The first day of our much awaited trip to Paris began at 5:30 am. Fine and dandy except that it was supposed to begin at 5:00. Luckily I set a back up alarm at the last minute before going to bed. Why the other alarm didn’t go off is still a mystery. I don’t want to place blame, but on whose side of the bed do you think the alarm clock sits. My jobs are watching the kids and writing this blog. Neither are to strict on the start time in the morning. Regardless, we made it to the train on time. Actually we still had plenty of time to spare. Not being experienced train travelers, it’s tough to get used to the idea of simply walking on and sitting down. Very nice.
I spent most of the train ride up going over a few questions in my head so that we’d be able to purchase Paris Visite cards for use on the city’s Metro system. I do this type of preparation a lot and it goes great right up until they give the answer, in French. Listening and comprehension are going to take a while. Despite having to ask more than once, I finally got to the right ticket window and bought metro cards for the entire trip. In hindsight, worth the wasted 30 minutes.
So, the metro took us to (or within 2 blocks) of our hotel which was in the 7th Arrondissment, very near the Eiffel Tower. This turned out to be a lucky break on our part because Lane was only allowing us enough time to drop off luggage and use the bathroom before we headed out to see it. Pictures don’t do it justice. It can be spotted from all over Paris and it is really quite a site. If you haven’t seen it, it’s bigger than you have imagined. As are the lines to get up in it. Lane was already planning on climbing, which is a good thing because that line was only about ¾ as long as any of the other 3. 4 pillars and 4 lines waiting to get up in it, each of which had to be well over an hour long. Add in the women waiting to get in the only bathroom (on the ground) and there are a lot of people standing and waiting. I never read a statistic claiming it’s the most visited tourist site in the world, but you’d have trouble convincing me it’s something else.
The climb to the 2nd level, which is as high as you can climb, is 670 steps. This was surprisingly easy for us. Or not that surprising, if you’ve been reading about our hiking expeditions. Like being on a stairmaster for 20 minutes or so. Not a bad trade for the view, which is fascinating. From the 2nd level it’s another long wait for the elevator to the top, but once again, worth it.
After a nap we went searching for dinner, which turned out to be harder than we thought. After being at the Eiffel Tower, the side streets of Paris looked like a ghost town. The 15th is a national holiday….in August. Those two combined work together to equal many closed establishments. After looking for several guide book recommended cafes, we decided that the only places open were those not run by the French. After passing on a few kabob joints, we settled on a “French” café being run by a family that most certainly was not. Not a big deal, just not what we expected for our first night in Paris. As the trip turned out, in total we heard more conversations in other languages than we did in French. Paris, in August, it seems is full of people, just not Parisians.
Directly after dinner, the battery on my camera died. I, of course, did not pack the charger. As it was, I was very upset. I hate to think how I would have been had this been a once in a lifetime trip. Luckily for us, we’ll be back.
Our first evening was spent on night river boat tour up and down the Seine River. Extremely touristy thing to do? You bet. It’s also one of the easiest, and most beautiful, ways to see the city. Everything I said about the Eiffel Tower earlier gets magnified by about 10 at night. I heard that there are over 1 million lights on it. Then every hour they sparkle for 10 minutes or so. Audrey and Lane, along with the rest of the boat’s passengers, looked at nothing else while this was happening. Simply awesome.
Day 2 was spent mostly in the Latin Quarter. I wanted to start it by visiting a famous market on the Rue Moffetard. The street was nice, but like many attractions that rely on locals, it was greatly diminished in August. Coming from the U.S. it’s tough to deal with the notion of businesses and markets shutting down for an entire month. It was true though, we must have seen hundreds of signs saying “Returnee le 1st Septembre”.
Luckily they don’t close down parks, which is where we spent most of the day. The Jardin des Plantes is huge and has several different attractions. In the morning we visited a natural history museum full of stuffed animals ranging from common to extinct. Not for everyone, but we enjoyed it. In the afternoon we focused on live animals. The Jardin des Plantes is home to the oldest zoo, or menagerie, in the world. It did have some animals that we don’t usually see, but the best part, like most of Paris, was just the old ornate architecture.
Before leaving the Latin Quarter we stopped at an old arena built by the Romans. It was odd, like a miniature Coliseum. There were about 30 rows of bleachers above a sand arena, which was supposedly once home to all the typical Roman forms of entertainment. It struck me as odd that guys were out playing boules (French bacci ball) on a surface where Christians were once fed to lions. Dana and the kids had a race across it, but I took a little longer getting across.
That evening we strolled down the Champs Elysees. We took the metro to the Arc de Triumph and strolled down, which was unfortunate. We started with the best part first. Later in the week we strolled it the other way, much cooler. Save the massive historical monument at one end, the street itself is not all that much different than walking down Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It’s crowded, loud, and expensive. There are some very cool shops and sights, but it doesn’t take long to get your fill.
On Sunday morning, we went to church. Not like we usually do, but as tourists. The Notre Dame Cathedral is easily the single most impressive building I have ever seen. It was humbling to be in there, being in there during mass made it even more so. If not for the kids, I could have spent all day there looking at the religious artwork.
The Cathedral itself sits on the islands in the Seine. On the same island, on Sundays, there is a very odd market. It’s a pet market. Vendors were lined up selling pets. 90% of it was birds. There was every manner of exotic bird for sale here, most of which I had never seen before. Just another example of daily life that we treat as a tourist attraction. Watching what other people consider daily life can be fascinating.
We then left the Islands and strolled the streets of the Marsais neighborhood. We had dinner at a randomly selected café and it turned out to be our best meal of the trip, which is saying something. Because, overall our Parisian dining experience was a pleasant one, if you can ignore the cost (which I would advise if you ever make it to Paris. Double what you have planned for food and you’ll be better prepared. You’ll still go over, but it’ll be closer). The wait staffs were friendly, spoke English, and did not once try to rip us off. This goes against pretty much everything I had ever heard about waiters here. Most of the time the waitresses ended up trying to talk to and touch Lane’s cheeks, which usually did not go over well. Even though we live here, we used Paris as an opportunity to try some new, typical French dishes.
· Escargot - Ok, we’d had it before, but not in France. Before and after cooking these suckers look nasty, but drown ‘em in garlic butter and they sure are tasty. Although, that begs the questions: What wouldn’t be?
· Crouque Monsieur - The kids love these. A grilled ham and cheese sandwhich with the cheese on the outside. What’s not to love?
· Moules and Frites (Mussels and Fries) - These are Belgian more so than French, but I didn’t care. Neither do the French, they recognize a culinary hit when they see one. Nothing but steamed shellfish and a plate of taters. Good stuff
· Beef Carpaccio - Now we’re starting to get away from U.S. standbys. Thin slices of raw beef with olive oil and parmesan cheese, it’s not too bad. Dana didn’t even mind it, although not as much as we both liked……
· Steak tartar – That rights a raw hamburger with a raw egg thrown in for good measure. Throw in some seasoning and herbs and its ready to eat. Get past the fact that it’s cold (which my waitress reminded me twice while I was ordering. I’m envisioning a few unpleasantly surprised American tourists) and this stuff is excellent. I ordered it a second time later in the week. No, I didn’t get sick.
But, I digress. Back to Sunday. The Montmarte area is home to the Basilique du Sacre Couer. Yet another amazing structure in Paris. It was neat but we had more fun before and after visiting it. On the way there we rode a funicular to the top of the hill. This, in and of itself, was no big deal except that I finally saw something I’d been looking forward to. I witnessed my first “Parisian shrug”. For those not familiar, the French have a way of dismissing your problems as “your” problems simply by shrugging. The funicular could only carry about 20 or so up the hill at one time. A man next to me made it in but the remaining 5 in his group didn’t, a fact he hoped to use in his favor. I feel quite certain that the man working could have explained the sheer physics of the contraption and how 5 more would have been impossible or even that the man could just step off and wait, instead, he got the shrug. It was beautiful (I assume only because it hadn’t been directed at me).
The “after” was a walk through Place du Terte. Even if you don’t know this place, you know it. It’s the square where all the artists show up to draw your picture in exchange for money. In addition to money, it requires patience. Meaning that Audrey was willing, but Lane never once showed interest. This turned out to be, probably, the best half hour we spent in Paris. It was really fun. The artist we chose was really good, and seemed genuinely interested in drawing Audrey’s picture. Several people stopped to watch, one couple for the duration of the process. They even took a picture of Audrey and the finished product. Here’s a picture of it. See for yourself.
Dana’s Birthday. We headed to the Louvre. Much like the Eiffel Tower, it is much larger than you think. Before entering the museum we bought the kids 6 postcards each for our scavenger hunt. Foolishly, I thought finding all 12 couldn’t be too hard. 3 and ½ hours later we admitted defeat. Wait…that’s not true. We admitted defeat 3 hours later and then spent ½ an hour trying not to become permanent residents along side Mona. It may seem funny now, but it didn’t at 12:30 without lunch in our bellies.
In the evening we celebrated Dana’s Birthday by visiting, Le Bon Marche, the first ever department store. I read that the name translates to “The good buy”. I checked the tag on a shirt that I liked, it was 240 Euros. Maybe I missed something.
We ate supper at a nice restaurant nearby to celebrate. We had another great experience. It’s amazing how the kids have adapted to eating customs here. Dinner took 2 hours. The kids showed a little impatience at times, but for the most behaved very well. They’ve also adapted to the food well. Audrey had salmon and mushrooms in a puff pastry while Lane had the veal. Both were ordered off of the kids menu. No PBJ or Chicken strips here.
On Tuesday morning we visited a war museum at the Hotel des Invalides and Napoleon’s Tomb. The war museum was great even though we only saw about ¾ of it. I’ll bet we saw over 300 suits of armor in the medieval wing. We also saw guns that I swear were made up. If I’d seen them in a movie I would have dismissed them as Hollywood fabrications.
The wing dedicated to WWI and WWII quite an experience, especially the WWII sections. It was very interesting to see WWII from the French perspective. There are a number of jokes that I could insert here, but I’ll refrain. I’ll admit that I did snicker when I first read an information plaque describing how the French managed to slow the German defense and the success of the Maginot Line. (Those of you that are history buffs can join in) I then started to read and think more. I won’t share a lot of my thoughts, but I think everyone ought to have to see history from someone else’s view point.
The Hotel des Invalides and Napoleon’s Tomb are topped with a gold dome and have as much grandeur as any place we saw in Paris; therefore, Lane and I felt the need to balance out this pomp and circumstance with something less uhhhh dignified. For our next stop we went to, as Lane put it, “See some poop”. Les Egouts (the sewers) is a serious tourist attraction and despite the smell was quite interesting. It did not have a snack bar.
The Lion King was on tap for our last evening in Paris. Since it started at 8:00, a normal (2 hour) dinner wasn’t going to be possible. So, where do you go when you need a quick bite? The Golden Arches. Actually it tasted great and the 17 euro bill tasted even better.
The kids enjoyed the play, especially Audrey. She seemed undaunted by the fact that it was entirely in French. Lane enjoyed it, but at during one quiet moment he asked me (in his normal voice, which is not normal at all from a volume standpoint) “Why does it have to be in French, daddy?”. I agree.
The snack bar at the play provided my only communication error or rip off of the trip. I haven’t decided which it was. I ordered (in French) two apple juices and a coke. I got two apple juices, a coke and a double shot of whiskey. Now, it had to be one of three possibilities. 1) My French is that bad 2) She was ripping me off or 3) After 5 days in Paris with a 4 and 6 year old; I looked like I needed it. I passed on the shot and, upset for having paid too much, I headed back into the theater. I must have been forgetting that it was already 9:30 and there was an hour and a half of French theater left. Had I stopped to think about that, I probably would have reconsidered the shot. Anyway, the kids made it through the play and had a good time. We finally got back to the hotel around midnight.
On the final day we simply walked around for a while before catching the metro and then our train home. There’s nothing that’ll make a new home feel like “home” more than leaving it for a week. It was very nice to return. For those of you still reading, sorry I was so long winded, but, believe it or not, I’m sure I forgot plenty. I’ll add it in some later blog if I think of it.
Also, don’t forget to leave a comment if you like reading. It’s nice to know someone is reading this.
