Day 15 - 17- Since we were here- we decided to take the train to Paris-to see the sights. The primary goal, however, was to watch the end of the Tour de France.
Friday - we were out early on the 7:30am train. For all of you that have done it, traveling by train in Europe is an amazingly, easy, pleasant experience. We arrived in Paris and proceeded to walk in the direction of our Hotel. The thought was to walk a while, then grab the METRO. Well. . . 3 hours, and 11 kilometers (over 6 miles) later, we had traversed the city, seen a lot of the sights in passing and were within blocks of our hotel. Needless to say, we checked in, showered, and did what all good tourist do . . . . headed out for lunch:) After an amazing lunch, (I much prefer the food in Paris to the food in London) we wondered to see the Eiffel Tower. There we caught the end of a clycle for charity race. What fun to sit under the Tower and watch the world go by. At this point, yes, both of us were exhausted after a day of Cricket followed by a day of Travel, and went to take a nap. The nap lasted well into the evening. When we awoke, we watched the sun set peacefully on the Eiffel Tower, out our Hotel Window.
Saturday - we set out early. The goal was to beat the long queue's at the Louvre, and we were successful. After an amazing french breakfast, we set off to pay homage to the Mona Lisa. We both especially enjoyed the Napoleon Apartments at the Louvre. It is interesting to see how the French and English differed in their living quarters, especially compared to the Biltmore in the US (a house of the ruling elite and well to do).
Next on our tour, was Notre Dame. The queue was horrible. (For those who know Megan, know she does not queue well.) So, we sat and took pictures of the beautiful church, and absorbed the Paris sunshine. Next off to Sacre-Coeur, now any of you who have been to Paris, know that it sits on a hill. So off the Metro, up the hill and c'est fini for our travelers. We took pictures and went off to find lunch. (It is now mid afternoon.) Lunch turn into an early dinner and off to bed:). Another great day in Paris.
Sunday- the purpose of this Paris weekend was to see the Tour. A late breakfast, then off to scope out the route. We decided that since we were here, we wanted to see as much as possible, so we found a spot on one of the turns, right before the Champs-Elysee. (For those unaware, they do 8 Laps in the city center or the last sprint). After waiting for 3.5 hours, we saw them. I was not aware that an entire Carnival, proceeds the riders. What a fun experience (pictures are posted). Then off to the train station for our return trip.
A great weekend.
Cheers
(Now for those of you reading this, you might think this is a brief post compared to my others. You are correct. I very much enjoyed our weekend, and I am really impressed with the cyclists on the Tour. The sportsmanship showed by Wiggens and Team Sky was humbling. But overall, I found Paris much less pleasant than London. The easiest equation I have is: Paris is to New York, as London is to Washington, DC. All are fabulous cities, but DC and London are easy to navigate, their public transport is clean and odor free, and the volume of people feels different. In New York, and Paris, I find myself more anxious/nervous, with almost none of that while I am in DC and London. It may be familiarity; this is my second trip to Paris, and my 7th time in London. I don't think it is language- I speak New Yorker:) and on our second lunch I spoke solely in French and questioned our waiter about the best spots to see the Tour. The cities just feel different. For all my friends that LOVE Paris, all I can say it is that, thankfully, opposites attract:))
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