it's taken me a while to get this up, but here's Paris:
Friday Nov 16, left my Roman apartment at 8:30 am. Grabbed breakfast. Hopped a Bus to Termini. Grabbed an €11 train to Fiumicino airport. Arrived at the airport 10 minutes to 10 for my 11:15 flight to Paris.
Arrived in Paris sometime before 2p. Takeoff had been slightly delayed. The RER B train that goes from Charles de Gaulle into the city wasn't running at all due to the metro strike. The buses from the airport were still running, however, only at 20% of what they normally do. The buses that ran into the city were €14-17. However, however, the information desk told us to take a different one because it went to the Opera which was "closer" to where we wanted to end up. It was "only" €8 a ticket.
The ticket machine wouldn't accept our credit cards. There were no slots for bills, it only accepted change. (What machine selling nothing cheaper than €8 doesn't accept bills?) Rob didn't have any cash on him. I only had 20's. So i went back inside the airport to try and make change. Each place I went to was only allowed to give €5 in change. ...so after stopping at the currency exchange booth, a cafè, and a book store, plus a €1 coin from Rob, I finally had enough change to purchase two tickets ...tickets we never validated, and tickets nobody ever checked to make sure were validated. So we had our transportation back to the airport paid for as well.
The Opera building the bus brought us to is the opera in Paris. We wanted to be by the Bastille, where there's modern theater. This must be what the guy at information was thinking of. ...but after waiting another half our for the bus to show up and a 40 minute ride into the city, we arrived at the opera at quarter to 4 with a 2 mile walk ahead of us. (...so much for information)
By the time we were settled in our hotel room, it was already dark. We missed a chunk of the day we thought we were going to have. We headed out. Each grabbed something to eat along the way. And walked to the Louvre. Fridays after 6pm the Louvre is free for people 18-25. Saw the Mona Lisa, Statue of Venus, and several other paintings and statues whose names i don't know. Some I recognized. Many I didn't. We covered the museum pretty quickly. Hit two floors in half the museum in an hour and a half. We were about to head over to the other side of the museum that houses all the Egyptian and Mesopotamian stuff. But they were already kicking people out. The museum that supposedly is open until 10pm closes at 8:30, apparently. So i didn't get to see Hammurabi's Code, but at least saw the Louvre for free.
After the Louvre, we proceeded to walk to that big, metal, radio tower they have there - that one that's named after the guy who designed it. ...Gustave somebody... I think they built it for temporary use and forgot to take it down, so we decided to take a look at it.
Afterward, we decided to see if the metros were running at all. To our delight, not only were they running, but one could walk right through the turnstiles without having to pay for a ticket. Operating and free. Best strike I've ever. Just had to be prepared to wait anywhere from 10 to 20+ minutes for one to show up. And also had to be prepared to deal with availability of personal space comparable to public transportation on La Notte Bianca. But our first experience on the Paris metro was pleasant. We waiting no more than 10 minutes, and it was empty enough that we didn't have to stand.
Saturday we caught our free breakfast and headed out to see more of the city. Attempted to catch a subway to the vicinity of Notre Dame. After waiting 20 minutes, and watching many French-speaking folks come down the stairs, wait, and slowly trickle back up the stairs, I wasn't about to waste anymore time waiting for transportation. Even if I had to walk, at least I was seeing the city. Rob, stubborn and not wanting to walk, said lets wait until (specified time that amounted essentially to another 3 minutes). 4 minutes later, I got up to head out. Rob, stubborn, still didn't want to walk. I, stubborn, decided to walk anyway.
Apparently, 2 minutes later, the subway came.
Just kidding. Actually, 2 minutes later Rob decided to head up the stairs and walk as well. Thinking he was going to follow, I stalled as much as i could allow myself to. Constantly looking back, but didn't see him coming. So off to Notre Dame I went. We both knew we were going to Notre Dame, so I figured I'd either meet him there, or call him if I didn't.
I had an enjoyable walk down Rue de la Roquette, around the Bastille, down Boulevard Henri IV, across one fork of the river to Ile Saint-Louis and over to Ile de la Cité where Notre Dame sits. I spent maybe 20 minutes taking in the Notre Dame, snapping photos. Didn't see Rob, so I called him. He had wound up walking "20 minutes" the wrong direction. Found himself at Place de la Nation. Walked back the way he came, attempting to get his bearings and decided to take a cab. I found him at the Notre Dame 10 minutes later. We took in the outside, then inside, then back outside to wait in line to go to the top. The line didn't take very long. 10 minutes maybe. 
But it was chilly enough to make me run across the street to grab a hot chocolàt and a warm, sweet crêpe.
From Notre Dame, we headed to Sainte Chapelle which sits on the same island. Neither Rob nor I had even heard of it before we saw it in one of the pamphlets Rob grabbed at the hotel, but the inside was even more impressive than Notre Dame. I swear my picture doesn't even do it justice. I urge you to do a google image search, find the most amazing picture of it, and that might allow you to just begin to imagine how breathtaking it is.
After catching our breath back, we crossed the Seine once again and headed north so see some 4- or 5-story medieval tower Rob wanted to see. It turned out to be more of a history lesson than anything. Something I wasn't particularly interested in. There's too many Louies in French history for me to really care. The tower amounted to little more than a cool spiral staircase with a room hanging off the side of it at each floor. While I wasn't really interested in what happened at the tower, I did discover my apparent photographic obsession with stairs.
Arrived in Paris sometime before 2p. Takeoff had been slightly delayed. The RER B train that goes from Charles de Gaulle into the city wasn't running at all due to the metro strike. The buses from the airport were still running, however, only at 20% of what they normally do. The buses that ran into the city were €14-17. However, however, the information desk told us to take a different one because it went to the Opera which was "closer" to where we wanted to end up. It was "only" €8 a ticket.
The ticket machine wouldn't accept our credit cards. There were no slots for bills, it only accepted change. (What machine selling nothing cheaper than €8 doesn't accept bills?) Rob didn't have any cash on him. I only had 20's. So i went back inside the airport to try and make change. Each place I went to was only allowed to give €5 in change. ...so after stopping at the currency exchange booth, a cafè, and a book store, plus a €1 coin from Rob, I finally had enough change to purchase two tickets ...tickets we never validated, and tickets nobody ever checked to make sure were validated. So we had our transportation back to the airport paid for as well.
The Opera building the bus brought us to is the opera in Paris. We wanted to be by the Bastille, where there's modern theater. This must be what the guy at information was thinking of. ...but after waiting another half our for the bus to show up and a 40 minute ride into the city, we arrived at the opera at quarter to 4 with a 2 mile walk ahead of us. (...so much for information)
By the time we were settled in our hotel room, it was already dark. We missed a chunk of the day we thought we were going to have. We headed out. Each grabbed something to eat along the way. And walked to the Louvre. Fridays after 6pm the Louvre is free for people 18-25. Saw the Mona Lisa, Statue of Venus, and several other paintings and statues whose names i don't know. Some I recognized. Many I didn't. We covered the museum pretty quickly. Hit two floors in half the museum in an hour and a half. We were about to head over to the other side of the museum that houses all the Egyptian and Mesopotamian stuff. But they were already kicking people out. The museum that supposedly is open until 10pm closes at 8:30, apparently. So i didn't get to see Hammurabi's Code, but at least saw the Louvre for free.
After the Louvre, we proceeded to walk to that big, metal, radio tower they have there - that one that's named after the guy who designed it. ...Gustave somebody... I think they built it for temporary use and forgot to take it down, so we decided to take a look at it.Afterward, we decided to see if the metros were running at all. To our delight, not only were they running, but one could walk right through the turnstiles without having to pay for a ticket. Operating and free. Best strike I've ever. Just had to be prepared to wait anywhere from 10 to 20+ minutes for one to show up. And also had to be prepared to deal with availability of personal space comparable to public transportation on La Notte Bianca. But our first experience on the Paris metro was pleasant. We waiting no more than 10 minutes, and it was empty enough that we didn't have to stand.
Saturday we caught our free breakfast and headed out to see more of the city. Attempted to catch a subway to the vicinity of Notre Dame. After waiting 20 minutes, and watching many French-speaking folks come down the stairs, wait, and slowly trickle back up the stairs, I wasn't about to waste anymore time waiting for transportation. Even if I had to walk, at least I was seeing the city. Rob, stubborn and not wanting to walk, said lets wait until (specified time that amounted essentially to another 3 minutes). 4 minutes later, I got up to head out. Rob, stubborn, still didn't want to walk. I, stubborn, decided to walk anyway.
Apparently, 2 minutes later, the subway came.
Just kidding. Actually, 2 minutes later Rob decided to head up the stairs and walk as well. Thinking he was going to follow, I stalled as much as i could allow myself to. Constantly looking back, but didn't see him coming. So off to Notre Dame I went. We both knew we were going to Notre Dame, so I figured I'd either meet him there, or call him if I didn't.
I had an enjoyable walk down Rue de la Roquette, around the Bastille, down Boulevard Henri IV, across one fork of the river to Ile Saint-Louis and over to Ile de la Cité where Notre Dame sits. I spent maybe 20 minutes taking in the Notre Dame, snapping photos. Didn't see Rob, so I called him. He had wound up walking "20 minutes" the wrong direction. Found himself at Place de la Nation. Walked back the way he came, attempting to get his bearings and decided to take a cab. I found him at the Notre Dame 10 minutes later. We took in the outside, then inside, then back outside to wait in line to go to the top. The line didn't take very long. 10 minutes maybe. 
But it was chilly enough to make me run across the street to grab a hot chocolàt and a warm, sweet crêpe.From Notre Dame, we headed to Sainte Chapelle which sits on the same island. Neither Rob nor I had even heard of it before we saw it in one of the pamphlets Rob grabbed at the hotel, but the inside was even more impressive than Notre Dame. I swear my picture doesn't even do it justice. I urge you to do a google image search, find the most amazing picture of it, and that might allow you to just begin to imagine how breathtaking it is.
After catching our breath back, we crossed the Seine once again and headed north so see some 4- or 5-story medieval tower Rob wanted to see. It turned out to be more of a history lesson than anything. Something I wasn't particularly interested in. There's too many Louies in French history for me to really care. The tower amounted to little more than a cool spiral staircase with a room hanging off the side of it at each floor. While I wasn't really interested in what happened at the tower, I did discover my apparent photographic obsession with stairs.
No comments:
Post a Comment