April 21 & 22
All of a sudden, we’re having summer weather. This weekend the temp in Paris was in the upper 80s and sunny. It was hot in our jeans, but we loved every minute of it; so much better than 40s and rain.
We dropped off the car at Orly early Saturday morning and took the Metro to our flat. It’s in the 19th district so a little far from most of the tourist things but it’s a nice 1BR only a few minutes’ walk from the Metro so it’s perfect.
As soon as we got settled, we headed to tourist information to get the lay of the land. We spent about an hour sitting in the Tuileries Garden enjoying the beautiful weather and people watching. We walked around a little until 4pm when we could get our Hop on/hop off ticket. We decided to get a 2-day Big Bus pass and since we got it after 4:00 we could use it the rest of Saturday then all day Sunday and Monday. The price also included a 2-hour night tour and a 1-hour Seine River cruise. We started with the full 2:20 minute full tour to get an overview of the city. It was hot as hell on the open top, but we weren’t about to complain. We got off at the Arc de Triumphe and strolled down the Champs Elysees, stopping for dinner. It was such a beautiful night we decided to take the night tour. It was actually a little over 2 hours, so it was almost 11:30 before we got off the bus. We decided to take the Metro home, so it was after midnight before we got back to the apartment.
This morning (Sunday) we took the Metro to one of the stops on the Big Bus blue line (we had done the red line on Saturday). This line went around the Montmarte area, which Lynn has never seen. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the bus stop, so we took a cab to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur. The cab couldn’t get all the way up, so he dropped us off in the middle of a crazy busy pedestrian area. There were tons of tacky tourist shops but also lots of artists selling their work. Some of them were quite amazing.
We walked to the Basilica and had to wait about 10 minutes in line to get through security. That has been the biggest change since Lynn was here last. Virtually every site we’ve visited has required us to go through security and the area around the Eiffel Tower doesn’t remotely resemble what Lynn remembers from her first two visits. It’s understandable given the attacks that have occurred, but sad all the same.
Anyway, the Basilica was beautiful, and we wandered around for about 20 minutes. Then we took the funicular back down the hill where we ate our sandwiches in a nearby park. Like yesterday, the temp was in the upper 80s and sunny, so it was nice to find someplace to eat our lunch.
Then we hopped back on the blue Big Bus back to the main center where we transferred back to the Red line. We decided to get off and visit Notre Dame Cathedral. This was one of the first gothic style churches in France and is, of course, one of the most famous churches in the world. It’s understated but still beautiful.
By the time we got back on the bus it was late afternoon, so we decided to get off at the Eiffel Tower and take the river cruise. We were one of the first in line, so we got great seats on the upper deck. River Cruise
Once we got off, we wanted to take a closer look at the Eiffel Tower but discovered that the security is very tight and there are short walls all around the Tower. Again, nothing like Lynn has seen before. It was a little disappointing, but we still got some nice pictures.
We had a delicious dinner at a sidewalk café where we chatted with a very nice young couple from Australia. By the time we were done, the weather had changed, and it was sprinkling just a little. We decided to take a cab to the start of the #11 Metro line which is where our flat is located.
So, now it’s after midnight, Cubs are winning (barely) in the bottom of the 7th and Peter is asleep. We have to go to the laundromat in the morning. Our flat was supposed to have a washer….it doesn’t. So, it’s a pain in the rear but because of the heat we haven’t been able to wear shirts more than one day. As you may have noticed from the pictures, we don’t have many shirts with us, so we’ll do laundry before we leave for our day of sightseeing. That’s said, it’s time for bed. Night all….