What a thrill to be in Paris. Sooz is still a bit off colour so after we breakfasted (on cappuccino, baguette, butter and jam), I decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower. I was going to walk down to the Seine river and follow it around to le Tower. That was the plan, but then I saw a HOHO bus and decided I'd catch that ... near the Louvre.
I had no idea where the bus would go but they usually do the sights and sites of a city so it was a safe bet I would see something ... and I did. Did someone say Eiffel Tower, Rodin Museum, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Les Invalides? There were more but that's a taste. Alas it was a 'dreary' day - 'dreary' was used in a weather forecast here a couple of days ago but while it was overcast and cold, it wasn't raining.
I need to better know how to find a public toilet in Paris. I think I stumbled into a medical clinic (it might have been more upscale than not) today and when I wasn't challenged I made a bee line for the toilette. It was a great relief to have found it before I boarded the bus.
The BigBus was good and I braved the top deck so I could take photos without having to shoot through the windows (the reflections are often not helpful). I was glad to have my puffer jacket because when we picked up speed between locations, it was a bit on the chill side.
I have to admit that as we drove up the Avenue des Champs-Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe, there may have been a tiny tear! Paris!!!! This was probably because I'm here and I still hadn't seen the Eiffel Tower but according to the diagram on the back of the seat in front of me - we were going there.
And we did! Not only that, we drove past people posing in Olympic Rings near the Eiffel Tower - and then we drove so close to it I could almost touch it. But still the top of it was shrouded in mist! Maybe it will be clear skies tomorrow.
I jumped off the bus at the Louvre - did you know the BigBus takes you right past the 'front' of it where the glass pyramids are - and do you know it's only as I'm writing this that I'm remembering seeing them ruined in that Tom Cruise movie, 'The Tomorrow War'. Yes, yes, I had also been looking for sharks in the Seine ('Under Paris') and wondering which of the bridges were destroyed at the end of the movie. There are so many movies to re-watch after this trip including 'The Sound of Music' (again) following the trip to Salzberg.
At least I feel as though I know a little bit more of where things are in the city now, although I am going to have to take another look at the map - and my notes - to check how we're going to fit all the things we want to do in the next week.
The bistro where I stopped for a cafe creme (and a facilities break) was across from Notre Dame and really quite nice. From there it was only a 20-minute walk back to the hotel. I think we really have picked quite a good area to be in - and I especially love it because there aren't cobble stones right outside so we're less likely to break a fetlock. Although, that being said, the laneway at the back of the hotel is cobbled and has a nasty gradient on it so we're going to stay out of that as much as we can.
Dinner tonight was at a bistro up the road near here. Come to think of it, I will have to check that map because I think there are five streets/avenues from the end of our block. We were able to get in because we could be finished by 8,30pm - so this was one meal where we were not going to take our time (as we have heard the Parisians like to do). Mmmmm - charcuterie board.
There is a supermarket just up (one of) the street(s) from here so we called in for some supplies before we wandered back to the hotel so I could finish catching up on my blogging. Most of the television channels in the room are in French, but we did find a program called Afrimaxx which was in English and really quite entertaining and informative. It made a change from the English-language news (none of it good) programs - and how lucky were we not to have been in Amsterdam for the rioting!