European Trip II

Hello again! As I promised, here's the (not so) long-awaited update:

Paris Trip

Day 3 - May 16th
In the morning, we had breakfast at Angelina's, which is near the Tuileries gardens. Their specialty was very rich hot chocolate (it tastes like a liquid chocolate bar), and I had their hot chocolate plus a chocolate croissant. After eating, Tiffany and I headed over to the Louvre. We started on the paintings, since that was what we were most interested in (so we wanted to save our energy). We also saw some Egyptian and Greek sculptures. Unfortunately, they had closed the Etruscan and Italian sculpture wings (they have to close portions of the museum each day because they lack the resources to keep the whole thing open), so I didn't get to see Michelangelo's Slaves. However, I did get to see most of what I wanted, from the big-ticket works to ones that were of more personal interest (particular paintings and artists I had studied). After a lunch break, we went back and saw the special Leonardo daVinci exhibit, which was interesting (particularly since I'm something of a daVinci fan). After going back to the room, I was drained enough by walking through the Louvre and from the remaining jet lag that I ended up taking a two hour nap. Once I woke up, we headed over to a local restaurant (Cafe Hugo) before attempting to go on a night bus tour (we were given the wrong time). After having desserts at a nearby restaurant on the Seine, we decided to walk back to the hotel (from the Louvre/Tuileries area to Marais), seeing the Hotel de Ville on the way back.

Day 4 - May 17th
After another breakfast at Angelina's (I got the hot chocolate again), we got on the Batobus (a boat/tour bus which goes around the Seine river) and went from the Orsay stop to Champs-Elysées, getting a waterfront view of several Paris sights (most notably the Notre Dame cathedral) in the meantime. After getting off, we walked down the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe; the atmosphere in the area was a bit more commercial than some of Paris, with more 'American' chains, movie theatres, and the like. Once we made it to the Arc, we walked across the river to the Eiffel Tower, stopping to have lunch on the way (the quiche that they advertised in the window was reasonably priced, but their €7.50 sodas and juice were, shall we say, a little pricey - it pays to check menus). After waiting in line, we finally made our ascent to the top of the tower (well, we had to wait in a second line to get from the second deck to the top). We took the Batobus back to Notre Dame and went around the church before heading toward the Latin Quarter, where we had dinner before we got on the night bus tour. It was interesting seeing the many sights lit up at night, and the Eiffel Tower looked particularly spectacular when lit up.

Day 5 - May 18th
Our last full day in Paris was a bit more laid-back than some of the others. We began by going out to the Père Lachaise cemetery, which was far larger than I could have pictured it; it's almost like a small town in and of itself, with uncountable gravestones and family vaults. Despite its huge size, we were able to locate a few notable graves, and saw the graves of Jim Morrison, Moliere, and Oscar Wilde (which is covered in kisses in spite of the 'do not deface the gravestone' plaque at the foot of the memorial). We then left for Montmartre, but we didn't see much aside from the Moulin Rouge, since it had started to rain and we wanted to get closer to home. We headed over to the Ile De France and I went inside the small but beautiful Sainte Chapelle (Tiffany didn't want to pay admission and stayed outside). From the Ile De France, we went to the Latin Quarter to eat before buying postcards on the Left Bank. By that time, it had started to pour, which was actually a bit funny. We were just glad that the weather held out while we were doing more intensive things. After stopping by the Shakespeare & Co. book shop, we went back to the room and relaxed a little (taking pictures in out berets with the rainy Parisian background and sharing a bottle of good €4 Burgundy before going to a local cafe and getting some rest.

Day 6 - May 19th
After paying the hotel clerk, the two of us headed over to the Metro station and made our way to the airport. Thinks were going pretty smoothly until we got to the Gare du Nord station, which would take us directly to the airport. Once we had gotten on the train, a fellow passenger told us that the train wasn't going to the airport. We ran out, and the doors closed behind Tiffany and right in front of me. I got off at the first stop (which was some distance away) and headed back, hoping that she would be waiting for me at the station. I panicked a little before getting on the train for the airport. Of course, by this time, I was getting a little late, and I was stressed both by the fact of being separated and by the time pressure. Fortunately, I made it (it helped that the flight was boarding late), but the time problems meant that I didn't get to mail my postcards until I got to Scotland, which was slightly disappointing. Fortunately, I was able to calm down on the flights from Paris to London and from London to Edinburgh, and I was in good spirits when we arrived. We checked in to our bed and breakfast before going to the city's New Town for dinner. Later, we took a copy of Braveheart from the B&B's video library, but I was too tired to watch much of it and ended up going to bed pretty quickly.

To be continued (again)...