We flew from Seville, Spain to Paris, France. Ooh la la. For once, I had not booked a room ahead of time, knowing we could find something somewhere. I had a general plan, but no specifics. I had forgotten how big Paris is. I didn’t know where to start…………..Paris is huge. There is a massive metro system, at least 5 train stations, multitudes of busses, and taxis, cars, mopeds, bikers and pedestrians. We picked an area by the train station and found the most inexpensive, safe and clean place we could at 50 euro a night. You also pay for bedding, towels and internet there……the “free” breakfast was coin tokens to use in the croissant and coffee machines. I like the idea of a croissant machine, but would definitely serve better croissants.
We quickly checked in and headed out on the metro to go to the Champs-Elysee (best shopping street) and I wanted to take Molly up the Arc de Triumph were you can watch the cars merge in and out of the biggest round about in Paris. We saw Versace shoes for over a thousand dollars, I almost bought them, but decided I would rather spend my money upgrading our hotel environment. We did climb all 287 stairs to the viewing area at the top of the famous Arc de Triumph. It was a perfect time of day, as the sun was going down and the color of the evening sky added to the pleasure of the moment. The Eiffel Tower was in all her (?) glory and the city of Paris was all around us.
I love watching the cars merge into the roundabout from about 8 different major streets. There are no lines. I don’t think there is any insurance coverage. There don’t seem to be any rules. Drivers just enter and fend for themselves. Mopeds dart between the cars and busses and the bicyclists swerve this way and that avoiding collision. It is hysterical. I watched a lady try to walk to the center of the chaos, only to turn around, after a near death experience. We stayed up there for awhile before going down the 287 stairs. We counted only 275, but I was so dizzy on the circular staircase, I must have missed a couple.
We shopped our way to dinner, buying nothing (an amazing event) and treated ourselves to a nice restaurant near our hostel and sat outside people watching and absorbing the ambience of the neighborhood. We met a generous, interesting, business traveler from Montreal who we spent the rest of the evening visiting with and learning from. An experienced traveler of France, he gave us lots of recommendations of places to visit and it only made me want to leave the big city quicker. He listened to Molly’s bed bug drama and offered his hotel shower to her, which she excitedly accepted. His 5 star hotel was across the street from our negative 2 star hotel, so the event was easy and he and I visited while Molly enjoyed the opportunity to rub herself clean of all the thoughts of bug babies on her body. Gosh, I hope she didn’t leave any behind in his hotel room.
We quickly checked in and headed out on the metro to go to the Champs-Elysee (best shopping street) and I wanted to take Molly up the Arc de Triumph were you can watch the cars merge in and out of the biggest round about in Paris. We saw Versace shoes for over a thousand dollars, I almost bought them, but decided I would rather spend my money upgrading our hotel environment. We did climb all 287 stairs to the viewing area at the top of the famous Arc de Triumph. It was a perfect time of day, as the sun was going down and the color of the evening sky added to the pleasure of the moment. The Eiffel Tower was in all her (?) glory and the city of Paris was all around us.
I love watching the cars merge into the roundabout from about 8 different major streets. There are no lines. I don’t think there is any insurance coverage. There don’t seem to be any rules. Drivers just enter and fend for themselves. Mopeds dart between the cars and busses and the bicyclists swerve this way and that avoiding collision. It is hysterical. I watched a lady try to walk to the center of the chaos, only to turn around, after a near death experience. We stayed up there for awhile before going down the 287 stairs. We counted only 275, but I was so dizzy on the circular staircase, I must have missed a couple.
We shopped our way to dinner, buying nothing (an amazing event) and treated ourselves to a nice restaurant near our hostel and sat outside people watching and absorbing the ambience of the neighborhood. We met a generous, interesting, business traveler from Montreal who we spent the rest of the evening visiting with and learning from. An experienced traveler of France, he gave us lots of recommendations of places to visit and it only made me want to leave the big city quicker. He listened to Molly’s bed bug drama and offered his hotel shower to her, which she excitedly accepted. His 5 star hotel was across the street from our negative 2 star hotel, so the event was easy and he and I visited while Molly enjoyed the opportunity to rub herself clean of all the thoughts of bug babies on her body. Gosh, I hope she didn’t leave any behind in his hotel room.
