Okay, sooooo, it was really a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Paris, but that doesn't sound nearly as cool, does it? I know I haven't posted much about London yet (we have really been busy!), but I think I am going to jump in with a post about Paris before too much more time gets away from me.
I will start with the most wonderful thing about Paris......we got to share it with Mom/Grandma and Dad/Gramps. Here is a picture of the day they arrived at the airport here in London. These were 2 happy boys!
We took a Eurostar train from London to Paris via the "Chunnel". For those of you who don't know (and this would have included ME before we started planning this trip), the Chunnel is a tunnel that goes under the English Channel, connecting England with France. It is about a 2 1/2 hour train ride from London to Paris, with only about 15 minutes in "the Chunnel". It was a wonderful, smooth, scenic fun ride. Amazing that you can eat breakfast in London and then lunch in Paris!
We arrived at Gare du Nord station ~ a very busy place. Was a bit strange to hear announcements in French only. Jeff knows a bit of French and the boys and I learned the basics prior to our trip, but we are far from conversant in any language other than English. One other little issue ~ we hadn't exchanged any of our "pounds" for "euros" prior to arrival and it cost .70 euros to use the bathroom in the train station (this has been an interesting thing to get used to ~
paying to use public restrooms ~ though we run across it in England, it was far more prevalent in Paris). Once THAT was taken care of, we joined the taxi line and headed to our hotel: The Crowne Plaza.
The Crowne Plaza was on Place de la Republique, a very busy plaza which gave us a taste right from our arrival of what traffic in Paris was going to be like. The hotel was situated on one end with a great view of the street from my parents' room. The plaza was flooded with cars, taxis, motorcycles, scooters, bikes and pedestrians at pretty much all hours of the day. The roadway did not have lanes painted on it so traffic weaved in and out with what appeared to us as no organized pattern whatsoever. We thought sure we would see an accident while there, but we didn't so they must know what they are doing. I have thought all along that I wouldn't want to drive in London, but I knew for sure I would NEVER want to drive in Paris, though at least they drive on the right side of the road. :)
Once again, Jeff did a wonderful job with our accomadations. The Crowne Plaza was truly an oasis in a crazy, busy, hectic, foreign city. Thank you, Jeff!
We did a ton of walking that first afternoon, but first we had to get some food ~ our first meal in Paris was at this cafe. Some of the restaurants had English translations on the menu, some did not....can't remember if this one did or not, but the language barrier sure made meals interesting.
Restaurants were one of the places the boys really got to use the basic French they had learned. They charmed many a waiter this way ~ the rest of us tried, but for some reason, with us adults, the waitstaff didn't find it all quite as amusing.
After lunch we started what Gramps came to jokingly refer to as a "forced march", with the planned culmination being the Eiffel Tower. We never made it that far ~ found too many distractions along the way, but the afternoon walking through Paris was an amazing experience.
This was a government building we passed on our march...I mean, walk. A new law was going into effect raising the retirement age to 62 from 60 and people were beginning to protest. Apparently in the days since we left Paris, the protesting and unrest have escalated ~ it was interesting to see it's beginnings but I am glad we missed the rest.
We walked past the Louvre, a massively large building, and set our sights on the Arc de Triomphe in what appeared to be the near-distance, setting off up the Champs Elysees.
MILES (and blisters) later, we reached it!
The arc itself is stunning, but we saw people at the top and though we hadn't planned on it, Chris asked if we could climb it. After some confusion (and a lot of extra walking) we found the tunnel under the roadway to get to it and climbed the 294 stairs to get to the top. Much heart-pounding and thigh burning later, we were rewarded with an amazing view of Paris and this view of the Eiffel Tower:
Below is a view of the traffic at the base of the Arc. You can't see his flashing lights, but there is a police car trying to get through the middle of this mess. Again, NEVER want to drive in Paris.
The next day was dominated by the Louvre ~ it is overwhelmingly big and filled with amazing treasures ~ 35,000 of them to be exact. We spent a couple of hours there and that was perfect ~ we only saw a small portion of what was there, but we enjoyed every bit of it.
The crowds to see the Mona Lisa were huge and a bit rude ~ there was actually a bit of pushing and shoving going on as people tried to get photos (not by me, of course!). It was nothing, though, compared to the craziness of trying to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, where two women almost broke into a fist fight right next to me.
Here is Chris' proof that he actually saw the Mona Lisa (please forgive the crooked picture ~ I think I got bumped as I was taking it). I cannot say enough about how well Ben and Chris have handled what for them are the "educational" portions of this trip. They have spent literally hours listening to audio-guides, following "trails" and listening to speakers at various museums. I am SO proud of you two!!!
Ben and Chris were excited to finally see the glass pyramid that caps the entrance to the Louvre. We had seen so many pictures of it ~ is fun to have our trip research come to life! It is hard to make out, but the sign behind Ben says "Musee du Louvre".
Ben, Grandma, Gramps and I followed up the museum with lunch at a cafe on the Seine. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The cafes, both on the river and off, usually have some outdoor seating. I don't think I got a picture of it, but they situate the tables and chairs so that they are all facing out toward the river or street, not so that the people are facing each other. It is probably hard to picture without actually seeing a picture of it, but it is an interesting visual, both when the chairs are empty and when they are filled by people.
This was one happy boy ~ he had Grandma and Gramps all to himself!
After lunch, we met up with Jeff and Chris and spent the sunny afternoon floating on the Seine on a boat tour. It was a fantastic way to get a perspective of how Paris is laid out, seeing many of the main attractions from the river, as shown above. The boat tour made the "Top 5" in Paris for most of us.
Another item on our "Top 5" was our walk up to the Eiffel Tower. We approached the Tower through a long park on its south side, giving us great views of it. Was quite surreal....we found ourselves finally acknowledging that yes, WE were actually in PARIS.
This is one of my favorite pictures from Paris. The boys were not thrilled with the berets, but we thought they would be cute and, in my humble opinion, they WERE!
There are 2 ways up the Eiffel Tower ~ by stairs and by "lift" (elevator) ~ though the boys wanted to do the stairs, they were overruled. However, the lines for the lifts were ridiculously long, so we put going up into the Tower on hold until the following morning. We had a nice dinner in a cafe next to the Tower and had this view of it afterward:
The next morning we got up and headed back to the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, the very top level was closed due to fog(????), but we were able to go up to the 2nd level which had a nice view of the city. Paris goes on in all directions as far as the eye can see.
As cool as it was to know we were ON the Eiffel Tower, the view from the Tower is nothing compared to the view of the Tower, especially the way we had approached it the evening before. I have always thought the Eiffel Tower was neat, but I now feel like I understand why it is the icon that it is.
Our final stop in Paris was the Cathedral of Notre Dame. We have seen many cathedrals on this trip and I have really enjoyed all of them. I loved the stunning exterior of Notre Dame ~ some of the most compelling architecture of the trip.
This is a side door ~ the detailing of the stone and iron work was amazing.
This is a more distant view of it from the back and from across the Seine. I thought I better include at least one more picture with me in it, so people will know I was really here.
The inside of the cathedral was stunning as well, although it was dark and hard to see in places.
The stained glass was gorgeous. I especially liked this display, which was repeated on the opposite wall.
The main altar
Loved the ceiling and all the arches!
We took an additional tour of the sacristy which was full of interesting riches and relics. Below is what I am guessing is a gigantic lectern. On it were the heads of an angel, a lion, an ox and an eagle to represent the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. There was a row of 12 heads below it, which I am assuming represent the 12 disciples ~ it was very unique and intriguing.
I am not kidding when I say "relics" ~ these are actually bones of people considered important in church history, though I am not sure who. I thought it was pretty creepy, but the boys thought it was pretty cool.
After the Cathedral, Jeff and the boys headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags, while Mom, Dad and I took a little stroll through a quaint shopping area that was just like I had always pictured Paris. There was even a man playing the accordian on the bridge we crossed ~ we could hear his music as we walked the streets ~ it really added to the atmosphere. Here are a couple of pictures from that walk, just to give you a feel for what it was like:
After that, we headed for the train station, Gare de Nord, to meet up with the boys and catch our train back to London. Throughout our days in Paris, we enjoyed the interchanges we had with the Parisians. Most everyone was kind to us and were good about our lack of ability to speak their language. We did, however, have an interesting experience with our taxi driver on our way back to the station. The traffic got very congested part way through the ride and he started turning off the road talking to us rapidly in French. I assumed he was saying he was taking another route because of the traffic, but then he pulled over and motioned for us to get out. Evidently, he didn't want to lose money by being stuck in traffic because he was refusing to take us any farther. We were a bit stunned, but got out and started walking, following the signs for the train station ~ luckily we were only about a mile or so away and had plenty of time, so we made it there no problem. It was very strange not to be able to communicate with him, and it made me fully appreciate how kind everyone else had been.
The train ride home was enjoyable and we returned to London, tired but excited about all we had seen and done. It was an AMAZING (that is for you, Mom) "weekend" in Paris.
