Day 3- Paris

Day 3—Tuesday, May 12, 1992

I awoke at 3:00 a.m. to go to the bathroom and ended staying up till 4:00 a.m. munching on French bread and cheese. Sharon awoke at about 3:30 a.m. and joined me in the feast. By the time I got up the second time it was 11:00 a.m., but I still felt out of sorts. My condition was greatly improved by a delicious cup of cafe au lait at a nearby cafe on Rue Cler. Then it was time to explore.

We started off for the Eiffel Tower, approximately a mile away from our hotel. The Tower looked the same as in the pictures, only much bigger. We opted to hike up the six million or so steps to the second level, which cost 8 francs, instead of taking the much more expensive and much quicker elevator. The climb was very winding and exhausting, but oh what a view. We very much wanted to climb to the next level, the third, the top, but it was closed.

After the circling the second level of the Tower, we went back down the steps and then walked to the nearby Palais de Chaillot and then up Kleber Street to the Arc de Triomphe. Our primary concern at this point was lunch, so we didn’t stop at the Arc but instead started down the Champs-Elysees in search of a place to eat lunch. After hiking down several side streets and getting hungrier all the time, we settled upon a sharp little wine bar/restaurant. We lunched on soup, Camembert cheese, bread, red wine, and 1 bottle of mineral water (cost ~$30). Then we returned to the Avenue Des Champs Elysees and on back to the Arc. At the Arc we watched the traffic go whizzing around in circles.

The time had come to tackle the Paris Metro in order to get to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. This involved standing about for several minutes in the metro station, thoroughly dumbfounded by how to purchase the right ticket, and then just going up to the ticket window and asking for dous billet and laying down exact change for the cheapest fare. Of course, we got on the train heading in the wrong direction, but with the help of a French passenger we corrected that, and it didn’t cost us another franc.

Once off the Metro, we had a quick beer and then explored Notre-Dame on the Ile de la Cite. Entrance to the Cathedral was free, but it cost 31 francs to go up the tower. We didn’t go up the tower and thus we didn’t see Quasimodo. As magnificent as Notre-Dame is on the inside, it was the outside that completely captivated us—a stunningly ornate and well-preserved structure, situated right along the banks of the Seine. What more could you ask for? A EuroFrance sticker. So I bought one.

From Notre Dame we ventured about on the neighboring island of Ile St-Louis, where we passed by Sergeant Recruiter restaurant and many very inviting cafes. They would have been much more inviting had they not been charging about $5 for a cup of cafe creme. We crossed over to the Left Bank and had our coffee there in a cafe along the Seine, where it cost only $3 for a cup.

After coffee we crossed over the Ile St-Louis to the Right Bank and on to the Place de la Bastille. Evidently the Bastille itself is long since gone, so now in commemoration is a monument, as well as a modern opera house, in reasonable proximity to where the historic prison once stood. There wasn’t much to see there, so we moved on to the very congested Rue de Rivoli in the noisy, commercial Marais section of Paris. Our plan was to check out some of the hotels recommended by R. Steves in the area. The noise and congestion persuaded us to forget the idea.

After wending our way back to the Left Bank, we walked along the Seine via a pedestrian walkway that runs alongside the river. We passed Notre-Dame again and then cut up into the thick of things on the Left Bank, and soon sought out a restaurant recommended by R. Steves called the Polidor. It was anything but easy to find, but eventually we did and dined there. I ordered the beef Bourguignon and Sharon ordered a chicken dish, very much resembling fried chicken. The meal was reasonably priced, filling, and tasty. Aside from the minute quantity of pork in the quiche Lorraine we had yesterday, this was our first meat dish in over four months.

We walked back to our hotel after dinner, stopping along the way to look at some compact discs. I found some Edith Piaf CD’s but didn’t buy any. As soon as we completed the long walk back to the hotel, we headed across the street for a couple Carlsberg beers at a cafe and then bought a couple to go. We returned to our hotel room and watched television and drank all the beers. So I went out and got some more, which we then downed. Got to bed by 1:15 a.m. after a little ooh la la.

HIGHLIGHT: Either the view from the Eiffel Tower or the view of Notre-Dame from the Seine pedestrian walkway.

LOWLIGHT: The price of beer and coffee.

NOTES: The weather was very nice today—even a bit on the warm side. Physically, my feet were beginning to feel the many miles we’d covered the past two days, but nothing like they were in Rome. Sharon still had a bit of a cold and the usual leg ailments.

REFLECTIONS FROM 2020:

Although taking a ride on a city subway, Le Métro as it’s called in Paris, is generally routine and mundane, it can be daunting the first time it’s attempted in a foreign land with a language barrier. We were intimidated at first, but got it done. We felt good about that, and afterward found it much easier to navigate Le Métro. What I most remember about our ride is that for some reason I wanted to practice our French dialogues. Maybe practice wasn’t exactly what I was shooting for, but at any rate I launched into one of those dialogues. Sharon went along for a bit, but thought we were drawing unwanted attention and was uncomfortable continuing. Maybe she had a point.