Dennis in Paris

I found Paris to be a magnificent city. There is a beauty and richness in the city’s architecture that I can imagine only existing in cities with the depth of history and culture that Paris has.  Paris has such a wealth of gorgeous bridges and buildings that have far outlived what we have in any major city in the US; serving for me as a reminder about how young our Country is. I took the Eurostar from London to Paris and it was an easy, comfortable, and fast way to travel. Below is a picture of my first view of France as taken from the speeding Eurostar train (300 KM/H). It was just what I imagined the French countryside would look like.

From the Eurostar train station I took another train to my hotel and  from there was dropped by bus at this location close to my hotel. Absolutely beautiful! But all I had was an address for my hotel, no map and very little ability to communicate with people. It is like Steve Martin said, “I just got back from a trip to France. In France they call a ‘house’ a ‘maison’ and they a ‘road’ a ‘rue’. It’s like they have a different word for everything!” Finding my hotel was a bit of a challenge. I did what I have done on much of this trip: a lot of walking, a lot of sweating, a lot of taking in the scenery and enjoying the moment. Here are some pictures from that walk.

 

After a refreshing shower I headed out to explore Paris. I began by taking the train to the Notre Dame stop. Coming up out of the station I could not see the Cathedral and so I began walking in search of a place to purchase a map. I went into a gift shop, but there were no maps there. The proprietor was very kind, however, and he gave me his own worn out pocket map. He circled where we were and how to get to the Cathedral. This is the first view I had of the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris. Wow! It is far more magnificent than I even imagined it would be.

 

The Patron Saint of Paris, formerly known as “Luteium”, is the First Bishop Dyonisius (St. Denis). Building of the Cathedral began in 1163.  This is an enormous building and I saw it from every angle – taking many pictures. There is not a single picture that turned out poorly; this building is just magnificent from every distance and every angle. From Notre-Dame I walked along the River Seine to the Musee de Louvre and saw I.M. Pei’s Louvre Pyramid. Then I walked up a street I have always wanted to walk up: the Champs de Elysee. As a cyclist, this is the most magnificent race finish ever. I got to the Arc de Triomphe just as the sun was beginning to set. It is much larger and more magnificent than I even imagined it would be. (Common theme for my trip to Paris.) 

 

On Day 2 I slept in until 10:00! OK, in all fairness that is only 9:00 in the UK and 1:00 in the morning PST. My first objective was to visit the Musee d’Orsay, but that line (or as the British call it the "Queue“) was way too long and so I had to leave that as the top objective for Day 3. But I did get to the Tower de Eiffel and climbed the 670 stairs to the second level. The views of Paris from there are breathtaking (actually all those stairs were breathtaking and so it wouldn’t have mattered what the view was I would have been out of breath). I took a picture of this just because it seemed a bit odd to me that there is drinking water coming out the back of the toilet. I wouldn’t drink that water.

I rented a bike like I did in London and found it to be a fast and economical way to get to a lot of places. I walked across the Pont de Arts Bridge, which has thousands of padlocks with lovers’ names written onto the locks and placed onto the fencing on the side of the bridge. These are referred to as “love locks”. I came back to the hotel earlier tonight and took a stroll along the beautiful streets by the town where the hotel is. It was quiet and so beautiful.

My last day in Paris. There were several train outages and so that meant more walking and a little bus riding. I was able to store my bags in a locker at the train station. Why don’t airports and train stations in the US still have storage lockers? There is a screening process before entering the storage area. Lockers were 5,40 Euros/day (about $10 USD). In Paris there is a comma not a period after the larger denomination. So, 5,40 Euros is really 5.4 Euros. Storage lockers would be a good business in the US especially at airports and train terminals located in/near major cities.

I found a vegetarian restaurant right near the river; the line was out the door which led me to believe that it would be good place to try. It was the best meal I’ve had on this trip so far! I had something that resembled a grilled vegetarian Panini wrap, and a fruit smoothie. In my first week and a half of traveling I have only eaten out a handful of times (only a few dinners and maybe one lunch) and so this was a nice treat. After this tasty meal I walked to the Musee d’Orsay and on my way almost got scammed. A woman and young child bent down to the ground as we passed each other going in opposite directions. As they bent down they picked something up from the sidewalk. Then they came running after me as if I had dropped it. It was a gold ring and she was very insistent upon giving it to me despite my continual protests that it was not mine. This exchange was going on for a little while when a French woman came up to me and said in English to ignore the woman and walk away. She said it is a typical scam in Paris. So, I continued walking and talking with this French woman and thanked her for rescuing me from being scammed.

The line at the Musee d’Orsay was a small fraction of what it was yesterday. The museum more than meets up to all the strong reviews given to it. If you go, make certain to go to the top floor and look out from the back of the clock; facing Sacre Couer on North Hill. This was probably the best view I saw my entire trip in Paris with the possible exception (and totally different kind of view) of the quiet streets by the hotel I stayed at.  

 

I walked from there to the Ile de la Cite and Pont Neuf. It is a peaceful place right in the middle of the river: one of the only remaining islands on the river.