So in France it seems that Andrew wakes up early, ready to head out for the day. We like to call him 'French Andrew' so he's not confused with 'Australian Andrew' who does not greet the morning so enthusiastically. 'French Sarah' meanwhile takes her time in the morning- quite different to usual.
Enboldened by our Metro exploration yesterday we decided to use it as much as we could to tackle the next section of Paris- 'The Grands Boulevards'. Andrew had labelled this entry before we wrote it however, and while we certainly spent a lot of time on the Metro we also spent a lot of time on our feet- 20kms of walking all up today!
We started with a trip to see the mini Statue of Liberty and then caught the Metro to get off at the top of the Champs Elysees at the Arc de Triomphe and ended up walking the whole of the Triumphal Way (watching the set up for the Finale of the Tour De France as we went). Once again we marvelled at just how enormous the Arc de Triomphe is, and spent some time at the base (both across the road and then on the roundabout it sits on). Tried to decipher the traffic rules around it, and we think it is just 'go when you can'. We felt like we'd seen the view from a higher vantage point yesterday on the Tour Montparnasse, so decided to give climbing the stairs a miss. Headed off down the Champs Elysees. It was fun to people watch as we went and to see some of the more high class hotels and shops (Guerlain Perfume store was the most beautifully decorated). We saw a man riding a bike and walking 9 dogs at the same time at one point- Andrew took a video to show you kids, it was pretty impressive. Made it to the Obelisk of Ramses III at the Place de la Concorde (with a beautiful Gold pyramid on top) and crossed the perilous roundabout with oceans of traffic to make it into the Tuileries Gardens. We gave our tired feet a rest by sitting near the pond for a while then headed down the way, past statues and playgrounds and a carousel to finally reach the smaller version of the Arc de Triomphe (the Arc de Triomphe de Carousel) at the other end. We found out later in the day that the two arcs are in perfect alignment and point directly in the direction of Rome. We looked across to the Louvre but didn't go further as we know we'll be there on Saturday. Headed back up the Tuileries pathway to find somewhere for lunch and ended up in the 'American Sandwhich' shop at the edge of the Funfair. Andrew was very proud of himself for completing the whole order and bill in French- our lessons last night paid off. Delicious burgers and fries were had and then we headed off to our next destination (pausing to take some pics of the Funfair).
Next stop was 'Bastille' on the Metro and that's exactly what we did- looked at the Bastille monument (which was under some renovation) and then headed back to the hotel via a number of Metro changes to get ready for our trip up the Eiffel Tower.
After a quick outfit change and a quick foot rest we headed back out to the Trocadero to have dinner and prepare to meet our tour guide for the night. We decided on dinner at Cafe Trocodero- definately a place to meet up and be seen. Almost ordered snails to share as an entree but decided against it and had mains and shared dessert instead. Asparagus Risotto for me and Steak with Bernaise for Andrew. The dessert 'menu was actually a plate with all the desserts on it as a sample. Pretty good advertising- chocolate tart was the winner for us. Watched lots of Paris life go by and sat next to a table where a little dog had its own place at the table- exactly as per the stereotype. I took a sneaky picture to show you guys.
Time to go and meet up with our Tour for the Eiffel Tower by Night- we had to meet at 9.30pm and it was still completely light outside. Met our Tour Guide- Ferrit. We thought maybe it was a nickname at first until he told us how to spell it. He looked exactly how you'd imagine a starving artist living in a garret in Paris should look- like he was from 'casting agency 101'. He was so very good at his job, kept everyone moving and entertained and guided us through the crowds effortlessly, remembered everyone's names (25 people or so) and kept saying 'come my people' when we needed to move ahead. So awesome to watch people who are doing their job very well in action. He was convinced that Andrew looked like Gustave Eiffel so kept referring to 'your design Andrew' and 'do you think you were successful in your bid Andrew'. He also thought Andrew very likely to propose to me at the top of the tower. We didn't have the heart to tell him we've been married 17 years, so just took it as a compliment!
Favourite moment of the night was when they turned on the lights on the Eiffel Tower after sundown (they go on for 5 mins on the hour after sunset) and we were at the perfect vantage point. Thanks Ferrit!
Lots of security checks and waiting to go up in the lift to the second floor but finally we emerged on the tower and saw Paris spread out below us as a sea of light. Breathlessly beautiful. We spent some time there admiring the view and listening to Ferrit's interesting and entertaining commentary. Finally it came time to give back our headphones and say goodbye. That's when we called you kids (Hi!) and then started the much more boring and painful process of waiting for the lift to go back down. So many people, and it was past midnight by this stage- two very weary travellers made their way back to the hotel. 'Come my people', it's time to sleep.
(photos to come when internet connection allows)
