Paris – Part I
With only two full days to see Paris, we knew we had to get an early start. And to see everything, we decided to get a Paris Pass, which included free entry into most of the museums in the city (including Versailles and the Louvre), a metro pass, a free wine tasting, and a whole bunch of other great tourist things. But first, we had to pick it up. Turns out that the Paris metro system is pretty easy to navigate, if you’ve used any other major city’s subway. So soon enough, we were on our way and waiting outside the bike shop to grab our passes. Now, note to proprietors: if you say that you open at 9:00, and paying customers arrive at 9:00, don’t make them wait for 30 minutes before you are willing to serve them. So while the Paris Pass was a great idea, the Fat Tire Bike Shop needs a little more work. There were places to go and things to see, after all!
After we finally got everything we needed, our first stop was the Eiffel Tower. It was only a 5 minute walk from the bike shop and since it was still early, we decided to see it before the crowds got really bad. What a sight! At first, you see it in the distance, peeking out from between the trees. And then all of a sudden, there it is! It looms over you like a mountain as I was straining to see the top, I was glad that I took up yoga – we had to so some really interesting back bends to get pictures of all of it! It really was such an amazing site. After some deliberation, we decided not to climb to the top though. The lines were getting long, it would take a while, and there was still a lot more of Paris to see.
So across the Seine we went, in order to start our walk to the Arc de Triomphe. And then we saw it – right across the street from the Eiffel Tower – the Paris World Cup outdoor theater. Right at the base of the Palais de Chaillot. Instead of seeing the monument, all you see is World Cup screens! And the best part about it – France was already out of the World Cup by the time we got there!
While we were wandering around the Palais de Chaillot (which, by the way, I couldn’t figure out the historical significance of), we were able to convince a security guard to take a picture of the two of us, with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop. I figured since it was probably the only opportunity we had, we would take the funny tourist picture! So here it is!
And then it was off to walk to the Arc de Triomphe. We were in Paris, after all, so we had to make sure that we gave Napoleon his due. It was a lovely day and I am proud to report that my map reading skills passed muster and we were able to get there without going lost. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go inside the exhibition space, as it appeared to be closed for a meeting. But it was still a beautiful sight nonetheless.
Because it was still early, we decided that a walk down the Avenue des Champs-Elysees was in order. The Champs-Elysees is one of Paris’s best streets for shopping – and the funniest part? It has a McDonalds AND a Starbucks. I found this to be particularly amusing, given everything I have heard about Parisian disdain for Americans. It’s even more amusing when you notice how busy both places are!
As we walked down the Champs-Elysees, we noticed other historic buildings and stopped to take a few pictures. Then we saw some commotion: it seemed that work crews were setting up bleachers on each side of the street for several blocks. After some calculation of the dates, J. realized that they were already preparing for the finish of the Tour de France! That was pretty neat – we weren’t going to be around for the final festivities but it was still pretty cool to get to see the preparations.
Off in the distance we saw the Place de la Concorde, which looks suspiciously like a smaller Washington Monument with a gold top, and then we were on our way to the Louvre. First, we walked through a beautiful park, filled with locals and tourists alike sitting on chairs and benches, eating lunch, and enjoying the beautiful day. We decided it was time for lunch ourselves, to we grabbed a quick bite at one of the food stalls outside the Louvre. And then we were off! And the best thing about those Paris passes? There were at least 200 people waiting in line to get in the Louvre, but we were able to go through a separate entrance and were inside within 90 seconds!
A few things about the Louvre. First, it’s ENORMOUS! As in, there are probably people wandering the halls who have been lost for years, if not decades. And the map is only marginally useful – you’re better off trying to leave a trail of breadcrumbs. It is filled to the brim with people even when it’s not busy, making it an extremely overwhelming experience. And those people are completely and totally annoying. They touch everything – including centuries old sculptures (where are the security guys when you need them?), take pictures of the art (seriously, if you like it that much, why don’t you just buy the post card?), jostle everyone in their way, and my personal favorite – stand 12 people across in the hallways and then get cranky when you try to get by them. It’s like hell with pretty pictures.
After a while, it was clear that one of us was either going to “Go American” (see earlier post) or get arrested. And since neither J. nor I wanted to bail the other one out (let’s face it, she would have been bailing me out), we decided to just see a couple of last things and get out of there. We had a wine tasting scheduled for that afternoon and we were definitely earning it! As we were trying to find out way out, we saw the several hundred signs for the Mona Lisa and decided to stop. After all, someone would ask if we saw it while we were there, so at least this way we could say yet. Talk about mayhem! There were at least 100 people crowding into a space the size of the closet in my old apartment, trying to jostle each other to take pictures of what is, in person, a rather unexciting small painting. I got elbowed in the head at least twice and put myself in serious harm’s way to get this, so I hope you appreciate it. Here she is: Mona:
After Mona, there was only one thing that I actually wanted to see, so off we went. The Louvre is the home to one of my most favorite historic items: The Code of Hammurabi! The Code of Hammurabi is the first known set of written law (where the punishment for pretty much everything is death), and something that I get to talk about in a lot of my classes. I won’t lie, I got a little teary eyed when I saw it. I’m really excited to get to show my students pictures of the actual Code of Hammurabi in class now, instead of the photos I’ve downloaded from Google. And yes, I thought about touching it, but I didn’t, because I was taught better than that (unlike some of those crazy tourists). Here it is:
After we escaped the insanity of the Louvre (including requisite gift stop shop – I’m not ashamed to admit it, I love gift shops), we went off to find the wine tasting that our Paris pass offered. Just down the street, at O’Chateau, we were able to participate in a one hour wine tasting. I have never been to a wine tasting before and it was so much fun! We tested a white, a rose, and a red. I learned so much about French wines (which I suppose isn’t hard, because I didn’t know anything to begin with) and decided that I really like the Sancerre. In fact, we had so much fun that we signed up for the Champagne Cruise the next night!
After the wine, it was off to the Musee de l’Orangerie, also known as the rudest museum in the history of the world. Here our Paris passes did not do much to get us in quickly, despite the special line that existed for pass holders. And once we did get in, we were charged extra anyway (okay, it was 1.50 euros extra each – but it was the principal of the thing). In fact, we got to the front of the line, were prepared to pay our 3 euros, and the woman decided not to help us. She sent us to someone else, who also decided not to help us. In fact, the second woman waited on 6 people before she got to us! I’m not sure which one of us was more likely to get arrested at this point, me or J! We finally reminded the salesclerk that we existed and we were able to bully her into taking our 3 euros so we could finally look around. Hey, the museum was only open for another 20 minutes!
Luckily, it’s a small museum, so we were able to speed walk through it and see everything we came to see, most importantly, Monet’s Water Lilies. Those paintings were absolutely magnificent and well worth the really rude salesclerks. Unfortunately, the gift shop wasn’t nearly as good, so it was time to head back to the hotel and rest up before dinner.
That night, we decided to go to dinner close by the hotel. We were too tired to go far and our hotel was located in such a good area that we figured we couldn’t go wrong. The restaurant was quite nice and I was finally able to order my favorite French delicacy – escargot! I know most of you are completely shocked, but yes, I like snails. And these ones were especially good – lots of garlic and butter! What can I say, they kind of taste like steamed clams to me.
I think I love Paris!
After we finally got everything we needed, our first stop was the Eiffel Tower. It was only a 5 minute walk from the bike shop and since it was still early, we decided to see it before the crowds got really bad. What a sight! At first, you see it in the distance, peeking out from between the trees. And then all of a sudden, there it is! It looms over you like a mountain as I was straining to see the top, I was glad that I took up yoga – we had to so some really interesting back bends to get pictures of all of it! It really was such an amazing site. After some deliberation, we decided not to climb to the top though. The lines were getting long, it would take a while, and there was still a lot more of Paris to see.
So across the Seine we went, in order to start our walk to the Arc de Triomphe. And then we saw it – right across the street from the Eiffel Tower – the Paris World Cup outdoor theater. Right at the base of the Palais de Chaillot. Instead of seeing the monument, all you see is World Cup screens! And the best part about it – France was already out of the World Cup by the time we got there!
While we were wandering around the Palais de Chaillot (which, by the way, I couldn’t figure out the historical significance of), we were able to convince a security guard to take a picture of the two of us, with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop. I figured since it was probably the only opportunity we had, we would take the funny tourist picture! So here it is!
And then it was off to walk to the Arc de Triomphe. We were in Paris, after all, so we had to make sure that we gave Napoleon his due. It was a lovely day and I am proud to report that my map reading skills passed muster and we were able to get there without going lost. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go inside the exhibition space, as it appeared to be closed for a meeting. But it was still a beautiful sight nonetheless.
As we walked down the Champs-Elysees, we noticed other historic buildings and stopped to take a few pictures. Then we saw some commotion: it seemed that work crews were setting up bleachers on each side of the street for several blocks. After some calculation of the dates, J. realized that they were already preparing for the finish of the Tour de France! That was pretty neat – we weren’t going to be around for the final festivities but it was still pretty cool to get to see the preparations.
Off in the distance we saw the Place de la Concorde, which looks suspiciously like a smaller Washington Monument with a gold top, and then we were on our way to the Louvre. First, we walked through a beautiful park, filled with locals and tourists alike sitting on chairs and benches, eating lunch, and enjoying the beautiful day. We decided it was time for lunch ourselves, to we grabbed a quick bite at one of the food stalls outside the Louvre. And then we were off! And the best thing about those Paris passes? There were at least 200 people waiting in line to get in the Louvre, but we were able to go through a separate entrance and were inside within 90 seconds!
A few things about the Louvre. First, it’s ENORMOUS! As in, there are probably people wandering the halls who have been lost for years, if not decades. And the map is only marginally useful – you’re better off trying to leave a trail of breadcrumbs. It is filled to the brim with people even when it’s not busy, making it an extremely overwhelming experience. And those people are completely and totally annoying. They touch everything – including centuries old sculptures (where are the security guys when you need them?), take pictures of the art (seriously, if you like it that much, why don’t you just buy the post card?), jostle everyone in their way, and my personal favorite – stand 12 people across in the hallways and then get cranky when you try to get by them. It’s like hell with pretty pictures.
After a while, it was clear that one of us was either going to “Go American” (see earlier post) or get arrested. And since neither J. nor I wanted to bail the other one out (let’s face it, she would have been bailing me out), we decided to just see a couple of last things and get out of there. We had a wine tasting scheduled for that afternoon and we were definitely earning it! As we were trying to find out way out, we saw the several hundred signs for the Mona Lisa and decided to stop. After all, someone would ask if we saw it while we were there, so at least this way we could say yet. Talk about mayhem! There were at least 100 people crowding into a space the size of the closet in my old apartment, trying to jostle each other to take pictures of what is, in person, a rather unexciting small painting. I got elbowed in the head at least twice and put myself in serious harm’s way to get this, so I hope you appreciate it. Here she is: Mona:
After Mona, there was only one thing that I actually wanted to see, so off we went. The Louvre is the home to one of my most favorite historic items: The Code of Hammurabi! The Code of Hammurabi is the first known set of written law (where the punishment for pretty much everything is death), and something that I get to talk about in a lot of my classes. I won’t lie, I got a little teary eyed when I saw it. I’m really excited to get to show my students pictures of the actual Code of Hammurabi in class now, instead of the photos I’ve downloaded from Google. And yes, I thought about touching it, but I didn’t, because I was taught better than that (unlike some of those crazy tourists). Here it is:
After we escaped the insanity of the Louvre (including requisite gift stop shop – I’m not ashamed to admit it, I love gift shops), we went off to find the wine tasting that our Paris pass offered. Just down the street, at O’Chateau, we were able to participate in a one hour wine tasting. I have never been to a wine tasting before and it was so much fun! We tested a white, a rose, and a red. I learned so much about French wines (which I suppose isn’t hard, because I didn’t know anything to begin with) and decided that I really like the Sancerre. In fact, we had so much fun that we signed up for the Champagne Cruise the next night!
After the wine, it was off to the Musee de l’Orangerie, also known as the rudest museum in the history of the world. Here our Paris passes did not do much to get us in quickly, despite the special line that existed for pass holders. And once we did get in, we were charged extra anyway (okay, it was 1.50 euros extra each – but it was the principal of the thing). In fact, we got to the front of the line, were prepared to pay our 3 euros, and the woman decided not to help us. She sent us to someone else, who also decided not to help us. In fact, the second woman waited on 6 people before she got to us! I’m not sure which one of us was more likely to get arrested at this point, me or J! We finally reminded the salesclerk that we existed and we were able to bully her into taking our 3 euros so we could finally look around. Hey, the museum was only open for another 20 minutes!
Luckily, it’s a small museum, so we were able to speed walk through it and see everything we came to see, most importantly, Monet’s Water Lilies. Those paintings were absolutely magnificent and well worth the really rude salesclerks. Unfortunately, the gift shop wasn’t nearly as good, so it was time to head back to the hotel and rest up before dinner.
That night, we decided to go to dinner close by the hotel. We were too tired to go far and our hotel was located in such a good area that we figured we couldn’t go wrong. The restaurant was quite nice and I was finally able to order my favorite French delicacy – escargot! I know most of you are completely shocked, but yes, I like snails. And these ones were especially good – lots of garlic and butter! What can I say, they kind of taste like steamed clams to me.
I think I love Paris!
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