Random explorations & the Eiffel Tower

Given the late night, an early morning wasn’t expected – or likely.  And so it proved, with the first bleary eyes being opened around 11.  At least it was prior to lunchtime, I guess. I did the morning coffee & croissant run – had some minor amusement with trying to get lids for 4 coffees (nope) or a tray (non) or a carry bag (nyet).  My look of bemusement must have sparked something in the cafe owner because with a flash of inspiration he disappeared out the door and off down the road.

Unsure whether he was trying to help or off to find the culture police to arrest me for crimes against all things French, I waited for a few minutes – til he turned up again with a plastic box procured from who knows where.  Voila!  Coffees safely secured, I managed the trip back to the apartment with scarcely a third degree burn to show for it.

Off we trundled into the city again, with the first stop being Notre Dame.  And a very brief stop it was, as the line was lengthy and immobile.  So obviously the next choice was to find the best ice cream shop in Paris (located conveniently nearby) which was just opening for the day – we had the first 4 ice cream cones off the rack, as it were, and all I can say is that the place deserves all the recommendations it gets.  Eating spectacularly good ice cream, sitting on the banks of the Seine watching the world go past.  Yeah, it’s a shit of a life, I tell you.  We wandered into a nearby park to check out work being sold by local artists, but not before I stopped for a while to enjoy some groovin’ jazz from the buskers on the bridge.  Have to mention them just because they really were all that and then some – especially the piano player.  Great stuff.

We spent quite a while in the park – Bec was chatting to one of the artists – and then discovered the short line to get into Notre Dame.   The one we’d been looking at was the queue to buy tickets to go to the top.  Oops.  So we looked around there for a while (there’s something about the Gothic churches, I tend to like the gloom a bit more than the newer, brighter versions) and then decided that breakfast had subsided enough to think about ingesting a few thousand more calories.

Lunch consisted of all sorts of things – a slightly mad but very amusing waiter, snails and frogs legs, beer & wine (of course) and a few somewhat more normal dishes.  Burp.  Again.  Given that it was now late afternoon (the perfect time for lunch, of course) we figured we should get moving to ensure we got to the Musee d’Orsay in time.  Which we did.  Just in time … for it to close.  Wicked.  Next choice was the Tuilleries Gardens (just beside the Louvre, for those of you poring over your Paris map as you’re reading this.  I know there’s plenty of you…) which was pretty impressive  really.  The sun was trying its best to be out, kids and adults playing in the park (though not actually on the grass, of course – the grass police would have had a field day) and a group of friends enjoying dessert and wine in a cafe in the middle of the gardens.  Well, three of them were – the other one (me) was desperately still trying to digest his lunch.

Finishing up there, we decided no trip to Paris would be complete without driving around the Arc de Triomphe.  For those of you that aren’t aware, the Champs-Elysse roundabout that has the Arc de Triomphe in the middle is complete and utter insanity.  No other word for it.  There’s at least 8 streets that come off it, and there’s multiple lanes going in and out of it – but no actual lanes, traffic lights, signs or anything else once you’re on the roundabout proper.  It’s every man, woman and child for themselves – so we hailed a cab and set off.  The cabbie was great, actually – up the Champs-Elysse with traffic getting heavier and heavier, twice round the roundabout navigating from side to side while avoiding tour buses, cars, scooters (and I’m pretty sure I saw a low flying wombat in there as well) and then off to the Eiffel Tower.  The Arc de Triomphe was massive and very impressive too – when I didn’t have my view obscured by wombat fur, at least.

After queuing for at least half a century (or 40 minutes), Bec and Tim headed up to the top of the Eiffel Tower while Greer and I, who have both been up there before, went to the first level (less than half the price) and after a brief wander admiring the view and  wondering why one would put explanatory signs up describing a building or park that you actually can’t see, pulled up a couple of chairs and started on the Heinekens.  There’s something fundamentally decadent (and fantastic) about having your feet up on the Eiffel Tower knocking back the beers and talking shit, especially once it got dark and the city (and tower itself) were lit up.  Just spectacular.  If you’re ever in Paris and go up the Eiffel Tower, I’d highly recommend heading up in the evening and staying until after dark to see Paris at its best.  The Heinekens are optional, but I’d highly recommend those too.

We stayed until we got kicked out at closing time (midnight) and then continued our mission to keep Paris’s taxi drivers employed and headed back to the apartment to rest our weary bones (and feet).