Day 75: Exploring Paris

Big day of sight-seeing today! Started by heading downstairs a bit late for our hotel breakfast, and since it was a public holiday Monday (May Day), it was very crowded and everything had run out. Though from what I could see, the selection wasn't actually that great, a few pastries, some fruit and yoghurt, and a coffee machine. Not too bothered since the room was complimentary, but I definitely would've been disappointed if I'd paid money. Was a bit disorganised too - they'd run out of plates, knives and teaspoons, and no fresh ones were being brought out, and the lady running it was too busy to clear tables either. Alas!

But filled up, we all headed off into a crisp Parisian morning. It wasn't warm, particularly, but it was fairly sunny, with occasional cloudy patches. First stop on our sight-seeing tour was the Notre-Dame, which both of us have seen before. But the entire area of the Seine between Notre-Dame along to the Eiffel Tower is a UNESCO site, so we figured we might as well drop by and make a video while we were here.

Notre-Dame still as impressive as always, though the rear aspect looks a bit nicer than the front. Queue to get in looked absolutely enormous, snaking around the square, so we decided to skip (doubly-so as Schnitzel wouldn't be allowed in). I also remember being fairly unimpressed with the interior, being very dark and gloomy, covered in soot. The outside at least was cleaner than I remember it, so I guess it's something they've been doing in the intervening 12 years.

From here we spent some time wandering around the two islands, Ile-de-la-CIte and Ile-St-Louis, where the shops are fancy and the rents are very high. Stopped briefly in a beautiful chocolatier for a couple of macaroons! Made our way to the western end of the islands and the Pont Neuf, which is the bridge where everyone attaches a padlock with their sweetheart, shares a kiss before throwing the key into the river.

You can't do that any more, as the bridge was apparently on the verge of collapse thanks to all the extra weight. The original railings have been replaced by ugly large steel bars fronted with perspex, but a dedicated railing area on the island nearby has been set up for people to attach their locks. Both of us thought it was really tacky (particularly since your "forever lock" is going to be cut down in the middle of the night by a minimum-wage guy with an angle grinder), so we chuckled at the people doing it and moved on.

Onto the north bank now where we continued walking over to the Louvre, via Saint-Chapelle. The Louvre was actually closed today due to the public holiday, so we just had a look at the buildings outside, took some photos and moved on. We hadn't really intended going inside anyway.

After this we tried to find some lunch, but after earlier encountering places selling cheap baguettes, we had no luck finding anything similar! Only tourist traps and fancy overpriced restaurants in this area, so after more walking we found a small supermarket and bought some camembert, a baguette and a couple of drinks.

Armed with our food, we walked over to the Tuileries Garden to have ourselves a picnic, only to discover that dogs aren't allowed in!! So we had our picnic on the stairs nearby, entertaining ourselves watching African migrants selling hats, Eiffel Tower keychains and other crap moving their stalls around (and then running away when a police patrol came past).

Decided to risk going into the gardens anyway, though we carried Schnitzel the entire distance - quite a way! Didn't stop for long in here as we didn't feel so inclined. Finally we came to Place de la Concorde, centre of the Revolution and in many ways the heart of Paris. Did some filming here to go with the other bits we'd done, and then set off again along the northern bank.

Lots of walking, past the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, the Pont Alexandre III where separate Chinese couples in wedding outfits were arguing about who should get the best backdrop for their photos (waiting didn't seem to be an option), then further along to the Pont d'Almer and the tunnel. There was a full-sized replica here of the Statue of Liberty's torch (surprisingly small), but the base was covered in flowers. It was only then that I remembered this was the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed in a crash 20 years ago.

Walking further and further, until we finally arrived at the end of the world heritage area, the Eiffel Tower. Just as beautiful as ever, and not much I really add to everything that's already been said about it! Spent some time in the Trocadero Gardens just opposite, taking photos and enjoying the atmosphere. Also spotted a group of hustlers doing the three-cups-and-ball game scam for the third time today! Once you know the scam, it's just comical how obvious it is and how it works, but I guess people still fall for it if they're still running it!

Walked around the base of the Eiffel Tower (it's surrounded by cyclone fencing these days and you can't get near it without several security checks), and agreed that we wouldn't go up, particularly after the exhausting day we'd had. More photos and then wandered down the Champ du Mars where we sat on the grass for a while and chilled out. Eventually it was home time, so we walked to the far end and caught the metro back to our hotel, just in time for free champagne happy hour! Far fewer people in the hotel now, back to work for everyone I guess.

After our drinks we headed straight back out for dinner in anticipation of an early night. Went to a Lebanese restaurant just around the corner which was very good. I had felafels and then shish tawouk, while Shandos had hummous and a shwarma. Finally back to our room where we basically collapsed into bed. According to my pedometer, today was 24,699 steps!Read more