A lot of walking, and then we take a boat.

Caution: Photobombing Likely

Today started with some BodyFit. It is a great little workout. Down to the breakfast room to encounter some breakfast, a stop at the front desk to buy our museum passes, and then we were off to do the Rick Steeves walking tour of the historic Ile. We started with Notre Dame, which involved standing in line to go to the top (free with museum pass) and then standing in line for toilets and then standing in line to get into the cathedral. All told we were there for about 2 hours. While we were climbing up by the towers the bells started ringing and rang for about 10 minutes. They are very loud! Also when we got inside the cathedral they were ordaining 10 new priests, so the whole time there was organs and singing, which was excellent. Just as we got to the exit the service finished, and we got to see the recessional. Pretty cool.  We also found point 0, just outside the Cathedral, which is the point from which all distances in Paris were measured. It’s completely unmarked, because Paris isn’t big on signage, but we had a picture in our guidebook.

The most interesting part, actually, was the toilettes. For the women there were 6 of the stalls we’ve come to expect – they’re like little rooms, with walls and real doors. These also had their own sinks and totally useless air blowers. Aside from St Paul’s in London, everywhere just has hand blowers, and for the most part the ones in Paris are the old kind that mostly just make the water on your hands pleasantly warm. Another thing I want to mention is that in the paper yesterday they had photos and interviews with the 12 men whose hobbies got them places in the calendar of dull men – milk bottle collectors, hedge photographers, and the like. If we ever do a trip like this again I am going to take pictures of all the different door handles in the toilets. Back to our previous discussion of toilettes, this one, outside of Notre Dame, had a very long line for the 6 aforementioned stalls. It also had a turnstile to get in and a turnstile to get out, and an attendant who talked continuously to herself while imperiously waving women from the line through the turnstile, and asking the men “1 or 2”. It was very strange.

After that we went to the Archeological Crypt, which is supposed to give you a history of the building of the city, but was mostly dark and confusing with way too much writing. Next stop, the Deportation Museum, was closed. Then there was lots of walking around, and then there was eating at a forgettable restaurant on the Boul St Mich, and then more walking. Also more walking. We did go into The Sainte-Chapelle, a wonderful small cathedral built between 1239-1248 and commissioned by King Loius IX. Downstairs is very beautifully painted with a wonderful vaulted ceiling, but the upstairs chapel is stunning with giant stained glass windows all around. It was sunny when we were there, which added to the impact. The windows are being restored, and actually the whole upstairs could use a little cleaning and repairing – the saint statues in particular could use to be dusted. But it’s a wonderful, memorable place even so.

By this time we were tiring, so we finished the tour at Pont Neuf and decided to walk up the Champs-Elysee and catch the metro from the Etoille station by the Arc du Triomphe. The Champs was very busy, but a little disappointing because it’s all chain stores – I did not travel all this way to go to a Nike store, for example. Then once we got to the Arc it all fell apart, because Paris signage isn’t like London signage, where every block or two they have wonderful maps with “you are here” arrows actually pointing in the direction you’re going, and two maps, one with a 5 minute walking radius and one with a 15 minute. Here in Paris, it’s the same map everywhere, maybe with something showing where you are (within a block or so). We knew there was a station somewhere so we started around the Arc. Dave eventually found an entrance, completely unmarked until you got down the stairs. We went through the ticket turnstile, walked a little way, and were confronted with another ticker turnstile. We ended up using two more tickets and feeling a tad ripped off. I have no idea what we did wrong.

The #6 line, that runs from the Arc past the Eiffel Tower and stops at Blvd. Montparnasse seems to be one of the older lines – the train cars are old, the upholstery on the seats is worn and dirty, the doors don’t open automatically, they don’t announce the stops, and today it was very hot. But it’s our line and we were glad to be on it. It’s a very short walk from exit 8 to our hotel, but finding exit 8 is tricky – you follow the signs for exit 5 for a long way, and suddenly signs for exit 8 appear. It’s at the end of the platform for the #12 line, so maybe that’s a better way to find it.

Dave went directly back to the hotel, but I stayed out and did some window shopping on the main street. It’s more interesting because it’s mostly independent stores or chains that we don’t have in the US. I found some good stuff but didn’t get any of it. I got back to the hotel at 5 and we took a short break before dinner. Dave napped, and I worked on the blog and got caught up on a few other things.

Tonight was a dinner cruise on the Bateuax Parisiens, leaving near the Eiffel Tower. We left plenty of time to get there, but the crowds and the wind and the sprinkling rain made it something of an adventure. We’d followed the advice in Rick Steeve’s tour book and reserved a window table, which ended up being just the two of us next to the stairs, so it felt very private. Two things: I feel the word “iconic” is way overused, but when you walk by the Eiffel tower at night and it’s all lit up there’s no other word. And second, sometimes the perfect moment happens and you don’t notice it. Sometimes you get lucky, though, and are aware of it while you’re in it. Tonight, we were aware of it.

The wine – champagne, a wonderful white Macon Villages (our next destination), a St Emillion from Bordeaux. The food, good but not great, but it wasn’t the point. The service, the music, all perfect. Notre Dame all lit up, with the singer singing Ave Maria and the musicians playing Bach’s prelude #1. Even Will Pharrell’s utterly annoying Happy Song fit in perfectly. We took the Metro back, rolling along through the crowded streets and metro at 11:30 at night. It’s all good.