Back to Paris

I arranged to keep our car for an extra day, making for a more leisurely trip back to Paris.  This trip up A6 was far less eventful and we were able to run at highway speeds pretty much the whole way until we got pretty close to Paris.  Driving in Paris was a different story altogether, complicated by the fact that our GPS was about 2 minutes behind once we got into the city.  Adam pulled out his phone and we used the GPS on that to guide us to our Air B&B (over the protests of the voice on our car GPS).  By luck, we got parking right across the street from the apartment we're in, and were able to unload and unwind for a bit before returning the car (another adventure in driving).  Adam guided us in again, and we found the parking garage we were supposed to return the car to adjacent to Montparnasse station, where we'd picked it up.  Ironically, this was the first place where we had clearance problems: the roof of the van pinged most of the light fixtures we went under.

From there, we grabbed some dinner on the way to a Metro station.  Dan wasn't feeling well, and he and Leah returned to the apartment.  The rest of us headed up to Place de la Concorde, the eastern end of the Champs-Elysees. Also, as it turns out, where they beheaded Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI..

Place de la Concorde, Champs-Elysees

Place de la Concorde, Champs-Elysees

Arc de Triomphe

Obelisk, Place de la Concorde (Eiffel Tower in the distance)

The Champs-Elysees is all decked out for the holidays.  There's another huge Ferris wheel on the Place de la Concorde, and temporary clapboard shops selling everything from hats and mittens, to jewelry, to crepes and mulled wine lining both sides of the avenue.

We got separated for awhile, which was another adventure.  We are able to use our U.S. phones at pretty exorbitant roaming charge prices, so everyone is keeping their phones off... which is a problem if you really need to contact someone.  But we found each other and got back to the apartment.

We are staying in northwestern Paris very close to the Pigalle station and within a stone's throw of the Moulin Rouge.  The apartment itself is a beautiful Parisian flat, with high ceilings and elaborate moldings and fixtures... that looks like it is owned by some frat boys.  That said, there are 4 large private bedrooms and it works well.

The next morning, we headed downtown to pick up our Paris passes, which give us access to pretty close to everything: museums, all public transportation, Versailles, hop on/hop off buses, a river cruise, and much more.  They are quite pricey, but have the added advantage of getting you into the short lines at some venues.  We enjoyed that (a lot) when we went to the Louvre in the afternoon, but in the morning we started off with a hop on/hop off bus tour to get oriented.  We got off at the Eiffel Tower, in part because it was the Eiffel Tower, and in part because we got hungry.  The tower is really impressive, and there's a festive mood around it.  And some tasty street food.  I had a crepe with cheese and chicken.  Judy had a taco bowl stuffed with lettuce, shredded chicken, and... french fries?  Seriously, they seem to be really into french fries here, and most are not that impressive.  Or particularly suitable to the dish, in this case.

Eiffel Tower, up close & personal

One of 4 statues  on the corners of Pont Alexandre III
(bridge spanning the Seine)

From the Eiffel Tower, we crossed the Seine and went up to the Louvre. And we really did get into the short line, which I'm guessing must've saved us at least 1/2 hour and probably much more.  It is truly overwhelming: there are galleries in 3 separate buildings linked by a subterranean plaza underneath I.M. Pei's famous glass pyramid.  After a couple of hours, we'd barely scraped the surface on a single floor of a single building... but we did get to check the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo off of our bucket lists.

Venus de Milo

Atrium of the Louvre

After that, we hopped back on the hop on/hop off bus... as much to rest our feet as to get the tour... and got off at Plaza du Trocodero, directly across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.  After eating, we crossed the Pont d'lena bridge back to the tower, under the impression that our passes would let us go up (preferably in an express line).  Bad news: this is one thing the pass isn't good for.  Good news: the lines were short.

I really thought it would be bigger...

Champs-Elysees and Place do Concorde from the top of the Eiffel Tower

At 17 euro per ticket, Dan, Leah, Adam and Monica weren't particularly interested. Chris and Teresa really wanted to go, so we parted company.  Judy and I went with Chris and Teresa, and the others went back to the Champs-Elysees, which Dan and Leah had missed the night before.  We agreed to meet at the Ferris Wheel at 11:00, which turned out to be a bad agreement: we weren't able to get back there until 11;30, by which time the others had left. But we all got back to the apartment OK.  Tomorrow (God willing)... Versailles.