Let's see, where did we last leave off?
Oh yes, heading into Paris
arrived at 2ish
wandered around trying to find the correct shuttle service for my airport hotel
lots of fun in the heat
and miles of walking and getting nowhere
finally got a cab
he had no idea where the hotel was
and was on a round-about heading the wrong way when I saw the hotel and directed him back to it.
I took the shuttle back to the airport so I could venture into the City
headed to the trains so I could get there quicker
however there were camouflaged machine-gun toting guards all over the place
I could not get near the platform
I wandered over to the edge (oops, there was a metal bar at shin height, ouch!!)
and the platform below was pretty vacant of people
I headed over to the information desk to see how much the train was
and asked what was going on
oh, a stray piece of luggage, they were waiting for the bomb squad to come and blow it up
could be an hour for them to arrive
ok, so she directs me to the bus to get into the City
an hour and E34 for a round trip
caught the bus straight away (after a 2k walk to the stop)
and we were in the city within an hour
dropped off at the Arc de Triumphe
fabulous
headed over to the Eiffel Tower with my little map
it was a beautiful afternoon
they were setting up carts with kebabs, onions and tomatoes frying away in very hot pans
lots of cold drinks
candy by weight (little scales with actual grams and assorted measurements for weighing)
crossed the river
travelled along the river with lots of people doing the same thing
lots of picnicing along the grass
lots of people gazing out into the water
I finally got near the Eiffel Tower and noticed that lots of Gendarmeries were pushing people back through metal gates already set up at the entrance of the streets
they directed us down a street, and at every intersection were more of these guards not allowing anyone through
I asked one guard and she said she thought that the tower was closed today
really??
ok, so I was not going to get any further than six blocks away from it
but I could purchase all kinds of Eiffel Tower souvenirs from the shops surrounding me
so I wandered back down the river
headed towards the Champs Elysees
again, lots of people
lots to watch and see and do
headed to a restaurant and had some fabulous Brussel's mussels
totally yummy
I noticed that people had shopping bags with them
it was about 7:30 on a Sunday night
and when I got out of the restaurant I noticed that the stores were open
I hadn't expected it earlier, so I didn't pay attention
so, I went through a few of the shops and did some unconventional souvenir shopping
you can shop at many of the stores until 11:30 on a Sunday night, yay tourists!!
and yay Bradley Cooper and his yummy Haagen-Dazs commercials!
headed back towards the bus, which was waiting at the stop
and within 20 minutes I was back at the hotel
and ready for a good sleep
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