remembered Frank and I had a nice meal once at Le Vaubhan overlooking the Invalides Dome, so despite the eye soar erected in front of it, I decided to go for it.

Once I sat down and got comfortable I was told it’s just drinks. ARGH! ok fine. I had a drink and decided to head back to the hotel and have a snack\supper nearby.

I made it back to the room for good by about twenty to 8, just in time to watch the Eiffel Tower lightshow from my window at 8.

Long day! but a great one… and now it’s time to see if the bed is comfortable.

Here are some more random shots of my day. Good night!

MEOW!