Day 4: Monday, June 5 – Paris The day is still overcast and it’s even a bit chilly. Our first step is The Gap on the Champs-Elysées that the girls spotted yesterday. They each buy a jacket and a long sleeve shirt. They didn’t believe me back in Dallas when I told them that summer
Day 4: Monday, June 5 – Paris
The day is still overcast and it’s even a bit chilly. Our first step is The Gap on the Champs-Elysées that the girls spotted yesterday. They each buy a jacket and a long sleeve shirt. They didn’t believe me back in Dallas when I told them that summer could be quite chilly in France and didn’t pack anything even remotely warm! Luckily, we are able to buy “on sale” which means that we pay what we would have paid in Dallas, i.e., “regular” prices!!
Overcast or not, today is Eiffel Tower day, there is no more denying this experience to the girls! From the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées, it is just a short walk through Avenue Montaigne, famous for the designers’ stores, and the Avenue de New York to the Eiffel Tower.
The girls can barely contain their excitement as we approach. As much as they have enjoyed Paris so far, to them, the Eiffel Tower is Paris. You know, when you think about it, it is just a pile of iron, but what a glorious pile of iron it is. It is truly majestic, almost – lacelike. Now that it has become Paris’ landmark by excellence, it is hard to think that this structure was scheduled to be demolished twenty years after the World Fair of 1889! Had it not been for the advent of radio, and the need to put an antenna as high up as possible, it would have all been….melted!
It is probably because it is overcast, but we have no problems going up. There is no line at the ticket counter, we buy our tickets and we don’t wait more than 2 minutes for the elevator. I would have preferred to take my time and take the stairs, but the girls won’t hear it! We go up only to the second floor because a sign indicates that it’s too foggy to enjoy a good view from the top floor.
Kimberley checks out the view from the 2nd floor
The clouds cannot diminish the astonishing view of the city from the second floor. We use one of the telescopes to check out the sights we have already seen and the ones we are about to see. Have a couple of 10 francs coins handy, it is really worth it!
The architectural harmony of the city is so obvious from up here, it feels as if someone had taken a giant board, drawn a city and built it…except that it took centuries, literally, to get to this point. How each year, each decade, each century built upon the previous one, in total harmony, is truly astonishing.
I can’t help thinking at some of our American cities, like Dallas and Houston, for example, where zoning, planning and urbanization seem to have been done haphazardly without any comprehensive, long term vision. In fact, as much as I love the United States and the life I have there, I think that’s what bothers me the most, this lack of continuity, this lack of respect for things of the past, this continual need for something new… well, I’ll get back to that later.
It is cold up here, but the girls and I can’t get enough of the view, we go around and around, as if we could engrave these views permanently in our minds. Lunch has to be at the Tour Eiffel, and a few stairs lead us to the restaurant Jules Verne. I am dressed in capris and silky top, and the girls have jeans and their new white jean jackets on. But we all have our walking shoes on and I am afraid that we won’t be dressed up enough for such a fancy place, but we try our luck anyway. It is one o’clock and there is a table for us! In fact there are three available tables, so much for all the guides that tell you that you can’t get in without a reservation taken weeks in advance! Again, maybe it is due to the dismal weather.
Many American tourists are there, and very few people are dressed up, except some older ladies who obviously are locals having a fancy time. We do not get a “window” table per se, but know that all the tables have a superb view. The restaurant isn’t very deep, and you truly don’t have to be at the window to enjoy great sights. We face the Seine and the Pont d’Alma but have what seems an unlimited view of the northern and eastern parts of the city.
The food is incredible in taste and presentation, the service impeccable. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres are served while you wait for your meal, mini quiches and other puff pastries. Different menus are offered every day. I have salmon and the girls have steaks. Wonderful vegetables accompany the dishes, in a stunning presentation. All the desserts are to die for, of course. I believe that this is the fanciest restaurant the girls have ever been to, and they appreciate every minute of it. “This is our birthday lunch, ok, Mom,” says Kimberley as she checks out the prices. It is expensive but worth every franc. We pay 963 francs (including only one glass of wine), $143.00. If you have limited funds to splurge, make sure that in Paris, the Jules Verne is where you do it!
After our two hour lunch, we buy post cards and stamps at the post office of the Tour Eiffel. We write them over another cup of coffee at the snack shop…someone is going to have to chisel us out of here…I insist that we take the stairs, and not the elevators, to go down and I am glad we do because there is a wealth of information waiting at every landing! Go to the Tower’s official website and check it out.
It is colder and mistier, so we take the BatoBus at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. A day ticket in the glass covered boat gives you access to all the places you want to go: Musée d’Orsay, St-Germain des Prés, Notre-Dame on the left bank, Hôtel de Ville, Louvre and Champs-Elysées on the right bank. You can hop on and off all day, and the boats come every 20 minutes. A great way to go when you don’t feel like walking or when the weather doesn’t cooperate!
Notre Dame
Notre-Dame is our destination, and this time there are no lines. In fact, the church is amazingly deserted (middle of the afternoon), so we can visit the cathedral to our heart’s content! The vastness is awesome (the cathedral can accommodate up to 9,000 people!) and the three stained-glass rose windows are simply magnificent. I continue to be amazed at the amount of natural light that builders from so long ago were able to harness. Even on this cloudy day, the church is bright, and I can only imagine what the rays of light given by the sun do to it on a better day! You can rent a walking tape at the entrance, but we decide to investigate on our own.
I am distraught and shocked to see signs warning about pickpockets. In all the walking we have done so far, in all our trips in the métro, we have felt very safe in Paris, safer than in downtown Dallas, actually. I think a little common sense goes a long way. I am carrying a mini backpack that would be very difficult for someone to open without me noticing it! However, there is no doubt that a bold and experienced crook could probably cut off the straps in a jiffy. I am claustrophobic, so I always avoid being close to other people and avoid crowds with a passion. Make sure you always hold on tight to your purse, a backpack or a pouch at your waist are probably the best. You will need your hands for your map anyway! With these simple precautions, you should have no problems in Paris. Don’t be paranoid, and enjoy the city.
There are 350 steps to the top of the towers from which I understand there is a splendid view. The girls don’t want to go up so I forgo the top, but I do visit the Trésor of Notre-Dame (only 25 francs), a beautiful collection of religious artifacts from the 13th century onward, including papal robes, sacramental cutlery and other gilded artifacts. Back in the church, I sit on a bench thinking that Joan of Arc was tried right here in the 15th century, and that Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned here in 1804 (I still remember the year from an exam I took!). Tomorrow at the Louvre we should be able to see the large painting depicting his coronation.