Tourists, indeed

Up fresh and relaxed, the girls rolled out for a little petit dejuner around 10 am (well, we did stay out late last night!). Nikki and Valerie had found a little Salon de the and patisserie the night before when I headed back for a conference call and we breakfasted there; sitting out in the sunshine to eat some quiche and drink some coffee and tea. And Nikki found the hotdog in a croissant that she’d been yakking about and enjoyed it immensely.

Picked up our gear from the hotel and began our day in earnest. Bought a ticket on the Batobus (a flat, glass-enclosed boat that cruises around the Seine river and one can hop on and off at will) and climbed on board.

First stop: the Louvre. We entered through the side of the Tuilerie Gardens and I was immediately overcome. With the gardens to my left sprinkled with sculptures, and the grand palace to my right, I was filled with great emotion of the beauty and good that the human race is capable of reaching, when not indulging in the usual cruelty and mindlessness that the species exhibits so often. I was drawn to one statue in particular, called “Doleur”, which was that of a seated woman, with her face bent over and looking down, sad. It was an expression and feeling that I knew so well, and I closed my eyes to be with her. I used the opportunity to thank the universe for everything it provides me, and for the possibilities we all have….

Back to our show: I then found Nikki and Valerie posing in front of a statue of a women with her hands out, and of course they were mimicking her posture. It was such a gorgeous day that we decided not to visit the interior of the famed walls today, but to walk around the cool pyramid structure –

– that serves as the entrance to the museum and then head straight to the Place de la Concorde, down the Champs d’Elysees, and on to the Arc d’Triomphe. You wouldn’t believe how long it took us to walk that mile and a half as a result of the many things to do: stop to admire flowers (both the tender, colorful kind that grows from the ground and those walking around produced as well on french soil), take pictures, avoid tchotchke sellers, stop in a bistro to check out their cooking school, search for tickets to the special Monet exhibit at the Grand Palais (sold out til October 25) and look for pedometers. So we didn’t make it there until after 3. But there we were, looking at the various plaques laid down for soldiers returning from each of France’s wars, beginning with the eternal flame for the unknown soldier in WWI. Nikki and Valerie walked up to the top, while I laid on a bench and enjoyed everything going on around me.

Headed toward the Eiffel Tower and made a requested stop for a salad and glass of wine (I felt like I was in the Hollywood movie Harold and Kumar Go to the White Castle: itt seemed we’d never actually make it to the Tower because something always was coming up). Headed out once again to the looming giant, but had to stop in a Pharmacie for aspirin cream (yes, they found it), and then wandered through some real (not touristy) neighborhoods, getting closer still. But wait, gotta stop for some fruit and wine. Closer still….it’s right on the other side of the park. But wait, let’s stop and let Valerie put on some pads for her foot owies. Here we go, can it really be so???? We cross the bridge and there it is in all of its glory….and the tourists, the ice cream stands, the lines to go up in the elevator, and African dudes swinging big hoops of little metal Eiffels on them “5 for a euro!” Gustave would have loved it. We walk under the behemouth and over to the other side, where we snap pictures, Nikki bargains with a dude from Senegal, and we get our pictures snapped by a cute young couple from Brazil (yes, I chatted about my plans to visit).

We had time to hop on one of the last Batobus boats and enjoyed the ride back to our stop. The wine bottle came out and one of us enjoyed the scenery with a little vino. Nikki cruised on the boat a little further while Valerie and I headed back to the hotel. No nap today, just yakking, researching and me pounding Stacey with a 75 point word during one of our regular internet scrabble games (although she burned me with an 86-pointer and leads me in overall games, just so you don’t get the wrong idea. it does provide a lot of laughs and ribbing opportunities for us). Then we’re out again, this time headed a few doors down for some Peking duck at a little restaurant. So easy to know what to order because 3/4 of the tables are filled with some combination of the platters of sliced duck, a big bowl with fresh noodles and housemade shrimp dumplings (just like the best dim sum you’ve ever had) and fresh chinese broccoli steamed in broth. We enjoy the whole damn thing, while receiving regular glances from a good-looking frenchman at a nearby table. Ahhhh, the french! Meal complete, we then walk a whole block and a half to the Cave des Oubliettes – a bar with narrow stairs down to its lower levels, all bricked like a wine cellar, but actually a prison in years past. Fusion jazz and a crowd comprised overwhelmingly of Sorbonne students and other twentysomethings. We were right in there up front listening to the great music. A quintet with women playing bass and sax…yeah!

Warm and sleepy, we headed out and walked the streets looking for milk for Nikki to have for her coffee in the morning. Got close enough to the Pantheon that we headed up the hill to check it out (and stayed out til Valerie’s birthday at midnight). The Pantheon was built by Louis XV for Genvieve, the patron saint of Paris, in 1644ish. Many famous Parisian figures are now buried there: Voltaire, Emile Zola and Marie Curie. Midnight struck, and all of Paris feted our girl as the Eiffel Tower glittered up and down for a full minute. We sang happy birthday and sat down at a cafe for a toast to the woman of the hour. Wandered back home, amazed at how crowded the streets remained, one in particular, which was also the location of another “cave” where jazz was playing. Happy and tired, we fell into bed.