Saturday, October 29 - Paris

I'm awake. Still in Paris, or was it a weird dream?

Yep, looks like we really made it. Cool.

The goal for today was to see all the "biggie" sites that one must see when visiting Paris. We started the day with breakfast (of course), and then walked over to the Metro for our first stop at the Eiffel Tower. Now, I have been known to be as jaded as anyone when it comes to tourist attractions. It's even bad enough that people have suggested to me that I might as well not bother with European travel, seeing as the vast majority of the best places to see are also teeming with other tourists. But even *I* have to confess sometimes that these tourist attractions are packed for a very good reason - they're totally cool - and the ones in Paris are no exception. The Eiffel is an awesome structure, and although we weren't willing to spend a couple of hours in line in order to go to the top, it was neat to see it from the ground. Even got a few travel bug pictures.

From there we walked along the Seine toward the Louvre. That's a bit of a hike, as it turned out, but we did a lot of fun sightseeing along the way. One thing that struck me was the number of boats (ships, whatever... I never know exactly what the distinction is) on the river, from barges to sightseeing cruise boats, many of which looked like they were residences, only a lot bigger than the ones you see in slips back home. Kind of a cool place to live if you ask me. We also passed by the Modern Art Museum (which was closed), and then turned along the Champs-Elysees, headed toward Place de La Concorde. That's (again, I'm including information here for those who might not have been here before) this giant intersection with huge roundabouts, two stunning fountains, an obelisk in the middle that, apparently, was a gift from Greece, and the gate leading into Tuilerie Gardens. We hung around for a while, taking pictures and dodging cars, then walked on toward the gardens. At the gate there was a stand selling crepes and waffles, and since we were getting the munchies by this time we indulged; mine was a waffle with powdered sugar. That was good for a pretty good glucose rush, but it was worth it... kind of reminds me of the beignets we used to live on in New Orleans.

Once we'd tanked up on snacks and avoided the panhandlers at the gate, we strolled down through the middle of Tuilerie gardens. The gardens lead up to the entrance of the Louvre, and they've got a bunch of sculptures, a couple of outdoor cafés, and several ponds. At one of the ponds, a guy was renting little sailboats to a group of enthusiastic young sailors. Perhaps they were a bit *too* enthusiastic; two boys in particular began fencing with their sticks, which turned into full-fledged swings as things began getting tense. That gave way to tears as the sticks connected, and the combatants were soon dragged away by their embarrassed parents. It reminded me of the way my brother and I would go after each other at times... I guess kids are pretty much the same, regardless of nationality.

By now the sun was setting, so we left the gardens and stopped briefly at the Louvre to check the next days' hours. Turning back down the Champs-Elysees, we walked to a nearby Metro stop and rode back to the hotel for a breather. Paris subways, incidentally, are different from any I've seen yet; instead of metal wheels on rails, many of them have tires that drive them along narrow tracks. I'm not sure whether that is intended to combat noise or improve the ride. The nearest line to our hotel, line #4, is also uncomfortably hot; it's got to be close to ninety degrees in the trains during the afternoons, which gets to be a serious drag if it's crowded. A couple of times, I found myself standing as close as I could to a window in order to grab any breaths of fresh air I could. Yuck.

After a quick break, it was time to set out for dinner. This time we headed out to the Latin Quarter. The neighborhood is named thus because it was the setting of the major university, and students who came from all over Europe would end up communicating in the language everyone knew: Latin. Dinner was a cheese and tomato salad, another steak, and a crème brulee. Not as good as the meal we'd had the night before, but not bad.

By this time we were thoroughly exhausted, so we headed back to the hotel and turned in. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. I've also got new blisters developing, dangit. I thought I was through with all that.

G'night!
-Leanne