And I’ll Walk 500 More... (In Paris)

Okay, so I wrote about Sunday yesterday (Sunday night) but unfortunately the blogger app ate that chunk of writing... two times. Avoiding the pain of writing it the third time, I decided to break it up and write it here and post Monday’s adventure separately.

Sunday

Today was the big day! I booked a time stamped ticket for the Eiffel Tower but wanted to get there early so I could walk to the Trodecero Place and walk across Pont D’Ilena, to recreate the photo my father had of him nearly 30 years ago. 

At first it seemed like I chose the wrong day — there was a women’s road race which had just begun as I got to the edge of the plaza overlooking the the bridge and the Eiffel Tower. The race started under the tower, which seems pretty freaking cool if you are a runner. But as a tourist, the entire area was blocked off in complicated fences. I had to walk down the river and cross a different bridge.  Unfortunate, but luckily I left early enough so I had time and walked. I took a bunch of photos of the tower from a distance.

I grabbed a quick coffee and croissant at a cafe just a few streets away from the area and watched the road race for a bit to kill time. Some SOs and kids ran alongside their mom/partner for a bit in support, which I thought was cute. 

Soon, it was time. I got to the line and, thanks to my ticket, got in quick. Seems that everyone in Paris buys tickets on the spot rather than online. If you go to Paris, save yourself the headache! I bought my ticket up to two days before actually going, so doing it last minute is very possible.

And I’m in, and very much underneath the tower. The size kinda blew me away seeing it for the first time. I can only imagine seeing this when it first opened. 

I went to the north side lift and went up to the 2nd “floor”. I missed out by one day being able to get to the top, but I leave for Portugal on Tuesday! I figured that was okay and would save the trip to the top for the future with someone special.

Going up the lift was magical because you could see the insides of the tower and the mechanical lift engineering.  The view was beautiful. Even if it’s considered the second floor, I’m already high above the city, higher than I thought it would be! Definitely worth it.

Hey it’s me again.

I loitered around snapping photos for a good twenty minutes and enjoyed the view and the breeze, and of course the sun and blue skies. I saw the the race was ending and that they were collapsing the fences around the Pont d’Iena bridge which meant I could walk on the bridge.

Eventually I got back down and headed to the exit. I walked on the bridge and looked for the spot my dad stood nearly 30 years ago. Took a few practice shots to find the right angle and waited for a few minutes to see a friendly face that looks like they could speak English. It was awkward standing around and I wished in that moment I had a friend with me. But eventually I found a nice couple who were more than willing to take photos for the sake of recreating it. I didn’t want to bother them on their vacation so I didn’t ask for repeats, but what they got was pretty good! 

Awkward posing! Don’t know how my dad does it. 

I will probably return here one day and recreate it again, maybe even during the same season!

I headed back to the hotel for a quick chill out to rest my feet and soon went back out. I headed to the first arrondissement to a certain street I googled that was apparently known for shopping, but turned out to be more for food. Which was fine since I needed dinner eventually anyway. I ended up getting one of the best fresco panini ever.

In this area, I passed by the Fontaine des Innocents. It is a monument as a reminder from when the entire plaza was a mass graveyard. People buried their dead here and at one point, it just got so full people dumped their dead corpses and left them there for the gravediggers to deal with. It was so bad that when it rain, the corpses floated up from their shallow graves. Eventually they were exhumed and moved to the catacombs. A bit surreal standing there now watching people relaxing and eat or drink.

I spent the rest of the evening walking around, checking out the St. Germaine church, and getting that best panini ever while watching two guys next to me, also eating pizza and strumming on their ukulele and singing. They weren’t bad. And it wasn’t a bad last true evening in Paris.

Honestly, I was kind of hating people after the Eiffel Tower visit. I knew tourism would be busy in Paris, but was surprised how quickly tired of it I got. Luckily, I had a full day planned to leave the city, which was planned before I came to France. Pat on back for me for having hindsight. Hoping that the distance to a small town would do me some good and relax a bit before my next destination to Lisbon on Tuesday.

I left the city an hour and a half by trains (one metro, and one suburban) to the medieval town of Provins.

Walking 500 Miles... (In Paris)

So how did the last three days go in Paris?

That’s how - my feet are dead and I still got a big day trip coming up tomorrow. But first, let’s talk about the weekend. I’ll post about Sunday and Monday tomorrow since it’s quite a long post.

Friday

Day trip to Versailles! 

I took two metro trains (one inner-city Paris then outer-city) to get to Versailles. I was worried I was going the wrong way since it was a different type of metro train I was getting used to at that point. But all the worrying was for nothing because after a quick 20 minute train ride, I was in Versailles.

The palace was about a 10 minute walk from the metro station but there were signs clearly marking the directions, even if it was easy to get there. Also, just follow the line of tourists. It was a fairly chilly morning and overcast but I knew it would go away by the time I got to the gardens.

Selfie for my parents, as promised!

Since I had a time stamped ticket, I was in through the door pretty quick by 10am. I got the “passport” which gets me to all of the palace, gardens and the Trianon estates. I had all day put aside for Versailles, so I took my time going through the rooms in the palace and reading up history and enjoying the art. Each room had a function and was decked out floor to ceiling in marble/stone and rich fabric and paintings.

There was one wing closed to renovations. which seems to be per the usual to be when I’m traveling... but I enjoyed it nevertheless. I got through the palace at a leisurely pace in 2 hours. I left through the back of the pal e towards the gardens. The sun was just starting to come out and the clouds were fading away. I grabbed a quick bite to eat at the start of the gardens as fuel. 

I took the recommended trail to see most of the garden within two hours, though I probably got through it in three since I stopped at the musical fountains and took my time. 

Musical fountains! It was a fun orchestra pomp. There’s about three fountains that does “shows”.

After exploring the gardens I headed out to the Trianon Estates, the Grande and Petit, which Marie-Antoinette resided. Below are the photos where she once lived.

I circled back to the Gardens and finished off the rest of it. I did the whole thing on foot, no wonder I almost hit 10 miles! You can rent a bike or golf cart since the garden is hugeeeee. I didn’t realize until too late but I would’ve probably done it on foot anyway since I didn’t want the time pressure of returning anything.

My last view before I headed back to the metro and to my hotel in Paris.

Day well spent, even if my feet and calves were hurting from walking so much!

Saturday

I originally planned to go to the catacombs for this day but missed the deadline for tickets which needed to be bought in advance, and they were sold out until late October. I ended up deciding that I would sleep in a little past 8, and check out Notre Dame then walk around the Latin Quarters and surrounding arrondissements. 

I walked from the metro to the north side of the island in the river, crossing the Pont Neuf so I could walk across the entire island on the way to Notre Dame and see more. 

I didn’t go into the Notre Dame since I didn’t want to deal with the line. I figured I will save that for the future. The building itself looked amazing and just made me want to watch Hunchback of Notre Dame, which, now that I’m thinking about it, probably haven’t seen since I was a kid! 

Again, I didn’t go inside since I didn’t want to deal with the line. I walked to the Pantheon instead, which had history more relative to my interests, and best of all significantly less people. At the front, they memorialized a French jewish woman named Simone Veil who survived the Holocaust. There were several billboards outlining periods throughout her life from childhood, the Holocaust, and the later decades. She rose through the political ranks of France — she was incredibly inspiring. Definitely suggest wikipedia’ing her.

There is supposed to be a giant pendulum in the center atrium but it’s been taken down for a few days. If I ever find myself in Paris again, I’d like to come back here and see it swing.

After wandering around, I went down under in the crypts. Here, many famous french people are buried in crypts in the Pantheon as the “highest honor”. Among the buried I found: Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Louis Braille, and Marie Curie!

There were a lot of empty spaces for future crypts. Not just anyone gets this honor.

From the Pantheon, I went to the Luxembourg Palace and Gardens and hung around among the flowers for a big. A lot of Parisians here pulled off their shoes and rolled down their tank tops to get some tan in the sun. 

I walked all the way back to my hotel from Luxembourg Palace, no wonder I nearly hit 10 miles again on Saturday! I passed by this view - a view of things to come the next day.

A view of things to come the next day.

Sunday and Monday will be posted on Monday evening.