It was a bit of a mixed bag today. A few disappointments but a few highlights to balance it out. The tour that I had booked for this morning was not what we expected. Firstly the Eiffel Tower was not included which was a surprise and secondly the bus tour around Paris was pathetic. The bus did not stop at any of the tourist points so we could take photos and rather than the tour guide giving a monologue, it was done by a recording (I assume to cater for all the different nationalities). Fortunately the cruise along the Seine was quite good and we had a chance to see Paris from a different perspective. The weather was brilliant so we sat on the top deck for a maximum experience.
The cruise ended at the Eiffel Tower so we briefly thought about lining up to climb her but quickly dismissed that idea because of the 1000s of tourists with the same idea. I have to say, every time I go near the base of the Tower, I want to run away screaming. We decided to walk to a nearby park and have lunch (which Sean had pre-packed, what a good husband) on the grass with a view of the Tower. Much better and nicer. The park was clean with very few people or hawkers and the trees blocked out the view of the base.
From there we decided to head over to the Arc De Triomphe (Sean's holy grail). You have to walk under the road via a tunnel to get to it due to the 7 lanes of traffic that circle the Arc (entering traffic has right of way over exiting traffic which is quite odd). It is a huge beautiful monument and in the middle is the eternal flame for the unnamed soldier. At 6.30 every afternoon a group of ex military arrive to lay fresh wreaths around it. On the internal wall of the Arc are all the names of the architects and designers. It was surreal being there after seeing it so many times on TV during the Tour De France. We even snuck a little kiss.
We then headed down the Champs Elysesses. Apparently this road is one of the most expensive in Paris as it houses all the top fashion designers. Preparations were finishing for tomorrow's Tour. All the seating was done, the barriers along the road were up and the merchandising stalls were already selling fan packs and souvenirs (which of course we purchased one of each type). All very exciting.
Four and half hours later (9 kms of walking) we headed back to our hotel for a rest and dinner. We over indulged again and had Nutella crepes for dessert. Nutella is huge over here. They don't believe in selling small bottles of the stuff either. And I also saw chocolate Special K. Decadent!!
Tomorrow is the big day and the reason we planned this trip. The last stage of the Tour De France. Sean is beside himself with excitement and I am sure the other milliue of people who are going to be there will be just as pumped. The riders don't get into Paris until about 6.00 pm but I am sure all the good viewing spots will be gone by early morning. It's going to be a long day. So until tomorrow, adieu.
Lorraine and Sean
Au Revoir
Sean and Lorraine
PS. Sean just remembered a few interesting moments he wants to share:
A few funny stories from this trip.
You may have noticed the pictures of the cafe seating previously and in the photos from tonight's dinner. It is literally like theatre seating with the people in the street cafe seating facing the street watching people go by and the people going by, watching the people in the cafe seating. AND you re not allowed to move the seating under any circumstances. You want to face the person you are with, you eat inside. Outside, its almost entirely side by side and if you move the chairs, you will be told to put them back. If you put items on the chairs either to reserve them or hold them, you will be told to remove the items. You cannot spread across two tables unless you are using all the chairs at the first table and need to spill over to another. PLUS you pay a premium for this seating and you must be consuming something, no sitting there sipping slowly.
Disney store on the Champs Elysesse, being frisked and bag checked on the way in, I refused the magic wand due to the pacemaker, but we were free to walk out unhindered.
Bag checks almost everywhere you go tourist wise, but laughably they hardly even check anything or even all the pockets in your bag. At one check the guy just said "Any knives?", I said "No", "Off you go then". WTF? Even when I refuse the scanner check (pacemaker), they don't even frisk me, just walk on through.
We have had to learn how to say "no" in many languages. There are beggars, gypsies and hawkers who are very persistent. They sell anything and everything, such as when its hot, they're selling water, then if it starts to rain, the water disappears and out come the umbrellas. When we see you in person we'll give you personal accounts of they're persistence and what they say suffice to say here is "no" in the various languages:
- English - No
- Italian - No
- French - No
- Russian - Nada
- Australian - Fuck off mate
2016-07-23 River Tour and Walking
2016-07-22 Versailles
2016-07-21 Notre Dame, Bastille, Eiffel Redux
2016-07-20 Louvre Walking Tour
2016-07-19 Au Revoir Geneve, Arrivee Paris
2016-07-18 Geneve
2016-07-17 Train Rome to Geneva
2016-07-16 Shopping Day Redux
2016-07-15 Shopping Day
2016-07-14 Vatican Day
2016-07-13 Vespa Day
2016-07-12.2 Walking Tour
2016-07-12.1 AM Morning Ramble and Lunch
2016-07-11.1 - Ramblings
2016-07-10 BNE-DXB-ITA
Others
2016-07 Euro Holiday (entire collection, includes Lorraine's iPhone photos I have previously missed)
Google Compositions
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