Central Paris

Wednesday, 6 June 2012

A panel on Le Arc de Triumph
that made Joelle's "Naked Count"

The naked body count hit 73 today. We learned Joelle has been tabulating since we landed, mostly male genitalia. We haven't been to the Moulin Rouge or included the sculptures at the Louvre. Metro stations are lined with billboards promoting the London Olympics featuring fat, and I mean fat, naked statues engaged in something that may not actually be an Olympic event. We hope it is a joke with one heck of a punch line.

Ecole Militarie is our first gopher hole of the day and a short walk to the Eiffel Tower. There are between 667 and 690 steps from the ground to the second level deck depending on if you go with Hannah or Joelle's count. That half the elevators are closed until August for undisclosed technical issues and repairs doesn't fill you with confidence. Factor in the length of the resulting line to ascend in the operable elevator and climbing the stairs switches from a romantic ideal to a no brainer. I won't bother to comment on the number of people stopped at various points along the stairs, other than to say a significant number were covered in various NY Yankees memorabilia.


The Eiffel Tower view is the best in Paris for understanding the relative location of the major land marks. Sacre Couer at Montmartre is the second highest point in Paris, as spectacular from the Eiffel Tower as up close. Notre Dame is dwarfed by the city surrounding it but immediately recognizable. Napoleon's resting place under the center of Le Dome is easy to pick out covered in gold. Follow the Siene past Le Louvre, the Obolisque, Concorde, up toward the Le Arc de Triumphe, over the Siene to Bois de Bologne, the Central Park like woods I have been running in near the hotel. On the horizon line is Chateau St Germaine where we stood with Didier on Saturday and admired the Eiffel Tower 15km away.

Laura's bum wheel is getting worse. The Achilles she hurt May 19th, when a 12 mile run became 17 miles after a wrong turn, is getting worse with at least 5 miles of walking each day. She skipped the Eiffel stair climb all too happy to hang out with her Kindle. We pick her up and decide to board a river cruise across the street - great views from the river, no walking required.

Notre Dame from the Siene River

We pass Musee D'Orsay which Le Louvre moved several exhibits into, including a Degas collection, as they were running out of space. Notre Dame from the river presents a dramatic new perspective. The granduer of the structure, through dwarfed by places like the Eiffel Tower, is timeless. It takes your breath away every time you see it.

Plaza of Le Louvre

We pass St Germaine, Hotel De Ville, and loop back down to Le Louvre, our stop. The view from the Siene is not to be missed. The sense you get for the old walled City and the defensive purposes it served is dramatic to see and fun to think about from a tactical perspective. Many invaders must have scratched their head considering the right battle plan.

Le Louvre was originally a medieval defensive structure built to protect Paris as it expanded off the island. Eventually it grew outside those massive grounds and was no longer needed for defensive purposes. Over 500 years various Kings gradually tore down or remodeled much of the site in classic French Renaissance tradition. Massive and beautiful, it served as the palace for Louis XIV (and many predecessors) until he moved to Versailles upon its completion. The glass entry pyramid completed in 1989 actually makes sense to me having now seen it in person. Located in the courtyard between the various wings on the Louvre, the pyramid provides an entry way from underneath.

As the Washington Monument serves as a hub connecting the sites lines of the White House and TJ Memorial on one axis and the Capital and Lincoln Memorial on the other, so the Oblisque connects Le Louvre with the Le Arc de Trimphe (and the other two arches on the same sight line) and the Madeline (and if you allow some leniency, the Opera House) with two different ornate Assembly and Ministry buildings and the Invalides beyond that.

On a recommendation from Didier, we take lunch at Cafe de Marly at the Louvre overlooking the courtyard and entry way. Not sure how any of us ate with our mouths hanging open in admiration. We walk through the Palais Royal and its Gardens and make our way past the Opera House to Place Vendome, the high rent district. The high end Hotels, Retailers, and Jewelers all set up shop here reminiscent of Madison Avenue in New York City from the corner of Central Park past 57th Street and down to about 52nd. Tiffany, Cartier, Baccarat, Mont Blanc, Cheval, Rolex, etc - they are all here.

We dive into the gopher hole at Concorde and take the Metro out to Le Arc de Triumph and have a look back at the venues we spent our day walking (and floating) through in Central Paris. We decided to spend no time in Le Louvre today as the many unbelievable works of art to take in on the outside made it really hard to go indoors.

Anything with "Triumph" in the name will get my attention. Up close the Arc is indeed grand, triumphant, and many other words but doesn't really rank with the Central Paris tour. It makes sense that it is away from everything else.

Laura's Achilles is done so we make for Bolougne - Billancourt and drop the camera and heavy pack I have been lugging around all day. None of the pick pockets came after that pack.

To my delight Foursquare locates a series of restaurant and Chocolate Shop options near the hotel. I select Brasserie La Verrière for three reasons - it is close at .3 miles, it has the most check-ins in the area, and favorable reviews from those check ins.

I love it when the crapola I get for using 4SQ pays off. "Great choice Dad," Joelle confesses as we finish dinner. The best hot chocolate of the trip and a chocolate crepe on the way for dessert may have swayed her a tad, but I'll take it. "Scrumptious" comes up again to describe the hot chocolate. This must be what filled the Chocolate River in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

Over dinner we make our list of top likes and dislikes in Paris, not places, per say, but what we have experienced.

Dislikes:
1. Smoking - you literally can't go anywhere without the overwhelming smell of second hand smoke
2. Pushy Scammers - you learn quick not to stop or even look at the myriad of people who know you aren't local and want to hustle you - sketch artists to Eiffel Tower salesman, petitioners to pan handlers, it is over the top and you can't be afraid to push back.
3. Our (lack of) French - we have done well for two year olds, but it gets frustrating and exhausting being a well educated stupid person
4. Laura's Achilles - she is in constant pain at this point and moving at half-speed for at least five miles each day.

Likes:

Jo working the Hot Chocolat

1. Pleasant Locals - the French get a bad rap, especially in Paris for being rude to people who don't speak the language. Granted we are making an effort, but people have been incredibly pleasant and far more helpful than somebody in NYC would be to a non-English speaking French National visiting New York.
2. Metro Passes - the unlimited use of the Metros on one 5 day pass is simply awesome and super convenient and well worth the pick pocket risk provided you stay alert. I wish Joelle would have worn her red belt.
3. Hot Chocolate - think Willy Wonka's Chocolate River
4. Panini - the girls absolutely love the ham and cheese panini from the Pasterie near our hotel

Piggy Back Ride for the Bum Wheel

We raise a glass at dinner in honor of our 20th Anniversary but truthfully everyone would vote to skip straight to dessert and bed at this point in the day. Laura gets a piggy back ride the .3 miles back to the hotel. The girls didn't think I could do it so I did...yep, I'm still me even in Paris.

Au revoir!