We are here safe!
The flight here was awesome. Air Canada rules! We had personalized video screens in front of us and we could watch whatever we wanted. Unfortunately Vero’s screen was messed up to the point where her volume was always cranked up. She had to put earplugs in her ears AND THEN her headphones on top of them!
We arrived in 6.5 hours which was 2 hours below my estimate. I must have read the flight information wrong. This did not bode well for us getting some shuteye.
We grabbed the RER train into the city and watched as it got more full with each stop…Monday morning commuters looking bleary eyed and wondering why they can’t be on vacation.
View from our apartment.
Unfortunately for us, by the time we got to Maud’s apartment (an apartment we found on airbnb.com), it was already 35 minutes past when we said we would meet her. There was no buzzer outside the apartment and she was nowhere to be seen. A crisis was slowly arising and we were low on sleep. We tried to use the payphone but they only accept phonecards. Vero then went into the cafe to see if we could use the phone and lo and behold, the owners knew Maud, let us buzz her, and sure enough she was still home before she went to work! Perfect!
We settled in and immediately hit the sack. It was 10AM and we were hoping to get 2 hours of sleep so we could get back out on the road. However, here I am just awoken around 3:30 and we’re getting ready. Oh well…we needed the sleep. No sense in getting frustrated with it! Paris will wait for us!
The place is quite amazing. I had forgotten how noisy it was! I am glad that I brought earplugs.
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Update: Vero and I headed to Gare de Lyon to pick up our train tickets for the rest of Eurotrip. God bless automated tellers! We then picked up a ‘carnet’ of tickets (ten tickets) for the metro to get us around town. When looking at the map, it doesn’t seem that big of a city, but of course when it takes you 45 minutes to walk about an inch on the map, you know how big it is!
Unfortunately I can’t upload pictures at the moment like I had hoped to…somehow in my packing, I didn’t realize that our new SDHC cards can’t be read by my SD card reader!
Vero at the Arc
We headed to the Arc de Triomphe around 5PM and it’s still as amazing as I remember it. There was some sort of military band playing at the moment so I am not sure if that is normal at that hour or not. I must admit that tourist season is HIGH upon us, especially around 5PM! We headed to the top (284 steps!) and it has one of the most beautiful views of the city. It gives you the true scope of Paris and is a sight not to be passed up.
It was freaking windy up at the top of the Arc that day!
Which way to the Tower?
Of course our next stop was the Eiffel Tower which can be seen in the distance. Pictures were taken, people took our picture, we took theirs…everyone is in the same boat around the Eiffel Tower. Seeing that it was after 6PM we couldn’t walk up the stairs at a reduced price so we got in line for the elevator. While in line we found out that the top was closed due to being over capacity, but would open up within another hour. The sun was going down at this point and Vero pointed out that we would be able to see the city at night which was the selling point for me!
Obligatory hot couple picture with la Tour Eiffel
Up we went and I got into line on the 2nd floor for tickets to the top. Vero walked around for awhile taking in the sights and eventually we made it to the top. Let it be known that I’m not aggressive enough when it comes to getting on an elevator so there Vero went up, stuck in a crowd of people while I was stuck below waiting for the next elevator! No matter, another one came in five minutes. The top is freaking amazing…did I mention it was crazy windy that day in the city? The south west side was home to some crazy pictures of hair blowing in the wind!
Paris at night. Along with the tractor beams trying to bring in UFOs.
Unfortunately we could not find any restaurant at the Eiffel Tower that Vero’s parents gave us money to eat at. We had a granola bar instead! But we definitely needed something to eat at this point. It was 9PM and we hadn’t eaten anything all day other than a croissant.
Sorry Gaetan! No restaurant on la Tour Eiffel!
Another obligatory photo of super hot couple. But at night! This was after some Polish guy came asking for directions from our map and I’m pretty sure he was either gay or trying to pick my pocket considering how close he was to me!
Patience was wearing thin but we stumbled upon the Comptoir sur L’Arc which was bustling with activity and had super fast service. My leg of duck and Vero’s chicken-kabob were great and we split a 1/2 litre of cold red wine. Perfect way to end the day! Luckily the metro was still running around 11PM and we arrived back at the apartment around midnight tired from our first day. Can’t get over what we accomplished in a few hours so far! Looking forward to tomorrow!
A great meal (super fast service!) at le Comptoire de L’Arc