Day 13: Paris, France

We are hot, sweaty, and quickly losing steam today. The sun is brutal and water is hard to come by. We went to the Eiffel Tower first thing and was disappointed to see that most of the park was gated off (assuming this is due to the state of emergency since November) and you need to buy tickets to go up in it which we were never planning on doing. We walk around the perimeter and decide to walk over to Trocadero for a higher vantage point and to get away from the crowds and vendors. It's hot so we take a quick picture and go down to the metro to get to Les Invalides which is a military museum and where Napolean Boneparte built himself a crypt worthy of what he thought he was- a god. The statues of him are taller and fitter than he really was and I find many of his potrayals of himself amusing and show a bit of short man syndrome. We head out across the street to Musee Rodin which is a beautiful house with his sculptures. Most know of just his Thinking Man or The Kiss. Thinking Man was under restoration unfortunately, but the gardens were quite pretty and peaceful, if not too hot. We walked over to Musee d'Orsay which houses mainly impressionist paintings and some sculpture. I like Monet and I'm especially excited to finally see Edgar Degas Blue Dancers and purchase the postcard which has been my ritual in most of the museums. I can tell Joel's tired and over it so I sugest coffee at starbucks (where they speak great English, have AC, familiar drinks, and toilettes- which are hard to come by, too). We decide to go back to the hotel (after being distracted by a few shops) and cool off, shower, and rest. We stay in longer than we intended, but we don't want to be in a dripping sweat again before dinner. We make our way to a restaurant called Sebillion which is close to the business section of Paris on the fringe. This was a recommendation from my father-in-law when he came here 25 years ago on business frequently! They've been here since 1914. Our reservations are for 8pm (normal dinner is 9pm for the French) because we need more help with the menu and don't want to order during their rush. They are friendly, helpful, and have an English menu. Our waiter speaks English and appreciates Joel's attempt to speak some French which sounds good to me. We order their leg of lamb served tableside and it's absolutely divine. The bread, the tuna en croute, the lamb, the buttery mashed potatoes, the bread, the rum pastry, the espresso, and the meringe all very very good (although too much rum for my liking). We are the only Americans in the restaurant and that's always a good sign. The restaurant reminds me of Ratatouille with the booths, the tableside service, the swinging kitchen doors, and waiters with heavy French accents and tuxes is all what you picture France to be. Here, you can forget about the begging refugees, the pickpockets, the vendors, the smelly metro, the smokers, and the snobs, if just for a little while, and pretend that Paris is still a romantic and lovely place to be. I think about the movie Midnight in Paris where I wonder if Paris would have been better in the 50s or if each era wants to believe that the previous one was the golden age. I reminisce on this and then pay the l'addicion. We talk to the owner through a waiter translating and Joel tells him that his father was here 25 years ago and loved it and now we are here. He smiles warmly and gives us 2 postcards of the restaurant pictured in 1914. We get on the metro and return to our hotel to try our best to get a good night's sleep.Read more