After a quick flight to Paris and a minor epic in Charles de Gaulle Airport (can you fly through there without some issue?), Theresa and I are back together! We headed into Paris and checked in to the Hotel Saint Christophe in the Latin Quarter of Paris. We were very pleased with this hotel, friendly, clean and great location.
Jet lag be damned, we headed out into the city, first stop the Eiffel Tower. The only other time I was in Paris was 21 years ago almost to the day and the tower was closed for the 100th anniversary celebration. This time everything was open but apparently we weren't the only ones who thought today was a good day to visit. The line to take the elevator to the top was ridiculously long so we opted to take the stairs to the first two levels, much cheaper and the lines were short. It was cool to be able to head up into the tower this time, seeing the construction details up close and seeing the nice panorama of the city from the 2nd level. The 2nd level is somewhere around 450 feet high so walking up there is akin to taking the stairs up to the 50th floor of a building.
We then headed to the Arc de Triomphe and wandered down the Champs-Élysées. We did the tourist thing and had a drink, people watching the tourists and Parisians wander down this famous street. From the Obelisk at the end of the street we headed into the theater district and had a drink and a hot dog (!?) at Harry's New York Bar, a famous old bar that Hemmingway among others used to frequent. They clearly took their name to heart, charging prices worthy of both Paris and New York!
The next day we had a Louvre tour scheduled. I'm not a big fan of guided tours but we had used one to skip the lines when we visited the Vatican and been very happy. We were again pleased to use a tour as we got to skip the lines to get in and learn a great deal more than we would have just wandering the museum. We saw many of the highlights including my favorite statue, the Winged Victory, and the underwhelming Mona Lisa. There's still a lot I'd like to see there, especially the Egyptian exhibits, but that will be for another trip.
After the Louvre tour we headed down the Seine and had a nice but chilly picnic of bread, cheese, salami and some wine in a nice park on the Île de la Cité . Paris was experiencing record low temperatures which weren't that cold, just colder than we wanted or had planned for (highs in the low 60s and windy I think). After the picnic and a nice warm crepe we headed to Notre Dame. If you visit, I recommend skipping the relics exhibit. It's not worth the few Euros that it cost. Better just to wander around, checking out the amazing gothic architecture. From Notre Dame we headed back to the room for a quick nap. We ended the night with a great dinner at a restaurant right around the corner from our hotel.
The next morning we headed to the Palace at Versailles under grey and threatening skies and chilly temperatures. The Palace is very much worth the slight hassle to get there, stunning in its size and opulence. We wandered the inside apartments and the grand salons before venturing into the gardens. A little rain has us moving quickly toward the exits but it stopped quickly, not really hampering our visit. Right by the train station was a restaurant advertising tex-mex. We got lured in and tried it....suckers! It was pretty bad and the service was worse, our one bad meal in Paris. From Versailles we moved back to Paris and visited Montmartre and the iconic Sacre Couer. While touristy, wandering around this neighborhood is pretty cool. We also took the winding staircase to the top of Sacre Couer, and took in what must be the best view in Paris. Tres Bien!
We had a great time in Paris and both liked the city more than we had planned. The Parisians were almost all extremely gracious and helpful, very much unlike the stereotypes.
Off to Mallorca tomorrow.
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